Charisa Stories

Tag: Jesus

  • Critical Lessons from the Temptations of Jesus

    Critical Lessons from the Temptations of Jesus

    We just celebrated the miracle of the incarnation. Paul explained what an incredible sacrifice Jesus made when He left the glory of Heaven.

    Instead, he gave up his divine privilege;
        he took the humble position of a slave
        and was born as a human being. (Philippians 2:7, NLT)

    That transaction allowed Jesus to fully experience the frailties of being human. Because Jesus was human He no doubt faced temptations throughout His life. Jesus had siblings and didn’t sin! That is a largely overlooked miracle.

    When the time arrived for Jesus to begin His public ministry Satan knew he needed to derail the redemptive work of Jesus. His strategy was to throw everything he could muster at Jesus in the form of three temptations. Satan knows the weakness of the flesh so these temptations were the best and most effective in his arsenal. The temptations and the order are so important for us to understand.

    Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3, NLT)

    Strategy Number 1: Attack a physical, emotional, or spiritual need when there is weakness.

    Jesus was hungry. Starving. He had to be utterly exhausted. The devil always attacks weakness. When you are tired and lonely you are a prime target for temptation. The tempter speaks to our weakness and the lies begin. “You are alone. No one will see what you are doing. Why don’t you go to this online site? It will take your mind off of your loneliness.”

    Whatever weakness you have will be exploited by the devil. Jesus could not have been in a more vulnerable position. I can’t imagine the condition Jesus must have been in yet He responded with authority of God’s Word.

    But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
    (Matthew 4:4, NLT)

    No doubt the devil was disappointed but undaunted. His two best strategies were yet to come.

    Strategy Number 2: Get you to take your eyes off of God and make it about you and your abilities

    Then the devil him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you.
    And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6, NLT)

    I can imagine that the flesh of Jesus wanted to show the accuser exactly how powerful His Father was. What a way to launch His public ministry with a heavenly display of power played out in front of multiple witnesses below. Satan thought he had a chance with this temptation because he had used God’s own words to set the trap. Jesus responded in kind.

    Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” (Matthew 7, NLT)

    Anytime you are focused on your ability more than God’s ability you are subject to this temptation. Satan was 0 for 2 but he had saved his biggest temptation for the grand finale.

    Strategy Number 3: Offer a shortcut to power, prestige, and fame

    Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9, NLT)

    Satan knew Scripture. He knew that Jesus must be a suffering servant before He would be king. The Prince of this world was offering a shortcut to an earthly kingdom. It shows that the devil doesn’t care about power over this physical world. From the moment of rebellion that got him tossed from God’s presence he wanted wanted one thing. To be like God and to be worshiped.

    “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:10, NLT)

    One of the most encouraging words in Scripture is what happens when you attack the enemy with God’s truth.

    Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

    It seems like the third temptation has been a recent challenge for many leaders in the church and followers of Jesus. Satan’s message is modified for the times but unchanged in essence.

    “I will give you access to power and social media influence. I will give it all to you if you overlook the truth of God’s Word and cozy up to the idols of culture.”

    Jesus was offered unlimited fame, power, and possessions.

    He said no.

    I can’t read the hearts and motives of others although it appears that is the superpower of many Twitter users. But all of us need to examine our hearts through the lens of grace and truth. And if we sense any doubt about our motives it would behoove us to emulate Jesus in His response to the devil. I love the way The Message translates verse ten.

    Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”

    Maybe that can be a mantra for the New Year.

    Beat it Satan!

    And remind the enemy that our hope is in Jesus and our trust is in Him alone.

  • Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    A few of you noticed that last week’s Monday Musing became a Tuesday Take. The reason was a little detour to the local Emergency Room. I felt a little off on Sunday but didn’t think much about it. I planned on calling the doctor on Monday but my body had other ideas. I began to develop a fever and shakes like I have rarely experienced and you already know the word that popped into my head.

    Covid.

