Eight Devotional Meditations to Start a New Year

The New Year is still new enough for us to offer our “Happy New Year” greeting.  Who among us does not want 2024 to be a HAPPY year?  But in reality, many of us wonder if 2024 will be an extension of the “unhappy” issues of last year.  Let us hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.  

We have just published a blog entitled “Time to Wake Up!” [Click HERE.]  It is Part 2 of a series called, “Is Light Dimming and Darkness Winning?”  As a complement to that article, what follows below is a series of eight devotional meditations based on Isaiah Chapter 52.  We hope your reading, study, and prayer over each of these meditations will help to “awaken you” in mind, body, and spirit as you begin this New Year.

Day 1: “Our Lover Comes Calling: Wake Up!”
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 1
Background:  Isaiah 52 contains the prophet’s warning to Judah that if they continue in rebellion against God they will be taken into exile.  But because of God’s enduring, covenant love for His people, He couldn’t wait to tell them ahead of time that He would eventually set them free from His judgment.  God’s warning of judgment and promise of release after 70 years of captivity came through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29: 10-14).  What is more amazing, again before they were to be exiled, God consoles Judah through Isaiah exactly how they would be assisted in their migration from exile back to the Holy Land.  God would raise up the Persian King Cyrus who would conquer Babylon and set the Jewish exiles free (Isaiah 44: 28-45: 1; 2 Chronicles 36: 21-23).
Consider: Our Scripture verse for today finds Isaiah conveying what would be God’s “wake-up call” to the Jewish exiles in Babylon (yet future).  God comes like a lover beneath the window of the prison in which His beloved is still a sleeping captive above.  He calls out, “Awake, Awake, my beloved!  Put on thy strength!”  Isaiah had already proclaimed, Those who trust in the LORD will gain new strength (Isaiah 40: 31).  God also wants to free us from the slave master of sin. But, we must “wake up” and use the strength He gives us.  God also calls His beloved to clothe herself in royal and pure robes befitting of her position as His redeemed. 
Response:   God still calls out today to awaken people under sin’s captivity.  Maybe you have never been spiritually reborn or experienced freedom in Christ (John 3).  Or, perhaps you are born again but have neglected to yield to Christ’s call to be His disciple (a disciplined Christ-follower; see Luke 9: 23-25; John 8: 31-32) and to dress in His armor to walk as a new person in purity of heart and mind (Ephesians 6: 10ff; Colossians 3: 5-11).  How will you respond?

Day 2:
Loose Yourself from the Chains
[Listen to Hymn? Go HERE.]
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 2
Consider:  The Holy Spirit of God, our divine Lover calls out again, “Shake off the dust!”  Arise from the low position of dishonor.  Your time of captivity in sin, fear, and grief are over.  Rise up to a position of freedom and dignity in Christ.  Then, Isaiah continues:  Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.  But you say, I have no key!  How can I unlock the chains around my neck?  In the Gospel of John, we read of a man who had been ill for 38 years and had no one to help him into the supposedly healing waters of the Bethesda pool.  Jesus asked him, “Do you wish to get well?”  When the man said “Yes,” Jesus said, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”   Read the story in John 5: 1-9.
Response:   Maybe God is calling you, His beloved:  Get up, shake off every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles [you], and [then] run with endurance the race that is set before [you], fixing [your] eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12: 1-2a).  Are there unnecessary encumbrances and sins that you need to “shake off,” or shackles from which you need to “loose yourself” so you can be free?  Learn how in 1 John 1: 9 and John 8: 31-34.

Day 3:  The Priceless Gift We Couldn’t Afford
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 3
Consider:  In yesterday’s meditation, we read of God’s call to the captives--“shake off the dust” and “loose yourself.”  God calls us to take responsibility to lay aside the encumbrances and sins that beset us.  Today’s Scripture, continues with God’s answer to those who may accuse Him of “selling out His people” for a ransom.   God’s reply:  You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed, but not with money.  In other words, “I did not sell you for a monetary gain or a ransom.  Instead, because you chose to abandon My commands, you sold yourselves into bondage for nothing.  But, because you are precious to Me, I will set you free, but not with money.”  This idea of “buying back without money” foreshadows our redemption through Christ as 1 Peter 1: 18-19 explains, For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.…  The psalmist expresses a similar theme:
No man can by any means redeem his brother
    Or give to God a ransom for him—
For the redemption of his soul is costly,
    And he should cease trying forever— Psalm 49: 7-8
Response:   Devote time to meditate on these Scriptures with the Cross of Christ in your mind’s eye.  Our Savior-Redeemer ransomed us at a cost far beyond what money.  Instead of money, He gave His own life on a Roman cross to offer us Liberty and Everlasting Life.  How will this truth affect you today?

