NOVEMBER 11 – GOD’S SIGNS TRANSFORM

 After living through this amazing experience, they began to tell others about God’s great message concerning the child. Each person who heard was astonished. They all wondered about what all this meant to them. (Luke 2: 17-18)

                  God’s work is to communicate through signs and to provide for His people. Paul says you are what God makes; His work (Ephesians 2:10). So then, you are a sign, and a provision for God’s people. As you are affected, it is to affect others. As the anointed one, Jesus was created and gave His life for you. As God makes you with His transforming power, you – being transformed – will become an agent of His transforming work. As He has given you signs and experiences leading to that change, you will be made to be a sign for others. Your life will communicate God’s truth to your people.

                  Scripture tells that the shepherds went away from Bethlehem changed; prepared to work with, and to be the work of, God. And you see that, as a result, other people were changed too. They were astonished. They wondered. They understood this was not just a fabulous story told by deranged shepherds. Armed with God’s truth, their passionate communication led to transformation.

                   That is God’s plan for you as well. Your action, upon God’s call to you, prepares you to be a part of His work in others through your continued obedience to Him. You are His sign. You are His mission.

NOVEMBER 10 – SIGNS CAN BREED FEAR TOO

 So, right away they went to Bethlehem, and they discovered Mary and Joseph. There was the baby, lying in the manger just as God promised. (Luke 2:16)

                   In the relationship you have with the Lord, God, where He communicates His sign to you while anticipating you will accept His invitation to work together, you have two choices. Each time, you will have opportunity to answer, “yes!” joining with Him, and doing exactly what He is calling on you to do. Otherwise, you will create an alternative response that you will argue is, “enough.” No matter how risky and dangerous the way forward appears to be, when you consider God’s way, the alternative is much more perilous. God does not negotiate. He is God. The choice is His way, with His provision, or else you are choosing to go your way – alone. He will let you fail.

                   Right away, the shepherds went to Bethlehem. They found Jesus! They could have hidden under the rocks, hoping the sky full of angels would not return. If they worried about how risky it would be to leave the sheep, and how dangerous it is to travel at night, and had they not gone, they would have missed out on what God was doing.

                   Don’t let fear keep you from experiencing everything that God has prepared for you. Choose to do what He asks – right away!

NOVEMBER 9 – SIGNS CALL FOR ACTION

 After the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds talked among themselves. They decided, “God showed us this sign. We should go to Bethlehem to witness this great thing He has done.” (Luke 2:15)

                  God explained through Isaiah that He is not limited by the constraints of time. “I tell you from long ago things that will happen tomorrow” (Isaiah 46:10). God has an outcome that is fixed. He takes responsibility for that outcome (46:11). God IS integrity. What He says is what happens. He gives signs to encourage His people to move toward His purposes for each of them. How willing are you to be attentive to those messages? Are you ready to act upon them?

                   Given the logic that God expects to see a response to His signs, one who is attentive to God’s signs should interpret the communication in the same way as these shepherds did. Not only did they consider the meaning, but they also sought to determine their proper response to the message. What should they do? This is your relationship with God at its very best. He invites you to join in the work He is doing. You join Him because you love Him and want nothing more than to be part of that work with Him.

                   When God speaks, listen for the immediate, specific action He places in your heart. Understand that His signs call for your action.

NOVEMBER 8 - TAKEN IN CONTEXT

 Suddenly, surrounding the messenger, the sky filled with angels. All of them at once were praising God, announcing to the world, “Glory to God who reigns on high! He sends peace and prosperity to mankind; showing His great kindness and favor. (Luke 2: 13-14)

                   Signs don’t occur in a vacuum. Where and when a sign is given is part of the communication too. That is a reasonable, intuitive conclusion you may draw very quickly. But, how (how many times, how much, how loud, how…) is also a part of the context. God very often chose to communicate definition for the same signs to multiple people, multiple times, in striking and spectacular ways. Talking animals, pillars of salt, rising flood waters, and such gave added significance to God’s signs.

                   Only once in recorded history has the sky been “filled” with angels, all loudly proclaiming their praise to God, and announcing the birth of a special child. Possibly the shepherds may have questioned if the single angel were maybe a figment of their tired minds at the end of a challenging day. Thousands of angels in a dark sky, singing a deafening chorus would be very hard to dismiss.

                   Pray for the Lord to give you understanding of the time, the place, and the how of His messages to you.

NOVEMBER 7 – WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

 Today, in David’s hometown a deliverer has been born to you. This is the anointed one; the Christ! And this is the sign that will tell you it is Him. This baby will be wrapped in layers of fabric, and He will be laying in a feeding trough. (Luke 2:11-12)

                  Have you ever looked for signs in Scripture? One of the greatest God-signs in all of history is found in the story of Jesus’ birth. To bear significance, a sign must have meaning. Just as words must be defined for you to understand language, signs must also be defined if they are going to communicate a message.

                  Many would say that having an angel announce the birth of the anointed one would, alone, be enough to give meaning to the sign he explained. But, as is often the case with God’s signs, there was yet another layer of meaning. The shepherds no doubt would be very familiar with the practice of wrapping the first-born lamb with cloths and laying it in a manger, so it would not harm itself or become blemished. Hearing the angel’s words, while imagining the perfect sin sacrifice gave them greater understanding of God’s communication, and greater significance to this great event.

                   Scripture is filled with such definitions, giving you insight into events of your world. Read, and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit as God defines His signs for you.

NOVEMBER 6 – GOD’S ENDS ARE SIGNIFICANT

 

So, don’t worry about what you’ll be eating and drinking, and the style of your stuff. People who don’t know God are consumed by these things. For your father, God, these are details – He knows your needs. Invest your attention on the Lord and His work. You’ll find that you have what you need. (Matthew 6:31-33)

 

                  Have you noticed that God has chosen to do things differently? In this world, negotiation is important. Therefore, most business communication is cloaked in and hindered by the pretense that masks selfish motives. Will you be like those people whose every word; every action is carefully calculated and crafted for personal advantage? Or will you focus your attention on the needs of others, trusting Christ to provide what you need?

 

                  Here, Jesus explains that in God’s Kingdom economy, there is provision rather than a need for constant negotiation. Real trust in a faithful God allows you to live freely. Your changed life will then become one of the Lord’s signs for others. You will become one of the living words of God’s sign language that speaks hope to the men and women you encounter.

 

                  Very few of the things of this world are significant. Each of those things is found in Christ. Focus on Him so you will always be about significant pursuits.

NOVEMBER 5 – EXPERTS OR GOD?

 But you, Daniel – keep all this secret – let the book be closed tightly until the time that will come after. Then, many will travel the earth and knowledge will become great. (Daniel 12:4)

                  Do you believe that you are living in the time about which Daniel speaks here? Jesus encouraged alertness (Matthew 24:44 and 25:13). Paul spoke often of anxiously waiting for Christ’s return (Titus 2:13). Certainly, since Jesus ascended, the story of mankind has been marked by people traveling more each year, and by human knowledge increasing day-by-day. These are those “times that will come after;” the time near the end of this age.

                   Daniel’s words bear further implications for today. Later in this discussion, Daniel is told that those who have been made clean; God’s people, will understand His signs. They will know what to do, while those who reject God will continue in ignorance. To lead your people effectively, it is God’s signs; His word, that you need. The words of others, who don’t follow your God, even if filled with sound, scientific observation, lack the significance and wisdom of the Lord’s simple, timeless truths.

                   Don’t be distracted by the experts of the world. Don’t concentrate on what the world says; where experts will tell you to focus. Find your way by watching and listening for the word from God.