Christmas Time – Changing Our Expectations (Part 4)

This is now the fourth article on Christmas and I want to move from the negative things that keep us quiet to the positive things that result in an expectation that God will use them in ways they may have not experienced as of yet. God is constantly on the lookout for believers that will “Believe” that He is able to do “Extraordinarily More” than we can ask for when it comes to touching the world for Christ. If you haven’t read the first three articles please do so first so that you are able to track my thoughts throughout this topic. These articles are all starting with “Christmas Time”.

It has been my experience over the last 45 years that the body of Christ has suffered in the area of a balanced perspective of believing for the hand of God to do miraculous things in our lives. There tends to be such a heavy focus of seeking God for ourselves and less on reaching the world with the power of God. When you read the gospels it is easy to notice that everything Jesus did was to communicate the Father’s heart to a broken world, whether it was to the Jews who were so legalistic or to the secular person like the Romans who believed in many gods. The truth is I can’t think of but a few places where Jesus asked the Father for his personal needs or desires, but rather was always asking to please the Father or touch people with the Father’s heart. I think Jesus lived by expecting the Father to do more than provide for his needs because he put the glory of his Heavenly Father first and loved people with all his beating heart. I believe if we are doing those two things the Holy Spirit will provide beyond our expectations and we won’t get trapped in corrupt the theology of “Confess & Possess” to our own distraction. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of only thinking about ourselves no matter how much we have or how much we earn.

I have already talked about a number of negative obstacles that hinder us from caring or actively speaking to people about Christ during December and now I would like to address a few key “Truths” that often are not spoken enough about in the church nor sought among fellow believers.  So, there are things we need to reject that keeps us quiet about Jesus and there are things we need to embrace that will change our lack of witnessing.

Jesus taught his followers to seek first the “Kingdom of God”. When Jesus taught his disciples this key principle to live by it was presented as an answer to them always being worried about “Stuff” and how they were going to get more. When Jesus said seek first the kingdom it was not a fancy by-line or metaphor. It was a goal that each of us has to seek and gauge our own personal maturity and growth in Christ. The question is: Do we seek it or do we just talk about it in Sunday school class or bible study? The kingdom of God is expressed in seeking God’s authority in all we do. It is about the priorities we set in life and live out. If we would seek the kingdom of God we would seek his will for our lives whether, it was about the job to take, the state to live in, to the church body to become a part of. For the average believer they seek God’s best and authority if it advances our personal agenda.

If I seek the kingdom of God in the way that Jesus taught it is the “FIRST THING” ,not the last thing, that I look for in determining the will of God for my life. After walking as a Christian for these many years I can tell you it is still a principle I struggle with at times.  I know it’s the right thing to do “First” and that it’s the heart of God that I do just that, seek first, but my own desires and will often fool me into believing I’m seeking God’s will when in fact I’m just trying to justify some desire in my soul that is unchecked or counseled by the Holy Spirit. Funny how we all can be easily persuaded that our motives are pure when they aren’t.

So, how does this relate to sharing Christ this Christmas? Simple, if you believe like I do that God’s hand is involved in doing  great things during the month of December. If God is indeed moving on the culture than I should be sensitive to that fact and get on board in cooperating with the Holy Spirit and being part of the program. If your pastor is challenging the body to get on board with some project or purpose, to touch people in your city, the time to join him is while the project goal is in full swing, not after the event is over. I have witnessed so many times that when the day after Christmas happens people turn off their openness to the gospel. Now, not all people, but the many. So, wouldn’t it be best to jump in when the Holy Spirit is moving?

In my last church, which I pastored for 30 years, when the Christmas season approached, we did many different things to touch people for Jesus. During the month of December we used singing in the streets to putting on full dramatic productions of the birth of Christ in the local malls where over a thousand people would stand for an hour to watch us perform with dancing, drama and music in telling the story of the Christ child being born. The mall manager, who was not Christian and who was a pretty tough man, watched many of the productions with tears in his eyes because God was using simple people to tell the magnificent story of the birth of Christ and His love. Also, our church would hand out “Christmas Jars” to touch people’s hearts. itWe would save our loose change for a few months and put it in canning jars and then, the week before Christmas, give them away to strangers as the Holy Spirit would lead. These acts of service and kindness opened their soul to us and the gospel.

There are so many ways to share the love of God that all we need to do is tell God we are willing to be used and then let the Holy Spirit guide us as to how. Too many of us are waiting to see what to do before we confess our willingness to be used. What if we actually did what the Bible says and we lived by faith, which is not by sight?

Romans 1:17  

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Here is another “Truth” that I will only touch on but is so vital to being free to share.

Galatians 2:20                                                                                                                                                                                              

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 

Paul was such a magnificent witness for God because he had decided long ago he would die to living for himself as supreme and he would live ultimately for Jesus Christ. That is our same calling and Christ is calling us to be set free from living for lesser things.

Questions:

1) Do you understand the concept of living for the kingdom? If not, why not, as it is central to true Christianity.

2) Have you surrendered to the guidance of the Holy Spirit ? It is the only way to live as Jesus taught.

May God ignite in our hearts a true revelation of what Christmas is all about.

Pastor Dale