The Hope of Christmas - Everlasting Father, Part 2

Did you ever accidentally break something. I mean break something really expensive and oh my gosh, what am I John even more important if you ever broken someone's heart.

Have you ever looked into the eyes of another person realize crush them. There's a big difference between the two, and today going to stay with. Thanks for joining us for this edition of living will be good with shipping Living on the Edge features the Bible to on this daily discipleship program written a series called the hope of Christmas, and this program chip explains that because of Jesus Lord grace and mercy are ready to cover everything that sounds like it sounds, but how can we be sure well that's where chips headed today. So open your Bible if you will to Psalm 103 verse 11. Let's join them for part two of his message, everlasting father.

The next verse he says for high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his lovingkindness toward those who fear him. Just get the picture, here's the earth, the heavens, it's vertical.

How high. How high millions of monoamine heavens, is certainly an idiom that is just higher than you can imagine or think that whatever level you think God loves you. It's as high as the heavens are above the earth. He loves like no one else. The people that no one would touch the leper. He loves the people that are now caster prostitute he loves.

The woman caught in adultery. He loves the tax collector who betrayed his people in a written people off.

He loves the self-righteous Pharisee.

He laughs them to and that he loves the marginalized. The people that the whole culture kicks to the side. The children, the prisoner, the window came in fact, he even loves his face. The Roman soldiers beat him to a pulp and mocked him, and Harry is hanging on a cross and a religious leader that you think your God, come on down father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing as the heavens are above the earth's how much God loves you. You, the object of his affection. I don't mean to be trite, but he's head over heels over you he likes you.

Some of you think he loves you something you like you very much like to hang out with you like to talk like to bless you elected give you wisdom you like to intervene in powerful ways. He would just like to like to have coffee with you he loves you he made you he sent a son reveal at the father's like not only does he love you as high as the heavens are above the earth but as far as the east is from the west. He takes the vertical one medical site. Let's go horizontal as far as the east is from the last so far. As he removed your sins from you to those that fear him, but what there's that little condition each time.

Right you can do your own thing, you can still find God you can say I don't need you.

You can be the rich young ruler basically saying looking at what what can make my life as my stuff and I'm confident giving it self-righteous Pharisee to look him to keep the rules. I don't need your grace and God just be passive but for everyone who fears God for everyone us is not my way, but yours. Not my selfish kingdom, not what I think will deliver. But your kingdom I'm gonna seek it first and you first and you promise because you love me so much. This is the greatest wisest thing I'll ever do I think sometimes we rank sins, don't we, I mean probably theologically know it's you know sin separates us from God, but some sins right have bigger consequences. I think when we rank them.

Sometimes we think sexual sin is the bad right and that's a pretty heavy consequences for financial sins right. He embezzled, or lying on about you but when people lie to me.

It doesn't take many times and it low while can't trust where they telling the truth what's in those are hard.

I think this is this is don't go tell someone. This is what the Bible says here's what I think the worse in this. This is the chipping from commentary okay you have years I have my I think the trail is the worst least it's the hardest to digest you someone lies to you. They rip you off. You know money is money stuff come stuff goes, people live, you know where it is.

But when you're with someone when you got each other's back when you're loyal to one another and whether that's in marriage or whether it's your best friends when you're betrayed when they turn on you when all the commitment you made to one another and someone goes off and does something and they betray you on or about you that's been most difficult for me to ever forgive and yet as far as the east is from the west unit we think of the anchor of the church. Peter, John, James, later the apostle Paul, but member when Peter betrayed the Lord at member member's the night Jesus said this is what's can happen all these other guys these other schmo's they might not abandon you. But I'm here for you on L die with your normal drug I got me me me to write Jesus and Peter you don't know your heart effect. By the way, that's a good lesson to know you know you say I'm totally committed I would do, you do not know your heart and you do not know what you would do until your tested and that's why God brings tests. He brings tests for your benefit, not his and he warned Peter before you hear the rooster crow three times in front of this you know little gal near the fire and a couple other times and then after he did. I denied him. He heard the rooster crow.

He was out in the courtyard near the fire and Jesus was being examined and their eyes met, says he went out and wept bitterly. If you have ever betrayed someone if you ever gossiped about someone if you done something betrayed them and then have the amazing courage to go ask them for forgiveness and seen the tears run down their face.

