There are times when doing the right thing seems to raise as many questions and challenges as it does answers. This is when the walk of God really does feel like a step at a time. You are in God’s will, the general direction is definitely right but you only recognize and encounter the difficulties enroute. Christ’s New Year message to you is simple, be faithful…things aren’t all over the place they’re all falling into place. Selah! 

In Matthew 2:23 on their return from Egypt Joseph, Mary and the child Jesus finally settle in Nazareth. In doing so fulfilling the prophecy that Christ would be called a Nazarene. They had been guided to Egypt in the first place to avoid the pending slaughter of all infants 2 years old and younger by King Herod. However, this was the direct fulfillment of prophecy as accounted in Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt have I called my son…”.  

 When you obey God powerful challenges and even enemies may arise but remember there are no re-directions in God. Egypt was planned and so was Nazareth…their lives were not subject to changing circumstances. In fact even when facing mortal danger for the second time (v22) God’s plan for them was perfectly falling into place. Joseph learned that following the dream you have in front of you (v19-20) will one way or the other lead you to the next one (v22) and ultimately to your final destination (v23).

Follow your dream…there are more to come! God does not change strategy according to circumstances. He has a plan, you’re in it and nothing and no one can stop it. Obey your latest instruction because the next one is not far away. Whatever your Herod or Archelaus might be don’t be discouraged for even the difficulties that arise are going to be used by God to get you to exactly the right place at exactly the right time. You are a planned person on a planned journey with a planned destination.

Some of the following questions may arise:

Q.  What is my gift?

Ans.  Your gift is the thing that you do naturally without prompting or coercion. The thing that you can do instinctively that others struggle and strain to do.  The thing that will always bring you genuine satisfaction and fulfilment. The thing that makes you feel you have made a difference.

Q.  Is it too late to use my gift?

Ans.  Ask the person you help! Ask the person you encourage! Ask the person you comfort!  Be aware that a gift only truely becomes meaningful when it is has been given.

Q. What is the best gift?

Ans.  On the surface a puzzling question but only on the surface.  Is the best gift the gift of healing, or helps or one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit…and of the latter which is the best?  There is a simple and powerful answer – the best gift is the one you need at the time.  The perfect gift is the one that perfectly meets the need. Never belittle or sideline the gifts that you have for they are the perfect answer to someones pressure and problem.

Q.  What’s the secret to getting started?

Ans.  Accepting what Christ has done for you (Romans 6:10 – 11).  Accepting what the Holy Spirit can do through you (Zechariah 4:6; John 14:11-17).  Accepting what God thinks of you (Jeremiah 29:11; Hebrews13: 5-6).  Please note that most holds ups are caused by hang ups!

Q. Is the actual gift and calling enough on their own?

Ans.  No!  Any gift and calling that is not married to a mature character will ultimately be self serving and in the worst case scenario even dangerous to all concerned.  There are no exceptions to good character – Luke 2:25; Luke 2:37; Luke 2:40; Acts 6:3. Don’t just be a “big character” be a mature one.

Q. What is the key to using your gifts and fulfilling the call of God?

Ans.  Be    F.A.I.T.H.F.U.L.     in…

Fear

Adversity

Instruction

Trial

Hurt

Fame

Unity

Love

Share the gift and God will make sure you win the prize!! See Luke 16:10.

The word of God is the last word not an a reference point, additional consideration or after thought.  In every worthy topic the final decision, position and view point must be based on a firm clear scriptural foundation.

Regarding any topic the believer should never develop a personal opinion or stance having simply condsidered the theological opinions of others. There is no point in having the theological debate, reviewing all the relevant scriptures and then do what you feel is right. Rather, the Christian must stand on chapter and verse no matter what tradition they are from or personality type they might be.  They must be prepared to reform and  re-evaluate all perceptions getting their heart, soul and mind in line with the specifics of the word of God. Too many positions are based on opinions rather than promise and precept.

 God’s word is a “lamp” because everything outside it is darkness and deception.  It is a “light” or guide because everything beyond it is double minded, carnal and self- willed.

