John is on his Way!

“Many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”

– Luke 1:14-15

Before Christ was born, the forerunner to the Christ was born.

 

Interestingly, the Gospel of Luke is the only one of the four gospels to tell the beautiful story of how the forerunner to Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, was born. And Luke’s account is full of life-changing lessons for us today.

 

As the story begins in the early verses of Luke 1, it appears that John the Baptist’s parents had lived rather quiet lives. Zechariah was a Jewish priest, and Elizabeth was the daughter of a priest (v. 5). We read that they were both “righteous in the sight of God,” but they had no children and “were both very old” (vs. 6-7). In those days, being childless was considered a disgrace for a Jewish woman.

 

Their monotonous lives changed, however, when an angel appeared to Zechariah as he was burning incense in the Holy Place of the temple. The angel announced, “Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John” (v. 13). The angel foretold that John would “be great in the sight of the Lord”; he would never drink alcohol; and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth (v. 15). Furthermore, John would bring many Israelites back to their God, turn parents back to their children and disobedient people to a righteous wisdom – all “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (vs. 16-17).

 

Zechariah wasn’t so easily convinced … starting with the part about having a child. After all, he and Elizabeth were no spring chickens. They had most likely given up on children years ago. But the impossible happened! Elizabeth soon became pregnant, and she seems to have responded with much more faith than her husband.

 

As her pregnancy progressed, Elizabeth wrote a short hymn of praise: “The Lord has done this for me…. He has shown His favor and taken away my disgrace among the people” (vs. 25). In her heart, it seems she understood that the baby in her womb was no ordinary child.

 

Here are 3 Life Lessons we can draw from this passage:

 

Lesson #1: Even prayers we’ve stopped praying years ago can still be answered in God’s perfect timing. It’s important to persevere in prayer, but even when you drop the ball, your past prayers may still be answered.

 

Lesson #2: Don’t assume that your afflictions are meaningless. They aren’t. Christians who are afflicted BY God are being set apart to do great work FOR God. I am so thankful that God never wastes an ounce of pain or difficulty in a Christian’s life.

 

Lesson #3: Our impossible situations set the stage for God to do His best work of drawing people to Christ.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 8:45 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. And don’t miss our special Christmas service this Tuesday,December 23^rd at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Beware of Overconfidence!

“If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 
– 1 Corinthians 10:12

When God freed the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, they should have had it made. Right? In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul begins by naming some of the most amazing benefits and blessings that the children of Israel were given.

 

ALL the Israelites who were delivered out of bondage were able to walk across the Red Sea on dry land. ALL the Israelites “ate the same spiritual food” and “drank the same spiritual drink” (vs.3-4). Every day except for Saturday, they walked outside and found bread from heaven in the morning and quail in the evening. And on at least two occasions, God gave ALL the Israelites fresh drinking water from a rock.

 

“Nevertheless,” Paul writes, “God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (v. 5). The Israelites fell into the sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, grumbling against God and testing the boundaries of His patience. These sins disqualified them for the prize of entering the Promised Land.

 

And if you think you’re any better, think again. In verse 12, Paul gives us this powerful warning about overconfidence in our Christian walk: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”

 

We must use wisdom and discernment whenever we exercise our rights and freedoms in Christ.

Ask yourself: Will doing this bring glory and praise to God? Will doing this set a good example for other Christians, building them up in love? Will doing this help draw unbelievers unto Christ or push them further away? And finally: Will doing this tempt you to sin and risk disqualifying yourself from your heavenly reward?

 

With that in mind, take note of these 3 beautiful truths about temptation in verse 13:

 

Truth #1: Your temptations aren’t unique to you. Many Christians (past and present) have experienced the same things. The devil loves to whisper in your ear: “No one understands what you’re going through. No one can help you.” Remember: The devil is a liar. Many believers have been through the exact kinds of temptations you’re going through and have overcome them.

 

Truth #2: Because God is faithful to His promise to never leave you nor forsake you, He will never let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. God never sets you up for failure. If you think your trials and temptations are tough, you should see the trials and temptations that God has shielded you from.

 

Truth #3: When you’re tempted, God will always provide a way of escape. Whenever you are undergoing a trial or a temptation, God ALWAYS provides a way out so that you can stand up under it. And, most often, the way of escape is to NOT walk on the edge of the cliff in the first place. As we walk in freedom, we should never flirt with sin like the Israelites did. “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 8:45 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc. 

What's Good About Being Single?

 “Let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him.” 
– 1 Corinthians 7:17

An old country pastor once said, “Better to live in single loneliness than in married cussedness.”