It's like boy I do not do that again. When I sin okay. Whether I sent in my thinking whether I sin with my words or in my actions when I sin you know what I do I betray heavenly father betray I say I don't I don't want your kingdom. I do want your will.

I know better.

The kingdom of chip shows up in here.

I've got it figured out. And this is what I want. Here's how I'm going to get it. I don't listen to you now that all view of God is right, he's way, way, distance, and that all these rules, so it becomes Christian behavior modification. What that means is try really hard not to sin.

Don't do this, be relatively clean. Give loan money come to religious services can really try hard to be a little bit better.

More than other people. But compare yourself with other people who are less moral than you because you stated standing and then when you break a rule when you do what's wrong when you live when you have little comments when you put people down or when you do a big one. It's like oh I'm really really sorry I broke a rule I'm going to try really hard not to. I'm not going to log on. I will drink that second or third glass of wine. I'm, you know, you come up with your list on the try really really hard and you and you can't figure out why it's in work to see when you break a rule it's just a thing when you break someone's heart and you look into their eyes. There there there something that happens in cyber see sin is always relational.

It may be a thought or an actor behavior with relational and when I can get my sin breaks my father's heart and if I believed he really loved me, and I believe he cared and that he was gracious is compassionate and he slept with, how can I do that the biggest changes I will tell you in my bad habits in my marriage journey have been times when my wife is used a little bit of a word picture and help me see the this action that I don't even know what it's got to do with our marriage is communicating to her that I don't love her and whether it was dealing with stuff the house or whether his being late all the time. You know, I just tried harder. When I looked her in the high and she had tears this. It was like you know what I'm if this means I love you all change my behavior. I love you and see if you can understand how much God loves you and that it's a relationship. It completely changes how you go, but it's not like all I have to read the Bible.

It's not like I go oh boy you know good marriages. You gotta talk okay okay let's say I get a gift from entries of 16 minutes this morning because this is really important guys posting on date so I guess we ought to go out sometime somewhere content something. I just love to talk to her. I just love to go out on dates. I love to take walks lover and probably why I love her. She loves me so much I want to be with her and that's what God wants for us.

He goes on and begins to give us the picture. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, you know. Imagine God is distant, that describes would say he's in the seventh heaven.

He's far, far away. He's transcendent. He's demanding, he's cold.

You can't get close and even following Jesus around for a while and he's getting ripped by the religious leaders at your hanging out with sinners and so he tells them a parable to explain why Hank hangs out with sinners. They said there was a sheep that was lost was a coin that was lost, there was a son that was lost, and he builds to a crescendo and he makes the point that all three of the stories have 11 main point in the one main point is that God is pictured here as a father, father, and not just any father, not even a good Jewish father. This is a father who allows the son to go and bears the shame. This is a father when the kid comes to his senses in the pigpen and says okay I'm get a admit that I'm wrong get all my stuff and I'm to earn my way back piece gives his little speech before he can talk about earning his way back stop gives orbs the shame of the village instead of allowing his son. Then he says son but sandals on his feet slaves barefooted sons sandals put a ring on his finger that is black American Express and MasterCard. You do business with the family take the finest road that's his robe and cover him kill a fatted calf were to celebrate. He says that's what it's like in heaven when one far away from God.

Center returns that's who you get greeted by, and that is a picture of The father is completely foreign to the disciples, and by the way completely foreign to a lot of you he loves you as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion what on those who fear him, and then I left part of the reasons why, for he is mindful of our frame about the next verse he is mindful of our frame. Another words are our humanity, our Constitution, what were really made of that were just people of flesh that were human that we blow it that were merely dust keep makes this picture of the father and the dust. I said, he gives them a picture of God the father in the parable Luke 15.

At some point in time. These very good Jewish boys who've heard all this stuff about what God supposed to be like it's getting shattered and the one thing they can't quite figure out is because every time is a good Jewish boy in the rabbis and the religious leaders when they pray they would get on street corners and to have their phylacteries and they would all their verses and they would pray out loud and do it in Hebrew, and so they come to Jesus because they can't quite get this relationship and he says they say we teach us to pray, and here's his first words, when you pray, say, the Cermak site.

The word means father or our father, yet it is he transcendent, who is in heaven is all knowing who's powerful please create a solid but you have access, it's interesting when the apostle Paul in Romans eight in Galatians chapter 4 when he wants to talk about intimacy with God around prayer. He actually takes that Aramaic word had such impact and he'll say I bought and then he'll say hope hot-air translating Greek for people. Later, the don't know this is what he did said there's not some form. This father is approachable in four countries in the Middle East right now especially peasant villages.

