Pastor Mark's Blog

Have you ever wondered when you clicked the “send” command on your computer if your e-mail actually got to its destination? Have you ever thought, “Will someone be there to receive it? Will I get a response?”

You may have had those same questions in another realm of communication–prayer.  Look at what the Bible says about the promise of prayer.

Jeremiah 33:3  Call to me and I will answer you…  (NIV)

Psalm 138:3  When I called, you answered me…  (NIV)

Does this mean that God will answer our every prayer and that He is at our beckon and call to answer our requests? I think a lot of people have that idea and never consider that God has placed very specific restrictions or limits on how He answers us.

Lots of people wonder why their prayers are not answered and think God isn’t real. The problem with unanswered prayer isn’t with God but with us.

For your e-mail to arrive, your equipment and programs must function correctly. Sometimes your prayer life can have a “glitch” in it.  What does God promise then concerning our prayers?  What are the conditions that need to be met in order for God to hear and answer our prayers?

First, we must ASK

One of the most important elements of prayer is asking.  If you don’t ask you can’t get an answer.  A lot of people are just too stubborn and proud to pray and ask God for anything.  Prayer is a sign of dependance upon God and not on yourself.

James 4:2c You do not have, because you do not ask God. (NIV)

Second, we must have the RIGHT MOTIVES

James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (NIV)

God doesn’t promise to answer a selfish prayer or a prayer that is prayed with the wrong kind of motives. Selfishness is one of the biggest barriers to prayer.  You can’t live a self-centered life and expect God to answer your prayers.

Third, we must pray ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.   15 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him. (NIV)

Notice in verse 14 that if we  “ask anything according to His will, He hears us”.  The only prayers that God will listen to or hear are those that are according to His will.

Fourth, we must pray IN THE NAME OF JESUS

John 14:13-14 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.   14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus?  To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray based on his power and authority.  Imagine if you will a police officer comes to your home and he knocks on your door and says, “Open up in the name of the law.”  The officer is not asking you to open your door based on his own power or authority, he is asking you to open your door based on the authority of the law.

When you pray to God in the name of Jesus you are asking God to do something not because of your power or authority, but His.  God promises that if we will pray in the name of Jesus He will answer.

Fifth, you must pray BELIEVING

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (NIV)

What does the word “believing” mean?  It means to trust and not to doubt.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (NIV)

James 1:5-7 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.   6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.   7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. (NIV)

Today many people have the idea that God will answer anyone’s prayer no matter how they pray or who they are?  Does God promise to answer anyone’s prayer no matter who they are?

Sixth, you must BE OBEDIENT

1 John 3:19-22 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence   20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.   21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God   22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. (NIV)

According to this passage God will not answer a person’s prayer or even listen to a person’s prayer if they aren’t willing to obey His commandments or do the things that are pleasing to Him.

Psalm 66:18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (NASB)

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (NIV)

Proverbs 28:9 God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to him. (MSG)

These are very strong words and make the point that we do not come to God in disobedience. The prayers of the disobedient are an abomination to God.  God does not promise to answer a person’s prayer when that person isn’t obeying the Lord and is living outside of God’s will.

Seventh, you must be AT PEACE WITH OTHERS

Family problems can surely cause our prayers not to be answered. Arguing, bickering, fighting in the home will destroy it. It will rob a home of peace and joy. It will destroy the peace and security of the marriage.

Matthew 18:19 Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. (NIV)

Eight, you must BE PERSISTENT

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.   8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV)

The words “ask, seeks & knocks” are all in the continual mode meaning that we are to keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking.

Clearly the Lord is teaching us that we should be persistent in our prayers. There have been things that Christians have prayed for, for years and God in His time answered. It is not that God does not want to answer and that He wants to withhold the answer to our prayers, but God knows the time when it is best. Our persistence shows our faith in God and His promise to answer prayer.

My grandfather passed away when I was a child.  I remember one day my father and I went to his garage to clean it out.  My grandfather had many old tools.  One was a hand drill. I could barely get the wheel to turn. The gears were clogged with dirt, and the pieces that held the drill bit in place were missing. But I wanted to see if I could get it to work.

I wiped it clean, oiled it and kept working the handle back and forth until it finally started turning smoothly.

