Remarkable Grace

Our theme for Influencers this year is Remarkable.  When you’re a Christian, non-Christians expect you to live a remarkable life… a life outside of the norms of popular culture.  Jesus himself was remarkable.  He loved the unloveable.  He blessed those who persecuted him.  When they crucified him, He said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”  

James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

God will refine us through the trials of life.  Thank God for his fire of refinement.  We will be transformed from the common when he refines us according to his purpose.  For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

God will take the common raw material of our sinful lives to refine us according to his purpose.  For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

He calls us to be remarkable.  His spirit of life in Christ is what makes us remarkable.  With Christ in us the hope of glory, we press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  We’re saved by grace not because of who we are but because of who he is.  For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.   

If you are sharing your faith, how would you define grace?  Grace is God’s divine favor given to the one who didn’t deserve to receive it by the one who didn’t need to give it.  Grace is because of God’s love: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved…”. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

According to 2 Corinthians 6:1, “WE then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”  We’re never worthy to receive the grace of God.  We’re not wise enough, strong enough, rich enough or competent enough.  We’re just not good enough to receive God’s gracious gift.  Because we could never earn it, Jesus Christ paid for God’s gift on our behalf.  We’re saved from the consequences of sin because Jesus paid for our sin with his righteous innocent life in exchange for our guilty life that was worthy of of sin and death.

We did not receive God’s gift of grace in vain.  We’ve been given his gracious gift to use for the purpose for which he’s called us.  God doesn’t call the qualified….he qualifies the called according to his grace.  

Men find it difficult to accept a gift of grace.  They would rather earn it.  However, the gift of God is not of works lest any man should boast.  The gift of grace is for His glory, not ours.  Our boast is not in ourselves but in him.

Grace reconciles our hearts to God.  In our earthly flesh, we cannot approach a holy God.  However, Jesus Christ is the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf.  We are justified freely by his gracious gift.  We’re at peace with God because Jesus Christ became sin for us who knew no sin that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.  For there is one God and one mediator between men and God, the man Christ Jesus.

Grace is all of thee and none of me.  Justification is through the just payment that Jesus made to justify our debt of sin.  We’re righteous because Jesus shed his innocent blood on our behalf…  What shall wash away, redeem, cleanse, justify, and expunge my sin?  …nothing but the blood of Jesus.  In him (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

The life of Joseph is a picture of God’s grace.  Joseph endured suffering, pain and tribulation.  However, God delivered him because Joseph honored God regardless of the storms of life.  

Grace forgives unconditionally.  The love of God is a result of God’s grace.  God’s gracious gift of salvation gives us the capacity to love with Christ’s heart behind our heart.  The love of God keeps no record of wrongs done.  Because he loves us, he will put us on the bench so that we will learn humility.  On the bench, we’ll learn that our glory is not in ourselves but in him alone.  On the bench we’ll learn that serving God is by serving those whom he’s called us to minister.  As Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Forgiving in grace means not to speak evil of others.  It means to let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good for the use of edifying that it may minister grace to them that hear it.  Living in grace means that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks edification and glory to God.  

Because of God’s gracious gift of Holy Spirit we can love with His heart behind our heart.  Only by his Grace can we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  

Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.  However because of God’s remarkable grace, his gift of Holy Spirit, of Christ in us the hope of glory, we’re his poem, his workmanship,  his great work created unto good works which he’s foreordained that we should walk in them.

We’re set free according to God’s remarkable grace and forgiveness.  I forgave and set the prisoner free, only to find that the prisoner was me.  Therefore, thank God for his gracious gift.  Thankfulness is the result of grace.  Because of Christ in us, we have the capacity to keep a grateful heart…

…  That we may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Remarkable Love

Jesus was remarkable. He was extraordinary, uncommon, and unique. Jesus Christ is God’s remarkable love made manifest to a fallen world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…..

There are several different kinds of love in the Greek language. The first type of love is Eros. This is romantic love characterized by the height of emotional response. Romantic poets write love poems about this passionate type of love.