Day 4:  
A Holy God in Dark Places

Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 4-6
Consider:  Throughout the Bible, God the Holy Sovereign of the universe is repeatedly misjudged and His Name blasphemed.  In contrast, our history is one of continual rebellion against God.  Yet God is blamed and considered cruel and uncaring when people and nations suffer tragic losses, sometimes the consequences of their sin.  In today’s Scripture, we read how God’s Name was blasphemed when His Chosen people suffered under the exile of Assyria and Babylon because they trusted in their own power and not God’s.  Their captors “howled” while they asked, “Where is your God while you suffer here in bondage under our power?”  Today, some people prefer the God of the New Testament because He is much less violent and murderous than the “Old Testament God.”  But the New Testament reveals how Jesus as God in human flesh also faced scornful and blasphemous accusations: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them (Luke 15: 2)!”  But God does not remain silent in defense of His Name.  Speaking through Isaiah God declares,
Therefore My people shall know my name (52: 6)
… to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame (45: 23b-24).
Response:   Have you ever risked your name and reputation to help someone else while onlookers accused you of selfish motives or something worse?  Many of us know this experience.  We hope it comforts you (“brings you strength from God’s truth and love”) as you read throughout the Bible the story of God repeatedly going into dark places to rescue and redeem His beloved people.  And remember the dark day of the Cross where Jesus died and where God …made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  Your sin, mine, and the sins of the world were laid upon the crucified Christ.  Pray for those who labor in "dark places" and often suffer greatly as a result.

Day 5:  God Our Deliverer and Comforter
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 9-10; Isaiah 52:13 to 53:1
Consider:  In Day 4, we honored the God who went into “dark places,” welcomed sinners, ate with them, and ultimately died for sinners.  God in Christ bore all of our sin on His Cross giving His life for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2: 14).  Written 700 years earlier, Isaiah’s words in verses 9-10 also praise God, exclaiming,
Break forth, shout joyfully together,
       You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the LORD has comforted His people,
       He has redeemed Jerusalem.
F.B. Meyer, referring to verse 10, writes, “Their Almighty Deliverer, throwing back the loose sleeve of His robe to leave His arm free, bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations,
that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.
Response:  Pause in the quietness of your time in God’s presence and meditate on these Scriptures, including Isaiah 52: 13 to 53: 1, telling of your Deliverer and what He suffered in order to reach with his strong, holy arm to rescue you.  Then, “break forth” in praise to Him, our Deliverer and Comforter.

Day 6:  Go Forth in His Righteousness
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 1-2 and 52: 11
Consider:  Thank you for continuing in this series of devotional meditations.  In Day 1, our Scriptures from Isaiah 52: 1-2, shouted out, “Awake!  Awake!” This was a call through Isaiah to the (future) Israelite exiles in Babylon to awaken, rise up, shake off the dust, and unshackle themselves so they can enjoy and follow God in freedom.  Isaiah 52: 11 continues this challenge to the captives:
Depart, depart, go out from there,
    Touch nothing unclean;
 Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
    You who carry the vessels of the LORD.
These Scriptures remind us that; whereas, God is our Mighty Deliverer who paid the price that we could never pay to redeem us from the exile of sin, still we have the daily responsibility to walk in purity and integrity. 
Response:  Yesterday’s reference to Titus 2: 14 reminded us of the price and purpose of Christ’s Cross and deliverance.  Quietly meditate on the wider context of this passage  quoted below (Titus 2: 11-14).  Then, allow God’s Spirit to convict you in areas in which your life is not pure and pleasing to God and to strengthen you in the “blessed hope” of Christ’s return as you move forward in this New Year:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.  

Day 7:  Look Ahead, Look Behind, Without Fear!
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 10-12
Consider:  Yesterday, Isaiah’s prophesy foretold the coming Israelite exile and eventual release from captivity.  He challenged them, and all of us today, to awaken, arise, shake off hindrances, unshackle ourselves from sin, and go forward in purity of heart and mind.  But Isaiah has another message for the future exiles; namely, they will not go forth from captivity in haste or in fear like fugitives as their ancestors had fled from Egypt centuries before (Exodus 12: 39).  Instead, declares Isaiah (v. 12): 

For the LORD will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Here Isaiah calls to mind how the Israelites had departed from captivity in Egypt centuries earlier.  They had followed God who went before them in a pillar of cloud during the daytime.  At night, it turned into a glowing pillar of fire (Exodus 13: 21).  And, when the escaping Israelites thought they were trapped between the sea and the pursuing Egyptians, the pillar moved around behind them and God became their “read guard” against their enemies.
Response:  As you begin this New Year, may this reminder that the LORD will go before you and also be your rear guard be fixed in your mind.  With the psalmist (Psalm 16: 8 ), may we each declare: 
I have set the LORD continually before me;
Realizing that 2024 will bring many challenges, but
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken…
Because the God of Israel will be [my] rear guard,”
I will not remain a captive of the sin and regrets of the past.
I will wake up, “deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously,” and joyously in the New Year!

