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If you’re going to take the plunge and prayerfullyidentify the lies and the truths that have made up your perceptions, you must develop spiritual skills that enable you to hear God’s version of your story.   There is no abundant life without knowing how to hear the voice of the only Storyteller who matters.  

He wants to reveal your personalized redemptive version and believe me; you will want to hear it over and over again as you grow older and prepare to meet Him face to face.  Too many voices in this world attempt to nullify it.  

If God’s version of your story is the only one that matters, how do you hear it?   How do you go to the feet of your Father, sit as a child and listen?  I never knew the answer to this question until I was well into my late forties.  So  I’m going to tell you.  You must learn to live in the presence of God.  This is the secret to intimacy.  The secret to abundant life.  The secret to healing and wholeness.

You and I do that through meditation and prayer.  We are near Him as we process our story so that His ‘take’ on our lives is perceptible.  We sense His reactions to our thoughts, feelings, and events so that we have an accurate barometer for our own.  

The concepts of meditation and prayer are so much a part of our everyday Christian language that they risk becoming cliches. It’s hard to feel the impact of their great significance.  We say, ‘Read the bible and pray’ like we might say, ‘Don’t forget to say please and thank you.’  Taking them seriously is hard unless we spend our lives practicing them. 

In the next chapter, I will show you some ways to engage in biblical meditation, because as you live in the presence of God, you will sense His reaction to things as they happen. You feel His joy over praiseworthy things, and His heavy heart over what is dangerous to your peace.  You will discern His displeasure over some activities and pleasure over others. You’ll get to the point when you will often predict His responses ahead of time.

God’s voice will be a rudder, revealing His version of events and correcting other narratives you’ve always believed were true.  Scripture and prayer will re-wire the ways you think.  They will also align your feelings and slowly change you into someone who thinks, feels, and then acts like Jesus.

This is the lifestyle of one who looks to God as their storyteller.  The Holy Spirit of the Rabbi, Jesus has much to reveal.  His version of your story never ends in tragedy.  Senseless pain is never the last chapter of your life if you trust Him for redemption.  While pain is a thread in the plot line, it does not have the last word.  Glory and redemption are what dazzles.  If you can’t see any trace of a redemptive plot, know that you are not yet seeing your life through God’s eyes.  

Consider the iceberg that fatally wounded the Titanic in the Spring of 1912. By the time Murdoch spotted it, there wasn’t enough time to turn sharply enough to avoid it. When they hit, a jagged piece of iceberg under the water ripped part of the hull. 

The part of the iceberg protruding above the waterline was not the most dangerous part. It was what lay beneath. The part visible was small and unimposing compared to what was hidden. Many seafaring novices have been fooled to their peril. 

Let’s think this through further. The part above the waterline is connected to the lower part that catches the currents of the sea. What is visible above water has no power on its own. Is this not a metaphor for the inward life? Beneath the surface of our exterior lies a massive world of beliefs, lies, righteous thinking and erroneous assumptions ~ which are responses to our life’s story. These create a mindset, the very current that takes us on the ride of our lives. What others see and experience on the outside is a shallow and often artificial representation of what is really going on inside. 

It is this hidden world that God wants us to spend time on, to bring it into the Light of His presence. He will affirm what is true, expose what is not, and encourage us to act in faith accordingly. Many Christians believe that the past is irrelevant to the present because they are made new in Christ. While we are new creations, adopted children of our Heavenly Father, and destined for glory, past events still affect us. They have defined us, and the process of sanctification requires us to take each part captive, examine it, and deal with it under the direction of our wonderful Counselor and Healer. 

I am praying for you. Oh, but Jesus is also praying for you. Remember, He will guide you through unchartered territory. 

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Luke 2:14

Greeting card companies have used this quote to promote wishes for peace for all who buy and send their cards. It’s lovely to wish someone we care about a peaceful life, but is this what the angels meant when they announced it? I must look at their entire declaration to understand the meaning ~ ‘peace among men with whom He is pleased.’ 

This phrase is connected to another time in the life of Jesus when He was being baptized. His Father said, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”  So to whom does peace come? To those with whom the Father is pleased. The conditions for pleasing the Father are to love and accept His Son and to embrace Him as Savior and Lord. For every one who does this, there is peace with God.

This sentiment from the angels cannot be misconstrued to mean that in the coming year, the world will be a more peaceful place. It probably won’t. Times here will only prove more perilous as end times play out. God’s plan moves along according to God’s timetable, leading us to the day when Jesus will reign on earth, and we will enjoy peace – internally and externally – for the first time.

For every one of us who has made peace with God through Christ, peace is ours now. We needed Jesus to bear the Father’s wrath in our place. And because He did that, we can rest in the peace of forgiven sins. We must rest in the peace that exists between us and the Father.