The second type of love is the Greek word “storge.” This is familial love. This is the tie that binds immediate and extended families together. Family values are common to a tight knit community. As civilizations disintegrate, the bonds of familial love dissolve and the family atomizes and flies apart. Families have been undermined and traditional family values are ridiculed and are considered unfashionable by today’s popular culture.

Phileo is the Greek word for brotherly love. This type of love is characterized by friendship. However, most men today can’t think of six good friends, godly men who would carry their casket at their funeral.

There is a critical spirit that will kill these three types of human love. Those who fall out of love become defensive and break off communication. They stonewall and refuse to talk to each other. According to 2 Timothy 3, in the last days, men will become lovers of pleasrure instead of lovers of God. These last days are characterized by irreconcilable differences between competing factions and between God and men.

The highest kind of love is the Greek word “agape.” This is the remarkable love of God. Jesus said, “a new commandment I give you, that you love one another even also as I have loved you.” Agape is the totally unselfish spiritual love of God. Agape has the capacity to keep on giving without expecting anything in return. Every other type of love is reciprocal. Other types of love require love in return. However, agape is the supernatural unconditional love of God. Agape love persists in the face of rejection and continues regardless of the response of the other party. Agape cannot be deflected by unloveable behavior. God’s love never lets how others treat you determine how you treat them. Agape is rooted in the eternal life that God gave us through his son when we were born again of his Holy Spirit. The love of God is the divine solution for strife and contention. It is the solution for marriages populated by imperfect human beings.

The love of God is the love of hope. It is the assurance of our future in our eternal relationship with Him. John said, these things have I written to you so that ye may know that you have eternal life. God’s spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God.

We can’t love others with the love of God until we love Him above all. When we love the Lord, we can love those around us. Jesus loved the unloveable because he loved with the unconditional love of God. If we are to love our wives we must meet each other at the foot of the cross. We were dead in sin until we came to Christ. For in him is the love of God made perfect. For we who were dead in trespasses and sins has he reconciled through the sacrifice of his son on our behalf.

God loved us so much that even while we were yet sinners, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life. God’s nature is to love the undeserving.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God. And thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” To love God, we must die to self. To be set free we must die to the sinful nature we inherited from Adam. For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

There is no pure love in my human soul that I inherited from Adam. I cannot love until I’ve been set free by the unconditional spiritual love of God. God never gave up on us because of his great love wherewith he loved us.

As David prayed, have mercy on me O Lord. Not according to my transgressions but according to your loving kindness and tender mercy. I am undeserving, for against thee and thee alone have I sinned. Restore me to an upright condition so that I may return to fellowship. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me and draw me nearer to thee. Order my ways according to thy holy word. Make thy commandment the joy of my heart that by them I might have happy conversation with you O Lord.

When I fail, when I fall from the narrow way, O Lord, may I fall into your net of mercy and grace. Forgive me, restore me, return me to an upright position according to your unconditional love and mercy.

Thank you Lord for your remarkable love. That I may love you with the spirit of Christ in me to the praise of the glory of your grace.

May our lives be an example of the remarkable unconditional Love of our Lord that we may continually offer unto him the sacrifice of praise!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Remarkable

Old men know better than to make New Year’s resolutions. They have learned not to make promises they can’t keep. A resolution means to determine to find an explanation or a solution to a problem. Resolution can also mean the act of determining to do or not do something. They say hindsight is 2020. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. However God’s foresight is 2020. He knows the end from the beginning but we don’t. As we look back on 2019 there are many things that we should or should not have done. As we look forward with the comfort of God’s 2020 foresight, we’re encouraged by Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision the people perish (they wander aimlessly), but he that keepeth the Law (the word of God) happy is he.”

What does God hold for us in the coming year? When Pete asked God that question many years ago, the word that came to mind was “casual.” The word that defines Christian men in church today is casual. Casual is followed in the dictionary by the word casualty. Casual Christians are casualties in the spiritual battle.