Day 8:  You Can’t Keep Quiet?  Good!
Scripture:  Isaiah 52: 7-12
Consider:  We had intended to write seven (7) daily devotional meditations to complete one week.  But because we believe God’s Spirit directed our thoughts and writing to add one more, we are adding one more.  We awakened this morning with the reminder that verses 7-12 of Isaiah 52 provide a fitting ending to the weeks-worth we had written.  Please read and re-read these verses which offer glorious praise to God who came and will come again to set the captives free.  The Pulpit Commentary interprets this passage as “A Vision of the Day of Deliverance:”
The prophet sees the messenger come bounding over the mountains of Judaea, to bring the news to Jerusalem that her deliverance is come (v. 7). The angelic watchers sing with joy (v. 8). The prophet calls upon the waste places of Jerusalem to do the same, and dwells on the greatness of the mercy wrought (vv. 9-10). Finally, he exhorts the exiles to avail themselves of the permission to [leave] Babylon… in peace, without hurry, under the guidance and protection of God (vv. 11-12).  
The commentary concludes that Jerusalem's deliverance is a foreshadowing of the future redemption of the world by Christ.  What a blessed hope for Christ’s redeemed followers to anticipate!
Response:  God’s proclamation in verses 5b and 6 describes the cruel mocking that God still receives, but then predicts the future day when all mocking will stop (emphasis added):  And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.  Therefore, my people will know my name; therefore, in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it.  Yes, it is I.
For all of us who have been awakened when we heard the Good News (Gospel) of Christ, have shaken off the shackles of our “works salvation,” and followed Christ out of our prison of sin, this should indeed be Good News we can’t keep to ourselves. 

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Yes, it is I.”

We hope the joyous exclamation of praise in verses 7-8 will resonate with your heart and motivate you to proclaim His salvation from day to day in 2024.  The eternal destiny of multitudes will depend upon it!  See also Isaiah 62: 6-7.   Click HERE to hear “For Zion’s Sake” by Marty Goetz.

Care to Comment?
If you have questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.  Maybe you would like to share a spiritual insight or recommend a devotional source.  Just post a “Comment” below or e-mail to silviusj@gmail.com

Maybe you are left with a sense of confusion, uncertainty, and even fear.  If you have never encountered the “Good News” or Gospel, let us help.   The “Good News” is summarized in an outline called “Steps to Peace with God” (Click HERE.).  It explains God’s love, our predicament (sin and separation from God), what Jesus has done to address our predicament, and what you can do by faith to receive God’s righteousness (right standing with a Holy God).  Let's commit to "wake up" and serve Him in this New Year!

Is Light Dimming and Darkness Winning? 2. Time to Wake Up!

The world is changing around us at a steady pace.  However, our awareness of change is usually clouded from our view because it occurs slowly and incrementally.  A fitting analogy is that we can barely detect the movement of the minute hand on a clock as it measures the progression of time.  But it moves unrelentingly forward nonetheless.  Likewise, the darkness before dawn contrasts sharply with the noonday sun.  However, the human eye cannot detect the gradual brightening of the dawn as time passes unless we snap photos periodically and compare them.  Similarly, our personal maturation in body, mind, spirit, and character; and our mastery of manual and athletic skills all occur gradually with much patience and endurance.  

Our mirrors remind us that our faces are wrinkling and our hair is thinning.  Thankfully, these changes occur so gradually that they are unnoticed by us, and even by our friends who assure us that we “haven’t changed a bit.”  But, all flattering aside, few of us deny that our bodies “they are a changing.”  So are the times in which we live.  Although one day may be the same as the next, still our calendars all have special days.  We celebrate events like births, marriages, and graduations, while others like hospitalizations and deaths of loved ones can be sudden “wake-up calls.”  Whether they bring joy or sadness, we can benefit from pausing to reflect on both our celebrations and our sudden “wake-up calls.”

“Wake-Up Calls”
This article is Part 2 of “Is Light Dimming and Darkness Winning?”  In Part 1 we described three “Christmas Contrasts.”  These contrasts become evident when we consider two major groups of people and how they celebrate Christmas.  While many celebrate Christmas with lights and gifts, only one of the groups knows the true meaning of these traditions.  Sadly, the other group misses this joy because they do not know Jesus personally as the “Light of the World” and “God’s greatest Gift”—i.e. Everlasting Life in Him-- forever (John 3).

