Hallelujah Life Part 3

The hallelujah life is a life that reflects the beauty of Christ. A life that reflects the beauty of Christ is a life whose past has been redeemed from humbug to Hallelujah by our Savior. A life that reflects the beauty of Christ is a life that is fully surrendered to Christ the Lord allowing him to transform our present situations from humbug to Hallelujah. A life that reflects the beauty of Christ knows that our Savior who redeemed us, the Lord of our life is also in control of our future. 

The good news is that the promised Messiah has been born! 

It had been over 500 years since God had spoken through the prophets to the nation of Israel. Life was not easy for the Jews as a nation under submission to the Roman Empire. Many people were beginning to doubt that God’s promised Kingdom and Messiah was ever going to come. Yet on Christmas Eve, God entered into time and space. On Christmas Eve prophecy was fulfilled, the glory for which Israel had waited, the Messiah was born. Truly this is good news. God is not silent, God is faithful and God fulfills his promises. 

This assurance that God is faithful and will keep his promises enables us to face our future with hope. Many times our life is not easy, and often our future is uncertain. Many times we find ourselves living in tomorrow – planning and preparing for every contingency. At times we are so busy planning for tomorrow that we don’t hear what the baby born in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve has to say to us. “I know the plans I have for you, ... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer 29:11). 

As long as we are worrying about tomorrow and what the future holds, we cheat ourselves out of peace and joy today. The hallelujah life is lived with our future firmly and confidently placed in God’s hands where it belongs. The hallelujah life is confident that our Lord and Messiah, who knows all about us, is also in control of our future. 

Not only can we face Christmas with confidence because we know who holds our future, but we also have the hope and assurance of where we will spend eternity. The hallelujah life knows that this baby – Jesus - not only grew up, and became a man, but that he died and rose again. And because he lives we too shall one day spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. We rejoice knowing that we have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 

This Christmas with all the uncertainties that surround your future will you hear and believe the good news? Will you stop worrying about tomorrow and live for today with confident assurance that your future and eternity is secure in the hands of our Messiah? 

I invite you to hear again the message of the angels – “I bring you good new of great joy – today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord”. The good news that the angels proclaimed to the shepherds on Christmas Eve was that a Savior was born who is Christ the Lord. As Savior he redeems us from our past, as Christ the Lord, he is Lord of our lives in the present and as Messiah he offers us hope for our future. This message of good news can transform our lives from humbug to hallelujah! 

Will you hear and accept this gracious gift of Salvation? Will you trust God to redeem your past? Will you surrender your life and allow Christ to be Lord of your life? Will you make Christ the priority of the present? Will you look beyond the problems of the present to the certain hope that awaits us in Christ? Will you boldly follow Christ into the future?

Hallelujah Life - Part 2

Christ came to redeem our past from humbug to Hallelujah! He takes our past, our shattered dreams, wounded hearts and broken toys and fashions us into whom we are today. The Good News that the angels brought that Christmas Eve to the shepherds was not only that our Savior was born, but also that this baby, our Savior is Christ the Lord. God entered time and space to change the way we live here and now, today, in the very situations where you and I find ourselves.

The message of good news interrupts us in the middle of diapers, dirty dishes, homework, colds, sickness, cancer, work, bills, taxes, accidents, hockey games, phone calls, email, meetings, difficult employees, unethical managers and the myriad of other activities in our daily routine. This message of good news is that Christ is Lord, and wishes to be Lord of our lives in all that we do, and Lord of our lives wherever we go. 

What does it mean for Christ to be Lord of our lives? For Christ to be Lord of our lives, we must surrender our lives to Him. We must obey him. This is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith. For only as we surrender our lives, surrender our desires for success, recognition, and wealth; surrender our self-centeredness, pride, dreams, hopes and fears and accept Christ as Lord of our lives do we find true peace and joy. This is the peace and joy the angels proclaimed. 

Jesus invites you to cast your burdens – yes those burdens that you face daily – upon him. He invites you to come to him in prayer and tell him what is going on in your life. Jesus invites you to tell him about your sickness, your sorrows, your pains, your hopes and dreams. Jesus promises that he hears your prayers and will answer. 

The humbug life is the life that Scrooge lived. The humbug life is a life that is lived alone, in self-reliance. The hallelujah life is a life lived in communion with your Lord and Savior in dependence on him. The pressures and temptations of life won’t go away. There still will be dirty dishes, phone calls, emails, meetings and difficult people. However the hallelujah life sees these in perspective of eternity, and knows the way we approach these ordinary activities is an expression of the Lord at work in our midst. So “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col 3:17). 