When Pete asked God for a theme to focus on for 2020, the word that came to mind was “remarkable.” This past year there was a message about the meaning of the word “remarkable.” What’s remarkable about our calling? Matthew 9 is about the gospel of the harvest. Seeing the people, Jesus felt compassion for them because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. He looked to his disciples, and prayed, “God, send out workers into the harvest for the harvest is plentiful but he laborers are few.”

Pete was ministering to a young man in Texas who was contemplating what he should do next in service to God. The young man had been married for one year and was longing for the “good old days” when he was involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in full time Christian service. Pete encouraged him, “Your ministry is to your wife. She is your mission field. God calls us to seasons of life with different priorities. There’s a season to plant, to fertilize, to weed, to water and then to bring in the harvest.” Ecclesiastes 3 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Christians are remarkable in that God has separated them from a world of darkness. According to 2 Corinthians 6, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Holiness is to be separated according to the designer’s design. We’re separated from the world when we’re called to holiness, separated unto Him. We’re separated with a new spirit and a new nature. Therefore be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit. The holy spirit in us is Christ in us the hope of glory. In the spirit of Christ we’re remarkable. We have the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We’re born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible. We’re remarkable because we’re uncommon or extraordinary. Remarkable is easily noticed as outside of the world’s norm. Remarkable makes others want to investigate the reason for what makes us unique. The diseased sheep in the bad shepherd’s pasture look at the good shepherd’s pasture and say to themselves, “I want to be in that shepherd’s flock.” The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures, He restoreth my soul….

There is a strong family resemblance between fathers and sons. Those outside of the family notice something special, something remarkable about those who belong to their Heavenly Father.

Remarkable is what the multitude at the temple in Acts 2 noticed about the Apostle Peter at the day of Pentecost. They noticed that Jesus’ disciples spoke with power and authority even though they were lowly Galileans. For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Remarkable goes beyond what is required or necessary. Remarkable men show integrity in their workmanship for God’s glory. They exceed in excellence and hold themselves to a higher standard. Remarkable men separate themselves from the world’s norms. They are unusual in a welcoming way. God said, don’t touch what’s unclean and I will welcome you in the way of the Lord.

When you look unto Jesus, people who love darkness instead of light will say you’re illogical, foolish, crazy and bizarre. In Acts 2 Peter said to the leaders of the temple on the day of Pentecost, “Him (Jesus Christ,) being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

What was remarkable on the Day of Pentecost remains remarkable in 2020: The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection was the power of God unto salvation made manifest. This is the gospel message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (made whole.) God has called us to plant and water the seed of his word, the gospel message, in the mission field to which he’s called us. In due season we shall reap if we faint not. Therefore, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

As we approach 2020 with God’s remarkable holy calling, may we ever live to the praise fo the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael

The Gift of Gifts

The Puritan book of Prayers, The Valley of Vision contains a devotional about the Gift of Gifts. At Christmas we celebrate the gift God gave us. Every day signifies Christmas, the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to the Puritan’s prayer, “O source of all good, what shall I give back to you for you gave me the incomprehensible gift of your love….your son my Saviour Jesus Christ. Herein is the wonder of wonders. He was born like me so that I may become like him. This is the meaning of love. Though I could not approach him, he drew close to me so that I may be embraced in the comfort of his love and grace. He came below to raise me above through wings of grace unto himself.“

Luke 2 verse 7 and following is the story of Christmas.
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field…..
The angel said unto them, fear not for behold I bring to you glad tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day in the he city David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you……
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Herein is the power of God made manifest when the uncreated God brought life into created men so that he could create his spirit of life within them. For he sent his son so that through his death he might pay the ransom for my captivity in sin… To satisfy the balance of God’s righteous standard by the shedding of his innocent blood in exchange for my guilty blood.

The angels brought glad tidings of great joy… for unto you is born this day a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.