    Joni loaded me up and headed to the ER. She said I was a little disoriented but I would submit it is hard to tell when I am oriented. At any rate, I checked in and got the Covid brain tickler along with a several hundred other tests. The quick Covid test came back negative. The diagnosis was a bladder infection and they began massive antibiotics. Just to be sure and to heighten my enjoyment I got the more sensitive Covid swab brain tickler. It also was negative.

    It is so 2020 when you celebrate that you have a bladder infection instead of Covid.

    I got home thinking I would soon be good to go. Fast forward a couple of days. The ER calls and says they found bacteria in my blood and I needed to get in as soon as I could.

    The doctor’s were concerned about sepsis which can be a bad thing. I alerted the family and friends. My phone lit up that people were praying. Six hours in I got the results from several hundred more tests that I did not need to be hospitalized and that the antibiotics were working.

    I texted the info to family and friends.

    The next day I got a Facetime call from my grandson Ethan. He shared that he had prayed for me while I was in the ER and wanted to see how I was doing. But the Postcard from God was this exchange with him.

    “Right after I prayed for you Mommy’s phone dinged with the news you were going to be okay.”

    I thought about the beauty of God’s sovereign timing. A lot of people prayed for me. The process at the hospital was long and arduous. But I believe God used that moment to show my precious grandson that prayer matters and that He listens.

    One of the remarkable and overlooked counter cultural ministries of Jesus was His view of children. Children were devalued. They were to be seen and not heard and often not even seen. Jesus turned that view upside down like so many other cultural norms with His teachings.

    About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

    We don’t get what a big deal this was. Jesus was not only giving children value He was using them as a spiritual example! Imagine how that settled with the puffed up Pharisees.

    I know this journey can be difficult. I know we wrestle with difficult theology. But sometimes I wonder if we make being a Christian harder that Jesus desires. Maybe if we concentrate on these simple precepts of Jesus we will find 2021 a much more fruitful journey.

    • “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17
    • “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said…” Matthew 9:9
    • Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

    Seems like a solid blueprint for this year. I hope to remember these simple lessons. Jesus never said He is only impressed with theologians. He never said to chart you own course. He never said to work 24/7 or feel guilty. He said these simple things.

    Pray and have Childlike faith.
    Follow Him.
    Rest in Him.
    Repeat.

    This journey is not about me. It is about Jesus and what He has already done. That is more than enough for us to get through anything together.

  • Don’t Pack Away the Hope of Christmas This Week

    Don’t Pack Away the Hope of Christmas This Week

    This week we will finish one of my least favorite tasks of the year. Taking down the Christmas decorations always makes me melancholy. I love Christmas and the message of hope it brings. That God entered human form and gave us hope in a Savior who understands our struggle.

    We will pack up a treasured Nativity creche that has been a part of our family tradition for decades. That miracle in Bethlehem is where I place my joy as I head into a very unstable New Year. I find my joy in the Messiah, the Lord – who was born in the city of David. It is so easy to remember the reason for hope during Christmas. But now that we are past this wonderful season it is also easy to pack my hope away in the attic and unpack lots of worry. The twenty-four news cycle feeds on negativity. Hearing the message of gloom and doom over and over has it’s effect on even the most steadfast believers. The news reporters peddle fear and I choose not to be paralyzed by it. The angel of the Lord told the shepherds not to be afraid. Jesus talked a lot about fear.

    “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. (Matthew 10 – NLT)

    And these words from Jesus could have been in response to the news reporting hysteria we hear every day.

    “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?…Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”  (Luke 12, NLT)

    So I have made some decisions. I don’t make vows because I know I will fall short at some point. Choosing a direction allows me to stumble off course but then get right back on track.

    I have decided to direct my time a little differently this year. I want to spend less time watching and reading the news and more time reading and meditating on God’s Word. I want to Bipartisan pray for our leaders in Washington but I am going to trust God to provide my hope. I want to live joyfully in each precious moment that God gives me and not live in paralyzing fear of the future. I agree with C.S. Lewis when he wrote these words. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.“

    We will soon have packed away the decorations for this year but I want to unpack the hope that Christ gives me for every single day in 2021. You can do that too. May you have a joyful New Year in spite of your circumstances. Our hope is in Christ. And that hope is certain.

