And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord….” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:8-11, 16-20

Jesus is here. God has come, Immanuel, God with us. Mary had been anticipating the moment. The shepherds just heard the good news. Mary treasures what is happening and ponders it all in her heart. The shepherds glorify and praise God and spread the word about all they had just heard, and people are amazed.

Why did the angels appear to the shepherds? Maybe because they were watching their flocks by night since that’s what shepherds do when they are expecting new lambs. A lamb was born, the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world. They were watching for the birth of a lamb and they saw it.

Mary had believed the angel who told her she would have the child Messiah, Jesus, Yeshua, meaning God saves or God’s salvation. She was watching and waiting for the coming Messiah.

We wait and watch again. Messiah will come again, this time to reign in the world as an earthly king, though He will be anything but of this world.

Do you believe He is coming? Are you prepared for His arrival? Are you pondering these things in your heart like Mary? Once the angels are announcing His arrival next time, it will be too late. They are coming with their sickles to gather in the wheat and the chaff, and you’ll want to be part of those being gathered into the barn!

Will you share it and glorify God like the shepherds? Make His great name known. Jesus has come in the flesh. You are living in His kingdom and He’s coming to establish His kingdom on earth. He’s your good Father who takes care of you in every way and is growing you up in the perfect image of Christ, who is already in you. We are sons of God and will live and reign with Him forever. Give Him glory and praise His name.

Must I forever see these evil deeds?
    Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.
⁴ The law has become paralyzed,
    and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
    so that justice has become perverted.

⁵ The Lord replied,

“Look around at the nations;
    look and be amazed!
For I am doing something in your own day,
    something you wouldn’t believe
    even if someone told you about it.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I believe all Christians should be prepared for tribulation. It could be “the” tribulation or “a” tribulation. It really does not matter at all. We follow and trust Christ no matter what. When “Babylon” requires allegiance, we refuse to give our allegiance to anyone other than Christ. During the time of the Maccabees, Jews refused the “mark” of eating pork and were beaten and killed. Christians in China during the Cultural Revolution refused the “mark” of reverencing Chairman Mao and were beaten and killed.

I wrote the base pages on this site in 2009. The blog posts start from that time and then stop at 2012 and begin again 2020. The pages, parts 1 – 5, are about living through The Tribulation, but the same biblical principles apply no matter the type of tribulation. Throughout history, Christians have been martyred for following Christ. Paul talks about sharing in Christ’s suffering.

Read through the five parts and think through the Scripture. Read through the posts and be encouraged. This isn’t about knowing what’s going to happen. We don’t need to know the details. We need to know Him. Know your Good Father. Spend time with Him and get to know Him through His Word.

If you want more teaching, I have devotionals going through the whole Bible, topical Bible studies, courses, and much more. They are all available online for free.

Hezekiah was one of those good kings. He was a king of Judah described in the Bible as one who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” In fact it’s also said of him:

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went.  2 Kings 18:5-7

Living by faith and obedience to the Word of God had blessed Hezekiah just like the law had promised. But then something happened. Hezekiah watched Israel get taken captive by Assyria. Hezekiah watched as Judah’s own fortified cities were overthrown by Assyria. Only Jerusalem was left.

It says that Hezekiah had “rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.” Hezekiah had known a victory over Assyria. But that past victory wasn’t enough when the king of Assyria returned.

He didn’t remember the previous faith victory. He didn’t trust. After all, it seems faithful and upright living wasn’t working for him anymore. His cities had been overthrown. It was already too late. Faith hadn’t worked. He digs down into his own resources and relies on himself for salvation from the Assyrians. He pays off the King of Assyria. He uses the temple gold. Assyria is pleased, and as I always point out to my children, “Bad guys are bad; you can’t trust them.” The King of Assyria returns, encouraged by how Hezekiah backed down earlier. This time, however, Hezekiah has no resources of his own left. He had no way of saving himself, or even trying to. There was nothing or no one else he could turn to. So he turns to God. And God saves him and the city. They didn’t even have to fight. God did the whole thing on His own.

It turns out that faith does work. Faith did work. There are times when the tribulation increases, when it seems like things have already gone the wrong way and that faith hadn’t stopped them or turned things around. But it’s here God gets to see your heart. Will you rely on yourself or will you trust Him? And if we aren’t ready to trust Him, then these tribulations can keep knocking us lower until we have no where else to turn but to God.

Why does God knock us down until we turn to Him? Because we are saved by faith and salvation is what He wants for you. It’s all out of His abundant love and grace that He allows us to endure trials to purify our hearts and perfect our faith. So the next time it seems like faith didn’t work, hunker down, cry out to God and don’t allow your situation to confuse the truth. God is faithful and cannot fail you. Faith saves.

“…weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:6

Last night was terrible: bad dreams, dark images, pain.

Lying awake in the middle of the night, I was reminded that morning would come. I asked the Lord why it couldn’t always be morning. Why did the dark night have to pass first?

