COVID-19 is creating intense fear across the planet. Many have found themselves full of anxiety fueled by fear, lack, and worst case scenarios of impending doom.

I believe much of what is behind such fears (that contributes to hording and self-preservation) is devious and the enemy is seeking to feed it...   Ephesians reminds that our struggle is not with flesh and blood...but with principalities and spiritual forces of evil.

Let us remember that we are not only dealing with a virus but we are going toe-to-toe with a foreboding spirit that’s pressing in on us seeking to immobilize us with fear and despair, that is threatening to shut down entire nations.

Let us remind and encourage one another that while this may feel like a scary moment, the God of the impossible, whose love casts out all fear, is with you! He has plans to give us a future filled with hope, goodness...and life! 

He has not given us a spirit of fear... but a spirit of power, love and self-control!! 

It's of utmost importance that we are wise, take precautions, and not participate in spreading the virus. 

Yet it’s equally important that we do not perpetuate fear that spreads doom and gloom... and participate in projecting the enemies’ false narrative of hopelessness and demise.

I want to say this....Take heart and take courage... we are not the first generation who have gone through trials and tribulations.

Jesus tells us they sure to come. But trial and tribulation is not the end of the story...they are simply the setting in which our God who is above all these things will reveal himself as savior, redeemer, healer and friend.

Let us take every opportunity to remind ourselves of Christ victory over death, disease and despair.

Let us retell the stories of his miracles and wonders: that Jesus is a master of making all things new. That God specializes in the impossible!

For those who don’t have that hope, no amount of toilet paper or cans of Spam stacked in the garage will make any difference. It will not protect them, free them or deliver them.

For us who know the deliverer... who have his promises written on our hearts as an anchor of hope...

Let us speak it out. Let us live it out. Let us declare it at every opportunity that the spirit of dread and fear be pushed back and the hope of Christ shine through.

Today as yesterday, the world is still in God’s hands.

Nothing has changed. Whatever the next chapter of this coronavirus story might be, the same questions remain to us: Will we trust God? And then, will we love our neighbors as we love ourselves?

Author: Daniel Williams 

Heal Our Land O Lord!

- Luke 10:25-37

The questioner who stood up to Jesus on that day most certainly had a perspective and a reason for asking the question regarding the inheriting of eternal life. He knew the law and quoted it when Jesus asked him what was written in the law. But Jesus went further with the real question when he asked him, “ how readest thou “? Jesus wanted to know not only what the law said but he wanted to go further, to ask the deeper question related to how the questioner saw it or interpreted the law. The questioner did not disappoint as he asked the follow up question, "and who is my neighbour?".

The question “ how do you read or how do you see things “ is relevant to everyone of us. All of our perceptions and perspectives come from a place deep within us. They come from our hearts and they form the basis of how we read and how we see. This is what Jesus was inviting the questioner into, to go deeper than the superficial.

The parable that Jesus used would have been a great challenge to the questioner. As a lawyer he would have been well versed in the law and the expectations of what it meant related to the beaten up man on the road to Jericho. He would of known that a priest would have some sense of care. He certainly would of known that a levite, who served in the temple, would have some responsible response. Due to the culture of the day and the disdain that the Jewish people of that day had for Samaritans, it would have challenged his heart to the core to be reminded that of all the people who took the time to show love, care and mercy it was a Samaritan.

The story as told speaks to us at different levels. Very importantly for us the question we might ask amidst the brokenness of the world around us might be “who is my neighbour"? To those of us who live in smaller communities that question can be simply answered; it actually might be your neighbour. We live in a community that has increased in population by about 4000 people in the past 25 years. The question might be, how have those who moved here been engaged, cared for and loved. How have you and I reached out to them? Or are we waiting for a crisis and the call to a priest, levite or the pastor to reach out in their professional roles to help? A simple answer taken from the parable above might be that we are the ones who have the opportunity to reach out beyond ourselves to show that love and care.

I share with you the story of my mother to illustrate the point. At the age of 65, some 10 years after the loss of her husband in a tragic car crash, she was despondent and wanted to die. She had been a fixture in church all of her life and yet the meaning of life had left. As a family we wondered what we could do to encourage her to a new perspective. The loss of her husband and some other losses had left her believing that life was no longer worth living.

After some time we decided to take her to a professional. As she came out of his office on Lombard Street in Winnipeg that day she was angry. Angry that after spending $100.00 for a consultation and at the end being encouraged to go home and bake some cookies and give them to her neighbours. From her perspective this bordered on something too simple and actually stupid. She went home and after thinking on what the professional had shared with her she decided to do exactly that. She made the decision to reach out beyond herself in the middle of her depressed state. Something happened as she demonstrated the simplest act of love. As she reached out beyond her own brokenness she encountered people who were so grateful and conversations subsequently occurred that allowed her to encourage them in their own journey. She became the hands and feet of Jesus and she released the grace of Jesus and saw many people healed, saved and encouraged. This was the beginning of something new and she lived the next 30 years of her life for one purpose; loving and caring for her family and others in the community. At her funeral service in December of 2016 I had numerous people come up to say that Agatha was a mother of Niverville. Just recently I met one of the care givers who had come to know her in her last years. She indicated how impacted she was by my mother and how much love and how many hugs she had received during her time in knowing her.

