“Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” Acts 8:4. What if this great persecution that scattered the church had happened to us? There’s a great-looking facility for sale that I pass on my way to the office, an old elementary school, I think. From what I can tell it has hallways full of classrooms and a large multi-purpose room that could hold a lot of people. What if the same people who are worshiping here now had come together at this old school after having escaped a great persecution and were forced to start over. It would only work if we had the same evangelistic zeal as the 1^st century church and we “went about preaching the word.” It wouldn’t take long for our numbers to dwindle if week after week, we showed up to the same MPR just hoping to see new faces appear. Perhaps we’d even blame the preacher or leaders for not bringing them in or not creating and running new ministries that attracted the public. Maybe we’d point the finger at the public, exclaiming loudly that few were interested or that it was just too difficult to be a Christian with these struggles. Now put us back in our own facility with all of our resources. How’s our zeal compare to theirs 2000 years ago?  

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” Lamentations 3:22-23.

How do you handle adversity? The same boiling water that hardens the egg will soften the potato. The tremendous loss I experienced and subsequent upheaval of my life in every way picked me up from my spiritual couch and drew me closer to my Savior. It is not that way for everyone, however, as I have worked with many in and out of Christ who allowed their adversi-ty to drive a wedge between them and God. Lamentations paint the emotional and spiritual picture of God’s people who are finally being dragged off into captivity after stubbornly persisting in sin and unbelief. Despite repeated warnings and the temperature being turned up, they found themselves in boiling water. Most would never return; by God’s grace a remnant would seven decades later. In the midst of their lament, there is this incredible realization that God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness never ends. It is that realization that shapes, as it did for me, how we come out of our trials—as the egg or the potato.

Does adversity lead you closer to God?

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. …” 2 Corinthians 5:11. New Years always falls at the coldest and darkest time of the year when most of us would rather stay inside than venture out, hibernating until late spring. Paul has just made the case that when we are at home in the body, then we are away from the Lord. And yet, as the world around us grows colder and darker spiritually, that’s exactly what have done. We’ve shrunk back into our comfort zones, interacting only with those who have already obeyed the gospel and compromising with those who can agree with a watered-down version of the gospel. Aiming to please ourselves rather than God, we deceive ourselves in our lukewarm state that we’re walking by faith and not by sight. We need to recover our “fear of the Lord” to pull us out of being at home in the body—for our own salvation first and then for the sake of the church’s influence and service around the world. But, it is through fear of the Lord—because being away from Him means eternal destruction—that we persuade others to avoid His severity and stay in His kindness (Romans 11:22). Fearing the Lord, who will you persuade this new year?

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” Luke 2:10. To us who have been made a little lower than the angels, seeing the angel of the Lord with God’s glory shining around it might seem terrifying. The angel tells the unlikely shepherds not to fear, however, as it is only there to divulge God’s unlikely plan for man’s redemption: a helpless baby has been born that is the long-awaited Savior and laid in an unlikely place in an unlikely town. The only thing not unlikely was the messenger as angelos in Greek means ‘messenger.’ The same root word is used in ‘gospel’ or ‘good message,’ the Greek word, euangelion. And ‘good message’ indeed it was that the messenger of the Lord brought for “all the people,” good news of great joy that the prophets, carried along by the Holy Spirit, longed to look into but could only guess at. The most pivital moment in human history was entrusted to those who often had a poor reputation but would “go … and see” for themselves and then would tell others: light in jars of clay. They, in turn, would become God’s messengers. And now so are we. Are you God’s messenger for the good news?

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” Revelation 22:17. In the 1744 hymn, “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” the faithful are encouraged to come to Bethlehem to behold the King, who was born as one of us in every way but who would never sin. Why? Washing His followers’ feet, Jesus told them that He was giving them an example that they should also serve in that same sacrificial way. You may, however, hesitate to come to Him when you see the example of suffering that He calls you to bear to truly be His disciple. Come to your own cross you are to shoulder. Why? Because you desire the living water that was bought by the only one who could buy it—but at such a terrible price! Come to Jesus, the perfect Lamb who was slain for our redemption, the only one worthy to do so! And as you come to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, know that you are part of a body who live not for themselves but for their Savior. All ye faithful, ye citizens of heaven, do you come to Him, born this happy morning, to adore Him, Christ the Lord?