Peace with you is my greatest treasure! Thank you. Amen

When [they shepherds] had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. Luke 2:17
 
What a person experiences after a spiritual mountaintop is often withheld from a storyline. After the shepherds saw the heavens open, and after they found Jesus, and after they witnessed what they saw, what happened next? Did they continue to believe? Did they keep track of Jesus until his parents took him to Egypt? We’re not told. 
 
But we know the nature of faith and the nature of mountaintops and valleys. We know that not all the shepherds would have gone on to worship God with their lives. Holy moments dim with time. Daily living consumes.  Holy moments are rare.  Holy men who experience them and then go on to finish well are even rarer.
 
My own storyline has been dotted with more God moments than I deserved, and yet, they didn’t always carry me through the dark times.  There were moments I still doubted and battled hopelessness. It wasn’t that I didn’t remember the mountaintops. I did. But I couldn’t connect with them like I did just after they happened. 
 
We’ll never know how many shepherds were on the hillside. We’ll never know if all of them left to go to Bethlehem. We’ll never know if they were all equally impacted by the baby in the manger. And we’ll never know how many went on to live changed lives from that time forward. But some did. God picks who will be privileged to witness the supernatural. For some of them, it will be the defining moment that forever changes the direction of their lives.
 
Take me back to the moments I need to review to be strengthened and re-purposed. Amen

Nearly every time the Apostle Paul gave a defense for the Gospel, he didn’t start with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  Since most of his accusers were Jewish leaders, he was intent on showing them that Jesus was connected to their scriptures.  The Torah, which they embraced and knew front to back, had predicted his coming.  Why was this important to the Jews?  Because it’s hard to leave everything familiar and embark on something new. 

And it wasn’t necessary where the Jews were concerned, though it might have felt like that.  As they held the Torah and the writings of the prophets in their hands, they needed to know that it was the revelation of Jesus Christ.  To believe in Him was to complete their faith, to be like Abraham, looking ahead for the Lamb of God and finding Him in Jesus. The revelation of Jesus in Bethlehem was connected to the plot line in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.  Everything in between followed God’s storyline.  May I not be like the Jews who failed to recognize Jesus when He stood in front of them. 

I give up all my doubts for faith, my logic for Your wisdom. Don’t let me miss You.  Amen

When an ancient king from the east made a trek through a desert landscape, the way was prepared beforehand by his people.  The road was inspected, repaired if needed, and all that would harm or obstruct his journey was removed.

Jesus came to prepare the way for His flock to walk the path to His kingdom.  The little Shepherd who napped in the manger would be the One who would make crooked paths straight.  He would be the caretaker of the inside world of those He loves.  He would expose sin, the sin that destroys us.  He would inspire repentance, the deep apology and heart change that restores life.  He would point to each crooked place in the human heart in order to make the paths straight without painful detours.  He would cheer on those who limped. He would pick up the lame until they could walk again.  He would help the feeble, working within each nuance of their emotional and spiritual limitations.  This little Shepherd would shepherd perfectly.  No one would be overlooked and not one under His care would have a reason to live in shame and dwell in hiding.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.  Isaiah 40:11 

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:18

What a package of explosive potential lay in the manger.  He was the little Lamb and the little Shepherd, each one offering life altering implications for those who needed a Lamb slain for their sin and for those who were lost and needed a shepherd to show them the way home. 

Oh, but Baby Jesus could do far more than that.  He was also the little Reconciler who had the power to bring together two enemies and make them, not only compatible but, intimate.  Reconciliation rarely has such stunning outcomes.  It is one thing to bring together two parties who are at odds over an issue.  It is quite another thing to cause two people, far apart in every way, to eagerly join hands and become one in their thinking and feeling. 

Oh, how deep was the fracture in the Garden of Eden.  God had made man perfectly.  It was he who wanted more, who bought the Serpent’s lie, and then opened his mind to evil.  It was a world he was not created to understand nor be compatible with.  Yet, evil corrupted him and he began to choose everything that God wouldn’t choose and to think all things God wouldn’t think. Alienation ensued and the two were separated by a great gulf.  God’s answer was to send a Reconciler who could also be the Lamb to forgive sin and restore the sinner to what he once was ~ holy before God.   

The baby didn’t automatically reconcile enemies at His birth.  God’s timetable moves slowly.  It took thousands of years for God to send this Lamb.  It would take thirty-three years more for the Lamb to die for the sins that separated mankind from His Father.  But how necessary the three decades were.  The only way for people to trust the Lamb would be to watch Him live, hear Him speak, and experience God’s love, grace, and mercy through direct interaction.  His Light would woo sinners and warm up their icy relationship.  Despite the beauty of this picture, not all would come to hate their sin and mourn their estrangement however.

Ah, but for the ones who did, life would be different.  There would be complete compatibility, impeccable restoration, and perfect reconciliation with the Father who waited, once again, to walk with His children in the garden of paradise.

If there is tension in our relationship, it can be fixed now.  Thank you, Jesus. Amen

You made him lower than the angels for a short time; You crowned him with glory and honor and subjected everything under his feet. Hebrews 2:7-8 

The angels were with God before the earth was created.

