It must have been an impressive sight!  Millions of people camped along the eastern shore of the Jordan River in ancient Moab.  After forty years of wandering through the wilderness, Israel’s nomadic days were about to come to an end.  Soon they would launch the conquest of Canaan and take possession of the land promised to their ancestors.  But before the launching of the campaign, their leader called upon the young Hebrew nation to remember their past experiences and God’s unfailing faithfulness.

That is the setting of the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy.  Deuteronomy is a book of remembrances.  The word “remember” appears repeatedly throughout the book.  Chapter by chapter the command is given to do what the name Deuteronomy suggests - Remember!

The Children of Israel were commanded to remember that they had been slaves in Egypt until God redeemed them with His mighty hand (Deut. 5:15; 24:18).  They were commanded to remember the long forty-year journey through the wilderness and how God led them and fed them along the way (Deut. 8:2-3).  They were told to remember how God kept their clothing from wearing out (v4).  Talk about a miracle!  Their clothes endured the forty-year journey through rough terrain, and in the end looked as good as new.

Like Israel camped along the banks of the Jordan, we stand upon the threshold of a brand New Year.  Similar to Israel’s experiences in the new land, we have strongholds to conquer, battles to fight, a few giants to take down, and victories to win in 2016.  There are possessions to possess.  There are faith adventures just ahead.  It promises to be an exciting New Year.

But before you cross over into the new, pause to remember.  That’s the message of Deuteronomy.  Take some time to reflect on your experiences and God’s faithfulness in the past year.  Remember how God brought you through the tough times.  Think of all the things He not only kept you through, but kept you from.  Remember all of His blessings, big and small.

The discipline of remembering not only makes us thankful for what God has done, it makes us hopeful for the future.  It gives us confidence that the God who was there in all our yesterdays will be there in all our tomorrows.  And He will.

May I suggest that sometime before you ring in the New Year, you get alone with God and remember.  Find a quiet place to deeply reflect on the year 2015.  Then reverently store the old year away like you would a precious keepsake, and go forward into the New Year in the strength of the Lord.

Pastor Todd Weston

One of my childhood trials during the holiday season was the long wait until Christmas Eve to open my presents that had been under the tree since Thanksgiving.  I remember laying on the floor in front of the Christmas tree staring at the beautifully wrapped packages, dreaming of what they might contain.  I also remember the wave of impatience that came with the realization I still had days, even weeks, to wait.

Waiting and Christmas seem to go together.  For those of us who absolutely love Christmas, we wait all year long for the season to arrive.  Then we wait in line at the store.  We wait in line at the post office.  We wait in traffic.  Some wait in airports for the flight to take them home for the holidays.  Others wait for loved ones to arrive.  Did you know that on average we will spend six months waiting at stoplights and over five years waiting in lines?  That’s a lot of waiting?

The Bible tells about a man who spent most of his life waiting for something.  His name was Simeon and he lived in the city of Jerusalem.  He was a godly man who lived under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  At some point early on in his life the Spirit promised Simeon he would not die until he had seen with his own eyes the Messiah - Jesus Christ.  

So Simeon waited…and he waited…and he waited.  The years rolled by as Simeon waited.  From youth, through middle age, to old age he waited.  Tradition says that by the time we reach Luke 2, Simeon was 113 years old.  That’s a long time to wait for anything!  But Simeon patiently waited all those years, holding on to the promise that he would see the Christ before he died.

And then came the day when the Spirit directed Simeon to go to the Temple.  Can you imagine his excitement after all those years of waiting?  Arriving at the Temple Simeon saw a couple approaching with a newborn baby boy.  From what happened next it’s obvious the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon his long wait was over.  This Child was the Promised One of God.  Taking the baby Jesus in his arms, Simeon blessed God saying, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30).

Simeon could die without fear because, at last, he saw the salvation of the Lord.  Have you?  Can you face eternity without fear because you have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ?  

You’ve heard the saying, “Good things come to those who wait.”  I guess that’s true if you are waiting for the right thing.  Simeon knew what to wait for.  He looked forward to and waited for the first coming of Christ.  Today we look forward to and wait for His second coming.  Waiting for the right thing causes us to live in the right way.  It motivates us to live for things that will matter for eternity, rather than just for the next week.

Let’s learn from Simeon - the man who patiently waited on the promise of God.  Christmas reminds us that while the wait may be long, the promise of God will not fail.  Faith will become sight.  The babe in the arms of Simeon is proof!