Some of you may thinking that this is easy to say, but you don’t know the way my children behave, you don’t know the financial strain I am under since I lost my job, you don’t know the health problems I have, you don’t know the pressure my boss puts on me to behave in a certain way, and what will happen to me if I don’t please him; you don’t realize I won’t be accepted if I don’t behave in a certain manner, and do certain things. You’re right. I don’t know the circumstances you face today, but I do know with absolute certainty that God sees and understands your circumstances. Therefore I invite you to hear again the message of the angels – “I bring you good new of great joy – today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord”. 

This baby whom the angels announced, Christ the Lord, did not remain a baby. He grew up to become a man, and he has been tempted in every way, just as you are yet he was without sin (Heb 4:15). 

You are not alone in the midst of the temptations and pressures of your life. Jesus, our Lord, walked this earth and understands the temptations that you face. Since Jesus was able to live a life without sin, Jesus is able to help you resist the temptations in your life. And to that we shout Hallelujah! Yes we will still sin, say things we shouldn’t say, and do things we don’t want to do. But we know there is forgiveness and to that we shout Hallelujah! Yes we will stumble, and fall, but Christ walks beside us and he will pick us up when we fall, and to that we shout Hallelujah! 

This Christmas will you continue to depend on yourself or will you hear and believe the good news? Will you allow Jesus to be Lord of your life, here and now? Will you take your eyes off of your circumstances and turn your eyes to your Lord? Will you let Jesus redeem your present situation and fill you with peace and joy here and now? But not just here and now, but will you also serve Jesus as you go about your routine throughout the week? Will you choose to live the Hallelujah life? Will you choose to live your life moment by moment in the realization that Christ is Lord of your life? 

Let us do whatever we do, whether in word or deed, let us do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Christ our Lord (Col 3:17). 

Hallelujah Life - Part 1

The angels announced to the shepherds on Christmas Eve, that in the town of David a Savior has been born who is Christ the Lord. The angels’ Hallelujah announcement to the shepherds is good news of great joy which should change every aspect of our lives, so that we can never be the same. This announcement should transform our lives, our past, our present and our future from humbug to Hallelujah.

The hallelujah life is a life that is lived moment by moment believing that our sins are forgiven. Jesus whose birth the angels announced to the shepherds is our savior! Jesus would demonstrate his own love for us by dying for us while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). God would make, Jesus, who was announced by the angels, who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21). In this act God removed the barrier which separates us from Him, and reconciled us to Himself. The hallelujah life is a life lived by faith, that through grace, Jesus, the Son of God, who was born in Bethlehem has redeemed our past.

Some of you may find yourself today living in the past. You may find yourself reliving the bad and terrible things that have happened in your past – divorce, death, alcohol, poverty, abuse, or bad choices. You may find yourself wishing things were different, wishing for different childhood experiences; regretting things you have said or done; or wishing you had said or done certain things. You may feel the pain and hurt of what others have done to you. You may find yourself living with guilt, remorse or resentment. Living this way robs you of the joy and peace that the angels proclaimed. Others of you may find yourself denying or suppressing the hurts of your past through substances, activity or people. You may have become so good at suppressing the past, that you no longer enjoy the present. In fact you may be so busy or so wrapped up that you cannot even hear the good news that God is proclaiming to you. 

I invite you to hear again the message of the angel – “I bring you good news of great joy – today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you”. I invite you to hear and accept this gracious gift of a Savior from heaven above. Come and confess your regrets, your sins and remorse for your past, and accept the gracious gift of forgiveness that our Savior offers. “For if we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Yes, everything that has happened in your past is forgiven. The things you should have said and done, but didn’t or the things you shouldn’t have said and done but did are forgiven. Hallelujah! You are forgiven! 

The angelic messengers proclaimed good news not only to the shepherds but to you and me as well. Our savior has been born. Hallelujah! By grace through faith there no longer is room for self-pity, regret, guilt, remorse or resentment. You no longer need to live a humbug life! Jesus fills us with joy and peace! You are able to live a hallelujah life! Why? Because as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed your transgressions from you! (Ps 103:12) 

This Christmas will you continue to live in the past? Or will you hear and believe the good news? Will you allow the saving power of God to redeem your past and fill you with joy and peace?