Working with that old drill can teach us all something about prayer. If we don’t meet God’s conditions, our prayers will be ineffective – just like that old drill.

If your prayer-life is malfunctioning, make sure you’re meeting the conditions. When you do, you can be confident that your prayers will be effective.

If you want your prayers to reach heaven, make sure you have a good connection.

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear their prayer from heaven, forgive their sins,  and heal their country. (GW)

Today we’re going to look at God’s promise concerning your needs.  In this day and time a lot of people are probably interested in this promise but they may not like what the Bible says about it.

Matthew 6:31-33  Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. 33But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.  (CEV)

When you put God first and trust Him, He will take care of all your needs.  Put Him at the center of your life and everything else will be taken care of.

The problem is we try to share that number one position with God we then end up with nothing.  Try this at home on your own.  Get a can of soda and pour into a glass.  Then get a straw and take a sip of the soda through the straw.  Was it satisfying?  Good… that’s what it’s like when you put God first in your life.  Putting God first is the secret to living a satisfying life!

Now, I’d like you to get a second straw and take another sip but this time you’re going to use both straws, one on the inside of the glass and the other on the outside.  Now take a drink.  What happened?  You can’t drink anything.  It doesn’t work.

That’s what happens in your life when you try to put both God and the things of this world first in our life.  You end up with nothing.  You end up being unsatisfied.

The real reason so many people are unhappy, unsatisfied, and unfulfilled in life is because Jesus Christ is not the center of their lives.  They’re looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. They run from this to that… looking for something that’s going to satisfy them.  They go from relationship to relationship, from job to job, from church to church looking for the key.  Yet, they’re still not content or satisfied.

The problem is, none of these things can give you lasting satisfaction.  Only Jesus can give you lasting satisfaction.  Only Jesus can satisfy your life.  If you’re discontent it means Jesus Christ isn’t at the center of your life.

Today in this world of economic woes, when unemployment is up around 8.3%, many people are wondering where their next meal is going to come from, how they’re going to pay the rent or make the house payment, or how they’re going to feed and cloth their families.

What does God promise those who are in this condition?  Does God promise to supply everyone’s needs no matter who they are and no matter if they are following the Lord or not?  Jesus tells us to seek put Him first and then God will supply our needs.

How many times have we said or heard someone say, “God, if you will get me through this time of trouble then I will serve you and follow you?”  God wants us to follow Him first and then He will supply our needs.  God promises that if we will put Him first in our lives, then He will supply our needs.

Philippians 4:19  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  (NIV)

Paul didn’t say God was going to meet all your greeds, but rather all your needs.

When I buy an insurance policy I read through it and find out what’s covered.  Then, when I know what’s covered, I don’t worry about it because I know it’s covered.  The Bible is God’s insurance policy.  Did you know there are over 7000 promises in the Bible?  Many of you can’t claim them though because you don’t even know where they are.  That’s why you need to get into the Bible and read it and study it everyday.  That’s why you need to have a daily quiet time.  As you read God’s policy manual (The Bible) and get familiar with what guarantees God has made in your life, you stop worrying.

What percentage of our needs does God promise to supply for us?  Does God promise to supply only 25% of our needs?  Does He promise to supply only 50%?  Does He promise to supply only 75% of our needs?  No, God promises to supply 100% or “all” of our needs, “according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus”.

God supplies our needs “in Christ Jesus” not outside of Jesus!  You can’t expect God to meet your needs while you live your live apart from Jesus.  It’s only when Jesus becomes the Lord of your life that God then promises to meet your needs.

Psalm 23:11  The LORD is my shepherd. I am never in need. (GW)

Today we are going to look at God’s promise concerning eternal life.  There are lots of great verses in the Bible about this promise.

1 John 2:25 And this is what he promised us–even eternal life. (NIV)

Titus 1:22 My message is based on the confidence of eternal life.  God, who never lies, promised this eternal life before the world began. (GW)

God has promised us “eternal life.”  Does this mean though that just because God has promised it, that all mankind at this very moment in time has eternal life?  Today at this very moment I have eternal life, yet there are many today who do not have eternal life.