Just as there are two ways to celebrate Christmas, so there are two major views of time.  The Apostle Peter describes one view, expressed by the mockers who ask, “Where is the promise of His [Christ’s] coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3: 4).”  This view resembles that of deism.  Deists will acknowledge a Creator God, but believes God has wound up the clock of time and then simply allows events to play themselves out in the world without His intervention.  Peter goes on to say that those who hold this view of a non-intervening God have forgotten that God does intervene and even directs the human drama.  To make his point, Peter reminds deniers of the time in which the world was destroyed, being flooded with water (2 Peter 3: 6b).  The historical reality of a world-wide flood at the time of Noah is supported by geological studies.

The span of “geological history” suggests there were long periods without evidence of change.  But these periods of stasis were markedly disrupted by events such as volcanic eruptions, changes in sea level, and climate change.  We should note that not all geologists today believe that “long periods of time” amounted to billions of years.  

Young-Earth geologists like Dr. John Whitmore, a professor at Cedarville University, have published scientific data [See HERE.] and given talks [See HERE.] explaining that the supposed “long geologic periods” are in fact not so long.  John’s studies of the geology of places like the Grand Canyon and Mt. St. Helens suggest evidence that these geologic formations have resulted from short-term cataclysmic events that caused massive movement and deposition of sediments followed soon by erosion on a grand scale.  Dr. Whitmore integrates his findings with the biblical revelation to explain these events.  [See “Does Science Trump Theology in the Pursuit of Truth?”  Click HERE.]

The biblical timeline of human history corroborates the geologic and archeological data and together they affirm the reality of God’s interventions of judgment and deliverance.  The peace and perfection of the Garden of Eden was interrupted when Adam and Eve chose to disbelieve and dishonor God’s Word, allowing sin and Satan to bring corruption into creation.  Later, God’s judgment upon the descendants of Adam and Eve came through the flood in which only Noah, his wife, and family were spared.  To date, this global flood must have been a tremendous “wake-up” call.   After the flood, God introduced Noah and family to a world that had been greatly altered geologically, ecologically, and meteorologically during and after the global flood. 

When the descendants of Noah became corrupted and brought great violence and turmoil upon the Earth, God called Abraham to leave his heathen civilization.  By faith, Abraham believed God’s promise that He would make of his descendants into a new nation.  The Abrahamic Covenant led to creation of the nation of Israel whose long history of change was characterized by gradual descent into sin and repeated warnings by God’s prophets, eventually punctuated by God’s abrupt judgment and deliverances.

One of the most noteworthy of God’s judgments upon the Southern Kingdom of Israel (i.e. Judah) occurred around 600 BC.  The prophet Isaiah warned Ahaz, king of Judah, that if Judah followed in the idolatry and rebellion of the Northern Kingdom which was eventually conquered by Assyria, they would also face God’s judgment.  But Judah did not heed the prophet’s wake-up calls, and after Isaiah’s time they fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC.  Those Israelites who survived a long siege of Jerusalem were carried off to endure a 70-year exile in Babylon.  Isaiah had not only predicted the Babylonian captivity before he died, but boldly challenged God’s Chosen people to be ready to return to the Holy Land after their captivity had ended.  The the nation of Israel would then exist for 400 years with no revelation from God before the announcement of the coming of Christ whose humble birth is the central reference point for how we mark time in years on our calendars.

A "Wake-Up Call" for 2024
Our focus has been on the theme of “gradual changes over time, punctuated by “wake-up calls.” 
We have noted that this pattern is evident throughout human history and even in geological history.  Finally, we have seen that it matters to God how we respond to His commands and to the apparent “interruptions” that He allows in the progression of time. But before we conclude, we should realize that, as we enter 2024, this year has the potential to be the most turbulent year history has known, at least in recent times.  How many "wake-up calls" could be in store for us in 2024?

We would like to think that readers of Oikonomia are regularly attentive to national and world news.  For these informed readers, we need only to mention a series of key words and you would almost immediately be able to give an impromptu explanation of how each could be a "powder keg" for a major national or global "wake-up call."  Below is our listing which is not exhaustive:

Add to these disturbing developments the warning we conveyed in Part 1 of "Is Light Dimming and Darkness Winning?" [Click HERE.]  Recall, we referenced the book by Eric Metaxas, Letter to the American Church (Salem Books, 2022) in which this author warns the American Church that it is following the same path as the German Church in the 1930's which was largely silent in the face of the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Taken together our listing of sources of "wake-up calls" is enough to keep us up at night.  It is not our intent to push us into panic mode.  Instead, we each need to be alert in mind, body, and spirit and vigilant to maintain our individual love and obedience to God and our integrity toward our neighbor.  If this article serves to awaken us to the urgency of our times and be more committed to the Commission given by Jesus Christ (Matthew 28: 18-20), we will have succeeded. 

