Christmas Is Awesome, Part 2...Redemption and Reconciliation

In my last post, I had refuted a few ideas some people have that in Jeremiah 10 God Himself had forbidden the practice of bringing Christmas trees into the house and decorating them. I won't reiterate it now, but here is that post: Christmas is Awesome...Refuting Some Issues About Paganism and Christmas

I stated in that post, though, that I wanted to talk about the origin of the Christmas tree and perhaps the origins of other Christmas symbols, because a lot of people have been terribly bothered by the concept of Christianity practitioners commandeering pagan traditions to turn them into Christian ones.

Some Christians are bothered by this, and what's more, many atheists and agnostics use it as a big stick with which they beat Christians over the head.

Really, I had not previously spent much time pondering all this, but this year in particular, I've heard a lot of "chatter" out there in the internets about this issue. So I started poking around and praying for wisdom.

Here are my personal conclusions:

1. Christmas is awesome. You probably already got that one.
2. The Advent season focuses my eyes on Jesus more profoundly than at any other time of the year. So I love it and embrace it.
3. The commandeering of pagan practises involving the natural world has actually deeply moved me and drawn me into a greater love for God.

That last one might have made you go "Um...what?" But stick with me here.

First, you should know that I have not done any for-real research into the origins of our Christmas symbols and traditions. There are scholars who have, and if you are really interested in for-real research, you might go figure out who those scholars are and check out what they found.

What I did was casually peruse the internet, and that does not qualify as real research. It's fun, though, and there is some really good stuff out there if you want to skim the surface of this subject. The University of Michigan Extension put together some fun bullets about Christmas trees, and they have links you can follow if you are interested: How did evergreens become a symbol for Christmas?

Here is a summary of a few things I read out there:

• The tradition of bringing evergreen boughs into the home is an old one that came from somewhere in Europe, probably Germany.
• That tradition may or may not have had an element of pagan practice to it. Most of the sources I saw didn't think so. They think it was related to the love of pretty things, or the nice smell of fir. Or maybe it was something about the symbolism of evergreens.
• At least two notable Christian missionaries have been attached to a story in which they had converts start bringing entire evergreen trees into their homes as a symbol of Christ and his "evergreen" love and faithfulness.

My favorite was a story that was told about Boniface. On a missions trip to pagan parts of Germany in the early 700s, Boniface rescued a baby about to be sacrificed to the god Thor, who the people thought lived in conjunction with a sacred "Thunder Oak" tree. Boniface cut down the tree to show the people that Thor was a false God. Nearby was a little evergreen that he told them to bring into their house to represent Christ.

I'm probably not telling this story well, but I sure liked the way I first heard it on a Phil Vischer What's in the Bible? – Why Do They Call It Christmas? video I bought for my kids. Check out this clip on YouTube:



(If you are interested in the What's in the Bible? series, I VERY highly recommend it! Please see the Jelly Telly What's in the Bible? website.)

So by and large, I didn't find a whole lot that said Christmas trees specifically came from an actual pagan WORSHIP practice.

However, as they state in the Why Do They Call It Christmas? video, we do know that a number of pagan cultures had gods that were honored and worshiped through association with aspects of the natural world, such as trees and significant seasons, significant times of the year. Among those times was the winter solstice.

The Washington Post carried a sweet article in which they described five facts about the winter solstice. They describe the winter solstice: "the exact moment when the sun’s most direct rays reach their southernmost point south of the equator, along the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south latitude. The time and date of the solstice change slightly each year."

While we mark December 21 as the winter solstice, December 25 was likely a day in which one or more cultures mistakenly thought it was the winter solstice, or at least observed it then. Some cultures did a lot of awful things to worship or appease pagan gods on that day because they connected pagan gods with the natural world. The details about all this—what's true and not true about the dates, the gods, the pagans, etc.—are told in various ways by various people. What they usually have in common is the sincere evil of the practises...like child sacrifice, sexual perversion, and other nasty things.

The story usually goes that early Christian missionaries commandeered December 25 either as a "counter holiday" to worship Christ, so they could draw people away from the pagan observance, or possibly a concession to the people to keep that day as the observance, but swap out the reason for the observance—that is, trade the worship of a pagan god for the worship of Jesus. Perhaps they saw this as a way to "ease" entire cultures out of their paganism.

Some Christians today see this as a compromise—to convert the people, they allowed them to continue in a form of paganism until they assimilated into Christianity. Some snarky atheists try to use this to show how mistaken we Christians are about the reality of God.

I have no doubt some version of this is true. We can look at a lot of Christmas traditions today and in one way or another trace them back to origins that maybe weren't very Christian in nature. We also can observe that paganism has never really gone away. In our current age, practitioners of various new age ideas and beliefs persist in connecting nature with their beliefs of power and magic.

This is scary to some Christians, for sure. I get it. While we are over here marking the birth of Jesus, they are over there using the same time of year and some of the same symbols to worship the creation instead of the Creator. They even think they can draw dark magic from created things to enact hexes and cast other types of spells...though ironically, some wiccan practitioners feel that this sort of hexing carries with it a cost. Some mix in the eastern concept of karma—you hex a person, and karma's going to getcha. It's a soup of pagan, new age, and eastern beliefs and practises that God expressly forbids in the Bible.

And thus, many Christians feel uneasy about what some see as parallel celebrations and observances. Again, I get it. Christians are striving to be holy, as God is holy.

Now...let me take you back to my third conclusion that I stated at the beginning: The commandeering of pagan practises involving the natural world has actually deeply moved me and drawn me into a greater love for God.

Dear friend, as I have been writing this, it is the day after winter solstice. I have bird feeders outside my window upon which I have observed in the last two hours six or seven types of birdies. I have two adolescent, energetic kitties that love bird-watching, and they have been jumping up here on my typing table to paw at the window glass and softly chatter and mew and swish their silky tails. A pretty dang funny squirrel has performed a few acrobatic tricks trying to obtain some of that birdseed, which causes the birdies scatter to take refuge in the bare branches of the euonymus and the maple, and the evergreen branches of the pine, the spruce, and the yew.

My heart is filling up. I'm sitting here worshipping God because I see Him.

I'm a nature-lover, you guys. I see God in nature. Or rather, I should specify that I see HIS nature, when I SEE nature...His creativity, His passion, His love. I see it in my kittens when they interact with these other creatures through the glass. I see it in each finch and nuthatch. I see it in the goofy squirrels. I see it in the trees and the shrubs.

You guys, I see God.

In contemplating this issue about Christmas and talking to God about it, here is the main passage of Scripture that jumped up out of my heart:

Colossians 1:15-20 NIV
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Saints, did you catch that?

in him all things hold together.

Jesus.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus came to reconcile to Himself all things. Everything, EVERYTHING, comes together through Jesus Christ!

Saints...oh, dear friends...can you see the beauty in that? Let me tell you something, not a single sparrow falls, and God doesn’t see it. When he created everything, He called it "Good." He has had His eye on it for a long, long time.

Pagans, ancient and modern, cannot help but see mystery and wonder in nature. In rebellion, their hearts have rejected the story of God, and they have exchanged the worship of the Creator for the worship of the creation. In so doing, they worship demons. They turn to the doctrine of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1) That is the tragedy in all this. The magic they seek is in actuality the majesty and power of Christ. They seek the spiritual that for-real exists in nature, but they attribute it to the trees themselves, and not to the Creator of those trees.

My take on all this is that Christian missionaries understood these concepts and knew that if souls were to be saved, they must demonstrate for the pagans that the spirituality they sought was not to be found in the trees or the planets or the sun, but rather in the mighty Word who brought all those things into being:

John 1:1-5 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The pagans FELT that spiritual connection at the winter solstice because it was the time when without fail, the daylight hours would begin to lengthen, day by day. Precious people, dearly loved by their Creator God, knew that as the darkness of the night grew steadily from June to December—WITHOUT FAIL—their weary hearts would find tremendous HOPE in the winter solstice, would observe this tremendous symbol written into the very fabric of time, space, nature.

God was revealing Himself to them. The enemy of their souls had grabbed ahold of this longing God planted in people and twisted their minds so that they sought their hope in paganism. They were blinded. Even though the daylight would lengthen, their souls were deeply trapped in darkness.

But Jesus came for them. He was the light that would pierce that deep soul darkness.

The aspects of God's creation that Satan attempted to use...God redeemed. The days, the times, the seasons...they were all His to begin with, a picture of His faithfulness, His wisdom, and His power.

Genesis 8:22 KJV
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

He took yet another evil intent by the enemy and turned it to GOOD. He refused to allow the enemy of our souls to rob us of our Hope.

This, dear friend, is why I believe that not only do we have the freedom to celebrate Christmas and enjoy as many of the traditions as we like (even the goofy, joyful ones about elves and Santa), but I actually believe that over the eons of the Church age, God has been watching and helping us develop Christmas. He sees us. He knows us. He cares for us.

He knew that this longing for HIM would need rituals and celebrations and joy fests. He arranged it so that everything, EVERYTHING would come together in Jesus.

Celebrate! HE IS!!!!

Prayer

Father, THANK YOU. Thank you for Christmas and everything it represents. Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus. Thank you for the redemption of all of creation. Thank you for not leaving mankind to perish in the darkness, but for providing this method of reconciliation. Thank you for breaking through the darkness and bringing us into Your glorious light.

Many still walk in darkness because they have been deceived by the enemy of their souls. Many openly, violently rebel against you and revel in their sin. But we know that their hearts deep down ache with inexpressible groans. Their attempts to relieve the ache are fruitless. Only You can provide the satisfaction, the relief, and the love they so deeply long for and need. Please, Jesus, work on them. I lift them up to you in prayer, Lord. Bring these souls to you. Reconcile them to you.

I pray for the readers of this blog post, that they will be uplifted and encouraged during this season. The enemy has been trying to overburden us and divide us, but I proclaim victory in Jesus. I come against the actions of the enemy in this, and I pray, Lord, that you would defeat this attempt.

May this post be a fragrant offering to you, Oh, Lord my God. May souls be saved because of this feeble gift I bring You. You raise me up in Your power, Your wisdom, and You have all the glory here. Save them, Jesus! Encourage your Church. Unite us, Lord. Bring all things together in You.

I ask this in the glorious, powerful, beautiful name of Jesus. Amen.

Merry Christmas, Saints. Be at Peace.

Christmas Is Awesome...Refuting Some Issues About Paganism and Christmas

I was going to continue this week with the If book. We've only got a couple posts to go, and that's definitely worth some time!

But this last week, on three separate occasions, I came across messages from books and concerned believers about Christmas traditions and their connections with paganism. Yikes! That bummer bomb has been on my mind ever since, and I wanted to share my thoughts in the hopes that they might alleviate some fears and encourage some of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

My first response to all this is a big 'ole eye roll. Don't mess with my Christmas, people. Christmas? I'm a HUGE fan. Love me some Christmas.

And then my second response was one of compassion for people who genuinely want to serve God and honor Him completely. Their worries and concerns are born out of this correct sense of the purity of Jesus Christ, and the fact that worship of Him should not be sullied by anything that would hint of sin or disrespect. Yes, I do get that...

Here's the spoiler alert, dear friends...my conclusion is that everyone should keep Christmas well and use all the lovely traditional symbols they like. Whatsoever things are lovely, think on these things. Boom.

The Jeremiah 10 Argument About Christmas Trees and Forbidden Pagan Practice

Here's how this particular "pagan" argument went:

There's this author—I am not going to name him here because I haven’t read any of his books—that's been saying according to Jeremiah 10, we should not bring trees inside and decorate them.
Um...what?

I looked this up, and here is what the NKJV says:

"Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:
'Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
They are upright, like a palm tree,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.'"(verses 2-5)

(By the way, if you look up verse 5 in the NIV—also the NLT—instead of palm tree, it says. "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field." So if we want, we can start throwing harvest symbols around, too...haha...but we won't go there...)

What people are worried about is where God describes gentiles cutting down trees, then decorating them. The NIV and the NLT are descriptive—those versions say, "a craftsman shapes it with his chisel" before it is adorned with silver and gold.

Now, here is what the book author said...I don't have this book, by the way. I am passing along a quote from an article...and I do NOT think he is right in this statement:

"Even God-fearing Christians today don't realize they're doing the very opposite of God's instructions when they decorate trees with silver and gold and stand them up in their homes and churches every December. God personally says in the tenth chapter of Jeremiah not to do that precise heathen custom, and yet people have been tricked into decorating trees with all sorts of silver tinsel, gold garland and hanging ornaments, and they have no scriptural basis for it. For those interested in eternal life, we need to wake up and start obeying the instructions of our Maker, and stop all this pagan worthlessness."

Yikes! Holy cow. See the bummer bomb?

Is this fellow saying that all those years of Christmas tree traditions is just people practicing pagan customs? AND is he also saying that my eternal life with Jesus is in jeopardy because of it?

WHAT?

Let's break this down a bit...

1. First, that author is saying that Jeremiah 10 refers to our practice of bringing a tree inside and decorating it at Christmastime.

No. That is not what this section of scripture is referring to. I will refer you back to one of my first posts where I was laying the foundation of how we study the Bible: Study Premises Part 1: Our Approach for Reading the Bible. In that post, I quote Bible scholar Ron Rhodes, who stated, "Our goal must be exegesis (drawing the meaning out of the text) and not eisogesis (superimposing a meaning onto the text)."

Now, hear me out...evergreens in the house might have a pagan origin, and in my next post, I will talk about that. But in this case, we are looking specifically at Jeremiah 10 and what this author said.
When we look at the Jeremiah 10 passage and say, "Christmas trees" we have to remember that when Jeremiah wrote God's words, there was no such thing as a Christmas tree. Maybe we could make an argument about God knowing the future and all that, but it's really quite a stretch to coax that sort of interpretation out of this particular passage. When prophetic passages describe future events, the text tells us this. We can show this in many prophetic passages in the Bible. This is not one of those passages.

In this particular passage, God is describing what gentiles at that time were doing in their worship of pagan gods.

2. We see clearly that the text is referring to the creation of idols out of trees. The idol is going to be the thing that is worshiped. The tree is just the material.

And...

3. The text is actually telling us that the idols are nothing and God is powerful.

It's moments like this I wish I was myself a Hebrew scholar so I could properly look at the original language to talk about what the gentile was doing with that tree he cut down. (Maybe I will get to study Hebrew someday.) Translations are telling me the guy takes a chisel to it. Let's look at it in context of other scripture.

Isaiah 40—WHICH, by the way, also contains one of those uber-amazing sections of the Bible, a part that describes the Messiah hundreds of years before Christ came—says in verses 18-20, NKJV:

"To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
To prepare a carved image that will not totter."

The tree is making an appearance here, as well, but in this case we can clearly see that a craftsman is carving an image out of it. There are some parallels here between the Jeremiah passages and the Isaiah passages:

• The tree is being used to create an image.
• The image can't stand on its own. Either it has to be propped up, or the wood has to be carved in such a way that the weight is supported.
• If you can afford it, you can use silver and gold to adorn it.

And here's the most important point...

• In both of these passages, in context, God is contrasting Himself with these images.

What are these images? Idols! What did these people do with them after they carve them? Maybe decorate them, but for sure, they worshiped them and prayed to them for things.

What's the point God is trying to make?

The idols themselves are WORTHLESS. No power. Look at Jeremiah 10:5, second part of that verse:

"Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”

So...

idol = nothing
God = everything

Boom. That is the message here.

The worship of pagan gods was evil...don't get me wrong. Those are demons that the people were worshiping, and in their worship, they were doing horribly evil, vile things like sacrificing babies.

But the idol itself was completely lifeless and worthless. God was making a point that supported His original commandment about idols: "You shall not make for yourself an idol..." (Exodus 20:4)
Dear friends, we MUST approach the Bible with whole-Bible context in mind.

The New Testament Provides Context for Christians—Liberty in Christ

Let's jump to the New Testament and see what we find there to help us understand this a little better.

I'm going to paraphrase 1 Corinthians 8 because there is a lot of text there, but please read it for yourself. In this section, Paul turns his attention to the issue of whether believers should eat food that has been sacrificed to idols. He first says that an idol is nothing and God is everything. Therefore, with this knowledge about the worthlessness of idols, you as a believer don't need to worry about it. Go ahead and eat it.

However, some believers don't have the strength of Paul's faith, and they have a hard time seeing this as inconsequential. So Paul says, let's not make a big deal out of this. If a brother or sister in Christ is having a hard time with this concept, let it go. They cannot eat that meat without it bothering them. And if they see you doing it, that might distress them. So you need to be careful, then, and love your brothers and sisters by not eating that meat in front of them. Don't let your "superior" faith and knowledge cause them pain. Instead, act in ways that are loving and kind to them.

Here is the Tracy translation for how this relates to the Christmas tree thing...if you are having a hard time with this, I am not going to hit you over the head with it. If it bothers you to drag a tree inside and decorate it, it's OK. Don't do it. It's totally a secondary issue. I just want you to have faith in Jesus!

Paul's writings about this also tell me that if I can freely eat meat sacrificed to an idol because an idol is worthless, if I want to have a Christmas tree in my house, even if I think it might be a tradition that has a pagan origin (we will get back to that in another post), I can go ahead and do it.

Remember, saints, that Jesus Christ saved us and gave us freedom and liberty. Read Romans 14...in that chapter, we see that there are things that are secondary issues—like what you eat or drink, or what you wear, or certain things that you do—that are not expressly forbidden as sin. Because you are liberated in Christ, you can do a lot of things and still be a redeemed soul, born again, saved!
The caution we see in several parts of the New Testament is that whatever you are doing or considering doing, make very sure that 1) it is not an explicit sin as described in the Word of God, and 2) it doesn't lead you down a path where you might be tempted or might hurt someone else.

Don't Overburden Fellow Believers—It's About Love

We know that when Jesus dealt with the religious leaders of His day, He was upset with them because they unnecessarily burdened the people with regulations that really didn't matter that much. God was (and is) interested in our hearts. Are we submitted before Him? Are we faithful to Him? Do we strive to give Him the glory He deserves? Do we love Him and act like it?

Jesus was concerned for the people, and He was watching certain religious leaders pounding them with regulations, but neglecting to show them the goodness and love and glory of God. Jesus came in part to liberate us from these unnecessary burdens and how us how high, how wide, how deep the love of God is!

Oh, my friend! He loves you! His eye is on the sparrow, but you...YOU are in his heart! Do you think He gives a hill of beans about whether or not you put decorations on a Christmas tree? What He cares about is whether you are worshipping worthless things, or whether you are worshipping Him.

God made that tree. God made the silver and the gold. If you are observing Christmas because you are thankful that Jesus came into the world, and you are doing slap-happy traditions to show your joy...why in the world would that be a bad thing?

If you keep Christmas solely in your heart and avoid all the trappings and traditions because that is how you personally best honor Him and show Him your love and gratitude, then by all means...don't decorate!

The point...Jesus is all that matters. One way or another, do not overburden one another.

In my house, we instill joy in our kiddos by posing our toy elves every night so that the kiddos find them in all kinds of weird situations each morning. We instill joy in them by putting up happy, gorgeous decorations and hanging our stockings. We instill joy by making Christmas morning exciting and awesome and ripping open fun gifts. Then we tell them the source of all our joy is JESUS. We are having a month-long joy fest all because of JESUS! Because He is totally worth it! Our salvation through Him is everything to us, and we are practicing being joyful.

I have more to say on the subject of Christmas trees and paganism, but this is an awful lot of words. I will continue this in the next post. Tonight I will bask in the lights of my Christmas tree and give God thanks for the precious gift of His Son.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I may never fully be able to express the gratitude I have for the salvation you have given us. But I do thank you, Lord, for that gift. I honor that gift by celebrating and telling others about the love of Jesus.

Lord, for the reader of this blog post, I pray tremendous blessing. I pray that if they do not know you as Lord and savior, that they would come to you right now and repent of their sins and accept the free gift of forgiveness You offer. Lord, what people who do not believe in You or trust You do not know, is the richness of living a life submitted to You! You satisfy the deepest parts of us and give us a peace that passes all understanding. May that non-believer reach out to you today, right now, and be saved. May these words be a fragrant offering to you, a gift to You that results in what You most desire, to bring people to You.

Jesus, I love you. And I love the people You have made. May they know you. May they be joyful in you. May they honor you with their lives. I ask this in the precious and holy name of Jesus Christ...amen.

Merry Christmas, saints.

"What If" Dreams Part 1: The Good Work and The Big Dream

Exciting Stuff

"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

I got so much incredible stuff out of this section of the book that I am not sure where to start! I swear, I have typed and retyped the beginning of this post three times. Let me take a deep breath and back up a bit...sorry, guys. I'm so excited by what's going on here!

The Big Dream...But What About Inadequacy? What About Pride?

"What If" is all about the Big Dream. That's pretty clear in this section. I have a Big Dream. But I've been super confused about it, and I have been wondering if God has given me this Big Dream, or if it is something I've just carved out of my own imagination in order to suit a human desire for greatness.

So there I am, reading Batterson's section on What if?, and I can see that in the past, I've made God a little too small. Batterson's really quite good at showing us how big God is, and how trustworthy God is to follow through on anything He puts in motion. When God begins a good work in us, He carries it forward to completion. He's not going to respond to me tugging on His shirt sleeve by brushing me off.

See, I did tug on His shirt sleeve. I asked Him what my purpose is. I asked Him what He wanted me to do for Him with the rest of my life. He responded to me by giving me a Big Dream. And honestly, it freaked me out. I've been kind of ashamed to go talk to anyone about it because I've been afraid that it would be humiliating...

"Really? You, Tracy?
You really think you're going to [insert Big Dream here]?
Because you aren't nearly [insert thing I lack] enough.
And you aren't [insert another thing I lack here] enough.
And you CERTAINLY aren't [insert yet another thing I lack here] enough!"

I'm afraid sometimes, too, that the dreams are self-serving. I'm afraid that I am driven only my the desire for my own greatness. I was a little taken aback by Batterson's account of his bold declaration in his twenties, that one day, he would write books that would sell millions of copies. Isn't that prideful? Isn't that just a desire for personal greatness? If I dream a Big Dream, am I just getting puffed up and big-headed?

Batterson declares, "by definition, a God-ordained dream is beyond our ability to pull off." (page 141)

Wow. Yep, I am indeed inadequate. And yeah, the thought that I could do this maybe is a little self-serving. I mean, I LIKE the idea of greatness! But if it really is beyond my own ability, then it's got to be God that pulls it off. There's no place for pride there. Instead, there's got to be humility.

So God really is the originator of the Big Dream? It's surreal to me, and a little counter-intuitive, but I have to answer yes. Yes, God is the one that establishes our Big Dreams. He gives us the notions for the things that are great, the things that are too much for us to pull off.

Let's talk a little about pride, then, and why it scares the heck outta me.

Just the fact that it is a concern tells me that yes, God really IS in this. When it occurs to us that pride is a danger, God says to us, "Good. Now I can work on you. Now I can get that Big Dream going!"
If I have a concern about my own pride, then my response is going to be humbling myself before Him, submitting to Him, clinging to Him as I start to see bits and pieces of the Big Dream come together. God is the originator of the greatness that is in me. If He makes me a great writer and a great teacher, it's His work in me, and I need to submit it before Him. If I take that stance and keep prayer and worship at the forefront of my mind and my heart, then God is going to work that pride right out of me, or keep it from developing.

The build-up of pride scares me because that was Satan's sin. That is what caused all of the evil in the entire world. It's a terrifying trap, and I do not want to fall into it.

If I didn't have enough reasons to keep falling on my face before God, to staying gut-level honest with Him about every little thing I think and feel, and to seek Him for His truth in everything...my Big Dream is going to keep me right there in that position before Him.

THAT is the start of His good work in me! That frees me up to let myself start to pray over this Big Dream and see the possibilities. I can cease seeing God as small and start giving Him credit for being BIG. BIG, BIG, BIG!!!! HUGE!!!

Seek the Presence of God

I love my Big Dream, and I want to see this work come about in me. The way I'm going to see it is if I seek the presence of God. If I take a deep dive into His presence, it's GOING to happen. How do we take that deep dive and see the glory of God?

Get into His Word. Get into prayer. Get into praise. Get into gratitude. Get into joyfulness.

Remember our new habits:

• Be joyful always.
• Pray continually.
• Give thanks in all circumstances.

Batterson states, "When we get into the presence of God, it's like a slight yet sudden shift in barometric pressure. It takes time to acclimatize, but over time, the glory of God will manifest in any number of ways. Two obvious examples are the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The fruit is character and the gifts are capacities, but both are manifestations. It's the same word used in 1 Corinthians 12:7:

To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given.

Each of us is a unique manifestation of God's Spirit. We might have identical gifts, but they are exercised through different personalities, in different contexts." (pages 146–147)

Worship creates the atmosphere. We get our minds off the stuff around us, and we get our focus on the Lord. Amazing things start to happen.

He's BIG, you guys. BIG.

We will hit this more in the next post, but please, please keep God at the forefront of your mind. He's started a good work in you, and He has BIG plans to see it through!

Prayer

Lord, I'm in tears as I sit here writing this and thinking it over. I am so grateful for the Big Dream you have planted in me, and I want very much to see it accomplished! More than anything, I want to see Your glory manifest in my life so that your Kingdom will expand and souls will be rescued!

I want any reader of this post to see Your glory manifest in them, as well! I pray for those readers right now, that they would start to seek You more and more, that they would work hard at creating that atmosphere through worship. Speak to their hearts right now, Lord. Impress on them how HUGE You are, and how You desire to keep pushing forward that good work in their lives! Nothing, NOTHING is beyond You, Lord, and if they will just seek you for the Big Dream, you will accomplish Your purpose for their lives!

I ask this in the BIG and mighty name of Jesus Christ! Amen!