Don’t be deceived our text reveals that the Bible covers every aspect and eventuality in life. In fact, everything from your next step to what is planned / coming down the line. If you haven’t found the promise you cannot believe it, if it does not transform you then you have not read it right and if it does not come first then don’t blame God if you come last.

Read: Psalm 1:2-3; Psalm 37:31

Definition: “Evil” is the worst possible outcome, the thing you fear the most.

It is time to understand the Bible perspective:

 (1)   Determine that your heart will not be intimidated by even very bad news. Psalm 112:7.

 (2)   Understand that the Lord Jesus Christ actually instructs you to pray for and expect deliverance from evil (Matthew 6:13). It is Christ’s express will that evil is not allowed to rule in your life.

 (3)   Be absolutely certain that God will answer the prayer of Matthew 6:13. For the Apostle John reveals that if we pray anything according to God’s will He will hear that prayer and answer that prayer. 1 John 1:14-15.

In short,it is God’s will that you be deliverd from evil, Christ instructs you to pray the same as part of your normal prayer life and John declsres that this prayer will be answered! Bad things can happen,evil tidings mau come but every Christian has a mandate from Christ to pray and be delivered from every evil ooutcome.

“Experience” tells us that:

The lion’s den happened…but Daniel was not ate alive.

The fiery furnace happened…but the three Hebrew lads were not harmed.

The shipwreck happened but as promised neither Paul or anyone else drowned.

Experience is literally what God makes it not what circumstances dictate. Bad news should never have the last say in a believers life.

Have you confided in someone, put your trust in someone and pinned your hopes on someone (Ch. 40:14 & 23) only to have them betray that trust completely? The lesson from Joseph’s experience is simply life changing – even when the worst has actually happened, your last hope has gone and you have been left rejected and forgotten God’s best for you has never been more certain. 

 The clock was ticking in Joseph’s favour from the very moment the Butler forgot about him…from the very moment he was falsely accused…from the very moment his brothers’ sold him. Selah! Don’t get bitter at people and how they have let you down, believe in God and know that He wont!           

Peter learnt that with the Lord the outcome of a financial crisis had nothing to do with his financial reserves (Matthew 17:24 – 27).  He was strapped with a tax bill that there simply was not the money to pay for.  Facing the dyer ministry not to mention personal dangers that would bring, Peter witnessed the power of Christ in a way that he could never have imagined.  Our Saviour controlled timing, circumstance and nature itself to literally create an answer where there was no way out or forward.  

What happens when you have been faithful in walking with your Saviour and suddenly find yourself with a need that you really do not have the ability to meet?  Trust again in the Christ of your salvation for, like a fish swimming with money in its mouth, He had a perfect plan in motion even before you were aware of the problem. 

At some point somebody lost the piece of money in the fish’s mouth.  I wonder if they got angry and bitter against God, not realising that His perfect plan was unfolding and indeed that they were a part of it?  If you love your Lord then trust that He loves you and is making good things and good gifts come your way. This is true despite and even at the point when you feel you have lost out or been  let down. 

Take time and read Romans 8:28, Psalm 31:22; Psalm38:11-15; Matthew 6: 31-34; 7: 7-12.

There was once a woman with an “issue of blood”.  No physician could heal her. She had suffered at the hands of the genuine and the con-artist alike. This very sick woman had been left pennyless, broken and worse than when she had started to seek help.  But all that changed the day she met Christ. She decided to reach out one more time when everything she had experienced to date screamed that disappointment and failure was inevitable.  This lady chose not to live on her bad experience but act on her new revelation namely…Christ would heal her free of charge. It’s time to believe in a new experience. So says the woman who had the issue of blood. See Mark 5:25-34.

There was once a man full of demons so many in fact that they were called Legion. His experience over a “long time” (Luke 8:27) was that no man could tame him and no man could help him.  But all that changed the day he met Christ for in the Son of Man he found total deliverence. Whenever your experience dictates that you must suffer terribly with and carry your burden believe that the Lord Jesus Christ can and wants to deliver you from it. It’s time to get a new experience. So says the man from the country of the Gadarenes. See Luke 8:27-39.  