Starting Strong in 2024
As 2024 begins, how can we prepare to respond to God’s “wake-up calls?”  As part of our own New Year meditations in Scripture, we have written a series of eight short devotional meditations based on our study of Isaiah Chapter 52.  We encourage you to visit “Eight Devotional Meditations for the New Year” by clicking HERE.   We hope your reading, study, and prayer over each of these meditations will help to “awaken you” in mind, body, and spirit as you begin this New Year.  To start "Day 1" of the devotional series, click HERE.

Christmas Greetings to Family and Friends

As another year draws to a close, we look forward to celebrating Christmas and the beginning of a New Year.  Our prayer is for sensitivity to each other, and to others, as John assumes new teaching responsibilities at Cedarville College, as Brad graduates from Cedarville High School and enters college, as Mindy enters her teen years, and as Abby labors to make our home a place of refreshment, rest, and hospitality.

So concluded the Silvius Christmas letter for 1987 as we purposed with a prayer for sensitivity to each other as our family of four faced the prospects of the New Year 1988, thirty-five years ago.  Those 35 years have seen Brad and Mindy find their marriage partners, establish their own homes and pursue meaningful professional careers.  We are humbly thankful to God for the privilege of having a son and daughter, blessed to see them grow in the love and grace of God and to experience their kind respect for, and patience toward, their mom and dad; and, more recently to one another in our growing family.

As we reflect on our 53 years of marriage and the many blessings Abby and I have experienced in our 76 years of life, the truth of 1 Corinthians 4: 7 is becoming more and more real to us: 
What do you have that God hasn’t given you?
And if everything you have is from God,
why boast as though it were not a gift?

It is in the spirit of this reminder from God who is the “Giver of every good and perfect gift” (James 1: 17) that we have written this Christmas letter—not to boast about our family, but rather, to share news of what great things God is doing in and through us and each of our loved ones.

Brad continues to serve as a housing loan officer for John Adams Mortgage Co. in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and, his wife Raquel continues her responsibilities as Program and Project Manager at University of Michigan.  Together, they have continued to manage The Little Leaders Company which provides faith-based streaming media for toddlers.  During the past 2 years, Brad and Raquel have also become managers of a vacation rental unit in Florida.

Besides being a husband and father, Steve divides his energies between serving on the pastoral staff at Southeast Church in Tallmadge, OH; working full-time with a handyman home painting service; and trying his skills in the realty business with his newly acquired license.  Mindy is completing the first year in her new position as Advanced Practice Provider with Wellbe Senior Medical in the Akron area.  We are blessed to watch the maturing of Mindy and Steve’s three children, our grandchildren, as summarized in the following paragraphs.

Our grandson, Caleb and his wife Soni enjoy their home in the Pittsburgh area near a hub from which Caleb as a trucker for Papa John’s Pizza delivers fresh dough and fixings to pizza lovers in western PA and eastern Ohio.  As a relatively new homeowner, Caleb is learning handyman skills from his dad while Soni finds it a welcome break from her studies at Pittsburgh Technical College to decorate and prepare meals for the two of them and people such as their family who visit occasionally.

One of our family highlights in 2023 was the marriage of our older granddaughter, Kiara to John Basford.  This sweet couple is now establishing their home near North Canton.  Kiara continues her enrollment in college courses while working full time at a new start-up company, Buckeye Brownies.  John enjoys his work as HR Associate with Amazon.  Both are active in their home church, Southeast Church in Tallmadge.

Della Rose, our younger granddaughter, is a sophomore at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy where she is currently enrolled in chemistry, history, Bible, and Spanish, among other courses.  We have recently enjoyed a Christmas choral program in which Della Rose sang as a member of the Concert Choral.  She loves animals, especially horses, and enjoys working part-time at Pegasus Farm, Hartville, OH.

Another family highlight in 2023 was our family weekend retreat in August at an Airbnb near Medina, Ohio where we enjoyed games, hiking and wading in a nearby stream, good food, and catching up on family news in a cozy environment.  Abby and I were also blessed once again to spend part of February in Florida with dear friends and family.

We are thankful for our home and neighborhood here in Wooster, Ohio.  We have many great neighbors who represent diverse ages, beliefs, values, and vocations.  Opportunities to assist several of them in times of need, or to ask assistance from them, have helped us build friendships and to share our home, garden vegetables, flowers, and faith.  Meanwhile, we are mindful of the lasting bonds we share with dear friends in the Cedarville community and beyond, and we thank those of you who have cooperated in our limited ability to stay in touch.

