“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11

As Easter draws near, it’s worth remembering the promise of Christmas. Jesus, the Christ, our Lord was born to be a Savior. His saving work was never meant to be accomplished by military means, through starting a revolution and setting up a mighty earthly empire. It was never meant to be accomplished by political means, reforming the government of Israel or Rome. There was only one way Jesus was going to save His people: through the cross.

Jesus entered this world because His people needed saving from something far worse than earthly oppressions. We needed saving from the vile power of sin and the crushing grip of death. To save us from those evils, Jesus, the eternal Son of God stepped into our world at Christmas, so He could be nailed to a cross on Good Friday and rise from the dead on Resurrection Sunday.

Our sin was nailed to the cross when our Savior was. He died in agony to pay the penalty for that sin, so that we won’t have to. His shed blood established a new covenant of grace in which His followers stand clean before God. He triumphantly rose from the dead so that all who believe in Him will likewise rise to glory. Even at Christmas, Easter was always in sight. A Savior was born that He could one day die and rise to life!

“Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.”
– Psalm 34:13-14

Following Jesus is not a passive activity! It’s hard work to walk in step with the Holy Spirit. The command to keep your tongue from evil is a good reminder that it *wants* to go there! In our fallenness, we like saying evil things. We like trafficking in gossip and slander. We love sharing conspiracy theories and lies. We love attacking people rather than their ideas. That’s why Scripture repeatedly commands us to restrain our tongues, like we restrain a dangerous animal straining to attack all in its path.

We must intentionally turn away from evil every day (and often multiple times each day). We must choose to actively and intentionally do good to others. We must not simply sit around waiting for peace to break out. As Christians, we’re commanded to create peace! We don’t exist to agitate and aggravate, we exist to make godly peace. We must actively pursue it despite terrible risks to ourselves.

Are walking in integrity and pursuing peace hard work? Absolutely! Will they be appreciated by those around us? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Will some hate us, question us, doubt us, or slander us for speaking truth, rejecting evil, and pursuing peace? Absolutely! Will some of those people call themselves Christians and question our faith? Sadly so.

Don’t let any of that keep you from denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus every day! Live to please One, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Faithfully do what this Scripture says and He will be pleased, regardless of how anyone else feels.

“Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
– Psalm 34:5

As followers of Jesus, we are invited and commanded to truly look to God. For our identity. For authority over our life. For direction. For strength. For hope. For purpose. For approval. For transformation. We are to look nowhere else for those things. When we look to God, we’ll never be disappointed. We won’t be ashamed, no matter how things are going all around us. The world and its circumstances, good or bad, will no longer define us, though it will certainly try.

When we truly look to God, we’ll reflect His glory. We’ll be grounded in His presence within us. We’ll be defined as His much-loved children. We’ll be blessed by His Spirit. We’ll be motivated by His glory. There’s no shame in these things. Ever. No matter what the world throws at us – poverty, persecution, pain – we will not be ashamed.

The Apostle Paul wrote often of how he wasn’t ashamed, despite his external circumstances (including prison and looming execution) because of the Gospel, because of Christ in Him, because of the work of God in the world. We’re called and empowered to live and feel the same way.

Christian, look to God. Not as your ATM, not as your Santa Claus, but as your EVERYTHING. Then you’ll reflect Him and never be ashamed!

“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.”
– Psalm 33:10-11

We’ve certainly learned a few things about the fragility of human plans this past year, haven’t we? For so long, we enjoyed the luxury of thinking we basically had everything under control, but we’ve seen that was always an illusion! Even the best-conceived plans of mighty nations have floundered and flailed.

What isn’t an illusion is God’s sovereign plan to advance His Kingdom through the spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every ethnic people group, seeing many saved. That continues. His will for Christians to make disciples who make disciples has not changed. His work of love and grace stands forever. His Word stands forever.

The Bible reveals God’s plan. He will faithfully walk with us through difficult times. He will restore all creation after Christ returns in victorious judgment. He will dwell with His people forever in the renewed heaven and earth. That has not changed and will not change.

Likewise, the good works God has uniquely prepared for each follower of Jesus to do have not changed, nor has His will for us to serve and grow His glorious Kingdom here on earth. We have important work to do. It may not be what we planned, but it’s absolutely what God planned!

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”
– Psalm 32:3-4

When we’re on the wrong side of God, embracing a pattern of thought or behavior contrary to His will, it’s a blessing (not a curse) when we feel the heavy weight of God’s conviction. The guilt we feel in these situations is a gift from God, calling us back to Him. It’s a holy invitation to turn to God and genuinely ask His forgiveness.

God is always quick to forgive. Our forgiveness is what Christ died on the cross to secure. When we confess our sins to God and genuinely seek to turn away from them, He forgives us totally and completely and helps us resist the temptation to fall back into those sins.

Once we’ve truly taken our sorrow and repentance to the Lord, we must then truly know that we ARE forgiven. God won’t continue to hold our sins against us, nor will He throw them back in our face later. God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ is absolute.

If we continue to struggle with guilt, that isn’t from the Lord, it’s from ourselves (or the devil). We must forgive ourselves once God has forgiven us. We must preach the gospel to ourselves and remind us that our sin is gone through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and there’s nothing we can add to that. We must set ourselves free, for God already has!