The first word.

Every child learns is pop daddy access.

That's when Jesus was hanging on the cross and he said it is finished and it says what the veil in the temple but separated the holy place, from the holy of holies should ripped apart. You've got access the awesome, powerful, all-knowing, pure, unapproachable light, transcendent God of the universe also says your daddy, you can come and sit on my lap.

You can bring the heart is the most difficult. Your pain and I will listen. I have experienced some this week that it is an interesting one, had a friend and we were to meet for coffee and it was near where my daughter lives. He said what he knows. My daughter is in what we give her a call and he really likes Noah and so simple will hang out with them. So I called Hayden she was sure came over to Starbucks and places just packed with people and runs some of these high stools, and so I got Noah next to me and were doing some stuff he just is like he's to and so I can remember of trying to keep him from falling off the stool he turns me goes no who must be genetic on the male side and I will you not thinking as to what we have two more times now no.

Oh well… Now here's here's what I did not do now there was a level of embarrassment. Okay, his mother gone someplace unsorted in this moment of what's that guy gonna do. Here's what I did not do. I didn't pick up Noah same on the graph.

Take two steps back big person you really small person, you better shape up right now shop kid. See that's how some of you think God responds or will respond when you mess up. How did I respond he's to these two you at two-year-olds do they do stuff like that when you were to you. Did you grow out of this piece to hear what I'm mindful of his frame. I understand that's part of being a two-year-old when you mess when you say stuff when you live when you steal little things when you lust in your heart when you make a big mistake most of us run away from God because we have a bad wrong warped view of God because we think will really get is this. And then this you know what I do like dealt with things gently earlier in the week he came over to my house and the snow stuff is sort of his new flavor of the month, so his grandma, my wife settle something into my wife because now I'm not around now that is not will fly my house so I got down I level I said no we don't talk to grandma that way. No or me and I said in my little stool is timeout and I noticed that tender balance like he's to like if you do it too long ago frustrating that not long enough, you will realize that I'm sort of sit and are going okay think is getting message and so after little bit of time soaking up commuter can you know comes up, climbs up on my lap and we went over know it we don't talk to mommy like would you know how much I love you and I didn't say anything just arms around I said oh God, thank you so much that when we do something wrong and we come to you. You always cleanse us and forgive us and want to be close to us. A man not I'm not telling you that my two-year-old grandson theologically understood much of what went on but I'm gonna keep doing that he's going to get it but I'll tell you what happened that I can explain is that after I did that, he took his little arms and just put them around me and after he messed up.

We were close are you running away from God or running to an end when you run away because it you know there's nowhere to go right so you eat, you drink or you buy stuff you work more, we have an affair seeks even you run when you run away from God.

Bad things happen. What if you believed coming to me all of you that are heavy laden with life and stuff pressure and difficulty guilt and fear, and I will give you rest.

Take take my yoke.

This isn't just a prayer. This is let's do life together. Let's let's let's talk get to know me and I'll give rest for yourself why because I'm gentle and lowly in heart, humble, and you'll find rest for your soul. I like to close by you every every year when I get near this time year. I try and read through what I end up probably writing in two or three these journals to the course of the year and are trying to kinda read him really fast to say is there any patterns that God is speaking to me about that may be for the next year I need to address.

And it's interesting. I was in that journey and this is of December, fourth year ago just barely over a year ago and I and I share this because here's what I want you to get this journey of getting a right and accurate and clear and biblical picture of God is at the core of everything, but it is a journey is on memorized a lot of verses to try get my mind I read the Bible to get my mind I trying get around people that I think have a clear view of God and that I trying process.

So this is one of those mornings where I was writing my best understanding what God's like instead of how I think about him.

Thank you so very much for your grace. Lord your disposition, your mood is one of joy and delight to see me to help me you actually enjoy my presence in inhuman terms you're in a good mood when we meet.

Everything about it.

It's taken me years to believe God's in a good mood when we meet. Your countenance is a smile, a warm inviting smile of approval and welcome. Your arms are wide open and inviting me to come near to draw close to embrace to be protected, to be encouraged to be comforted.