O God take me into spirt to the watchful shepherds…. lead me to watch, praise, rejoice and adore him. Let me find my joy in thee O Lord. He has redeemed me through the perfect payment of his innocent blood on my behalf. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on my behalf that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

There is no joy in the fleeting passing things of this world. There is no promise of life in this world. Our surety is in our life in Christ. As Missionary Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who loses that which he cannot keep to keep that which he cannot lose. The things of this world will soon be passed, only that which is done in Christ shall last.

Enlarge my mind to bathe my heart in an ocean of rest in thee. My eyes lifted up to a reconciled Father through my Lord Jesus Christ. That I might look upon my Saviour through the eyes of the spirit of Christ in me.

To look at my self, I’ll be depressed. To look at those around me, I’ll be distressed. To look at Christ I’ll always be blessed. Let me with Simeon clasp the newborn Christ to my heart…that I may exalt that am his and he is mine.

May we ever be mindful that every day is Christos-mas….more of thee and less of me…that we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

The Christmas Message

If someone from another culture who didn’t know anything about Christmas asked you, what’s the meaning of Christmas, what would you tell them? The angels heralded the advent of the Son of God. If you know John 3:16, then you know the meaning of Christmas. God surrendered his only begotten son, For God so loved the world tha he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

At Christmas, we wonder what gifts we should give our loved ones. God so loved that he gave a gift. The greatest Christmas present is the presence of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The angels declared, Joy to the World, the Lord is come. Good tidings of great joy was the message of the first Christmas announcement to the Shepherds by the angels on that Judean hillside.

Jesus came to give us peace: Peace on earth good will toward men. The prince of peace has come. Peace is the absolute end of all strife and contention between God and men. For their is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the perfect lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christmas is the announcement of great joy which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Joy to the world is not the absence of pain, rather Joy is the presence of the Lord.

Though we have lost loved ones this past year, we grieve not as others who have no hope. We have the hope of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life. Jesus was God’s plan of redemption. He is our salvation, our joy and our hope of life.

God has revealed the light of his son in our hearts. The light of Christ will break through the darkness of this world. The celebration of Christmas is to celebrate the life of the spirit of Christ in us the hope of glory. It’s not about us, it’s about Him. The message of Christmas is “Christos mas”…….more of thee and less of me.

May we be ever be mindful of the gift of Christmas Presence…the presence of God in Christ in us!
That we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Men want to accomplish something in their lives. They want to make a difference and see their projects through to completion. Men love to look back on a day’s work and see what they’ve accomplished.

What does it mean to be useful for God? Why don’t men want God to use them? In Luke 10, Jesus sent out the seventy on a faith trip. He said not to take any provisions with them but to rely on the hospitality of those they met.

When the Navigators were training people for ministry, their training assignment was to go knock on doors in neighborhoods in downtown Orlando. One girl in training who was a new Christian said, I knocked on one door and the woman who answered the door said, “You’re an answer to my prayer. I asked God for someone to come talk to me about salvation.”

The seventy that Jesus sent out came back rejoicing. Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Jesus had given them power through his name. He said, you’ll tread on serpents and scorpions and you shall have power over them. The powers of the darkness of the world will have no dominion over you. Behold I have given you authority. For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind. The name of Jesus Christ has power over demons. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Jesus said, If you ask anything in my name, it shall be given to you.

What if we pray and God doesn’t give us what we pray for? When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked his father, if there be any other way, let this cup of death sin, and wrath of righteous judgement pass from me. Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.

Oswald Chambers said, the snare of the Christian work is to rejoice in successful service. Beware of men who make success their ground of appeal. It’s not our work for him that counts. It’s only his work when God works in us and though to will and to do of His good pleasure that counts. It’s not the results that indicate success in God’s sight. Jesus said to the seventy when they returned from their mission trip, “rejoice not because you saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

The success is that we’re used for God’s will. The answer to prayer is, “not my will but thine be done.” You can never realize what God will do through you until you’re rightly related to Jesus Christ. When you have a right relationship with God through his son, then you’ll be fulfilling God’s purpose as long as you’re in the light as He is in the light.