Someone might say, “Mark, your not going to live forever, everyone has to die sometime.”  Yes, at sometime the outer shell of our body will die and be buried in the ground and turn back into dust, but God also gave us a spirit and a soul and God has promised that I will live forever.  That’s because God created us with the capacity to live forever.

Ecclesiastes 3:11b He has also set eternity in the hearts of men… (NIV)

Even though my body dies, God has promised us eternal life.  The question is how do you get it?  How do you claim this promise from God if you haven’t already?  You do it through faith in Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Throughout the years man has made various claims about knowing the secret to eternal life.  These have been anything from dipping in a fictitious fountain to taking a wonder pill.

Throughout the years man has searched for a way to live eternally and has failed miserably.  Yet God has promised us eternal life, and there is only one way in which we can have it.  That way is Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV)

God promises to everyone who will trust in Jesus as their personal savior, that they can have eternal life.

Romans 10:9 If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. (GW)

God has promised us eternal life, but that life can only be yours by trusting in Jesus.

1 John 5:11-12 God has also said that he gave us eternal life and that this life comes to us from his Son.   12 And so, if we have God’s Son, we have this life. But if we don’t have the Son, we don’t have this life. (CEV)

Something else that God has promised concerning eternal life is that it is “eternal.”  That means it has no end.  That means it’s not temporary.

Today there are many who believe and would have us believe that once you have eternal life, you can then lose it by sinning against God.  God promised us “eternal life” not “temporary life.”

God has promised those who are saved, that they will always be saved no matter what.  That’s because eternal life is based on what God does, not on what we do.

Hebrews 7:25a Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. (NLT)

If you are saved, God has promised that you always will be saved and nothing can cause you to lose your salvation or the eternal life that He has given to you.  That means you don’t need to be saved over and over.  When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, he died for “ALL” of them.  Those you committed in the past, those you commit in the present or any of the sins you might commit in the future.  And so nothing is able to take away what God promised to give to you.

John 10:27-30 My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me,   28 and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand.   29 My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others. No one can snatch them from his hands,   30 and I am one with the Father. (CEV)

That’s how great this promise is from God!

We’re in a study about the promises of God and today we’re going to look at one of the promises concerning Jesus.

It’s impossible for us to look at everything about Jesus because there are so many promises and prophecies about Him in the Bible.

Jesus is unique among all people in history because he is the fulfillment of centuries of prophecies, which are found in the Old Testament.  These prophecies foretold his place of birth, details of his life, his mission, his nature, his death, and his resurrection.

Some Bible scholars estimate that there are more than 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.

Many people think of Bible prophecies as predictions about the future but strictly speaking, they are promises from God.

The very first promise God made concerning His Son is mentioned in the first book of the Bible when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden.  When Adam and Eve sinned against God, He made a promise to Eve concerning one of her descendents and Satan.

Genesis 3:15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies. One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel. (NCV)

God is speaking to Satan in this verse.  This is the first prophetic promise that God made concerning His son Jesus Christ.  In it He promised that one of Eve’s descendants (Jesus) would one day defeat Satan by crushing him.

Acts 13:23 To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour. (NJB)

That’s what Christmas is all about.

Matthew 1:18-21 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.   19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.   20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (NIV)

This promise concerning Jesus was also verified by all those who knew Him.

1 John 4:14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (NLT)

God promised that when Jesus was born He would be the savior of the world so that all mankind could be forgiven and have eternal life.

Luke 19:10 The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them. (NCV)

God promised that when Jesus was born He would give us life.

John 10:10 …I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (MSG)

When Jesus came as the savior of the world He came to provide a covering for our sins through the blood that He shed on the cross of Calvary.

1 John 4:9-10 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.  10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (NLT)

When Jesus came as the savior of the world, He came to take away the sin of the world.

John 1:29 John saw Jesus coming toward him… and said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (GW)

All of these things God promised that His Son Jesus Christ would do for us.  God was true to His promise and kept His promise.  Over 2000 years ago, Jesus gave His life for all mankind, providing the way for you and I to be saved from the punishment of our sins in Hell.  He became the covering for our sins through His blood, and as a result took away our sins by being made sin on our behalf.

1 Peter 2:24 Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And we are healed because of his wounds. (ICB)

A number of years ago, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks.   The book was based on the science of probability and vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation.  It set out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling only eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.

The probability that Jesus could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 10¹⁷. That’s 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.

