A RESOLUTION WORTH KEEPING!

Concerning the New Year

What if I could find one thing to do this year that will transform my life? That’s a tall order since the issue of resolutions surfaces every year on the heels of failed ones. The famous thinker, Anonymous, rightly declared, He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. Where do you want to end up at the end of the year? My desire is to be more like Jesus, to know Him better, to love others more, to live what I believe. That is a tall order that can be attained when we make right choices.

My resolution is to meditate on the Word of God

There are only a handful of verses in the Bible that include the word meditate. Two of my favorites are Joshua 1:8, This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success, and Psalm 1:2, but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. A brief reading of these verses reveals several points of meditation: the importance of the Bible, commitment to personal study, obedience to the Bible which is the Word of God.

What is meditation?

Meditation is personal interaction with the texts of Scripture. It is the practice of focusing one's thoughts on specific spiritual matters. Charles Swindoll, Meditation is disciplined thought, focused on a single object of Scripture for a period of time. It is more than just reading the words but understanding what they mean with the intent to obey. Meditation is the active use of the mind to engage God through Scripture.

Why is meditation so important?

Why can it be so life-changing to meditate on the Bible? Consider the following verses. Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 2 Timothy 2:15, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. Meditation is discerning what God has to say to us. Charles Spurgeon, To believe a thing is to see the cool crystal water sparkling in the cup. But to meditate on it is to drink of it. George Swinnock (1627-1673), Our design in meditation must be rather to cleanse our hearts, than to clear our heads.

Results of meditation

My desire this year is not just to know about God but to know Him. I believe that happens when I meditate on God’s Word. It is taking the study of the Bible and applying it to my life. John Bunyan who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress declared, The end of study is information, and the end of meditation is practice. In 2026, I want more wisdom and personal application instead of endless information filed away. Knowing God is a personal choice. Jesus proclaimed in Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

How to meditate

There are several things to do that will turn reading into meditation. Consider the following when you open your Bible

• Ask God to give understanding with the intent to obey.

• Read it as a love letter from God to you.

• Read the Bible as for the first time.

• Read it repeatedly, patiently and expectantly.

A meditation on God's grace, John 1:16, For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

• I am a sinner in need of a Savior, Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

• I was set free from sin and death by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• The wrath of God was appeased by Jesus' payment for my sins., Romans 5:9, Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

• God declared me righteous as a gift of His grace, Romans 3:24, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

• Grace is unmerited favor, getting what I don’t deserve. Therefore, salvation is a gift of God, His act of grace received freely by placing faith in Jesus alone.

A meditation on love

• Where is love from? Love is from God. 1 John 4:8, Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

• How do we know God loves us? God's love is revealed in His actions. Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• What is love like? Love is visible. 1 Corinthians 13;4-7, Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not Insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

• Why is love so important? Love is how God intends for us to live. Colossians 3:14, And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

• Why must I love? Love is commanded by God. Matthew 22:37-39, And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

• How can we get this God-love? God's love is received through His Son by faith. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

• How are we to love? We are to demonstrate God's love to others. Ephesians 5:2; And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

A meditative reading by Charles Spurgeon on Isaiah 40:3-4, A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

• Every valley must be exalted. Low and groveling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.

• Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be leveled, to make a highway for the King of kings. Divine fellowship is never promised to haughty, high-minded sinners. The Lord has respect to the lowly and visits the contrite in heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto Him. My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set you right in this respect.

• The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that in everything you are honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

• The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when He comes to honor His favored ones with His company. Oh, that this evening the Lord may find in my heart a highway made ready by His grace, that He may make a triumphal progress through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to the end of it.

CONCLUSION

• I don’t have the gifts of Charles Spurgeon but I am a child of God who can learn more about me and my God than I ever imagined.

• The Bible is not a book to be mastered but the only book that can master me. I want a resolution for 2026 that is worth the effort. Knowing my Savior better, serving Him more fully, being more gracious to others, I want that for me and for you. Let’s meditate on God’s Word and see what He will do in and through us for His glory.

• We who have placed faith in Jesus Christ alone have the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, interceding for us at the right hand of the Father.

• A. W. Tozer, Every man is as close to God as he wants to be.

The Majesty of the Nativity

When you look at a nativity, what do you see? There are angels and shepherds and farm animals. Of course, we see Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Yet, that could be any poor couple with their newborn son. If I could describe the scene with one word, it would be incarnation. I hope to answer 3 important questions: what is incarnation, why incarnation and how must we respond to incarnation.

1. What is incarnation?

It comes from a Latin word which means in the flesh. It is the physical dwelling of God in His world. The eternal Son of God became a finite man. Jesus became the first and only person with two natures, fully God and fully man. His two natures in one person will last forever.

Let’s get theological with two key words concerning incarnation. Hypostatic union: 2 natures, divine and human in one person. Kenosis: Jesus voluntarily gave up the independent use of His divine attributes, Philippians 2:5-7. He lived on earth in His humanity except when authorized by the Father to use His divinity

The Old Testament foretells incarnation. Consider three verses written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.

Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

• Immanuel means God is with us. In this verse, both the humanity and deity of Jesus are predicted.

• Augustine (4th c.), He came to that which He was not; He did not lose what He was. He was made the Son of man, but did not cease to be the Son of God.