  • A Christmas Miracle

    A Christmas Miracle

    One of my favorite Christmas stories happened during the horrors of war. The Christmas carol “Silent Night” was actually responsible for a wartime Christmas truce.

    The year was 1914 and soldiers were having to spend Christmas Eve night on the World War I battlefields of Belgium. After only four months of fighting, more than a million men had already perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers were scattered between the trenches. Enemy troops were dug-in so close that they could easily exchange shouts.

    On December 24, 1914, in the middle of a freezing battlefield in France, a miracle happened. The British troops watched in amazement as candle-lit Christmas trees began to appear above the German trenches. The glowing trees soon appeared along the length of the German front.

    Henry Williamson, a young soldier with the London Regiment wrote in his diary: “From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remembered my German nurse singing to me…. The grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange… like being in another world — to which one had come through a nightmare.”

    Silent Night
    Holy Night
    All is calm
    All is quiet

    “They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate,” another British soldier wrote, “So we sang “The First Noël” and when we finished, they all began clapping. And they struck up “O Tannebaum” and on it went… until we started up “O Come All Ye Faithful” [and] the Germans immediately joined in …. this was really a most extraordinary thing — two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”

    Christmas truce

    It is recorded that enemy soldiers greeted each other in the no man’s land that was a killing zone the day before. The soldiers wished each other Merry Christmas and agreed not to fire their rifles on Christmas Day. The spontaneous cease-fire eventually embraced much of a 500-mile stretch of the Western Front. According to the reports of soldiers at the scene, hundreds of thousands of soldiers celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace among the bodies of their dead.

    Christmas truce

    Other soldiers told of how the “enemies” exchanged badges and buttons from their uniforms. Others shared photos of wives and children and some even exchanged addresses and promised to write after the war ended.

    But the miracle of peace was temporary. Slowly, under threats from their officers, the troops returned to the trenches and the recoils of rifles split the temporary “Silent Night.” Some soldiers admitted aiming so their bullets flew well above the heads of the “enemy.”

    Perhaps those of us who celebrate the birth of the Savior could learn a lesson from this Christmas miracle as we engage those who do not share our beliefs and faith in Jesus. Those on the other side of the cultural trenches are not unlike us. The message delivered in Bethlehem was peace and goodwill toward all men. When we fight the cultural war we need to remember that the whole purpose of Jesus invading our space and time was to love and ultimately die for those on both sides of the battle. During the recent Army/Navy football game I was deeply moved by this observation.

    “This is only game where everyone on the field is willing to die for everyone watching them play”

    Jesus was willing and did die for everyone on both sides of our cultural trenches and ugly personal warfare. Perhaps the biggest miracle of that Silent Night was how the power of a unified focus on Jesus can unite even bitter enemies. My heart aches as I see Christians splitting ranks over things that don’t amount to a hill of beans on an eternal scale. I picture Jesus weeping over the churches of America like He wept over Jerusalem. I picture Him weeping over how Christians in this country divide over non-essentials and fail to communicate the joy and life-changing power of the good news of the gospel. Jesus gave this final command to His followers…

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
    John 13:34-35 – NLT

    Pretty straight forward. Nothing in there about personal gain, power, or prestige. The power of what happened on that Silent Night united enemies centuries later on a French battlefield.  My Christmas prayer is that the miracle of God becoming man will unite you and me, His followers, to seek what actually matters. To really make it about Christ and not about us. While we still have the chance.

  • The Miracle in a Manger

    The Miracle in a Manger

    One of my contributions with these modest little musings is to continually ask the tough questions.

    While listening to  “Away in a Manger” my inquiring mind kicked in. You likely know verse three of the song.

    The cattle are lowing
    The poor Baby wakes
    But little Lord Jesus
    No crying He makes

    As I listened an important series of difficult and probing inquiries popped into my head. What noise, exactly, were the cattle making when they started lowing? Was this normal cow talk? Did lowing just sound better than mooing in the lyric or is lowing a more spiritual and reverent cow sound? And then the most important question came to mind. What is wrong with me?

