But God

 

But God… It gets me every time. I am reading a good book, and I look at the amount of pages left. “No way are they going to be able to wrap this all up in that amount of time.” Or “This author has backed himself into a corner. No way is he getting out.” But they do! I close the book and say “they did it.” That is how I feel about Christmas. The world was so dark. People had turned to their own fleshly desires and worldly wants. (Almost) everyone had forgotten the God who had parted the red sea and saved them from slavery. No one was worshiping in spirit and truth. It became more of a social gathering than a place of devout worship. The world was dark. Did you think I was speakin g about right before Jesus came? Because I sort of was. But I sort of was talking about this afternoon too. Darkness. The absence of light. Had there not been darkness, the light would not have had to come. Had the author not got his main character into a big heap of trouble, help wouldn’t have to be on the way. Had I just listened to Him in the first place, I wouldn’t be sitting here, in the dark, not able to see my own hands in front of my face. I do so love the story of Mary wrapping her perfect child and laying him in a manger. I love the shepherds getting the first Christmas celebration from the heavenly sky. I love the “unto us a child is given,” You want to know though what my favorite Christmas verse is. John 1:4 “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” What a promise. What a God. The Bible tells us in John 1:10 that “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Also, John 3:19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Again, am I talking about December 2021 or 1 A.D. I think both. Time after time, God’s creation got themselves in trouble. They rebelled. They forgot. They went their own way. Every. Single. Time. They ended up stranded in darkness with no way to see or get out. And yet GOD Acts 26:18 “…Yes I am sending you to the Gentiles (all of us who are not Jewish) to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.” We put ourselves in the dark. We know better. We can do better. But here we are…. again. I remember doing a bible study of the Old Testament and kept thinking people come on! Over and over we go. Don’t you remember? Has He not shown you? You know what is waiting on the other side of that feel good right now sin. Then it hit me. It’s me. I am an Israelite. I have forgotten the past miracles of God that He has done throughout my whole life. I am the one complaining about the manna he is providing form the goodness of His Father heart. I am the one stumbling in darkness, knocking into stuff, knocking over stuff, and I can’t see. And yet. And God.
It gets me every time. I am reading a good book, and I look at the amount of pages left. “No way are they going to be able to wrap this all up in that amount of time.” Or “This author has backed himself into a corner. No way is he getting out.” But they do! I close the book and say “they did it.” That is how I feel about Christmas. The world was so dark. People had turned to their own fleshly desires and worldly wants. (Almost) everyone had forgotten the God who had parted the red sea and saved them from slavery. No one was worshiping in spirit and truth. It became more of a social gathering than a place of devout worship. The world was dark. Did you think I was speakin g about right before Jesus came? Because I sort of was. But I sort of was talking about this afternoon too. Darkness. The absence of light. Had there not been darkness, the light would not have had to come. Had the author not got his main character into a big heap of trouble, help wouldn’t have to be on the way. Had I just listened to Him in the first place, I wouldn’t be sitting here, in the dark, not able to see my own hands in front of my face. I do so love the story of Mary wrapping her perfect child and laying him in a manger. I love the shepherds getting the first Christmas celebration from the heavenly sky. I love the “unto us a child is given,” You want to know though what my favorite Christmas verse is. John 1:4 “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” What a promise. What a God. The Bible tells us in John 1:10 that “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Also, John 3:19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Again, am I talking about December 2021 or 1 A.D. I think both. Time after time, God’s creation got themselves in trouble. They rebelled. They forgot. They went their own way. Every. Single. Time. They ended up stranded in darkness with no way to see or get out. And yet GOD Acts 26:18 “…Yes I am sending you to the Gentiles (all of us who are not Jewish) to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.” We put ourselves in the dark. We know better. We can do better. But here we are…. again. I remember doing a bible study of the Old Testament and kept thinking people come on! Over and over we go. Don’t you remember? Has He not shown you? You know what is waiting on the other side of that feel good right now sin. Then it hit me. It’s me. I am an Israelite. I have forgotten the past miracles of God that He has done throughout my whole life. I am the one complaining about the manna he is providing form the goodness of His Father heart. I am the one stumbling in darkness, knocking into stuff, knocking over stuff, and I can’t see. And yet. And God.

That first Christmas and this 2,021 Christmas? He was and is providing us a way out. He is sending light. If we were not so lost in darkness, we would not need the light. Even when we were yet sinners, addicts, foul mouthed, selfish, cruel, and more He sent THE LIGHT. He sent His son to illuminate our life. No longer can I say I didn’t know. I didn’t see. Yes, I do because He sent His very best. He sent His Son, His Light to show us the mess we were in AND how to get out. Now, the world has always loved darkness. It feels right and comfortable until you come to the Lord. So people will hide from the light. They pretend they like their darkness. They find it comforting and where they WANT to be. God knows the truth. They are scared. They are confused. They have forgotten. He keeps sending the Light. Year after Year. Day after Day. Second by second. Because at some point, we see. We SEE. Light has come into the world. The darkness has never, can never, and will never overcome it. Light consumes the darkness until it is no more. Come Lord Jesus. Bringer of the Light. Come. That first Christmas and this 2,021 Christmas? He was and is providing us a way out. He is sending light. If we were not so lost in darkness, we would not need the light. Even when we were yet sinners, addicts, foul mouthed, selfish, cruel, and more He sent THE LIGHT. He sent His son to illuminate our life. No longer can I say I didn’t know. I didn’t see. Yes, I do because He sent His very best. He sent His Son, His Light to show us the mess we were in AND how to get out. Now, the world has always loved darkness. It feels right and comfortable until you come to the Lord. So people will hide from the light. They pretend they like their darkness. They find it comforting and where they WANT to be. God knows the truth. They are scared. They are confused. They have forgotten. He keeps sending the Light. Year after Year. Day after Day. Second by second. Because at some point, we see. We SEE. Light has come into the world. The darkness has never, can never, and will never overcome it. Light consumes the darkness until it is no more. Come Lord Jesus. Bringer of the Light. Come.