We are thankful for our church, West Hill Baptist Church, and for our small group which now meets in our home weekly.  John considers his accountability relationship with several godly men as a most blessed provision from our Heavenly Father.  Henry W. Longfellow’s lament, ’There is no peace on Earth,’ I said, now made famous in the hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” is becoming increasingly relevant as we see the increasing turmoil among nations; and, within our nation, churches, families, and even in our own minds.  Thankfully, God’s answer to this darkness plaguing all of us is the Light of the World, born on Christmas Day (Luke 4: 16-21).

Our own growth in the grace of God this year has been encouraged by both our blessings and our trials.  We thank several of you who have invited our prayers and assistance as you have faced physical and spiritual trials.  We have not forgotten you and especially at this time of year.  Thankfully, our trials have been “momentary light afflictions.”  John’s back injury in June became a blessing with the help of 30 sessions at Paragon Physical Medicine where “Dr. Bryce” and his amazing team inspired John to continue with a daily stretching routine.  Abby is thankful that an October fall didn’t cause a fatal injury to her head, and she is learning to walk more carefully.

Thank you for reading our letter, and thanks to many of you who have reached out to us with Christmas and year-end greetings and news.  Although you may not receive a mailed card from us, please know that we will be lifting each of you by name in prayer during the days ahead.  Meanwhile, we hope you will be blessed by the times you enjoy with family and friends, and in reflecting on God’s greatest Gift, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace who came to help us, and is coming again.

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year,

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Is Light Dimming and Darkness Winning? – 1. Christmas Contrasts

Christmas is a holiday of great contrasts.  Myriads of bright lights pierce the cold darkness of winter nights.  While many are joyfully decorating their homes, others mourn after a year of trouble and loss.  Some are merrily singing “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men” while others remember family members or friends serving in the Armed Services in harm’s way.  Still others are praying for peace and reconciliation with family members or beloved friends.  Regardless of where we find ourselves within these contrasts, we can hope and pray for the Comfort and Joy found a meaningful celebration of Christmas.

Three Christmas Contrasts
I’m thinking of two Christmas contrasts that stand out, and a third one which is more subtle.  All three have immense implications for humanity.  

The first contrast is rooted at the heart of this holy celebration.  It is the infinitely great contrast of the Eternal God who determined in eternity past that His only begotten Son, Jesus, would empty Himself of heavenly radiance and glory and be clothed in human flesh to be born in a dark stable and then live in a corrupted, fallen world.  Jesus, the Savior of the world, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame of bearing our sin and dying in our place, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12: 2).  This infinite contrast stands at the heart of the Gospel, the “Good News message” of salvation to all who will come in humble faith to the Christ of Christmas.  This fact brings us to a second great Christmas contrast.

Most people who celebrate Christmas do so with lights—beautiful, colored lights, and the more the better.  But in sharp contrast, while multitudes of people are attracted to Christmas lights they ignore or turn their backs on Jesus Christ who is the “Light of the World” (John 1: 4-5 and 9: 5).  At the same time, multitudes celebrate Jesus’s birthday by exchanging gifts while they ignore or reject God’s greatest Gift.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, explains that Jesus Christ, the Word of God (literally meaning “Reasoning for Life” Click HERE.), came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him (v. 11).  Later, in John 3: 19-21 (emphasis added), John explains that the Verdict is this: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what He has done has been accomplished in God.” [To learn more, click HERE.]

The Bible gives us the detailed account of a loving God pursuing mankind who is caught in sin, fear, and darkness.  The contrast or gulf between Holy God and sinful man; and, between born again child of God and the lost person facing judgment are infinitely large.  Thankfully, God’s Son became the sacrifice for sin in our place, providing a “bridge” across the gulf to God for all who come to the Light.  The Apostle John wrote, …as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1: 12-13).  Later, in John 3, the Apostle explains that Jesus did not come into the world to judge the world (v. 17) but that the world might be saved from eternal judgment through faith in Him (v. 18).

When the sinner repents and turns from dependence upon his or her own merits to trust the finished work of Christ on the Cross, God does the rest. The God who pursues us through His Spirit says His Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart, you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved (Romans 10: 8-10, emphasis added).

Condemnation for sin is cancelled and the believer receives the righteousness of Christ (Romans 1: 17).  Without the convicting power of God’s Spirit and Word (John 16: 5-15) we remain dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2: 1).  But this stark contrast is followed by a third more subtle contrast.  So subtle that especially Christians may either underestimate its importance or be completely unaware of it.  The remainder of this article will be addressed to professing Christians, those who profess to have been saved by faith as described earlier.

Real Faith Works!
The subtle contrast to which we now refer is between what we as Christians claim to believe and what we actually live out as our profession of faith and practice.  James, half-brother of Jesus, described a “profession of faith in action” as an active faith that is visible through good works in contrast to a “dead faith.”  According to James 2: 14-26, a “profession of faith” is only genuine and real when it is expressed in both our words and works.

