Death is no more the king of dread
Since our Immanuel rose,
He took the tyrant’s sting away,
And spoil’d our hellish foes.

See how the Conqueror mounts aloft,
And to his Father flies,
With scars of honour in his flesh,
And triumph in his eyes.

There our exalted Saviour reigns,
And scatters blessings down,
Our Jesus fills the middle seat
Of the celestial throne.

Raise your devotion, mortal tongues,
To reach his bless’d abode,
Sweet be the accents of your songs
To our incarnate God.

Bright angels, strike your loudest strings,
Your sweetest voices raise,
Let heaven, and all created things,
Sound our Immanuel’s praise.

In the cold prison of a tomb,
The dead Redeemer lay,
Till the revolving skies had brought
The third, th’ appointed day.

Hell and the grave unite their force
To hold our God in vain,
The sleeping Conqueror arose,
And burst their feeble chain.

To thy great Name, Almighty Lord,
These sacred hours we pay,
And loud hosannas shall proclaim
The triumph of the day,

Salvation and immortal praise
To our victorious King,
Let heaven, and earth, and rocks, and seas,
With glad hosannas ring.

Thank you, Isaac Watts.

“You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry, you’d better not pout, I’m telling you why,

‘Santa Claus is coming to town.’

He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out whose naughty or nice,

‘Santa Claus is coming to town.’

He sees you when your sleeping; he knows when you’re awake; he knows if you’ve been bad or good; so, be good! for goodness sake.”

If you are like me living in mainstream America, you no doubt have heard this song if not even sang it yourself. Around the Christmas season it is almost impossible to miss. Society has even adopted a common cliché from this song which it has used year round in different venues – “naughty or nice.” Very succinctly, this phrase sums up for many, even Christians, the mindset in which they anticipate the Christmas season. We all have heard it said to children, “You’d better be good, Santa might not bring you anything.” And even if we have not said it ourselves, we have to admit that our minds are naturally inclined to think this way. We feel a sense of duty to do good in hope of gaining some reward of some kind, even if it is simply the soothing of our own conscience. Is this truly the spirit of the Christmas season?

I heard this song this Christmas and the question came to my mind, “Santa comes to give gifts to the nice, but is that why Jesus came?” After all, Jesus is “the reason for the season.” I have to admit that I was thrilled to realize that He did not. Actually, Jesus made it adamantly clear that He did not come for those who are good. (Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” ESV) In other words, Jesus did not come to bring a gift to the nice, but to the naughty. And He does not bring gifts (plural); he brings one gift, because we only need one gift, Himself – Jesus. And in Jesus we have all the riches of God given to us – love, hope, eternal life, etc.

So, what does this mean to us today on Christmas? Well, mostly, it gives hope to the naughty. You may not get anything from Santa Claus, but you are eligible for Jesus’ gift of Himself. You are the only ones eligible as well. Jesus is the friend of sinners. He despises the good because they desire to steal glory for themselves. So then, who are the naughty? If you already know that you are then you don’t need to read this explanation (but keep reading anyway). If you are good or nice, it doesn’t take much to see that you are naughty;but you can’t do it on your own. God has to reveal  to you that you are naughty. And if you are truly interested in knowing, read Luke 7:36-50 for starters.

To the naughty, Rejoice!!.  Just as the angels announced to the Shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11) The Good News for us is that Jesus took the punishment for our naughtiness against God so that we could have life in Jesus. We just have to believe it. Jesus’ punishment took our place on a cross.

In response to God because of His magnificent gift to us, we should desire and work to give Him a life to Him that reflects His holiness. Not because it will achieve any reward from God; Jesus has already done that. We live a life consumed by a love for Him out of our thankfulness and worship, not from duty or obligation.

So again, Rejoice!! And, most importantly, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” (Luke 2:14) God gets the glory!!One last thing, I would like anyone who reads this to have one of the greatest privileges that I have had this Christmas. I was able to visit Morning Star Baptist Church in Rockford, IL; and this is the message that I heard by Bob Bixby. It was fantastic! If you get the chance, listen to it.

Merry Christmas!!!

this is “grace at work”

What this world needs is a Savior who will rescue – A spirit who will lead – A Father who will love them in their time of need – A Savior who will rescue – A Spirit who will lead – A Father who will love.

What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside than the outside – Have we become so blind that we can’t see – God’s gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt – What this world needs is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance – Blending in so well that people can’t see the difference – And it’s the difference that sets the world free – Jesus is our Savior, that’s what this world needs – Father’s arms around you, that’s what this world needs – That’s what this world needs.

Mark Hall, Hector Cervantes -

Copyright 2007 My Refuge Music/Zoo Music/ SWECS Music (BMI) (admin by EMI CMG Publishing)

With thee counts nothing but Thy grace
To cover all our failings.
The best life cannot win the race,
Good works are unavailing.
Before thee no one glory can,
And so must tremble every man,
And live by grace only…

Although our sin be great, God’s grace
Is greater to relieve us;
His hand in helping nothing stays,
The hurt however grevious.
The Shepherd good alone is He,
Who will at last set Israel free,
From all and every trespass.

-Luther-

I trade these ashes in for beauty,
And wear forgiveness like a crown,
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy,
I lay every burden down.

These are wonderful words. Many times we see ourselves as second rate. God created man perfect, yet man rebelled by sinning against a holy God. It took God in the flesh, Jesus Christ himself, coming down to provide forgiveness for those who believe. We didn’t get it right the first time so God had to make up for us. This mentality takes glory away from God. God is loving. He is all merciful. He glorified His grace and forgiveness by contrasting it with His wrath. He could have and should have destroy sinful mankind, but rather was glorified more by forgiving us and making us joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Another song says about the wisdom of God:

“the wisdom of a sovereign God whose greatness will be shown, when those who crucified your son rejoice around your throne.”

I can wear forgiveness not as an afterthought, but rather as the glory of God. I can wear it like a crown. Thank you Lord for your mercy.

Forgiven,
Ricky