Category Archives: Christmas

How Has Worship Changed You?

Posted on by
Reply

Seeking After God

People are motivated to seek after God for all kinds of different reasons—some good, some bad, some seeking truth, some seeking personal power, some genuine, and some deceptive. Matthew’s Gospel reveals a “seeking after God” that was deceptive on the part of King Herod. When you think about Christmas, you might think of Herod as the “bad guy” in the story. He was seeking the Christ-child to destroy Him, and he was so committed to killing Jesus that he ordered genocide against all the male children under two years in an attempt to kill Him. His lust for power was insatiable!

Wise Men Worship Him

There was another group who were motivated to seek after God, but—in direct contrast to Herod—they were motivated not by personal gain, but out of a desire to worship Him: “…wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ …It (the star) led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:1-12). When worship of God is genuine, the heart and life will be changed!

Genuine Worship Looks Like This

Perhaps nothing contrasts that truth more than Herod and the wise men’s story.  Herod feigned worship in his attempt to kill Jesus, but he was a fraud. The worship of the wise men, however, was a heart and life changer because it was genuine. Their worship was intentional— “…we have come to worship Him…” (v.2). Jesus was their sole purpose for coming. They left their homes to search for Him. Their worship also elevated Jesus and lowered self—when “…they saw the child they fell to their knees…” To fall to one’s knees before another was the same as saying, “You have great dignity and I am lowly by comparison.” Their worship was also emotional— “…they were overjoyed beyond measure…” (v.10). If they had a gauge affixed to them to measure emotion, it would have broken!

Their Worship Was Sacrificial

Finally, the text says, “…they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (v.11). They sacrificed gold, which was offered to deities in that day—They honored Him as “Emmanuel”—God With Us! They sacrificed frankincense, which was used by the priests at the altar—Jesus is our great High Priest who offers Himself and intercedes for us! And, they sacrificed myrrh, an oil used primarily for embalming the dead—Jesus died for us! None of that is coincidental! God calls us out to worship Him—to “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice which is your spiritual worship…” (Romans 12:1). We’re called to worship Him by giving ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice! That’s how worship changes us—we’re not our own (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We give ourselves to Him in genuine worship!

Daniel: You Should Know Better

Posted on by
Reply

(Note: This is the 17th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

Don’t Lick Frozen Flagpoles

One of the most hilarious scenes in the movie,  A Christmas Story, occurs when one of the characters sticks their tongue on a frozen flagpole because they were “triple dog dared” to do so! The reason that scene is so funny is because we’ve all been there, haven’t we? Licking a frozen flagpole is like some weird right of passage in elementary school. And, it wouldn’t make any difference if they put signs up all over campus—  “DON’T LICK FROZEN FLAGPOLES”— kids are going to do it! When they complain that the top layer of skin, on their tongue, has been ripped off, we tell them, “You should have known better!”

You Should Have Known Better

They knew the consequences of licking a flagpole! They’d observed it in their foolish classmates! When they complain, for the next week, that it hurts to talk, that it hurts to eat,  that it hurts to do anything with their tongue, we tell them, “You should have known better!” That’s almost exactly what Daniel says to the Babylonian king as we open chapter 5 of the book, of Scripture, that bears his name. Here we’re introduced to King Belshazzar.  Almost 70 years have passed since Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azzariah were exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon (Daniel chapter 1); and it’s been some 25 years since the end of chapter 4 when we see King Nebuchadnezzar become a worshipper of Yahweh. The historical record fills in some of the details— we know that it was Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Nabonidus, who followed him to the throne of Babylon; and it was his son, Belshazzar, who succeeded him & became the central figure here in the 5th chapter of Daniel’s story.

Pride Is An Evil Response

We don’t know why; but, the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel to bypass the life of Nabonidus completely; and, all but the last day of Belshazzar’s life! Here’s what else we know— outside the massive walls of Babylon, the Medo-Persian army had surrounded the city. In his pride, King Belshazzar threw this huge drinking party for all his nobles to show them that there was no reason to fear the army outside the walls (ch. 5:1-4). Someone has said that “Pride is the evil response of sinful men to the grace of God”; and King Belshazzar’s response was evil! God’s Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Proverbs like this: “These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him”; guess what makes #1 on the list of things that the Lord hates?  “A proud look” is at the TOP! God hates pride!

The King Who Should Have Known Better

He had heard about the grace that God had shown his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar; but, his pride led him into the deeper sins of idolatry & blasphemy. And, as Daniel rehashed the details, of his grandfather’s story, with him (vs. 18-21) he concluded: “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven…”(vs. 22-23)  “You knew all this,” Daniel told him, “You should have known better!”  And, we should know better! God’s patience can be exhausted! We make much of God’s mercy, grace & patience with us; and, we should because God is loving, merciful, gracious & patient with us! But, we dare not ignore the justice & judgment of God! We do so— like Belshazzar did— at our own peril!

How Has Worship Changed You?

Posted on by
Reply

-What Motivates You To Worship?

People are motivated to seek after God for all kinds of different reasons—some good; some bad; some seeking truth; some seeking personal power; some genuine; and, some deceptive! Matthew’s gospel reveals a “seeking after God” that was deceptive—on the part of King Herod! If you’re thinking ahead 3 months to Christmas, you might think of Herod as the “bad guy” in the Christmas story! He was seeking the Christ-child to destroy Him & he was so committed to killing Jesus that he ordered genocide against all the male children, under 2 years, in an attempt to kill Him. His lust for power was insatiable!

-Motivated To Seek After God!

There was another group who were motivated to seek after God; but—in direct contrast to Herod—they were motivated, not by personal gain; but, out of a desire to Worship Him:  “…wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him….It (the star) led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him” Matthew 2:1-12.  When worship, of God, is genuine, the heart & life will be changed! Perhaps nothing contrasts that truth more than Herod & the wise men’s story.

-Genuine Worship Is A Life Changer!

Herod feigned worship in his attempt to kill Jesus; but, he was a fraud! While the worship, of the wise men, was a heart & life changer because it was genuine! Their worship was INTENTIONAL— “…we have come to worship Him…” v.2. Jesus was their sole purpose for coming! They left their homes to search for Him! Their worship also ELEVATED JESUS & lowered SELF—when, “…they saw the child they fell to their knees…” To fall to one’s knees, before another, was the same as saying, “YOU have great dignity & I am lowly by comparison.” Their worship was also EMOTIONAL— “…they were overjoyed beyond measure…” v.10. If they had a gauge affixed to them, to measure emotion, they would have broke it!

-Their Worship Was Sacrificial!

Finally, the text says, “…they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” v.11.  They sacrificed GOLD which was offered to deities in that day—They honored Him as “EMMANUEL”—God With Us! They sacrificed FRANKINCENSE which was used by the priests at the altar—Jesus is our great High Priest who offers Himself & intercedes for us! And, they sacrificed MYRRH, an oil used primarily for embalming the dead—Jesus died for us! None of that is coincidental! God calls us out to worship Him—to “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice which is your SPIRITUAL WORSHIP…” Romans 12:2. We’re called to worship Him by giving ourselves, to Him, as a living sacrifice!  That’s how worship changes us—we’re NOT our own! 1 Cor. 6:19-20. We give ourselves TO HIM in genuine worship!