 We have all heard the saying “people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care". Each of us has the capacity to impact others but it may require us to see things differently

As we look at making a lasting impact for eternity the following questions may help us to understand our present heart beliefs:

How do we view our need for security and well being?

How do we view the accumulation of things?

How do we relate to our own sense of value and significance in a world where power, position, title and recognition are significant in their pulls for our attention?

It may be easier to find our comfort within the confines of buildings we call churches. We may find a certain ease in finding our solace in singing 4 songs every Sunday and hearing somebody standing before us to deliver a teaching on a variety of topics related to faith. We can then go home with the belief that we have been to church and that life is all good.

Is meeting once a week on a Sunday morning the sum total of our destiny as disciples? What about this thing about being a beloved son and belonging to a family? What are the implications of that relative to how I presently function?

Could it be that maybe we are unaware of what we carry as disciples of Jesus? Could it be that maybe I do not believe who I really am as a beloved son? Could it be, because I really do not believe who I am and what I carry, that I find my greatest comfort from fulfilling the general expectations of being a church attendee?

We may well fulfill our roles within the institution as we are involved in the programs that keep everything functioning well. Could it be that I can be faithful in my giving, support by serving the different programs, and yet miss the broken by the side of the road? The priest and the levite in the story above most certainly were active in the institutions of their day yet missed out on actually reaching out to the brokenness around them.

As I have observed my own life, I have been challenged with the above scenario. I am aware from my involvement in real estate in the community that there are many people that have moved here within the past years. I am aware that, for many of those people, their move to Niverville was about starting fresh in a new place. As I share this I am also very aware of how many of those people have not found a connection here and the reality is that there is a real problem with that lack of connection. The suicide and divorce rate in Niverville is significant and probably something that many of us are not aware of.

As a culture we lack connection. I myself struggle with connection and I am challenged to live like a son and to be the hands and feet of Jesus on a daily basis. Yet the reality remains that this Jesus who gave his life for me, who gave me a new identity as a beloved son and welcomed me into his family, is somehow trapped inside me.

He desires to be seen; he wants his healing power released to our sphere of influence, and he wants to be seen by our neighbours, co-workers and through our friendships.

As he stood up that day in the synagogue he made the following declaration as his mission in life: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19

The question we might ask is how we do we read this and how do we see this? Could it be that his mission is our mission? If I actually believed that then he would no longer be trapped inside of me but he would be freed to demonstrate his love and power to those in our world.

Some questions that might be relevant:

Abba Father, how do you see me? Who am I to make any difference in the brokenness around me?

What does my lack of caring for others say about my connection with you and your mission?

What heart beliefs am I carrying that do not allow for your grace to be released to the brokenness around me?

What are inviting me into Abba Father and how do I co-operate with you in greater connections with people around me?

There are many questions in what I have written above. They challenge me in my own journey.

ABBA FATHER we ask for eyes to see and ears to hear. We invite a sensitive heart so that your mission would to be released through our lives as your family in Niverville and beyond.

 He gave His very last breath for me.

I became fully aware of the truth one day of how God put Himself ‘out there’ for me; He gave His very last breath for me.

Everything He had, He laid it all on the cross. He took all of my shame, sin, pain, fears, thoughts of not belonging, thoughts of being unloved, feelings of being lost, all of those thoughts that love to take over in my mind. Nothing good comes from it.

He gave His very last breath, He suffered, He felt so much pain, He bled, He died…for what?

He did it for my freedom, to save me from all of the thoughts that bombard me on a daily basis.

I deserved that, not Him, but He knew that I could not endure it, so He gave His last breath. He gave His last breath so that I could belong, so I would not be alone, so I could be free from pain and fear.

 He made me Royalty

Now the winds of heaven blow and as I sit alone with feelings of “I don’t fit in”, “I don’t belong”. I’m dying on the inside unaware, unwilling to really see what He did as He took His last breath. All of a sudden, I can see Him hanging on that cross and it hits me like never before. All of my uncertainties and fears fall off like blinders falling to the ground…He took His last breath for ME, and in doing so He made me Royalty.

He gave me a destiny that no one can take from me. He set me free from all those thoughts, those feelings of not belonging, He placed me in family, He places ALL of Himself in me, and I can’t help but feel part of something that is so much bigger than me.

I can choose not to accept it, but no one can take it away from me. And when the winds of heaven blow, they blow for me. When He shakes everything in me, it’s because He loves me too much to allow me to stay where I am.

I will not be held back from the Love of my Father.

