We’re living again in days of moral darkness and moral decay. It’s not the first time in our history that our culture has slipped into moral decline. The impetus for every spiritual awakening is when God’s people got outside the four walls of the church and showed their culture God’s love in practical ways.
The Bible calls the light that led the magi a star, but that’s what most people call every light in the sky except the sun and moon. There has been endless speculation trying to explain the nature of this light. Some say that it was the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, which astronomers calculate happened around 7 B.C. Others say it was a comet, or a supernova, an exploding star. But I think the scriptural evidence refutes all of these natural explanations. They saw the star at times, and then it’s apparent they didn’t see it when they stopped in Jerusalem, and then they saw it again and were overjoyed. The language says the star moved ahead of them and then stopped over the house where Jesus was. This would preclude the possibility of it being an actual star. I believe this was simply a unique light God provided for this special occasion—and it wasn’t the first time God used a light as a guide.
Sadly, many people conceive of God in the same negative terms. To them, God is a cosmic killjoy who watches from heaven just waiting to catch them doing something wrong. They imagine Him shaking His finger at people saying, “No! No! Bad person! Stop that right now!” But the God of the Bible isn’t trying to spoil your fun by constantly telling you, “No!” God loves you and He wants you to enjoy life to the fullest. I believe that God’s favorite word is, “Yes.”
As Christians, we don’t have to make our lives extraordinary, we are extraordinary. Jesus Christ lives in us, and that makes us different. We are naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural. Every day, we have opportunities to show people how we are different. We turn the other cheek. We go the second mile. We pray for our enemies. We don’t have to act different, we are different.
Whatever you’re going through right now, don’t forget God has a plan for your life. His plan doesn’t always take you directly from point A to point B. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but the shortest distance between misery and joy is knowing and loving God. Joseph discovered that, and you can, too. Four similarities between life’s detours and actual traffic detours on the highway.
Have you ever been excited about an opportunity and suddenly found the door closed? The worst thing you can do is to camp out at that closed door. Don’t quit—keep on moving, and God will direct your paths. But what about “waiting on the Lord?” Waiting is not a passive experience. Waiting on the Lord is acting like the waiter or server in a restaurant who takes your order and brings your food. Waiting on the Lord is asking God, “May I take Your order? Is there anything else You need?” God doesn’t tip—but His retirement benefits are out of this world!
Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9 is neither a vision nor a dream. There are no strange symbols of animals or statues. It is a direct message to the prophet from God, delivered by the angel Gabriel. This is the same angel that appeared to Joseph and to Mary, as recorded in the opening chapters of the New Testament. The angel Gabriel was sent to the prophet Daniel to give him a clear and undisguised look into the future in answer to a prayer of the prophet.
You can’t separate your body and your soul and your spirit. God knows if you give your body to Him, the soul and the spirit is going to be given to Him. Sometimes people say to me, “Pastor, I’m not going to be in church this Sunday, but I’ll be there in spirit.” It’s kind of spooky to me to stand up here and preach to a bunch of spirits in these pews. The truth is, you cannot do that. I know they mean they’re going to be there in thought, but you can’t separate your spirit from your body. That’s what happens at physical death; the spirit departs from the body. You can’t do it until then.
God’s wrath has been revealed throughout history. It has been demonstrated or revealed throughout history. We have seen many examples of his wrath mixed with mercy and grace. Romans 1:18 says, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” It’s being revealed right now. Why does God show us some demonstrations of his wrath in history? To warn us. To teach us that one day God is going to judge sin.
The story of Isaac and Rebekah is a beautiful love story in and of itself but it’s also a beautiful story of how God, the Father, loves you and wants the best for you. He sends the Holy Spirit to draw you to the Father and then you as a person, like Rebekah, chooses whether or not to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit but when you do, you are entered into an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Did you notice Isaac had to be a willing sacrifice? We don’t know exactly how old Abraham was, but we do know he was a hundred years older than Isaac. Imagine Isaac is 16. Don’t you think a 16-year-old boy can overpower a 116-year-old man? Do you think when Isaac was tied up with that rope and laid up on the altar, don’t you think a 16-year-old old could have said, “Wait a minute! What are you doing, old man? Stop it!” No not only did Abraham trust God’s plan, but Isaac also was a willing sacrifice. Always remember that about Jesus. They didn’t murder Jesus. He was not a martyr. He willingly laid down his life! And that was God’s plan all along.
If I were to give you a choice between suffering a little bit or being free from suffering, you would say, “I choose to be free from suffering. I don’t want to suffer.” I don’t know anybody who has this attitude: “Man, I can’t wait to suffer some more. I am looking forward so much to suffering this next week, I can hardly wait!” No. The mystery is that even though we suffer, it can bring glory to God and it can work out for good to us.
What was it about salvation that made the apostle Paul break out into spontaneous, exuberant praise? He began to understand what had happened to him. If you could catch a glimpse, if your spiritual eyes could be opened to who you are in Jesus and what has happened to you in Jesus, you would also break out in spontaneous praise and adoration.
