A Solitary Life

Nearly two thousand years ago in an obscure village, a child was born of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village where He worked as a carpenter until he was thirty. Then for three years He became an itinerant preacher.

This Man never went to college or seminary. He never wrote a book. He never held a public office. He never had a family nor owned a home. He never put His foot inside a big city nor traveled even 200 miles from His birthplace. And though he never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness, throngs of people followed Him. He had no credentials but Himself.

While He was still young, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His followers ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was sentenced to death on a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth--the simple coat He had worn. His body was laid in a borrowed grave provided by a compassionate friend.

But three days later this Man arose from the dead--living proof that He was, as He had claimed, the Savior whom God had sent, the Incarnate Son of God.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today the risen Lord Jesus Christ is the central figure of the human race. On our calendars His birth divides history in two eras. One day of every week is set aside in remembrance of Him. And our two most important holidays celebrate His birth and resurrection. On church steeples around the world His cross has become the symbol of victory over sin and death.

This one Man's life has furnished the theme for more songs, books, poems and paintings than any other person or event in history. Thousands of colleges, hospitals, orphanages and other institutions have been founded in honor of this One who gave His life for us.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the governments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned have not changed the course of history as much as this One Solitary Life.

Over the centuries millions have found a new life of forgiveness from sins and peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Today He offers this life to all who will believe in Him. "I am the way, the truth, and the life," Jesus said, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life"

- Dr. James Allen Francis

Merry Christmas everyone. My prayer for you is that you use this and every opportunity to find the significant life only possible by recognizing the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God bless you.

I Wonder If He Cried

It's normal that babies cry when they are born. They are wet, cold, frightened by the birthing, hungry for mama, or maybe peeved at getting slapped on the rump. Thus they cry. Rightly so, since life will bring seasons of rain, cold, discomforting pressure, emptiness and even more slaps on the rump. Thus we cry.

I wonder though, I just wonder, did Jesus cry when He was born? And if He did was it for normal reasons? For it is without doubt that He was nothing normal. His birth was normal in appearance and process, but extraordinary in meaning. God was born. As clumsy as such a saying may seem it is nonetheless true. The baby born to Mary and Joseph was God in the flesh. Again I say, this was far from normal.

Did he cry because He came into a fallen world? A world rightly made yet corrupted and polluted by sin.

Was He shocked at the sensation of temporalness, each moment in the now affronting His memory of timelessness?

Did He weep already at our unbelief? For only pagans, shepherds and barn animals were there to welcome Him.

Was He discomfited at the shadow of the cross? Was there any understanding of the price He would pay to be obedient to God, and save us from sin?

Well the Bible is silent on baby Jesus having these thoughts and emotional responses. But it speaks clearly that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We celebrate His birth only in light of his death. We recognize His coming down only because He was lifted up. Whatever suffering He endured and exposed at birth pales in comparison to what He suffered in his death.

He wept for Jerusalem - Matthew 23:37

He wept because of unbelief - John 11:35

He wept in the Garden as he prayed. - Hebrews 5:7

But the cry that was most significant was on Calvary, when He died so that we may live. - Luke 23:46

Don't Try Jesus

Try Jesus. Here is yet another spiritualized, canned, automated Christian saying that sounds good but is actually garbage. It is usually said as an invitation to Christianity. "You may have tried this and that and such, now try Jesus." Or "Try Jesus and see if He won't do this and that and such." Once again good intentions have created a slippery slope of confusion.

Trust Jesus, don't try Him. He is not another anything. He is in a class all by Himself. Incomparable, indisputable and undeniably Lord. He earned the right to be Lord and as Lord he deserves your loyalty not your trial. In fact, He is Lord because He's already been tried. Judged by an unlawful court, condemned for a crime He did not commit and hung on a cross for our trespasses. But He rose from the grave with all power. That's a historical fact that demands loyalty, not another trial.

Trying Jesus is a setup for failure. Whatever criteria for a successful 'trial' that a person may have, becomes very problematic in the face of persecution and tribulation. If you 'Try Jesus' and sickness comes, or death in your family, or famine and such you may find yourself thinking that Jesus doesn't work. Countless people have given up there walk with Christ because they believed the Lord failed them. That he did not do what they thought He should do.

That's why trust is the only way to serve. It is when you walk by faith that Christ shows Himself mighty. It is through trust that you have confidence about life. Trusting Him is the only way to take Him at his word. Lordship makes life make sense.

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him." - - Hebrews 10:35-38