The chances of this happening is like covering the entire state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars and then putting an “X” on one and asking a blindfolded man to find it.  And on his first try HE DOES!!!!

Well Jesus not only has fulfilled eight prophecies so far, but 60!  That’s how great God’s promises are!

I hope your Christmas and New Year holiday was wonderful.  I’ve missed doing my blog and I am excited about this new topic that I will be discussing with you.

Within the Bible we find literally thousands of promises that God has made.  Someone has said that there are more than 37,000 promises in the Bible.

In Webster’s dictionary it says the word “promise” means, “to pledge oneself to do, bring about, or to provide something.”  A promise is a binding agreement to do something.

As we look at these promises we must keep in mind that man has not made these promises but rather God has made them.

As God’s people we can be assured that when God makes a promise he will keep it no matter what.  When God makes a promise, he is faithful in carrying it out.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,  nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill? (NIV)

Hebrews 10:23  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (NIV)

Before we start looking at some of the promises God has made to us, I would like for us to look at how the Bible describes the promises of God.

The Bible says that God’s promises are precious and great.

2 Peter 1:4 …He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (NASB)

The first word is the word, “precious” is the same Greek word that Peter used to describe the blood of Jesus Christ by which we are redeemed.

1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,   19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (NIV)

This word “precious” is a Greek word that means, “priceless or beyond value.”  In other words the promises of God are so precious that you can not put a price tag on them.  God’s promises are priceless.  They can’t be bought, yet we are told in our text that God has “granted” or given them to us.

The other word that is used in this verse to describe God’s promises is the word “magnificent.”  Webster tells us that this word means, “to be beautiful”.  Literally this word “magnificent” means, “to be very great”, or “sacred.”

Hebrews 6:17-18a  When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee— ¹⁸ God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. (MSG)

Truly the promises of God are beautiful and great.  They are both great in quantity or number and they are great in quality.  That’s why we are going to study the promises of God.  So I want to encourage you to come back and follow along with me in this study.

Today I’m going to finish our Christmas devotional.  I really appreciate you following along with me.  Without the decorations that adorn our Christmas trees, they would just be another pine tree.  But because of the decorations, they are Christmas trees.

Without the decorations of love, grace, peace and forgiveness, the cross of Calvary would be no different from any other cross that was used to crucify criminals.  But because of the person who hung on the cross and what He did for all mankind, it can change your life forever.

Many people today are satisfied to celebrate Christmas as long as Jesus remains a baby in a manger.

In an Orange County Register article titled, “Bloody Jesus In Parade Outrages Townsfolk,” it describes how a church in Illinois entered a float in their town’s Christmas parade and many were outraged because of the point it illustrated.  The float featured a young man depicting the crucifixion of Jesus wearing a loin cloth and blood-like makeup all over his face and body.  The pastor of the church stated, “We weren’t out there trying to stir controversy.  We were out there trying to identify the whole meaning of Christmas, and the ultimate meaning is Jesus did give His life, God gave a gift.”  The pastor went on to say that no one had made any complaints about the float to him or his church, but the parade coordinator said she had received plenty of complaints and stated, “I’m not saying this was an inappropriate float, but it certainly was perceived that way by a lot of people.”

If Jesus had not died on the cross of Calvary to provide love, grace, peace and forgiveness, Christmas would be meaningless.  Even Christians can miss the point of the Christmas story if they aren’t careful.

The great question for us is this: Is our Christmas still only a story about a baby, or is it more, a story about a Person into whom the baby grew, who can redeem the world from it’s sins, and who calls us to have a relationship with Him.

It is only as we see the birth of Jesus in light of His crucifixion and resurrection that we are able to grasp the full meaning of Christ’s coming.  If Jesus had not died on the cross and rose again, he would have been just one out of billions upon billions of babies who have ever been born.  But because he died and rose from the dead, he is much more than just an ordinary child or person.

With your eyes wide open this Christmas, respond to God with love and commitment for the gift of His Son. Focus your thoughts and actions and motivations toward honoring the Baby who grew up and died for all our sins.

After all, on that first Christmas the angel did not declare, “Christ the baby is born” but rather the angel said, “Christ the Savior is born!”  Jesus went from the cradle to the cross.