Abiding in Christ is the way to be useful according to the purpose to which he’s called us. Colossians 2:7 says, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

We can be used by God or we can be used up. When God calls us he calls us with two purposes. The first is to preach Jesus Christ and then let the chips fall where they may. The second is to abide with him and within him. Only then can God balance our priorities to will and to do of His good pleasure.

God has given us his gift of Holy Spirit. We’re to use His gift not ours. God will teach us to use his gift if we take time to get to know him. Unless he works within us to will and to do of His good pleasure, we’ll be used up.

Therefore, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. When we delight ourselves also in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our heart. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens those who lack power. Practicing the presence of God is to plant ourselves by his river of living water. He saved and sanctified us to be exhausted in our own power so that he can empower us. As the Apostle Paul concluded, thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.

When we delight in the Lord with all our heart we will taste and see that the Lord is good. We have to cultivate a taste for His word. The Word of God is an acquired taste. As we feed on the bread of life, we’ll come to crave our necessary food. As Jeremiah said, I found thy words and I did eat them and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my life.

Be careful where we get our supplies. We’re called to become broken bread to feed those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. God will allow us to be broken bread to serve those whom he has called.

We need to die to self in order to live for him. When we give up the right to ourselves, then we can present our bodies a living sacrifice holy and wholly acceptable unto him which our reasonable act of worship. For I was crucified with Christ, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

For what were we called? What is the good purpose of his will? The conclusion is in Ephesians 1, that we should be to the praise of the glory of His grace who has made us acceptable in the beloved.

This Christmas season and in every season of life, His will is that we live exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to his power that worketh in us.

Your brother in Christ,
Michael

God bless y’all and thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning.

I’m Michael Low.  The Bible says, “condescend to men of low estate.”  So thank you for condescending to my level.  Some of you know me from Influencers’ retreats and Journey groups. Most of you know me because I take notes and post them on Influencers West web site.  

How may of you were at October’s Influencers retreat?  As you recall we have a tradition at our influencers retreats to toss an orange to someone who has particularly blessed us.  Pete threw me an orange and said that I was a blessing for taking notes of the messages.  Pete said to me after reading the first notes I published, “I don’t remember saying that.  Then I thought to myself, I wish I had said that.”  Pete said to Bill Kauble after reading my notes, “I didn’t know I was that good.”  Bill always having a heart to keep Pete humble said, “You’re really not that good.”  

I went to a church conference and the preacher said, “After the sermon, I went to greet the people as they were leaving.  They would say, “I loved it when you said….and then they would tell me what they heard.”  I remember saying to myself, “I never said that.”  About the 50th time someone came up to me and said “I loved it when you said…., God prompted me to reply “I didn’t say that.  The Holy Spirit said that.  You need to write down not what the preacher says but what the Holy Spirit says.”  That’s what I do when I publish the notes and thoughts from influencers messages.

When Pete threw me the orange I was thinking of whom to thank.  I said, “I’d like to throw an orange to all y’all.”  Pete said, “It’s good to hear from a fellow southerner.”  People notice two things about me when they first meet me.  The first is that I’m Asian.  The second is that I speak with a slight southern twang.  In response to Pete’s comment I said, “most of y’all don’t know it, but I hail from North Carolina….that’s in Southern China.”  

I’d like to thank all y’all for our fellowship, our band of brothers here in Fullerton.  After our retreat Bill Kauble asked the table leaders what they thought about our table group discussions.  Justin from our Irvine group said, “you remember the story about Daniel in the lions’ den?  Well, I felt like a lion in the midst of Daniels.”  That’s the way I feel when I’m here with y’all.  

Bill Kauble often asks deep questions.  One question is, “why are you here?”   I’m here because you’re here.  When I’m here I see God’s word and his love reflected in all y’all.  We’re the only bible some people will ever read.  Paul said, we’re living epistles known and read of all men.  According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  Someone gave me some good advice.  He said if the reproof fits, wear it.  To correct means to restore to an upright position.

