My Toughest Prayer at My Current Life Stage

Back in 2019 I wrote a post in which I talked about my two toughest prayers: two prayers that were (and still are) difficult to say because both involve surrender to God. The first of these prayers is, "Father give me the day I need to grow in You." The second is even more difficult to say: "Father give my family the day they need to grow in You." A lot has happened since 2019 and at times God did choose difficult roads that I never would have chosen for myself, like a family health scare that was hard to stomach at the time but that prevented an even bigger health problem in the long run. These prayers are still difficult for me to say but I still say them, thanking God for what He is doing as He leads me along His chosen paths.

I’m at a stage now where the second question carries even more weight. My wife and I have successfully gotten both of our sons through high school with both moving on to “adult life.” One of my sons chose the more traditional path, going to college and then grad school and now he has his first “real” job. He is also married, with he and his wife taking on the challenge of owning a puppy. My other son chose a very non-traditional path with God opening doors and providing each step of the way. The path he has chosen will be difficult but he has embraced the challenge that lies ahead. In both cases it’s difficult to be on the sidelines and yet that is where I need to be: out of God’s way.

When the boys were in school I could fool myself into thinking that I had some level of control. Now they are both well beyond my reach. One thing that has not changed is my desire for both of them to know God and to grow spiritually, giving their hearts in surrender to Him. This means I still pray that same prayer for them now that I did back then, only expanding it to cover my daughter-in-law and my younger son’s girlfriend. "Father give my family the day they need to grow in You." It’s still a difficult prayer because I want to see them all succeed without the difficulties that I know are normal in life and I still have no control over seeing this goal achieved. Fortunately, the One who answers this prayer has not changed and I can rest assured that He will lead my family down the paths where they can enjoy His best, even if those paths are a bit difficult.

What Motivates You on Your Christian Walk?

It’s a complaint that I hear all too often, where someone talks about how they struggle to find reasons to do “Christian things.” I heard it again recently while listening to a podcast where the person being interviewed spoke about how they used to live as if they were going down a checklist of what a good Christian should do. Usually this kind of conversation ends in one of two ways. Either the person completely leaves the faith or they continue to call themselves a believer but one who has discovered some “new” free way to live out their faith. Often this new way leaves the door open for doing things the way they want without checking to see if it is okay with God. Whenever I hear about these checklist Christians it reminds me of my past, back when the motivation for my Christian walk was more dogmatic than it was a loving relationship. That “checklist” part of my life was dry, empty and, to be honest, no different than the codependency I lived in as a teen.

Yes, I was once one of those kinds of people, living as a “perfect” example of a Christian. I read the Bible twice per day, protecting my devotional times with a passion that must have impressed even the biggest zealot. I was determined to get it right, making sure I worked my way through my checklist each and every day. And each and every day I would battle with that voice that said, “Is this all there is?” In those moments when I was honest with myself I knew that I didn’t feel any different than before I was a Christian, which was okay because I had been taught that it was about faith, not feelings. And by the end of each day I would find myself feeling just as sad and just as lost as ever, questioning whether or not this Christian thing really worked.

I believe that I was a saved Christian back in those days, having accepted Christ by faith, but I was not living in the abundance promised by Jesus. The Christian life is not a life of doing what one is supposed to do, which is where many of us begin and continue. As we grow and mature, our actions should more and more come from a response to God’s presence and from a growing love for our Savior. Our day to day activities result from being free to choose what is right and not from the bondage of religious dos and don’ts. From an activity stand point it might not look any different from someone who is checking things off of their Christian list but on the inside it is significantly different. How different is it? It is the difference between feeling like there is a dry river bed inside and the feeling of having a fountain of water springing up inside (John 4:14).

Yes, Jesus came to show and teach us how we should live and we should obey His words. But what motivates you on your Christian walk? Does your motivation allow you to experience the fullness available to everyone, not by works, but by faith in Christ Jesus?

See also:

Serving Without Knowing God 

What Drives Your Christian Testimony?

A Religious Exercise or An Act of Love? 

Why Bethlehem?

Matthew 2:1a

It has become an important part of the Christmas story: That Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, in the southern part of Israel which was called Judea. We learn about it in Christmas church plays and quite often during one of the Advent sermons during the season. We are told about how Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary had to travel from their home in Galilee because Caesar Augustus ordered a census of all the world, forcing everyone to go to the city of their family lineage. (Luke 2:1-5) But why Bethlehem, a city of little significance? What made this area so special that it was chosen by God to be the scene for the birth of His only begotten Son?

We know that God chose Bethlehem based on the words of the prophet Micah spoken around 700 years before Jesus’ birth:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting.”

Micah 5:2 (NKJV)

As a prophet, Micah was delivering a message that came directly from God, with the early chapters of the Book of Micah speaking of God’s judgment on Israel and Judah. By chapter 5, Micah describes the coming restoration of the people which includes the birth of, “The One to be Ruler in Israel,...”: One ordained to be the savior of us all. As a representative of God, Micah is letting us know that God chose Bethlehem long before Jesus’ birth, shining a spotlight of importance on the City of David.

Before moving on, let me acknowledge that in the Old Testament the City of David was Jerusalem, whereas in the New Testament it is Bethlehem. Jerusalem became the City of David after King David conquered it, taking it from the Jebusites as described in 2 Samuel 5:6-9. According to verse 5 of the same chapter, King David ruled over Israel and Judah with Jerusalem as his capital city for 33 of his 40 years as king. Bethlehem, located just south of Jerusalem (according to Britannica.com), was near the area where David was born and grew up. It was also near where David was anointed king (1 Samuel 16). As the city of his birth it is easy to see why Bethlehem might be called the City of David just like its cousin to the north.

According to a number of sources the word Bethlehem comes from Bet Lehem in the Hebrew language, which means “House of Bread.” The writers at Biblestudytools.com believe this is due to the climate of the area which helped it constantly have bountiful harvests. For Christians the name is an instant reminder of Jesus describing Himself as the bread of life in John 6:35. The “House of Bread” was also an area where the sacrificial lambs were raised for use in the temple in Jerusalem according to a number of sources. And here we are reminded that Jesus was the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29), set apart to be sacrificed for all of our sins. So there was quite a bit of significance to Bethlehem being the city of Jesus’ birth.

Why Bethlehem? By God’s divine authority and perfect will, the insignificant farming community became one of the most significant towns on earth. Its name and history would foreshadow the One who  came to save us all from our sins. Bethlehem: the City of David, the House of Bread and most important, the birthplace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that is why we talk about Bethlehem every year at Christmas.