Thank you for following this Christmas blog and listening.  I pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas this year.  May God bless you.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Welcome back to our 25 day Christmas devotional.  Today is Christmas Eve.  We’ve been looking at the decorations of Christmas and admiring the beautiful decorations of the cross which is also referred to by many as “Calvary’s tree.”

Today I’d like us to consider the decoration of forgiveness.  The very reason why Jesus was born was to forgive us of our sins.  Look at what the angel told Jospeh…

Matthew 1:21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

1 John 3:5 And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins… (LB)

That’s the very reason why Jesus was born. The forgiveness of God that comes through Jesus Christ is complete forgiveness because it is provided for every sinner.

Acts 10:43  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

God’s forgiveness is also complete because it is provided for every sin.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

When it comes to forgiving us of our sins God is not like people.  Many times we say we have forgiven each other but we sometimes still hold bitterness and resentment in our hearts toward the person for what they have done.

We tell them they are forgiven but then remind them from time to time of what they have done to us.  On the other hand, God forgives us completely and forever.

Micah 7:18  Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

When people hurt us and then apologize, we may say that we forgive them. But like a dog that won’t give up its bone, we may let our mind continue to chew on past insults.

In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul declared that love “thinks no evil.” He was using an accountant’s term that described the recording of figures in a book. Love does the opposite–it does not keep a record of wrongs. Instead, love forgives and refuses to keep it on the books.

If you want to remember something, you go over it again and again. The child reviews his spelling words; the actress rehearses her lines; you review people’s names that you want to remember. But love deliberately and consciously lets go of past hurts and gives them to God.

Some people might bury the hatchet for a time, but they gave the impression of always marking the spot.

Lord, help me be kind and forgiving–
Your loving forgiveness You’ve shown
To me for the sins I’ve committed;
Lord, grant me a love like Your own. –Anon

So, we need to remember to forgive and then remember to forget.  Don’t let the way people have hurt you ruin your Christmas.  Forgive them just as Jesus has forgiven you.

Welcome back to our Christmas devotional.  There are only three days left until Christmas.  No during the last few days we’ve been looking at the comparison of a Christmas tree decorated with beautiful physical ornaments to the cross of Calvary which is decorated with beautiful spiritual ornaments.

So far we have seen how God has decorated the cross with the ornaments of love and grace.  Today we’re going to look at how he decorated it with the ornament of peace.

When Jesus was born, the angels in heaven sang praises to God in Luke 2:14 saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

According to tradition, a Christmas song once brought peace to a battlefield. It happened on Christmas Eve during the Franco-German War (1870-1871) as the two sides faced each other in their trenches.

A French soldier jumped up and began singing “O Holy Night.” The surprised German soldiers did not fire. Instead, one of them stepped forward to sing “From Heaven Above To Earth I Come.”

For a brief time at least, peace on earth prevailed and goodwill was shared among men whose job it was to kill each other.

Think about the words of “O Holy Night” and see how they can bring hostilities to a end. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining.” Who knows about the world’s ills better than soldiers who are facing the consequences of war, killing, and death?

“A thrill of hope” is what those men needed in the darkness of that winter night. Hope is what “the dear Savior’s birth” provides. Because of Him the “weary world rejoices.”
Even though we may not be engaged in physical combat, we all face the battles of everyday life. We can let the peace of that holy night—the night of our dear Savior’s birth—reign in our hearts the whole year through.

Romans 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Without first having peace with God through Jesus, we can not experience the peace of God in our hearts on a daily basis.

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It is difficult to put into words and describe the peace that a Christian has because it is a divine peace, not a worldly one.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The kind of peace that people experience based upon their circumstances in life is temporary in nature at best because circumstances are always changing.

One day your life might be floating along on cloud nine and you are thinking that life couldn’t get any better.  But in just a matter of seconds the bottom could fall out and your entire life could be turned upside down.  That has happened to me on several occasions.  How about to you?

During those times it is the peace of God that you need more than anything else.  During those times it is the peace of God that remains with you when everything else has left.

That my friends is why this decoration of peace is so important.

Welcome back to our Christmas devotional.  Yesterday we started taking a look at the decorations of Calvary by learning how Jesus died for us because of his love.  Today we’re going to look at the decoration of GRACE.