The seriousness of this subtle contrast cannot be underestimated for two reasons.  First, while we are saved by faith and not works, we should question the sincerity of our profession if there are no works, or “fruit” in our lives (See 1 John 3, 4).  Second, if we profess to be a Christian but are not really “born again” as God’s child and have no desire to obey and please God, we walk about the world as idolaters in that we do not represent the one true God.  Instead, we are “walking false idols” whose words and actions are those of a false god.  Many Christian leaders have remarked that the greatest threat to Christianity and to the spiritual condition of the Church worldwide is not the attacks from pagan or secular forces from outside.  Instead, it is from those within the Church who profess Christ but poorly represent Him by their lifestyles.  I write this with fear and trembling at the thought of how much I can easily slide into this pattern.

Many who are outside the community of the Christian faith place their “faith” in “good works” to justify their acceptance by God or another higher power.  Meanwhile, genuine Christians understand that it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life (Ephesians 2: 8-9).  We are saved by faith in the work of Christ, not by our own works.  But there’s more!  Once we are saved, God’s Spirit works within us to give us the desire to live pleasing to Him.  Otherwise, we can become spiritually and emotionally weary like a person who is too tired to put up Christmas decorations and finds no joy in turning on the lights.  There are times that I identify with this condition.  Has this ever described you?

Real Faith Is Alive in Us!
Christ-followers can drift into dark corners in mind, body, and spirit when we fail to abide in fellowship with our Savior and Helper through time in prayer, in His Word, and in fellowship with other believers.  We can all have our “sloughs of despond” like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, but our salvation by faith ought to be real and evident because we continually yield to God’s Word and the indwelling Spirit who produces the fruit of Love, Joy, Peace, etc. (John 15: Galatians 5: 22-23) and good works (James 2: 26). 

The Apostle Paul reinforces this notion in Philippians 2: 12b-13 (Amplified Bible, emphasis added), that Christ-followers should continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].  For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.   

These powerful words written by Paul as a prisoner of Rome and “prisoner of Christ,” describe the life of a true disciple of Christ.  Do these words strike a resonant chord within your soul and spirit?  If so, thank God for evidence of the Life of His Spirit within you.

The Apostle Paul mentally understood that the call of Jesus Christ meant to deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Christ (Luke 9: 23; 1 Corinthians 15: 31).  This self-denial is possible as we yield our will to God’s Spirit who works within us as our Teacher (John 14: 26) to illuminate the “living, powerful Word of God” (Hebrews 4: 12).  When we “abide in” (yield to and obey) God’s Word in this way, the Word of God becomes incarnate and visible in our manner of life.  As Paul testified, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2: 20).  Although we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4: 7), the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, will shine through our lives into a dark world as the character of His life becomes evident in our words and deeds. 

Real Faith Realizes “Costly Grace”
Unfortunately, there is abundant evidence that more and more professing Christians have become lukewarm and are “dimming their lights.” Indications all around suggest that our culture is growing spiritually darker and corrupted for lack of the witness by us who claim to be Christ-followers.  We need to regularly remind ourselves of the Grace of God that saved us, and be reminded by our time in God’s Word, and in times of being challenged from the Scriptures by our friends in Christ, and by strong preaching of the Word from our pastors.

Fortunately, there are a number of modern prophets today who are sounding the alarm.  For example, Eric Metaxas has become a contemporary voice of reason to the Church as an author, speaker, and radio/TV host.  Metaxas has studied the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and has written his biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Thomas Nelson, 2011).  In this book and in a more recent follow-up book, Letter to the American Church (Salem Books, 2022), Metaxas draws alarming parallels between Christianity in Germany that allowed the rise of Adolph Hitler to power in the 1930’s and the trends in American Christendom and our culture today.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who had become a Christian in 1931 near the time when Adolph Hitler was leading the Nazi take-over of Germany.  Bonhoeffer is famous for his preaching, writing, and testimony as one who took seriously the call to discipleship.  To Bonhoeffer, we are saved by faith which is a “gift of God” (Ephesians 2: 8) but our salvation by grace is only genuine when we recognize the great costliness of that grace!  God so loved the world that He gave the costliest Gift imaginable—the very Life of His Son (John 3: 16).

While He was teaching His real-life “discipling class,” Jesus said to His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”  Then, Jesus underscored what the “cost of discipleship” would be upon them, saying (emphasis added):  If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it (Luke 9: 23-24).

Jesus’s call to discipleship embodied in these Scriptures, is the basis of Bonhoeffer’s powerful teaching on “costly grace” contained in part in his book, The Cost of Discipleship.  He is quoted as saying, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.  …we [surrender] our lives to death. Thus, it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.”

