All parts of a jigsaw puzzle are put together to see the entire picture.

This past Sunday, after the service, I was drawn into a conversation. As someone was sharing, the Lord was speaking to my heart. At first, however, I thought their word was only for them. Then, after realizing it was for me too, I apologized and took it to heart.

What would have happened if they hadn’t come to be church, let alone be at the service?

David says that it is “good and pleasant when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps. 133:1) The unity is Jesus, as we all want to love Him more. Dwell is to sit down and have a conversation, both of which was happening; and, could only happen if we were actually in the same room together.

It’s interesting that research continues to discover what God already wrote down. In this case, those with a solid support group handle tough times a lot easier. In order to subdue or put Satan in his place, God made two people – Adam and Eve – not one.

When we fall down, God writes that two are better than one so the one standing can help the fallen one up. And of course, He penned the word Church, which means a group of people moving toward Jesus together. Even the secular world recognizes this, “You can go faster alone, but further with others.”

We need like-minded followers of Christ to be instruments in our lives, especially when the Spirit is giving a nugget of truth to us that He’s already lived it out in their lives.

Who is part of your support system in becoming like Jesus? Someone who will tell you the truth you need to hear, not just what you want to hear?

Pick your group. It doesn’t have to be lots, but it must be some (“two or three are gathered in My name”). Pick your day to meet and when. It doesn’t have to be Sunday, but it has to be sometime. Then listen up. The Lord just may use them to give you truths that will set you free to experience all the love, joy and peace that He has for you…today. 

God loves it when we are satisfied with Him.

“It’s my life.” How often do we say those words? As a believer in Jesus, though, is it your life?

Think about that for a minute. It was your life before you came to faith in Jesus. Recognizing that truth, you must now ask, “What was my life like when it was mine?”

In all honesty, if your life was humming along based on your efforts and reasoning, you’d probably never have recognized your need for a savior and turned to Jesus in the first place.

Yet, it was only as we realized that our lives were not working as we’d hope; or, our reasoning came to the conclusion that we were missing something, no matter how “good” we may have had it, we turned to Jesus. He alone brought wholeness/salvation to our brokenness through His death on the cross.

And not only does He now own us, but He also becomes the missing puzzle piece that guarantees true life today and throughout eternity. He alone does this, not me or I.

The moment I put my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, it was no longer my life, but His life. Today, however, it’s all about my life, my body, my truth, my thinking, and my choice, even in His Church!

Yet, Jesus didn’t say to His followers, “Hey, do whatever you feel is the right thing for you.” No, He said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord’, but don’t do what I say?” (Lk. 6:46) There is no wiggle room nor my in that sentence.

In fact, He goes onto to give us the why of doing what He says: He is preparing us to successfully handle what only He can see – tomorrow’s storms.

He earned the right to tell us what to do. So, be careful of your pronouns. You become what you focus on – His life or my life? The seal in the picture got it. Hopefully, you and I do too.

Walk with Jesus with a lightly held to-do list.

Martha had a programmed faith as seen by the fact that she couldn’t sit still. She was so stressed over getting things done that her face was contorted in anger (‘distracted’).

Mary had a possessive faith that allowed to get what “needed to be done” and then sat at Jesus’ feet with a face of wonder and contentment.

Martha was so busy with her to-do lists of food preparation that when she couldn’t get it all done, wham, she confronted Jesus about it. “You don’t care about me!”

She verbally threw up all over Him because she was carrying around a list so long that she forgot why the food was even necessary in the first place, Jesus her guest.

Mary, on the other hand, was caught between two worlds and finally chose to possess her faith and sit. The phrase “left me to do the work” shows that Mary was struggling between the job of hosting with the purpose of hosting. She kept running back and forth between helping her sister and being with and listening to Jesus that she finally sat and just listened.

A programmed faith means there are things one must do in order to be with and please God. Yet, it forgets that Jesus already met the standard of what needed to be done to be brought into God’s presence in the first place.