    I can’t answer the last question but I can help with the others. Lowing is defined at dictionary.com as “the characteristic sound uttered by cattle; a moo”.

    So little baby Jesus was awakened by the characteristic sound uttered by a cow. That would not have flowed well in the lyric so I understand going with lowing. The next part of the song is disturbing to those of us who have raised children. If any of the babies who grew up in our household were awakened by cattle lowing they would be squalling (defined as “the characteristic sound uttered by a ticked off baby; a scream”).

    I remember as a child singing “Away in a Manger” and picturing the baby Jesus with this beatific smile on his face and a little halo hovering over his head. In my imagination the animals were swaying and singing like the campfire scene from the movie “Three Amigos”.  My images of the baby Jesus were indeed childish. But I wonder if we don’t carry a little of that flawed perspective about the “Baby Jesus” into our adult Christian journey.

    This Christmas why not take a little time to think about the implications of the incarnation. That nice little theological word is used to denote when the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and became both fully God and fully man. C.S. Lewis called the incarnation “the Grand Miracle.” He wrote: “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation…. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this…. It was the central event in the history of the Earth–the very thing that the whole story has been about”.

    By a miracle that passes human comprehension, the Creator entered his creation, the Eternal entered time, God became human–in order to die and rise again for the salvation of all people. “He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still … (to) the womb … down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him” (Miracles, C.S. Lewis).

    Take a moment to meditate on the mystery of that. Fully God and fully man. I am sure the little Lord Jesus would have had the normal response to being awakened by any cow noise…lowing or other. His swaddling clothes had to be changed just like any baby.

    How does that affect me this Christmas? Because God became flesh I can relate to a Savior that understands the frailties of my flesh. Because the Creator understands His creation I can be sure that God understands my pain, frustration and loneliness. It is difficult for me to relate to an invisible God. That is the miracle of God becoming man. I can relate to Jesus because He has walked in my sandals. Joni and I were always appreciative and blessed when people expressed love and care while she was battling breast cancer. But when a breast cancer survivor expressed that love it connected on a different level. They had been there, felt the fear, fought the tiring battle and traveled the long road. That is the sovereign genius of the incarnation. We can relate to God in flesh in a way that is different. When I suffer I know that Jesus understands. He has been there. When I am lonely or feeling betrayed I can know (in my finite ability) that He understands. When I am joyful and laughing He understands. By becoming like me I can believe that Jesus can empathize with me on a different level. Because I know He gets it then I also get it. God loves me and Jesus has my back.

    My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (1 John 2, NLT)

    Jesus became our advocate and our path to salvation when He arrived on earth. The miracle in the manger was not Jesus ignoring whatever cow sound they were  making. The miracle was God becoming flesh.

  • The Spiritual Cost of Worry

    The Spiritual Cost of Worry

    I see a lot of worried people around me. Worried about the pandemic. Worried about the election. Worried about all kinds of things. But this old proverb rings true today.

    “Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

    As I get older I experience more and more how practical Scripture is for daily living. In the teaching of my youth the Bible was a book of lofty and seemingly impossible demands to behave in a way that would please God. Now I see that the Bible is a love story where Jesus met those impossible demands on my behalf. I see now that my simple faith and trust pleases God. And I see a practical book that shows me how to find joy during this temporary journey on earth. The Designer knew when we left the factory that worry is destructive. The study above merely confirms what Jesus said a couple of millenia ago.

    “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27, NLT)

    Jesus continues in the same message.

    “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew, 6:31-34)

    Our Designer knew something else. Most of what we consume ourselves with never happens or is not worth getting anxious about. Modern research verifies ancient wisdom.

    A research study examined how many times an imagined calamity actually came to pass. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen.

    The remarkable results came back that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened! Slow down and digest that. Eighty-five percent of what we work ourselves into varied states of frenzy about never even happens. And here is the even more remarkable finding. For the 15 percent of the worry agenda that did happen, nearly 80 percent of the respondents reported they were able to deal with the concern better than expected or they learned a valuable lesson from the event. So 97 percent of what the majority of this study group worried about was not worth wasting the energy, faith and time.