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul tells us that singleness and marriage are both gifts from God, and that each one presents unique opportunities for us to serve Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Word of God urges us to be content and bloom where we’re planted. If you’re single, stop wasting your time daydreaming about the greener grass of marriage. If you’re married, stop wasting your time daydreaming about the greener grass of singleness. Whatever your situation is, be the best Christian you can possibly be right where you are.

So, if you are a Christian single, take heart! Here are four good reasons to remain single and celibate:

Reason #1 (vs. 25-27): Single celibacy allows you to better navigate the “present crisis.” We’re not sure what “present crisis” Paul was referring to, but whatever it was, he saw it as a higher priority than tying the knot. So, does this word of instruction apply to us today? Yes, during times of “crisis,” it’s best to shelter in place. The NIV reads this way: “Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife” (v. 27).

Reason #2 (v. 28): Being married can add to your troubles. Marriage is hard enough when a husband and wife are on the same page. It’s significantly harder when a husband and wife have different callings and assignments. So, singles, don’t get married just to have an escape valve for your sex drive, or because your parents really want grandkids, or because you’re lonely. Ultimately, marriage is the solution for only one thing: Fulfilling the will of God. Only get married if it is clearly God’s will for you.

Reason #3 (vs. 32-35): Singleness allows you to serve Christ with “undivided devotion.” I believe that of all the reasons for remaining single and celibate, this one is closest to Paul’s heart. The gift of singleness allows a Christian to focus 100% on the concerns of God. If God has called you to be single—whether for a short season or permanently—you have been given a beautiful opportunity to focus entirely on pleasing God and doing His work without the distraction of also pleasing your spouse.

Reason #4 (vs. 39-40): Marriage is a lifelong commitment. Marriage isn’t a car. You can’t just take it for a test drive. Warren Wiersbe writes: “There is no place in Christian marriage for a ‘trial marriage,’ nor is there any room for the ‘escape hatch’ attitude. ‘If the marriage doesn’t work, we can always get a divorce.’…  There must be a willingness to grow, to learn from each other, to forgive and forget, to minister to one another.”

If you have been given the gift of single celibacy, your assignment can best be carried out in your singleness. But if you have been given the gift of marriage, your assignment can best be carried out as you lock arms and hearts with your Christian helpmate. Choosing marriage or singleness boils down to choosing to walk in obedience to fulfill the will of God for your life.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 8:45 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Dealing With the Gray Areas

 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” – 1 Corinthians 8:9

In some ways, being a Christian would be a whole lot easier if Jesus had given us more rules to follow: “Do this. Don’t do that. Go here. Don’t go there.”

 

And following Christ gets more complicated when we start dealing with the gray areas, where we don’t have a clear command in Scripture. For example, here are five things that the New Testament doesn’t specifically say are sins: drinking beer; smoking cigarettes;dancing; listening to secular music; and gambling in Las Vegas. Are any – or all – of these sins? Maybe. Maybe not.

 

For guidance on matters not mentioned in Scripture, Paul takes on a pressing question in 1 Corinthians 8. The Corinthian Christians wanted to know: “Is it okay for us to eat meat that was used in a pagan sacrifice?”

 

You see, in ancient Greece, there were idols all over the place. So it was darn near impossible to find any meat at the marketplace that wasn’t either used in a pagan sacrifice or prayed over in the name of some false god. What was a Christian to do?

 

As Paul answers the Corinthians’ specific gray-area question, he also answers the same, foundational question: When we’re exercising our freedom in Christ in a gray area, how far is too far? Paul answers: It’s too far when the exercise of our freedom becomes a stumbling block to a weaker Christian.

 

So, Paul says, eating food sacrificed to idols is not inherently sinful – but what is PERMISSIBLE is not necessarily BENEFICIAL. What is permissible for you might be harmful for the Christian across the table from you. Verse 9 gives us this timeless principle: “Be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

 

Immature Christians’ superstitions and misguided beliefs don’t disappear as soon as they walk out of the baptistery. So, when deciding whether or not to exercise your freedom in Christ in a gray area, ask yourself these three questions:

 

Question #1: Will doing this bring glory and praise to God?

 

Question #2: Will doing this set a good example for other Christians, building them up in love?

 

Question #3: Will doing this help draw unbelievers unto Christ or push them further away?

 

Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about those around you. Jesus loves young Christians, so He is patiently and methodically strengthening and maturing their consciences. And as He does, it’s never a good idea to get in the way of Jesus’ good work in the life of another believer.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 8:45 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.