A programmed faith creates its own to-do list of things to be done each day, which over time leads to frustration, just like it did for Martha until she made it Jesus’ fault. Programmed faith leaves you exhausted because there is always more to done or at least feels like God demands more.

A possessive faith is not about the list! It’s doing what He’s told you do while being with Him as you do whatever He’s told you to do. And guess what? He can add or subtract from that list and take you on all kinds of unexpected turns, like sitting at His feet.

Why? Because it’s not about the list, but the Creator of the List – Jesus. It’s about listening to and following Him to places and people that you never expected to go that bring a sense of excitement, not frustration and rejuvenation not exhaustion.

“The essence of surrender is getting out of God’s way so that He can do in us what He also wants to do through us.”

As Lamech held his firstborn in his arms, he named him Noah, which means quiet/rest. He also tells him that “out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one (Noah) shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands” (Gen. 5:29).

Little did he know that Noah would live up to that name! I won’t repeat Noah’s story, but the ark “rested” on Ararat. Coincidence?

Before Noah built the ark, however, he was the only who lived completely for the LORD while everyone else was inventing new ways to do just the opposite (Gen. 6:9). How did Noah stand up for and walk with God regardless of the fact that literally everyone else was against him? The power of belief.

His dad named him Noah. His dad gave him a purpose for living. And, his dad was around to encourage him when he might have gotten discouraged, “Hey son, believe what I told about your future. You have a purpose. God is going to use you in a mighty way. Keep walking with Him.” Noah did. The power of belief.

We are not living in the same days as Noah; yet, do we believe what our Father has told us? Through belief in Jesus, we have been given a new nature – Christ’s (2 Pet. 1:4), a new mind – Christ’s (1 Cor. 2:16), and Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) to fulfill a new purpose for getting up each morning (Eph. 2:10).

We can think correctly. Do we believe it? We can choose correctly. Do we believe it? We can live meaningful lives that will make an eternal difference. Do we believe it?

Belief. It has the power to take us down like the generation of Noah’s day. Or, it has the power to raise us above the mountain tops like Noah.

How do you talk to yourself. I can because of who my Father made and sees me? Or, I’m such a (fill in the blank), so why keep going?

Belief. It can affect your thoughts, which affects your words, which affects your choices, which will then mold you into Christ’s eternal character.

That’s the power of belief.

Jesus’ birth brings meaning and purpose to us all.

We don’t know the actual day Jesus was born. The key truth, though, is that He was born. Born into a long family lineage from Adam to Abraham to David to Mary, who chose to believe the impossible could happen, and to Joseph, who adopted and raised Him as his own.

He was born to a set of parents who would face ridicule by family, friends and their community due to the circumstances of their pregnancy.

He placed Himself into the hands of Mary to care for Him at His most vulnerable time – conception, embryo, birth and infancy. She would have to take care of herself so He could grow and develop within her womb.

He placed Himself into the hands of Joseph to protect Mary from those would want to harm her on the way to Bethlehem, and from Herod, Satan’s dupe, who wanted Him dead. Yet, He was born as a human in a real town, Bethlehem, in a real country, Israel, just like the rest of us.

The circumstances surrounding His birth were not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. He knew these circumstances would stay with Him for the rest of His life and be thrown in His face by His brothers and Israel’s religious and governmental institutions.

He knew all this; and yet, He came. Jesus, as God, made the choice to become human at conception. Jesus, as a man, made the choice to love His Father with every step He took in order to fulfill the mission given by His Father – born, live, die, and rise again – to give all humanity hope.

Maybe the circumstances surrounding your birth or childhood were less than ideal. But you are here and loved by Someone who understands you and gives your life meaning and purpose with every step you take.

Jesus gets you. So, may you reflect on this truth this Christmas and show your love for and to Him by listening to and following Him a little more today than you did yesterday.