Pastor Todd Weston 

I am intrigued by this statement found in Revelation 8:1, “There was silence in heaven.”  Let’s face it, there are times when God goes silent.  On the one hand, there are things God chooses to reveal.  On the other hand, there are things He chooses not to reveal.  

Case in point. In the last chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus revealed what was going to happen to Peter - how he would meet with a martyr’s death on a Roman cross.  But when Peter asked about the future of John, Jesus went silent.  He said to Peter, “What is that to you?” (John 21:22)

Over the three years of His earthly ministry Jesus taught the disciples many things.  But when questioned specifically about the restoration of national Israel and its timing, Jesus said, “It is not for you to know” (Acts 1:7).

We know that Jesus is coming again, but the exact moment of the Rapture is a closely guarded secret.  We know that Jesus is preparing a place for us to spend eternity, but many things about heaven and the afterlife remain a mystery.  In describing heaven, the Bible reveals more about what is not there than what is there.  When we try to push beyond that, we are met with deafening silence.  “There was silence in heaven.”

Now we could spend a lot of time and energy speculating on such biblical mysteries as -

• The Trinity - three divine Persons and yet one God
• The Incarnation - that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God at the same time
• The Atonement - where God punished the innocent so He could forgive the guilty
• The Providence of God - why a loving God allows bad things to happen

We could debate the mystery of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.  These two truths are taught, not only in the same Bible and in the same chapter of the Bible, but often in the same sentence, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (man’s responsibility), for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (God’s sovereignty)” (Phi. 2:12b-13a).  How do you reconcile that?

We could spend a lot of time trying to unlock the mysteries of the Bible, and many Christians do.  Or we could accept Moses’ statement made to the Children of Israel, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).

We need to accept the fact that there are certain things we will never fully know and understand in this life because God has not revealed them.  Rather than endless speculation on what has not been revealed, there needs to be continued focus on what has been revealed “that we may do all the words of this law.”

Rest assured that there’s coming a day when our knowledge will be made perfect and complete (1 Cor. 13:12).  Jesus said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing” (John 16:23).  Until then, we walk by faith and not by sight.  

So focus on the things God has revealed, and leave the mysteries with Him.  Continue to trust God even when you cannot see, remembering what Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Pastor Todd Weston

Luke 1:68-70 records the only recorded prophetic utterance of Zacharias, the father of John-the-Baptist.  Zacharias was a priest; a spiritual leader in Israel.  So people respected what he had to say.  In the heart of his prophetic utterance is a jewel of a statement, “To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear” (Luke 1:74).

This prophecy was especially comforting to the nation of Israel.  For a period of 400 years there had been no prophetic word from heaven. Not a sound!  For nearly 600 years, the Jews had prayed for deliverance from their enemies: first Babylon, then Medo-Persia, followed by Greece, and finally Rome.  They longed for a savior.  Little did they know the long wait was just about over!  Within a matter of weeks after Zacharias’ prophecy, maybe just a few months, the angels would light up the night sky over Bethlehem with the announcement, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Zacharias’ prophecy speaks to us today.  It reminds us that as believers we have been delivered from the hand of our enemies.  All that Adam lost for the human race, Jesus purchased on our behalf with His blood.  Because of Christ’s work on the cross, we no longer have to live in bondage to the enemy.  No longer are we bound by Satan’s lies.  No longer are we subject to his control.  For the Lord“has visited and redeemed His people…that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hates us” (Luke 1:68,71). 

According to Zacharias’ prophecy God has saved us so that we “might serve Him without fear” (Luke 1:74).  Are you serving Jesus today without fear, or are you continuing to live in bondage?  Did you know that according to Romans 8:15, “You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”?  Have you stood on 2 Timothy 1:7 that states, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  Have you remembered the words of 1 John 4:18 that says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.”

God did not save us so we would continue living in fear.  He did not redeem us so we could go on living in bondage.  He saved us to set us free from every enemy, including fear.  So don’t be afraid!  God will perform the mercy promised (Luke 1:72a).  Don’t be afraid!  He will remember His holy covenant (Luke 1:72b).  God will not break or forget His promises to you.  He will perform all that He promised.

Rest in this thought today: The same power that cancelled our sins can handle our fears.  The first word from heaven to earth at the birth of Jesus was, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10).  The final word of the believer walking through the valley of the shadow of death is this, “I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:4).  From the moment Christ is born in your heart to the moment you step into the eternal home of the Lord, may God grant you the grace to serve Him without fear.

Pastor Todd Weston