Let’s Don’t “Dim Our Lights”
If you are still reading, thank you for staying with me.  By now, you may be on a guilt trip and feeling as if you are a failure.  But fear not, because you are not alone.  God’s Spirit who has been leading me in recent reading and in the writing this blog is convicting me of by these very same words.  If our hearts are numb to the sharpness of God’s Word, we have reason to fear.  Either we are not His child, or we have simply become distracted by other priorities and our ears have become dull of hearing.

As a professing Christian, do you feel numb, complacent, and preferring a dark corner; or do you feel convicted that your light is dim and your heart is lukewarm toward God?  If we feel convicted, we should be glad we are spiritually alive enough to “feel” God’s Spirit cutting away at our complacency and numbness; and, then causing our hearts to warm and resonate with His truth.  Jesus said, …he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God (John 3: 21).

What a great Christmas contrast:  Hearts and homes of Christ-followers glowing with the Grace and Truth radiating out into a dark world in which people are lost and stumbling in the darkness and even hating the Light.  Jesus calls His disciples “the light of the world” in Matthew 5: 14-16.  He added that no one lights a lamp without placing it in a prominent place to light its surroundings.  Likewise, we who have received the Light of Truth ought not to dim our lights, but rather, to honor Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3: 15).  May our lights burn brightly this Christmas and our Hope be encouraging and winsome.

Christmas Gift Suggestion
In spite of this prophecy of Christ coming as the Light of the World, the lights of Christmas are still surrounded with so much darkness and so many lonely people.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lamented the contrast between the promise of “Peace on Earth, good will to men” and the reality of the dark world in which he lived.  And so, Longfellow expressed his lament in his poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” with the following lines:
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

As I have suggested in this article, Longfellow’s lament is still appropriate for our day.  But what is my “Christmas gift suggestion?”  While purchase of a DVD of the Sight and Sound movie, “I Heard the Bells,” would be make a good gift, an even better gift would be a copy of Eric Metaxas’s book Letter to the American Church, mentioned above.  As I conclude, let me whet your appetite for reading it if you haven’t already.

Metaxas believes that America, while not intrinsically exceptional, has been sovereignly chosen by God to “hold the torch of liberty for the world, and that the Church is central to our doing this.”¹  However, Metaxas’s thesis in Letter to the American Church is that the silence of the Church in America in the face of moral and cultural decline places the Church on the same path to tragedy as the Church in Germany that failed to stand against the rise of Hitler and the horrible reign of his Nazi regime. 

In Letter to the American Church, Metaxas gives four teachings of the Bible that are misunderstood by many professing American Christians.  I have summarized each of them below. 

“Costly Grace” or “Cheap Grace”
Do those of us who claim to be Christians affirm the genuineness of our faith by “working out our salvation” with the motivation and passion of God’s Holy Spirit (if He is) living and active within us, producing much fruit and so, proving to be Christ’s disciples?

“Idol of Evangelism”
Have we accepted the call of the Church to evangelism while diminishing the importance of discipleship, including the “costly discipleship” of responding to the call of Christ to “speak the truth in love” even at the risk of offending family and friends, or out of fear of losing the favor of church members or potential converts?  [Do we truly love if we withhold the truth?]

“Be Ye Not Political”
Does the biblical call to preach and share the Gospel of Christ and “make disciples of all nations” require that Christian pastors and laypersons avoid addressing political issues?

“Religious at All Cost”
Are there situations in which we are biblically justified in disobeying one of God’s commands in order to promote a larger moral or ethical goal?  For example, telling a lie or participating in peaceful civil disobedience?

In conclusion, if you would rather not be provoked to think more deeply about how Christ would have you respond to His call to be salt and light in an increasingly confused and darkening world, please don’t read Letter to the American Church.  As Rev. Erwin Lutzer concluded, “This book is like a bucket of cold water thrown into the face of a sleeping church.” If you choose to read, I hope you will be challenged to prayerfully think more deeply about the cost you are willing to pay to be an obedient disciple of Christ. 

Care to Comment?
If you have questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.  I am particularly interested in how you respond to the concerns raised by Eric Metaxas after you have read his book.  Just post a “Comment” below or e-mail to silviusj@gmail.com

Maybe you are left with a sense of confusion, uncertainty, and even fear.  If you have never encountered the “Good News” or Gospel, let us help.   The “Good News” is summarized in an outline called “Steps to Peace with God” (Click HERE.).  It explains God’s love, our predicament (sin and separation from God), what Jesus has done to address our predicament, and what you can do by faith to receive God’s righteousness (right standing with a Holy God). 

¹Footnote:
Metaxas is quick to add that “when God chooses anyone [whether a nation or individual] …it is never something to be celebrated, as though the one chosen has won a contest.  Quite the contrary: it is a grave and fearsome responsibility…[a] most solemn duty [that] should make us tremble.”