Not Just At Christmas

Not Just at Christmas.......

To know anything at all of God’s will we have to participate, in some manner, in

the vision of the prophets: men and women who were always alive to the divine

light concealed in the opacity of things and events, and who sometimes saw glimpses of that light where other men saw nothing but ordinary happenings (Anonymous).

Ours is a culture of the sensational. What’s the next great thing on the horizon? It surely needs to be bigger and better than the last great thing! At the personal level, many today are seldom content with “keeping it simple.” From engagement proposals, vacation trips, and television sets, we want each thing and event to be bigger, better, unique, or spectacular. Church culture can take on this same kind of approach to life. What’s the next big event or special activity? I have known believers who thrive on the sensationalistic. They want to see current events as fulfilled prophecy. They want to know answers to questions that are not in the Scriptures. They seem to have an insatiable appetite for the latest, biggest, greatest, new “spiritual fad” going around.

There is so much more that God has ordained for us through the local church on a regular basis. There is the preaching and teaching of His Word. There are prayer times and times of praise, thanksgiving, and fellowship. May spiritual leaders be concerned about making these things more and more God-centered rather than spending time trying to come up with “bigger and better” programs. May we truly desire to see how extraordinary these things are that God has ordained to be a regular part of our lives! Imagine the blessings if every Lord’s Day was thought of as a very special time when God ministered to us in a wonderful way. What joy as He comes to us through His Word and shows us His glory, greatness, judgment, grace, love, power, purposes, and wisdom all wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ! Imagine if every time the church celebrated Communion, the church was filled with anticipation and excitement in seeing fresh and new the grace of God as we remember His saving sacrifice on the cross. Imagine the church coming together to collectively approach God’s throne of grace in prayer because we surely have a great high priest before that holy throne.

We must ask God to help us not to miss His ordinary yet remarkable means of grace. He works through many ordinary means that are extraordinarily significant! He is the God who gathers us together to transform us. He is the God who is sovereignly at work every single day in every single moment of our lives. These ordinary means are ordinary in the sense that they are regular and frequent. However, these means are filled with wonder, delight, fear (not the terrifying kind), and so much more. God has ordained these things to accomplish His gracious and glorious purposes in our lives. They are not to be overlooked but embraced.

When I see a flower, I think, Wow! Look at all the detail God put into this! Surely He knows the details of my life!

Thank God! God is constantly showering us with blessings throughout the day, and it is good to get into the habit of offering Him a small spontaneous “Thank you, Lord!” whenever we recognize such blessings in our lives or in the lives of those around us.

When we take down the obstacles that stop us from seeing God, we will see His fingerprints everywhere. Not only can we see His glory but we can communicate with Him. We can hear what He has to say to us. We can understand our true purpose in life when we find Him. The peace and joy of having a relationship with Him is priceless.

“And how did little Tim behave?” asked Mrs. Cratchet.
“As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.”

Kerry Swickard