Isaiah 9:6, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Dr. Mark Yarbrough, President of Dallas Theological Seminary, provides a precise meaning of each name:

• Wonderful Counselor, Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, full of wisdom and truth. In a world clouded by confusion, Jesus guides us with divine clarity and truth. He speaks words that bring life, direction, and healing to weary hearts.

• Mighty God, Though He lay as an infant in a manger, He came as no ordinary child. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, He entered as the eternal Son of God, the One through whom all things were made. His power would be displayed not by earthly conquest, but by defeating sin and death through His suffering, death, and resurrection.

• Everlasting Father, He is the Everlasting Father, not in the role of the Father within the Trinity, but in His tender care for His children. Jesus shepherds us with compassion, provides for our needs, and has promised never to leave or forsake us. His love remains eternally steadfast and enduring.

• Prince of Peace, His birth was announced with angelic expressions of peace on earth. Through Him we have reconciliation with God, peace within our hearts, and the promise of peace in a restored creation to come.

Micah 5:2, But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

• The location of the incarnation is foretold by the prophet Micah.

• The eternality of the infant child is declared.

The baby in the manger is so much more!

• Jesus is God but He was the son of Mary.

• Jesus died on the cross but He is the resurrection and the life.

• Jesus became a creature but is Creator of all things.

• Charles Spurgeon (19th c.), He that made man was made man...Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman... Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms.

• C. S. Lewis (20th c.), The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation ... God became man.

2. Why would God choose incarnation for His Son?

Isaiah 53:5-6, But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

• Our heavenly Father sent His Son to make payment for our sins.

• John Huss (burned at the stake in 1415 for his faith in Christ alone), Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal man may live in eternity.

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (d. April, 1945), Out of love for human beings, God becomes a human being.

• Jesus did what we could not do, live without sin, so that we might be redeemed by His payment on the cross.

• Jesus does not need us but He loves us. He wants us!

Zechariah 9:10, ... and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

• He came to take back what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

• He created all things and restores it through His incarnation.

• J. I. Packer (d. 2020), The Christian message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity- hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory - because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.

3. How should we respond to the incarnation?

• Receive the gift of God by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ, John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

• Obey Him from a heart of thanksgiving, 1 John 5:3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.

• Love others empowered by His love for you, 1 John 4:12, ...if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Closing comments

• Athanasius (d. 373), Christ became what we are that he might make us what he is.

• James Kennedy (d. 2007), The great tragedy of the Christmas holiday is not so much its commercialization ..., but its trivialization. How tragic it is that people have forgotten Him to Whom they owe so very much.

• Christmas is the conquest of earth, one heart at a time.

A Christmas prayer by Joseph Bayly (d. 1986), an American author and publisher,

Praise God for Christmas. Praise Him for the incarnation, for the word made flesh.

I will not sing of shepherds watching flocks on frosty night, or angel choirs. I will not sing of a stable bare in Bethlehem, or lowing oxen, wise men trailing star with gold, frankincense, and myrrh;

Tonight, I will sing praise to the Father who stood on heaven's threshold and said farewell to his Son as he stepped across the stars to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And I will sing praise to the infinite, eternal Son, who became most finite, a baby who would one day be executed for my crime. Praise him in the heavens. Praise him in the stable. Praise him in my heart.

Thanksgiving is time to rejoice in God's gifts of grace!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for reflection, times to remember the many blessings we have. Our nation has provided us with many opportunities not available to most people. We have personal freedoms and financial blessings. Most importantly, we have had religious freedom. In the midst of holiday activities, let’s consider our spiritual blessings.

Paul was overwhelmed by what God had done for him, 2 Corinthians 9:15, Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! According to verse 14, the gift is the surpassing grace of God that He has given you. How can such a gift be described? From the divine side, Paul gives a beautiful description of God’s indescribable gift in 2 Corinthians 8:9, For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  The indescribable gift is God’s gift of His Son which is received by grace through faith.

On the human side, how can we attempt to describe this indescribable gift? I would encourage you to meditate on the following words: foreknowledge, adoption, justification, sanctification, and glorification. These are theological terms that help us grasp, to a small degree, the indescribable gift of God’s grace.

Foreknowledge  

• Augustine, God elected believers in order that they might believe, not because they already believed...It is only by an act of great compassion that He saves anyone. The condemned receive just what they deserve. The elect receive more than they deserve.

• Romans 8:29, For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

• What a gift of grace!

Adoption

• It is the act of God which places believers in His family. We who were separated from God because of sin and enslaved to sin, are now part of His family.

• Ephesians 1:5, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

• What a gift of grace!

Justification

• It is the act of God whereby we who were dead in sins are declared righteous.

• 2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

• What a gift of grace!

Sanctification

• It is the work of God whereby we who are justified are being conformed to the image of Christ.

• Hebrews 10:14, For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

• What a gift of grace!

Glorification

• It is the work of God whereby we who are justified and being sanctified will be fully conformed to the image of Christ.

• Romans 8:30, And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

• What a gift of grace!

Paul rightly calls God’s gift of grace indescribable. Yet, I encourage each of us to think biblically and thank God for His grace: He called us; He places us in His family; He gives us right standing; He enables us to live for Him; He is sufficient to bring us blameless into His presence. What gifts of grace!