Author: Brian Burdett

“I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
– Zechariah 9:10

The verse before this one was famously fulfilled when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey on Palm Sunday. This verse is a promise of the comprehensive world peace we will one day enjoy after Christ’s return. One day, Messiah will return and the weapons and equipment of war: chariots, horses, and bows, tanks, fighters, and guns will no longer be needed or wanted.

Nations will be at peace under the world-wide rule of King Jesus. This is a glorious and encouraging reminder that the present world situation and all the darkness, violence, war, terrorism, fear, refugees, and suffering we see around us is temporary. One day, we will see the final and forever fulfillment of the angel’s proclamation of peace on earth on the night Jesus was born.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace at Christmas, we look ahead to the day He will make peace across the entire earth. We look ahead with eager anticipation to creation as it was meant to be and the enjoyment of eternity in Christ’s peaceful presence and reign.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”
– Psalm 139:17-18

There is tremendous pleasure and joy to be experienced in thinking about the thoughts of our Creator. Unlike our thoughts which too often rise no higher than our stomach, His thoughts are infinitely rich, wondrous, wise, soaring, brilliant, gracious, merciful, and so much more. We are blessed that God has kindly chosen to reveal a portion of His thoughts to us in the Bible.

The Bible is no mere history book, story book, guidebook to salvation, or rule book for life. The Bible contains the very thoughts of God! We are blessed beyond every generation that came before us to be able to read or listen to the Bible in so many formats, so many styles, and so many languages. Generations before us would have given anything to have the comprehensive, free access to God’s thoughts that we enjoy on a single smart phone, tablet, computer, or book store. Let us rejoice and make good use of this treasure! The more we read, meditate on, and study the Bible, the more our thoughts are expanded, refined, and re-shaped to reflect the thoughts of God.

It’s going to be a long winter. Rather than contemplating the thoughts of your favorite media personalities and social media savants, commit these next months to reading and enjoying the thoughts of God. Use the time you would have spent on your device or in front of your TV to read the Bible instead. Fall more deeply in love with God’s thoughts until you find yourself agreeing fully with the Psalmist, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!”

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” – 1 John 5:21

John’s final words in this letter that’s primarily focused on love for God, love for brother and sister, obedience to Christ, and right belief in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God are words of warning to Christians. As followers of Jesus, we must beware of the attraction of idols, because they get in the way of all those things John wrote about.

He isn’t talking about little statues. Hopefully, not too many Christians are going to start worshiping statues. He means idols of our heart – those things that take on such tremendous importance in our lives, minds, and imaginations that they functionally kick God off the throne of our heart.

We can love Jesus, worship every Sunday, and still worship idols in our heart. Probably every Christian has at some point. Idols can be easy to see (in others) – they tend to be anywhere there is unusually strong emotion. When our anger, delight, or anxiety are way out of proportion to something’s actual significance we’ve probably found an idol. When we blow up over something relatively minor, we’ve probably found an idol.

Most of our idols aren’t bad things. They’re good and important things that we’ve raised to be too important in our hearts, minds, and lives. The cure for idolatry isn’t to get rid of most of these, it’s to put them in their proper place beneath our passion for, and obedience to, Jesus Christ.

What are some popular Christian idols today?

– Politics. When our anger, joy, or sense of meaning, well-being, or purpose, are determined by whether our preferred politician or party wins or loses, that’s an idol.

– Health and safety. When our fear outweighs our Christian obedience, that’s an idol.

– Wealth, status, comfort, pleasure, entertainment, and work – when these fill our thoughts and consume our energy at the expense of our family and daily walk with Jesus, they’re an idol.

– Kids. Yes, we’re called to love them, care for them, invest in them, and raise them. But when our dreams for them and their activities suck all the time and energy out of our family life and spiritual life together, they’ve become an idol.

– Pets, weddings, gadgets, entertainment, and the list goes on…

Christian, beware of idols!!!

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” – 1 John 4:18

We live in a world full of fear. Fear sells and our newspapers, TV, online media, and social media all want to sell us fear on top of fear. Don’t buy it! It’s not that there aren’t serious and even truly dangerous issues and situations in our world. Of course there are. But don’t let them cause you to live in fear.

Love is the antidote to fear. Not raw self-discipline, not false bravado, not cruelty, and not anger. Those might mask fear, but they don’t cure fear. Love is the true and lasting antidote to fear. As followers of Jesus, we have more than enough love available to push out all the fear we might feel.

”For God so loved the world, that He gave His own Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). God’s infinite love was expressed through sending His beloved Son Jesus into this world to die as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. God’s faithful love is more powerful than all the evils of this world because God’s faithful love has already defeated those evils at the cross.

Let God’s love for you, a love proven at the cross of Jesus, drive out any fear that might be holding you back from living the life of obedience to Christ to which you have been called. Let yourself be perfected by the love of God within you. Become an agent of God’s love rather than the world’s fear, abundantly loving everyone you encounter. Enjoy, experience, express, and share God’s love that drives out all fear!

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” – 1 John 3:18

Writing as a kindly spiritual father to all of us, the Apostle John reminds us of the profound meaning and challenge of Christ’s commandment to love one another. It’s completely inadequate to simply “love everyone” in the abstract. If you love everyone, you love no one. As followers of Jesus we have to love people in the concrete – by our actions and the investment of our lives, our time, our energy, and our resources. We must do practical things to love one another. Inconvenient things. Messy things.

True love for others isn’t about platitudes, abstractions, speeches, or appearances. It isn’t even about feelings. It’s about rolling up our sleeves to demonstrate true care and love day in and day out. It’s about listening, sharing, caring, and helping. It’s about love that overcomes barriers, divisions, and separations to love others regardless of race, ethnicity, citizenship, or social status. It’s about loving others who can’t necessarily love back.

We’re called to a hard love, but equipped for that by a divine love within us. As you reflect on your actions, particularly in a year when our instincts, advice, and personal situations may have driven us away from others, have you been loving in deed and in truth? If not, it isn’t too late! Simply repent and put your actions where your words were. Love in deed and truth!