There was once a cripple who lay for 38 years wanting desperately to be healed. His experience was a simple but profoundly cruel one…there was no man to help him (John 5:7). Bitterness, anger and eventually despondency had gripped his life and smothered his hopes. Everything about his experience declared that things would never change no matter what he did or who he reached out to. Despite the inevitability of a crushing and unchanging routine he decided to reach out to a stranger who happened to be his Saviour. It’s time to believe for a new experience. So says the impotent man who lay at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. See John 5: 1 – 15).

Don’t let your past experience dictate your future believe in and reach out to the One who holds the future and whatch Him give you a new one! The testimony of these three people is literally life changing…bad experience must bow the knee to the Christ of Calvary.

Luke 2:25-26 reveals all we need to know about Simeon…he was totally committed and completely faithful.  It didn’t matter how many years he had waited for God’s promise to be fulfilled Simeon maintained a deep and close relationship with God.  For when the time was right, when the time was perfect God moved on Simeon with a supernatural ease that only intimacy allows (Luke 2:27-28). The sovereign hand of God made sure that a faithful Simeon was in the right place at the right time for the right result.

Anna was a woman who had lost her husband 84 years before the birth of Christ (Luke 2:37). Never loosing her first love for God, full of faith and faithfulness she was constantly at church serving and worshipping.  It was not a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit that brought her into the temple at exactly the right time.  It was not an angelic visitation from which she received instructions to go to the temple and meet the Christ.  It was in fact a devotional life style daily putting herself into the presence of God that placed her perfectly to meet His greatest gift to the world, “… [Anna] departed not from the temple but served God…night and day…And she coming in that instant gave thanks…”  (Luke 2:37-38). When you draw near to God He will draw near to you healing your hurt, healing your body and leading you perfectly in the days ahead. “Submit yourselves [and]…Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” (James 4:7-8).  

No matter how long it has been.  No matter how many doors have actually, literally closed never forget that a faithful God answers faith filled prayers. Whether you have a supernatural helping hand (Luke 2:27) or you just turn up the way you always do (Luke 2:27-28) staying faithful puts you on a collision course with your miracle.

If there is one underpinning Christmas message for the New Year from Zacharias, Simeon and Anna it is simply…be faithful, because so will God!! You don’t have to be a special case.  Just do not loose your faith in a supernatural God of grace.

Thought: The Lord Jesus Christ reigns in your life in this incoming year…don’t let any thought, anyone or anything convince you otherwise.  2 Corinthians 10:5; Psalm 56:9-13 (read 1-13); Hebrews 13:5-6.

Worship touches your heart so that God can transform your mind. Psalm 20:5-9, Romans 1:21.

Worship gets you thinking straight so that God can set you straight. Psalm 73:28, Psalm 56:10-13.

Worship makes you reach out so that God can reach in. Psalm 10:16-17

Worship lifts you so that God can reach you. Psalm 50:14 – 15.

Worship frees you so that sin and adversity can’t shackle you. Psalm 56: 9-13.

 Worship is a decision and a pre-occupation: 

Psalm 34:1-3,

Psalm 33:1-3,

Hebrews 13:15,

Psalm 30:4. 

Psalm 35: 27 – 28.

It is worship that enables you to “abound” in your faith walk.  Colossians 2:7

Worship is a trigger to release God’s power.  2 Chronicles 20:22.

In 2 Chronicles 20:10 – 22 the Lord gave Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah the most wonderful promise of victory. All they had to do was turn up for the fight, stand in faith and watch God destroy their enemies.  God at no point mentions or demands worship.  However, from verse 10 – 22 God’s people soaked their faith walk in wall to wall worship.  The promise of God plus unrestrained praise ignited such a deliverance that an enemy of which Jehoshaphat declared, “…we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do…” (2 Chronicles 20:12) was totally and effortlessly destroyed. 