    Worry is exactly where the Enemy wants to keep the children of God. Living in fear of the future cheats you out of today. A precious moment tugs on your heart like a child at your sleeve. Too often you miss that moment concerning yourself with something that likely won’t happen or will happen in a way that your worry can not change.

    For those of you who struggle with worry maybe it helps to remember that your Heavenly Father is always on the job. Worry is not an attribute of our God. I suspect that it grieves His heart that we are paralyzed with worry when our Father is calling us to know Him, trust Him and rest in Him.

    Trusting Jesus for tomorrow, next week, next year and forever frees us to see what this moment holds. No amount of worry will change the fact that we will face death, adversity and sadness.

    As a young believer one of my favorite artists was Andrae Crouch. His lyrics powerfully showed how God uses trials to help us mature in our faith.

    I’ve had many tears and sorrows
    I’ve had questions for tomorrow
    There’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong
    But in every situation
    God gave me blessed consolation
    That my trials come to only make me strong

    Through it all
    Through it all
    I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
    I’ve learned to trust in God

    Through it all
    Through it all
    I’ve learned to depend upon His Word

    I pray that all of us learn to trust in Jesus and depend upon His Word in this difficult season.

    Much of this article was excerpted from Waking Up Slowly. The book discusses 21 different actions or attitudes that disconnect you from God and others. Check it out here.

  • A Little Perspective Before November 3rd

    A Little Perspective Before November 3rd

    We live in such an unsettling time. A global pandemic. Disunity in our nation and even among our church family. Political anger that destroys relationships between family and friends. If my focus is on social media and the news things might seem completely hopeless. But my focus is not on those things. My hope is not in Washington, D.C. My hope is in the finished work of Jesus. This life is just the warmup act for followers of Jesus. A classic tune from the Righteous Brothers reflects my hope.

    If you believe in forever,
    Then life is just a one-night stand.

    Those lyrics reminded me that even if you hit triple digits on the age odometer this journey is still an eternal blink of the eye. Your significance is not how long but how well you live your life. Not how much fame or money you gain but what you do with time you are given.

    This weekend a song popped up on satellite radio called “We’re Only Here for a Little While”. Billy Dean is singing about leaving a funeral and recognizing his need to slow down and enjoy the everyday blessings of life. He decides to become intentional about doing the things that matter instead of worrying and tweeting about things that don’t amount to a hill of beans in eternity.

    Gonna hold who needs holdin’
    Mend what needs mendin’
    Walk what needs walkin’
    Though it means an extra mile
    Pray what needs prayin’
    Say what needs sayin’
    Cause we’re only here for a little while.  

    That is a pretty good to do list to live a life that makes a difference. Being present with those you love. Forgiving AND asking to be forgiven. Taking your journey with Jesus seriously. Understanding and practicing the power of prayer. Speaking the truth in grace and love. The last lyric is the one that is most fraught with danger. We often find it easy to say what we think needs to be said. It is such a difficult thing to speak truth into the life of someone who is determined to go their own way. Perhaps a gigantic how to clue is embedded in a verse from the Gospel of John.

    Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. (John 1:14, NET)

    Jesus was full of grace and truth. Most of us are full of truth or we are full of some variation of that. I suspect in God’s wisdom, grace comes first because we have a far harder time communicating with grace. I am often willing to be “honest” and tell you where you are wrong. Doing that with grace and truth requires me to love you and to be vulnerable. Jesus modeled a perfectly balanced blend of grace and truth.

    That is my prayer as I engage those who have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences of those decisions. I pray that I will always present truth as a gift of grace from a loving God instead of performance demands in order to be acceptable to Him. The following principle is nearly always true.

    Truth presented as law hardens hearts.
    Truth presented with grace changes hearts.

    When we meditate on the grace given to us as a free gift by our gracious God we can can begin to model Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus.

    Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4:15, NLT)

    Meditate on Paul’s words and remember we are only here for a little while. No matter what happens November 3rd we have a Sovereign God who loves us and calls us His child. Maybe remembering that will help us worry a little more about the things that matter for eternity. And focus on the One who can unite us.