His love begins to move me and change me and yes, sometimes it’s hard but it’s always worth it, if I’m just willing to hold His hand and go forward WITH Him. His last breath is what made it worth it. There is no power on earth or in hell that can hold me back; chains of sin and shame and fear cannot hold me back. He’s alive, He is risen and I will not be held back from the Love of my Father. Let the winds blow, let the rain of fire fall on me, let ALL that God has for me be mine, be yours.

“Death where is your sting, grave where is our victory? He’s alive, now I’m alive and I will never die.”

We are sons and daughters of the only living King, Set apart, Holy, whole, healed, fearless, strengthened by Him, loved beyond measure, pure, accepted. Surrendered to Him, alive to praise Him-we will never be the same.

I thought it was His last breath but…. I heard the roar of the Lion of Judah…If you trust in Me you will not be shaken!

I love and enjoy this time of the year as much as any other. I love the snow, Christmas trees, decorations, carols and especially love Handel's Messiah. At our home, the celebration on December 24 begins with appetizers and a family time at Maranatha for the Christmas Eve service. The evening culminates with a fondue dinner prepared by Ruth, Cara and Nicole. Special times spent with family are really meaningful to me. 

THE REAL STORY

Sadly, for many, Christmas is only about the traditions. Many seem to have forgotten what the real story is all about. Simply told, the Christmas story is about a baby that was born.

His coming was to reveal a plan that his Father had conceived since the beginning of time. This baby would be conceived supernaturally, which made him God. He would be borne of a virgin and thus would become fully man. He would reveal to the world what his Father actually looked like. In fact, every miracle that this baby was involved with was intended to reveal the Fathers love and care for humanity.

This baby's destiny was to fulfill a purpose that would ultimately lead to his death. When Jesus died, He was alone. No one understood why it had to go this way. The dreams of many who had believed that He was the Messiah died that day as well.

It was a hard road that he chose. Yet, the story was not over in the grave. It would have an incredible ending. He would rise from the dead three days later and then he would leave this earthly world some days later with a promise to those who had been his best friends.

A PROMISE

The promise was that they would receive the same Spirit that had been in Him. By this Spirit, they would go into the world to reveal the Fathers love in the same way that He had. The message they carried out was that every human was valued and had worth to God. The reality was that His love could be experienced by everyone. His death and resurrection insured that everyone was forgiven. It meant that everyone was intended to leave just as He had lived. The supernatural life that he demonstrated was not just for the few. It was also meant to be our destiny.

BIRTH, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION: CHANGING HISTORY

If we celebrate his birth and do not experience his death and resurrection, then we are only left with religion (religion, in this sense, is defined by man’s attempt to relate to God). However, when we embrace his death and resurrection alongside his birth, then we have a message that will absolutely change the course of history.

The church age began with a great demonstration of his power. We are now in the time leading up to the greatest demonstration that the world has ever seen; the Father's love released and revealed by a people who are passionately in love with him. May our prayer this Christmas be:

“Let your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"

As I get older, I am amazed at depths of truth that are in some of the traditional Christmas carols that I had missed seeing previously, even though I have sung these carols many times before. For example, the other morning, Marge and I were singing together the well-known carol, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.

A line in the second verse struck me in a way that I had not noticed before.

Still through the cloven skies they come, with peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats o’er all the weary world.

Above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovr’ing wing,

And ever o’er its Babel sounds, the blessed angels sing.

A CONTRAST: HEAVENLY VS EARTHLY

Suddenly, the contrast between what was going on in the heavenly realm and what was taking place on the earthly scene really impacted me. On the very night that the angels appeared to the shepherds in their field, it was a time of many Babel sounds being expressed upon the earth.

The Roman government of the day was based upon a Babylonian system of control, forced submission and coerced taxes that was resulting in many confusing voices, conflicting opinions and chaotic thoughts and sentiments.

THE PRAISES OF HEAVEN

In contrast to those “Babel sounds” on earth, the blessed angels broke into that atmosphere with the high praises of heaven, singing a song of great joy and glad tidings for all people in that a Saviour was born on earth. He was the King who would bring peace on earth to all people of goodwill.

The thought came to me that the heavenly angels still live continually in the very atmosphere of heaven by singing the high praises of God for the things that He is doing that may be hidden from the eyes of people on the earth, and therefore require a revelation. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that we, who live in the new covenant have come “to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly (festal gathering) and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:22, 23).

IN THE MIDST OF SHAKING 

In the midst of shaking and confusion going on in the kingdoms of this age, “we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28). This kingdom advances as we “do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some of unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2). This kingdom also advances as we join with the angelic hosts and “continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God” (Hebrews 13:15).

AGREEING WITH THE ANGELS

My prayer is that as never before, at this Christmas season and throughout the coming year, that the church will increasingly shift the negative atmosphere on earth by joining our voices with the angelic hosts in agreement with heaven, and proclaim a message of glad tidings to all in that a Saviour has been born to bring peace on earth (a peace which begins in the heart), and to bring goodwill to all men and women everywhere.