Facing certain annihilation where did their instinctive crescendo of worship come from?  The secret is also found in verse 12 for despite the impossible and desperate situation there was a “but” that no enemy stood a chance against.  Despite the darkest of hours this was a people that when facing destruction declared, “…but our eyes are upon Thee”.  Their worship was an act of faith and trust that brought down the prophetic anointing (v14-15) and stirred the hand of God to completely deliver them.  Maybe Paul and Silas thought of Jehoshaphat as they lay battered and blooded in a prison cell (Acts 16:23-26).  As with God’s people in  2nd Chronicles Ch. 20 they put their eyes on God not the threat though very real and all around.  Paul and Silas worshipped God in exactly the same way and got exactly the same results.  The good news is, “…God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). No matter who you are, no matter how dangerous and sinister your situation pray to God for help and worship Him with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7).  He will hear, He will answer and He will deliver (Psalm 142:6-7).

To paraphrase: Every man must put his wife first as he would himself and every woman must respect her husband as she herself would like to be respected.

Every believer needs to change, grow up and be transformed (Romans 12:2) and that includes your better half.  Therefore, the next time your spouse falls into that annoying bad habit or mind set don’t ridicule, reach out. This may come as a surprise but you do not have a divine right to criticize your partner.  They may in fact be in the wrong but they are in fact still human and as their friend and lover you have a distinctly unique opportunity to help transform them. 

How patient would you be with a fellow Christian that you know is struggling?  Don’t be somebody who understands the great needs of the stranger and yet growls at the smallest fault in their partner.  This type of person is called a hypocrite!

Thinking of our text, it is hard to be impatient or remain agitated toward someone that you pray for, express love for and show respect for.  If everything about your wife annoys you, then guess what, at some point down the line you stopped being a husband and gave up on God’s commandment to love and cherish God’s gift to you. Selah!  Like wise if everything about your husband sparks you off its time to light the fire of love and respect for the man in your life.  Ephesians 5:33 is a commandment for a very good reason.  When a husband / wife demonstrates love and respect only on the back of “good behaviour”  they are condemning their marriage and denying their own Christianity.  Once love is acknowledged and committed to in matrimony it is the decisions you make that make it grow or drain the life out of it. 

It is time to make a decision to love your wife by forgiving, reaching out to and honouring her.  It is time to make a decision to “reverence” your husband by forgiving, reaching out to and honouring him.  Your better half should be a reflection of the best in you. Try listening instead of shouting, try understanding instead of condemning, try searching for the answers instead of taking the easy way out and giving in to anger.  Remember, what you fix together will help you stay together. Selah!  The Bible pulls no punches, “…everyone…love..and…reverence…”. Do it God’s way and you will release God’s power into your relationship.

If it frightens, intimidates, challenges or is trying to steal from you but it is something you cannot avoid then God will use it to train, mould  and empower you.  There was no great rejoicing in Heaven over the slaying of a lion and a bear by David. The joy was in the unfolding of a sovereign plan of God using these unsung acts of miraculous bravery to create a fearless and faithful warrior…a giant killer. The Lord Jesus Christ is doing the same in you.

There was no great joy in Heaven over a few sheep protected and well cared for. Rather the joy was in the transformation of a young mans priorities that inspired him to go beyond what was asked or even thought (Ephesians 3:20 ). The Lord Jesus Christ is doing the same in you.

There was no great master plan to humble David by playing a harp with no one to listen or practice a sling shot because he was not considered important enough to train as a soldier. There was however, a supernatural calling according to God’s purpose (Romans 8:28) that had God’s undivided attention.  The Lord had determined that David would worship his way through trouble.  David had been trained to worship and trust while no one was watching so that he would glorify God when every eye was literally upon him. The Lord Jesus Christ is doing the same with you.

Hand over the lions and bears you are facing in your personal life and walk with God.  Give Him full control of your situation. He will not only empower and deliver you, but God will use each trial and victory to prepare you for much greater ones in the future.  Pray to your Saviour and trust Him to use even your current difficulties to make the giant killer rise up within you.  Be assured that God is working in your heart and life for there is no fear that you cannot overcome when He has helped you to over come your fears.  Your God is so in control that your lions and bears will become stepping stones not dead ends.  What you are going through and overcoming today will be your reference point to ensure a great victory tomorrow (1st Samuel 18: 34 – 37).

Saul believed David because he saw in his eyes and heard in his voice the confidence, the faith of a man who had defeated his lions and bears.  Keep putting your trust in God and He will put that same confidence in you.  It will deliver you and it will convince others. Selah!