When Bill asked me to speak this morning I asked him if he had a topic for me or if I should allow the Holy Spirit to inspire me.  He said the latter.  

Did you realize we’re half way between Thanksgiving and Christmas?  How do you tie together Thanksgiving and Christmas?  There are three women’s names that will help us:  The three names are Carissa, Irene, and Agatha.  

The first name is Carissa.  “Charis” is the Greek word for grace.  As y’all know I’m from the South.  We do things a little differently in the South.  In California we say the blessing before a meal or we just give thanks.  In the south, we say grace. I had to look up the word grace in my bible dictionary.  The Greek word for Grace, “Charis” is the same root word for the words Gift and Thanksgiving.  Gift is Charisma and Thanksgiving is the Greek word eucharista.  

Grace is divine favor.  Grace is God’s divine favor given by the one who didn’t need to give it to the ones who didn’t deserve to receive it.  God’s gifts are given by grace.  Grace allows access to God through his son our Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest gift of all is salvation through Jesus’s sacrifice for sin on out behalf.  For he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.  

I hope you’re planning to celebrate Christmas with your family and that would include your young children or grand children.  Children are excited to unwrap their Christmas presents.  But the greatest present of all is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.  The greatest present of all is the presence of Christ in us the hope of glory.  Therefore Psalm 100 says,  ”Be thankful unto him and bless his name….for the lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations.”

The name Carissa reminds us that because of God’s grace, we give thanks for the gracious gift of his son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The second and third women’s names that connect Thanksgiving with Christmas are Irene and Agatha.  The name Irene is the Greek word for Peace and the name Agatha is the Greek word for Good.  The angel’s announcement of Jesus’ birth contained both of these women’s names.  The heavenly host’s announcement of Jesus’ birth to the Shepherds on a Judean hillside concluded with their praise, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

Peace is the Greek word Irene.  Peace is the absolute end of all strife and contention between God and men.  You can’t have peace without the Prince of Peace.  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give unto you.  Not as the world giveth give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Peace is the result of reconciliation. To reconcile means to bring together that which has been separated.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  

Ephesians 2:13-17 is about peace through Christ’s reconciliation:  “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;  15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;  16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:  17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.” 

The other woman’s name in Jesus’ birth announcement is Agatha.  This old English name Agatha is the Greek word for Good. The rich young ruler approached Jesus and said, “Good master what shall I do to inherit eternal life.”  Jesus said, “why calleth thou me good?”  What does it mean to do good or to be good?  I was brought up Southern Baptist.  When you ask most people, ”what does it mean to be a Christian,” most people think that it has something to do with being good and doing good.  This is what the Pharisees thought.  

However Jesus said, “there is none good no not one.”  The Greek word for Good, Agatha, means “Fit for the particular purpose for which God intended.”  Goods are items of value that are purchased for a price.  if I buy a pen that doesn’t write, then it’s no good.  It’s only good if it functions for the purpose intended.  Otherwise it’s no good because it doesn’t work.  Likewise, we were bought with a price.  For Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect payment for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness (goodness) of God in Him.  When we accepted Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead, we received God’s gift of Holy Spirit.  When Jesus said “there is none good,” he meant that there is none good in the flesh that we inherited from Adam.  However, when we were born again of God’s spirit, our goodness was in God’s gracious gift of the spirit.  When we were born again, the purpose for which were purchased was so that we could be to the praise of the glory of His Grace.

Because of Carissa God’s gift of grace, in everything we can give thanks.   Because of Jesus’ birth, we can rejoice and praise God with the angels:  Grace, peace and goodness.  Carissa, Irene, and Agatha.  They are the reasons for the season.  This is why Christ our Saviour is born!

Because we have God’s gracious gift of his son, Christ in us the hope of Glory we can rejoice with the heavenly hosts:  Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth Peace, Good Will toward men!

Your brother in Christ, 

Michael