The angels were with God when he touched this dead planet and everything barren and brown turned green with promise.

The angels watched as Adam took his first breath and as Eve joined him to walk in perfect love.

The angels watched God walk with Adam in the Garden and felt the wonder of God giving man dominion over all living things.

The angels watched as Adam and Eve turned mutinous.  They saw God’s heart break when paradise disintegrated.

The angels pondered the news throughout Israel’s history that a Messiah was coming.  Did they know it would be Jesus?

The angels watched the ebb and flow of obedience and disobedience, blessing and judgement.  Loving righteousness, they wept with their Sovereign.

The angels quickened at the news that Mary was chosen to birth God’s Son. Michael, one of their own, had a story to tell.  Perhaps he prepared them for a cataclysmic change.

The angels were sent to sing and announce the birth of the One they had served throughout time.  He would lie in a manger instead of sit on a throne.

The angels rushed to Jesus’ side in the wilderness.  They served him there just as faithfully as they had in heaven.  They ministered to His frailty; hunger, thirst, and discouragement.

The angels saw Jesus’ miracles and having witnessed much greater things, they thought to themselves, “People haven’t seen anything yet!”

The angels watched the world reject Love.  They saw their King beaten, scourged, and crucified.  I believe the throngs of heaven wept in disbelief.

The angels witnessed and took part in the resurrection.  Their Jesus was glorified and was coming back home.  Was there feasting, singing, and dancing?

The angels celebrated as new children of God were born.  They trembled with joy when they heard the sons of men call their God, “Abba.” 

How could such a thing happen?  A Holy God chose to take on flesh and make Himself lower than the angel’s estate.  The world witnessed humility being defined by incarnation.

They have seen it all, Lord.  They are witnesses to Your glory.  They are still active serving us because of Your love.  Is someone entertaining one today?  Are they singing to the one who is reading this – the one who is weak and afraid?  Are they fighting for another who reads these words and has dropped her hands in battle?  Don’t let me lose the wonder of worlds I can’t see but the worlds You still rule.  I am safe in the arms of Love no matter how chaotic it all appears.  You hold me fast, Good Father.  Amen

The concept was unbelievable. A timeless, omnipotent, powerful, holy God chose to confine Himself to live life as a human being. It was called an incarnation. 

God speaks, and planets appear out of nowhere. God pushes galaxies around with the tip of His finger. He breathes over a dead Earth, and everything brown turns to green. So, could this God cause Himself to grow inside a virgin’s womb and emerge, not only as the image of God, but God Himself?  Well, He did just that and this is what got Him crucified. 

The wonder of this historical narrative continues to play out. I have not only been made in God’s image, but I am also a container in whom the Spirit of God lives. All that power, wisdom, creativity, peace, and holiness lives in my spirit. Can others see evidence of that? Is His glory palpable? Am I bold enough, when prompted, to call upon the surpassing power of His greatness to work through me? Perhaps I am shy of it because I have forgotten that I can be, and am created to be, possessed by Spirit. 

Just as the god of this world possesses a demoniac, I am to be overtaken by the Spirit of God. Like Jesus, my works of faith will be both glorious and controversial.

Help me fully understand what Your incarnation means for me personally. It’s so loaded with implications I’ve not yet grasped. Amen

Our Savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, “I can clean that if you want.” And from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes away our sin. Max Lucado

Of all Jacob’s sons, Joseph gets the most attention. Yet it is not from the line of Joseph that Jesus was born. The purpose of Joseph’s life was to save Judah from famine because it was from his descendants that the Messiah would come. This flawed son of Jacob didn’t mess things up so badly that he was disqualified from the Covenant. God’s promises transcended this imperfect family.

Here’s the thing.  God exalts the likes of Judah. He blesses adulterers like King David. He forgives betrayers like Peter. He saves persecutors like Paul. Judah, at the end of his life, offered to give it up for the life of another brother. His father, Jacob, lived long enough to see Judah choose righteousness. God’s forgiveness was so radical that an entire past was put under His atoning blood.

Forgiveness and redemption are still relevant now in the very places you long to see the righteousness of God revealed in the lives of someone in your family. God’s heart is for your families. No one is exempt from His grace, not even the one who seems unreachable, that very one you are thinking about right now as you read this.

God’s desire to save was never more evident than in the life of a murderous zealot named Saul. He arose from the dirt on the Damascus Road and joined the Christians in Damascus, the very ones he had targeted to murder.

So, how long have you prayed for the salvation of a loved one?  Is “How long O lord?” on your tongue as you cry out to the Lord on their behalf? I know you are weary in waiting.  And your Father knows that you need new grace and courage to believe that all things are possible.  I am praying for you right now, but even more importantly, Jesus is praying for you in all the places where your faith is  so very fragile.

May God be gracious to us and bless us; may his face shine upon us. Psalm 67:2