What was the purpose of the dark night? The obvious answer: Rest. My first reaction was that going through these attacks was not restful. I was losing plenty of sleep over it. But then I realized that the night was when we rested.

It is during our trials that we have to consciously lay our lives down and trust Him with everything. It’s when we come to the point of saying, “I can’t save myself. I can’t manage this on my own. I can’t fix this.” It’s when we release. It’s when in faith, we lie down and sleep peacefully.

I can be thankful for the times life causes me to cry out, “Save us, Jesus.” It’s too easy to not consciously lay down my life each day, each moment, when things are going well. It’s too easy to act like I have my life under control when control is really just a mirage.

I will trust Him tonight when the dark night falls. I will trust and I will have rest.

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”   Judges 6:13-14

This is just an encouragement that this is what it feels like the day before the victory, the day before God moves. Gideon is wondering where God is, what He’s been doing, why all these bad things are happening, where are the miracles? But it only takes a moment for the Lord to speak the word and change everything.

He hasn’t changed while you’ve been waiting on Him, waiting on miracles. His power hasn’t changed, His love for you hasn’t changed. But your life will change once He speaks that word. Don’t tire of waiting in His presence for the “Go.”

Psalm 23

You would think I’d be totally familiar with this chapter of the Bible. Reading it today I was struck by something though. It’s a picture of the Lord leading us–beside the still waters, on the paths of righteousness. The next verse is about walking through the “valley of the shadow of death.” It says that he’s not afraid because the Lord is there with him. Of course He is, He led him there.

The paths of righteousness lead through the valley of the shadow of death. It’s where we learn about His rod and His staff, His discipline and His guidance. And it is as we follow Him through, willingly submitting to His rod and His staff, that His goodness and lovingkindness follow us.

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

In context this verse is talking about money, namely the ability to live with or without. With the souring economy and the threat of natural and man-made disaster more and more real, it’s important to realize what Paul is saying. He says that he has found the secret to getting along and being content no matter his financial situation. He says he knows the secret to living with an abundance and he knows the secret to being in need and going hungry. Here it is: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. That’s his secret. Notice he says he’s gone hungry. You may go hungry, but Christ can fill you and strengthen you to handle it until your next meal comes.

Just a little further is another verse often quoted without its context.

“And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:20

Here Paul has just finished talking about how the Philippians had sent him several gifts to meet his needs. He says you have met my needs and my God will meet your needs. This is how it works in God’s economy. In verse 17 Paul says how their giving increases their “account.” When you give in Christ, you end up with more, not less. You may go through a time of need, but God will come through, and He will give you the strength you need as you wait expectantly.

“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” Luke 8:15

Everyone who had seen Jesus knew there was something different about him. Even those in his hometown wondered at the words coming out of his mouth. Everyone recognized something was there. Some were drawn to it. Some were threatened by it. Some tested it. Jesus didn’t really let people sit in the “not sure” camp. He pretty much forced people into the love me or hate me category. The Pharisees accused him of having gotten his power from the devil. Others believed He was from God but didn’t realize He was God in the flesh.

The parable of the sower describes four types of people. It describes four types of people and we see them all in the Scriptures. There were those whose hearts are hard and even though they have seen and heard they won’t believe. There were those who believed Jesus had power from God and went to see or experience a miracle but they weren’t ready to follow Him. There were those who decided they did want to follow Jesus, but they couldn’t make the full commitment to leave their lives and follow. Then there were those, like the first disciples, who left it all to follow Jesus. They made the daily commitment to pick up their cross and lose their own life to follow Jesus and gain true Life.

The Scriptures say it is only these, who hold fast to Jesus and persevere in following His commands, who will bear fruit.

Peter and Andrew and James and Johns were two sets of brothers who worked as partners in a fishing business. They fished at night because that’s when fishing is best. They weren’t fishing for pleasure. This was their job. This was how they fed and provided for their families. And that’s why they didn’t give up all night when they hadn’t caught any fish. When dawn came, they kept on fishing. Their families needed to eat. How else could they take care of their families if they didn’t catch fish? When the sun was up, they kept on fishing. They finally packed it in as the shores filled with people. They were washing their nets and listening to Jesus teach the crowds on the shore.

When he’s finished teaching, Jesus tells Peter to go out into the deep water and let down their nets. They obey, but they think it’s futile. They pull so many fish into the boat it’s almost sinking. James and John need to help them out. It’s the biggest payload they’ve ever had. But Peter recognizes the presence of God and fears being in Jesus’ presence because he is a “sinful man.” On shore they leave the fish in the boats, worth maybe more money than they had ever seen at one time, and they walk away, away from trying to provide for themselves. In a instant of realizing who Jesus was they were prepared to leave it behind and trust.

They don’t always understand that provision, but they get to experience God’s supernatural provision again and again. Are you ready to walk away from your means of providing for yourself if it means obeying and following Jesus?