Re-Gifting?

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They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”         Matthew 14:17-18 ESV

After Christmas people who we missed seeing on the big day sometimes stop by unexpectedly and more often than we would like to admit we do some quick re-gifting, though – we try to avoid that label because it is associated with someone who is a cheap-skate. However, in the Bible Jesus often practiced re-gifting. In today’s verse, for example, Jesus took five loaves from the disciples, who got them from a small boy and then gave them to five thousand hungry people. Later, Jesus took the disciples who His Father had given Him and gave them to the world. Last of all; Jesus took the life which the Father had given Him, and He gave it to us on the cross.

In this year ahead we will all be “gifted” with time, talent and treasure. None of these things belong to us. All we have is just passing through our hands. How we “Re-Gift” what we have received has the potential to feed the hungry, bring comfort to hurting people, and give friendship to those in our world. We need to each ask ourselves what we can unashamedly re-gift every day. May God bless you as you share your gifts in the 365 days of the year ahead!

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He Remains

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2 Timothy 2:13 ESV If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself

The Christmas bells are safely packed away in their cases and the small nativity scene has returned to its box. Though the wise men still stand above the china cabinet it will not be long before they are sent back to their far country on a shelf in the garage. This week between Christmas and New Year is quiet with the anticipation of what lies ahead and a sad sweetness of the end of our celebration of the birth of Jesus. – And yes, I know that December 25th was probably not the day he was laid in the manger, but today I wanted us to look back at that moment one more time to remind ourselves of what remains. Jesus remains and today’s verse tells us that He remains faithful.

Every day of the year is the day that our Lord has made, and every night is another night in the stable of our hearts where Jesus comes to be born in the middle of our mess. A New Year is already in the books somewhere in the world, but God is more interested in the calendar of our hearts than the calendar on our walls. If we make a time and a place for Him, He will come to bring light into our dark and empty places. But if we choose to go our own way and deny Him by our life’s choices, Jesus still remains. He is the I am. He is Alpha and Omega. He is the author and the editor of our faith and of all history. He remains, never packed away, never out of season, never failing. Thank God for such an amazing and mighty Savior; and, in the year, that ahead the best news of all is that He remains!

Return from Lo Debar – Part 2

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Return From Lo Debar – Part 2

And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 2 Samuel 9:7 ESV

This verse paints us a beautiful picture of the restoration of Mephibosheth, but he is not the focus of the story. The return from Lo Debar begins in the heart of David keeping his promise to a friend. In the same way, restoration in our lives begins in the heart of God. In our culture today, it is common to say that people are special and that on their birthday we celebrate their “special” day. We pay more to go to doctors who are specialists and pour resources into programs to help people with “special needs.” Of course, there is nothing wrong with encouraging people to think they have special value, but it is dangerous to make any person the center of our lives. The reality is, that only God is special and that everything good flows from making Him and His love the center of our story. So, let’s look at the wonderful things that happened to our friend Mephibosheth as his life was changed forever by the kindness of King David.

First, Mephibosheth was given everything that his grandfather had lost by sin and rebellion against God. Instead of digging up past failures, David focused on giving his friend’s son a fresh start. In the process of fleeing to Lo Debar Mephibosheth had been crippled by a fall. The society of his day considered him no more important than a common beggar. But David didn’t look down on Mephibosheth, instead he provided him with a life of dignity and respect. Secondly, David was not satisfied with just blessing Mephibosheth. He also wanted Mephibosheth to be close to him. While many generals, wealthy merchants and priests were held in high esteem by the people, only a select few could sit down and have dinner with David. In the same way, God invites you and I to sit close to Him. God wants to do more than just bless us. He wants to be our closest friend! But we will never fully know Him until we know that returning from Lo Debar is about more than only blessings. It is about sitting down at the table with Jesus every day and getting to know Him better and better every day of our lives!

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