Your eyes are filled with compassion and mercy my sins my mistakes my failures are met with your longing to forgive and to remove any and all shame you desire. Great things for me and great things from me but your expectations are reasonable. You're mindful that I'm but dust magnificent dust made in your image, but your patient and your understanding with my struggles when I purposely rebel and reject your love and your plans and your will for my life. You graciously and lovingly provide pain and no peace in my heart, and ever-increasing consequences to prompt me to come to my senses return to you. You don't keep your anger and you don't hide your face from me when I come with an honest and humble in a broken spirit contrite heart when I find myself far from you are being bombarded by the enemy or the evil in this fallen world, and I am absolutely in impossible situations.

Your ears strained to hear my cry for help your feet run to meet me in my desperate situation even when it's of my own making.

This is what God my father is like he is not a concept or an energy or a theory or the force he's generosity in action that seeks my highest good meets my greatest needs and delights in me just for me totally apart from anything I could do or have ever done. His love and grace is free undeserved counterintuitive. That's the disposition of the infinite creator of the universe toward me expressed most clearly and personally in the person and work of God the son, Jesus Christ, is a wonderful counselor is a mighty God's everlasting everlasting father's newest series little hope of Christmas 700 years before Jesus was born.

The prophet Isaiah wrote to God's people to give them hope. Chip used a little bit about text for this series because the hope. Isaiah wrote about is for us to. Here's what he said for those who live in a land of deep darkness a light will shine and they will rejoice for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the government will be upon his shoulders and he will be called wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace.

Now that's hope that'll keep you going this Christmas season. God wants you to know he has a plan and it's a good one. You know this would be a great series to listen to every now and then with the chipping roadmap.

It's always handy if you like CDs take advantage of the current discounts online that LivingontheEdge.org remember the MP3s are always free will trip to get your application in just a sec, but you know sometimes you talk really fast and as you been talking about the importance of our December match. I think some folks might be wondering, is there a simple overview we could look at them and then see what's being planned for 2021.

Absolutely day. In fact, every December we develop a ministry report, and we believe that those people that have prayed and given to the ministry deserve what we call an ROI. What's your spiritual and eternal return on your investment.

And so our ministry report will give it's very brief. It's very easy to read up probably in under five minutes.

You can get a quick overview. This is all that God did through the team of Living on the Edge and their ministry partners and this is where were headed in 2021 and memo come back and let people know exactly what we did with their money and how the ministry went so let me encourage you to check out the report, it won't take long data can you give them a web address about how they can click on and read it right now you got to take a look at this year's ministry report.

All you need to do is go to LivingontheEdge.org/report 2020. That's LivingontheEdge.org/report 2020 and be sure to use numbers when doing at 2020. Okay you'll see an easy-to-read overview of all that's happened this past year and then were we believe God's leaving us this upcoming year.

It's a great look at where we've been and where were headed. It might be a real help.

As you consider becoming a financial partner to check out our year end ministry report again. Just go to LivingontheEdge.org/report 2020. As we wrap up today's program. The Lord is pressing on me just to pray regardless what you doing obviously don't close your eyes.

If you're driving, would you stop, would you quiet your heart would you even bow your head and close your eyes if it's possible would you join me as we greet wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, thank you that you are all these things and infinitely more. Thank you. There's not a concern on our heart.

You don't have the power or the will to resolve.

Thank you that you take us through hard times to grow us up to strengthen our faith to help us to learn to see our trials as opportunities to come closer to you that we couldn't get in any other way.

Holy father would you change our desires would you give us a hunger for your word in the midst of all the noise in our world Lord as we get closer to Christmas. Would you sharpen our thinking about Jesus and why he came, would you help us long to bless others and give a reason for hope it's within us, especially to those that don't know you, would you help us live in such a way that people would ask us why. Why do you have such peace.

Why do you have hope and then would you give us your answer in that moment. Help us to look forward to those moments knowing that you're with us, Lord, we pause and we praise you and we thank you.

We exalt you that we know you because of Jesus.

Amen as we wrap up I want to say thanks to those who make this program possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs purchase airtime and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians. If you've been blessed by the ministry of Living on the Edge.

Would you consider sending a gift today. There's never been a better time because, thanks to a small group of ministry partners. Every gift we received between now and December 31 will be doubled dollar for dollar you can call us at triple late. 333-6003. The donate button or donate online at http://livingontheedge.org. Your support is greatly appreciated will be sure to join us next time. When Chip continues his series, the hope of Christmas. Until then, this is Dave brewing saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge