No Shepherd – Zechariah 10:2

“For the idols speak delusion; the diviners envision lies, and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain.  Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; they are in trouble because there is no shepherd.’”

Through Zechariah, God was plainly stating the utter uselessness of the idols and their diviners in their attempts to prophecy whether rain would come and when.  “He shows them the folly of making their addresses to idols as their fathers had done (v. 2): The idols have spoken vanity; the teraphim, which they courted and consulted in their distress, were so far from being able to command rain for them that they could not so much as tell them when they should have rain. They pretended to promise them rain at such a time, but it did not come. The diviners, who were the prophets of those idols, have seen a lie (their visions were all a cheat and a sham); and they have told false dreams, such as the event did not answer, which proved that they were not from God. Thus they comforted in vain those that consulted the lying oracles; all the vanities of the heathen put together could not give rain.  “Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?  Or can the heavens give showers?  Are You not He, O LORD our God?  Therefore we will wait for You, since You have made all these.”  (Jeremiah 14:22).  Yet this was not the worst of it; they not only got nothing by the false gods, but they lost the favour of the true God, for therefore they went their way into captivity as a flock driven into the fold, and they were troubled with one vexation after another, as scattered sheep are, because there was no shepherd, no prince to rule them, no priest to intercede for them, none to take care of them and keep them together. Those that wandered after strange gods were made to wander, into strange nations.”  (Matthew Henry)

God wants us to trust Him, to turn to Him, to talk to Him, and to read His Word.  He wants a personal relationship with us.  He wants our devotion and He is jealous that way.  Many of us will say, ‘but I do love God and I do not worship idols!’  An idol can present itself in forms other than pagan worship.  Anything that comes between you and your personal relationship with God is an idol.  Should we venture to name a few?  How about money, a career, politics, a personal goal, a bucket list, even family members can become more important than your relationship with God.  At the exclusion of God, these very things can give comfort in vain.  Many who seek after money think they will finally be happy when they have it.  Comfort in vain.  Those who put their trust into politicians and say that all will be better when that person is elected.  Comfort in vain.  Those who seek after a goal at all costs think they will have ‘arrived’ once the goal is achieved.  Comfort in vain.  Ones who seek to please family members at the expense of their relationship with God.  Comfort in vain.  Why do we put things between us and God?  We do it because the world deceives us into believing that things like money, career, politics and bucket lists are admirable, and…we do it because we choose to do it.

God is the only One Who can truly comfort us.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  When sheep are left to their own devices scripture describes their movement as ‘wend.’  ‘Wend’ is defined as “go in a specified direction, typically slowly or by an indirect route.”  When the people have no godly leader, God notes that the people wend their way like sheep, and the result is that they get into trouble.  God loves us so much that He wants to shepherd us.  A shepherd’s livelihood is the flock.  The care, leading and protection of the flock is of utmost importance to a good shepherd.  Jesus tells us what lengths a good shepherd would go to in protecting his flock.  “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”  (John 10:11)

Friend, are you in trouble?  Are you wending your way like sheep because you have no shepherd?  Are you in trouble because someone has spoken lies in an attempt to comfort you in vain?  Are you tired of trying to make it on your own?  Jesus wants you to be in His flock.  He will never lie.  He stands at the door of your heart and knocks.  He is polite, He will not insist.  You must ask Him into your heart.  It is up to you to ask Him to be your Good Shepherd.    

Once you have asked Jesus to be your Great Shepherd, you can count on this promise:  “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”  (John 10:27-28)

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”  (Hebrews 13:20-21)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I Lay Down and Slept – Psalm 3:5

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.”

Sleep to me is a marvelous mystery.  A body demands sleep.  We are so refreshed when we get it.  Conversely, our body and mind do not function well when we lack sleep.  The older we get, the more we appreciate a good nap!  But sleep does not always come to those who desperately need it.  People find that if there is trouble in their life, when the mind is twisted up in worry, sleep can be illusive.

King David wrote this Psalm at a time when there was great trouble in his life.  His son, Absalom, had run King David off the throne, out of his own city of Jerusalem, and turned many of the people against him, some of whom used to be trusted friends of King David.  The people said God was no longer helping David.  Absalom and his followers sought to kill King David.  This is some pretty serious trouble, physical and emotional.  Yet King David says ‘I lay down and slept.’  Could you?

After restoring his body and mind with sleep, King David tells us ‘I awoke.’  “Every time you lay down and fall asleep, you are enjoying a good gift of God. Every time you wake up, you are enjoying another good gift of God.  He sustains us, both waking and sleeping.”  (Charles Stanley)  Why could King David sleep?  Because he trusted God for whatever happened. 

“It seems here to be meant of the wonderful quietness and calmness of David’s spirit, in the midst of his dangers. Having by prayer committed himself and his cause to God, and being sure of his protection, his heart was fixed, and he was easy. The undutifulness of his son, the disloyalty of his subjects, the treachery of many of his friends, the hazard of his person, the fatigues of his march, and the uncertainty of the event, never deprived him of an hour’s sleep, nor gave any disturbance to his repose; for the Lord, by his grace and the consolations of his Spirit, powerfully sustained him and made him easy. It is a great mercy when we are in trouble to have our minds stayed upon God, so as never either to eat or sleep with trembling and astonishment.”  (Matthew Henry)

Are you not sleeping because of troubles in your life?  Cry out to God.  David was driven out of the place of his prayer closet, driven out of where he worshipped God, but he could still draw near to God as he fled from his enemies.  It is not a matter of if you have troubles in your life.  As a child of God, it is a matter of when.  The world is in such an uproar.  There is great hatred and anger among peoples and nations.  People are killed because they will not deny Christ.  The only way we shall overcome our fears is to petition God and then trust Him with whatever may come.  

God was David’s constant companion.  “I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.  Selah”  (Psalm 3:4)  Then David slept and awoke because the LORD sustained him.  When he awoke, David no longer had fear.  “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.”  (Psalm 3:6)  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can trust God no matter what the circumstances.  If our circumstances are not due to our own sin – our own doing – then God has His reasons for our circumstances, and we may never understand why.  But we must still trust him like Job: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15a)  When others are out to get us, we must trust God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:17-18)  When we trust God, He is glorified.  As a child of God, this should be our goal.

In the next Psalm, David reminds us again of the reason for his comforting rest, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”  (Psalm 4:8)  So cry out to our God, trust Him, and sleep well, brothers and sisters.  For there is no one greater than our God!

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A Child Is Born – Isaiah 9:6a

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;”

In December, the time when many in the world chose to celebrate the birth of Christ, this verse is seen in cards and on banners.  It receives sufficient publicity that it is sometimes known by those who rarely attend church, or do not read a Bible at all.  But to know the words without knowing the author is to miss out on so much.  The phrases above are just the beginning of that great verse in Isaiah that tells us of the coming Messiah.  The entire verse reviews the first coming of Christ for the salvation of sinners, and encompasses the second coming of Christ to establish the Kingdom His Father has given Him. 

Let us delve deeper into these two short opening phrases to see what treasure awaits in God’s Word.  While the two phrases emphasize the same wonderful gift to the world, there is an important distinction between them. 

First, “a Child is born.”  Yes, we of faith know that Jesus Christ was born into this world.  Even outside our faith, it is an undisputed historical fact that Jesus lived and walked the earth.  He was a child, and grew to be a man before His life was given for us.  This speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ, something we can mostly comprehend.  “What amazing mystery! There is nothing more weak, more helpless, more dependent than a child. Theoretically, the Messiah could have come as a fully grown man, created as an adult even as Adam was created. But for Jesus to fully identify with humanity, and to display in His life the servant nature that is in God,” “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7)” (David Guzik)

Secondly, “a Son is given.”  This speaks of the divine nature of Jesus Christ.  He was not created but was begotten of God the Father as a gift to this world.  This divinity of Jesus Christ is not as readily understood.  “As Jesus Christ is God's Son, he is not born; but given, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, begotten—not made, being of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion. But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remaineth among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him he could not be infinite: if we could understand him, then were he not divine. Jesus Christ then, I say, as a Son, is not born to us, but given. He was not born in this world as God's Son, but he was sent, or was given, so that you clearly perceive that the distinction is a suggestive one, and conveys much good truth to us.”  (Charles Spurgeon)  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Lastly, “unto us.”  In the Child born and the Son given, the human and divine nature of Jesus Christ is revealed.  Now we consider who is encompassed in that little word “us.”  We know from John 3:16 that God gave His Son because he so deeply loves the entire world.  But we also know from that same John 3:16 that there is a subset of the world that will believe in the Son.  There is a subset of the world that will have everlasting life.  That subset is “us.”

This Christmas, or whenever you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, consider and confirm whether you are included in the “us.”  Was the Child born unto you?  Was the Son given to you?  “If this child who now lies before the eyes of your faith, wrapped in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem's manger, is born to you, my hearer, then you are born again! For this child is not born to you unless you are born to this child.”  (Charles Spurgeon)

Whether you are born again is something you must make certain.  “If any man tells me that Christ is his Redeemer, although he has never experienced regeneration, that man utters what he does not know; his religion is vain, and his hope is a delusion. Only men who are born again can claim the babe in Bethlehem as being theirs. "But" saith one, "how am I to know whether I am born again or not?"” (Charles Spurgeon)

While such a confirmation is most personal and should bear much prayer and study, here are a few telling points to consider. 

A change within – “Has there been a change effected by divine grace within you? Are your loves the very opposite of what they were? Do you now hate the vain things you once admired, and do you seek after that precious pearl which you at one time despised?” (Charles Spurgeon)

A change without – “Has there been a change in you in the exterior? Do you think that others who look at you would be compelled to say, this man is not what he used to be? Do not your companions observe a change? Have they not laughed at you for what they think to be your hypocrisy, your puritanism, your sternness? Do you think now that if an angel should follow you into your secret life, should track you to your closet and see you on your knees, that he would detect something in you which he could never have seen before? For, mark, my dear hearer, there must be a change in the outward life, or else there is no change within. In vain you bring me to the tree, and say that the tree's nature is changed. If I still see it bringing forth wild grapes, it is a wild vine still.” (Charles Spurgeon)

For whom do you live? – “The very root and principle of thy life must become totally new. When we are in sin we live to self, but when we are renewed we live to God. While we are unregenerate, our principle is to seek our own pleasure, our own advancement; but that man is not truly born again who does not live with a far different aim from this. Change a man's principles, and you change his feelings, you change his actions. Now, grace changes the principles of man. It lays the axe at the root of the tree. It does not saw away at some big limb it does not try to alter the sap; but it gives a new root.” (Charles Spurgeon)

My dear friend, in this season of what many in the world flippantly call Christmas, make sure you can celebrate as a member of the family of God.  End any doubt now and surrender to the Son who was given.  Receive the adoption into the family of Christ and the privilege to call God Almighty ‘Abba Father.’  It is when that Child is born unto you and you unto Him that the celebration of Christmas brings unspeakable joy.  It is when the Son is given unto you and you accept that gift that you can have peace in a personal relationship with God Almighty.  It is then that the above scripture takes on a deeper meaning and the words of the angel to the shepherds also speak to you individually. “Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.””  (Luke 2:10-11)

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  (Luke 2:14)  And may you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.