The grace of God that decorates the cross of Calvary is an amazing grace.

When I first saw the twisted Christmas tree, I wished my grandpa were alive to fix it.  He could make any tree beautiful.  No matter how bad it looked when we gave it to him, it was beautiful when he gave it back.

He would get out his saws and clippers and begin cutting and shaping.  When he was done, the tree looked as if it had been grown in a greenhouse where a caring gardener had watered, pruned, and protected it from storms, drought, and nasty bugs.

Then grandpa would turn the tree over to the rest of the family to finish the job.  We added lights, ornaments, and garland, and the imperfect tree was ready for a perfect celebration.  What a transformation!

Life is like that crooked conifer.  Each of us comes to God bent and misshaped from the effects of sin.  But when we put our faith in Christ as Savior, God lovingly begins His work in us, transforming us from the inside out.  Then He puts us into the care of His family, the church, and they continue His work by adding the lights of truth, the ornaments of patient rebuke, and the garland of love.

The message of Grandpa’s tree is this: Under God’s loving care, a life marred by sin can become beautiful!

God sees in us a masterpiece
That one day will be done;
His Spirit works in all our lives
To make us like His Son. —Sper

What sin has twisted, God’s grace can straighten.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward man.  It is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

Ephesians 2:4-5  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

God’s grace is so great that it’s able to reach the best as well as the worst of us.  From the thief on the cross who was a criminal to the Apostle Paul who was a religious zealot.

1 Corinthians 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Ephesians 4:7  But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

The grace of God that decorates the cross is an abounding grace.

John 1:14-17  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

God’s grace is available to the sinner.

Romans 5:20  The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.

God’s grace is available to each one of us in every situation or circumstance we may go through.

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

God’s love and grace are two of the most beautiful decorations on that tree that stood on top of Mount Calvary.

Most homes have Christmas trees and a lot of beautiful decorations on them.

Just about everything on our Christmas tree is connected in some way with a family tradition or has something to do with someone in our family.  For instance, one of the bulbs on our tree was made by me when I was a child.

A Christmas tree without decorations is just another pine tree.  The decorations are what make it so special.

When I think of a Christmas tree I also think about the cross of Calvary.  By itself, the cross is just a piece of wood.  It isn’t special at all.  What makes the cross so special is the person who hung on it.  What makes the cross significant is that Jesus died on it for all mankind.

The cross of Calvary was decorated with some very special ornaments.  Over the next few days we’re going to consider four decorations that make the cross of Calvary so significant to our lives today.

The first decoration is LOVE.

Nothing exemplifies the spirit of love at Christmas more than the gifts that we give to one another.  But in our giving to one another we should never forget the wonderful gift of God to the entire world.  God gave His only begotten Son out of love.

By nature God is love and one of the characteristics of His love is that it is sacrificial.

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

During this time of year many people are searching for love.  That’s because by nature we all want and need to be loved by someone.  But often times we don’t find love because we are looking in all the wrong places for it.

The love of God can satisfy both the saint and the sinner alike.

Romans 5:5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The fighting was fierce in the days before Christmas during the first World War. A German soldier emerged from his trench and tried to advance, but he was hit by gunfire and severely wounded. As he tried to crawl back to safety, he became caught in barbed wire. After his screams turned to moans, an American climbed out of his trench and inched his way to the injured man.
When the two opposing commanders saw what was happening, they ordered their troops to cease-fire. In the eerie silence, the American comforted and freed the wounded German, then carried him to the waiting arms of his comrades. The guns remained silent until he returned to his trench.

This is an inspiring story, but I know one that is even more dramatic.  Jesus, because of God’s love, crossed into “enemy territory” to rescue us from spiritual death.  Even though we deserved to die, He unselfishly accepted the humiliation, pain, and death of the cross to pay the price for our sin.

Romans 5:6 When we were unable to help ourselves, at the moment of our need, Christ died for us, although we were living against God. (NCV)

Hark! The herald angels sing,”Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild–
God and sinners reconciled!” – Wesley

While Christ’s birth brought God to man; Christ’s death brings man to God.

So, during this busy Christmas season, let’s take time to remember in awe and wonder what Jesus did for us.  He was born that we might be rescued from eternal death.