Christmas isn’t just an occasion for joy if you get the right gift or if the right people come to Christmas and the wrong people don’t. Christmas transcends, it rises above our present circumstances and offers what the Bible says is GREAT JOY!
He says, the peace I offer you isn’t what the world can give you. The only kind of peace the world can give us is the peace of good circumstances. That’s why the whole world is frantic and worships the gods of good circumstances. The peace that Jesus wants to give you is an anchor in spite of bad circumstances. That is why Jesus can say in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart in that tribulation; I have overcome the world.”
The first few verses of Mark 7 describe an argument taking place between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for not living according to the traditional ritual of washing hands before eating. Jesus would have none of it; He blasted them for their hypocrisy.
Paul is presenting an alternative to the self-absorption of his day. Paul declares, “Young men, what you are looking for comes through the Spirit lead process of denying yourself, delaying gratification and pursuing true meaning in Jesus Christ.”
What Paul is about to declare in marriage is alienating to the world we live in. The younger women in Crete were living promiscuous lives and abandoning their husbands, children and homes and Paul has some very specific exhortations.
According to Paul in the Book of Titus, when you and I find ourselves in the fourth quarter of life, God calls us to live until we die. Our constant question needs to be: How can I be used by Almighty God to proclaim the wonders of His Son’s grace, to shine His glory, truth and grace in very dark places?
Have you ever been overwhelmed by forgiveness?
“You belong to Jesus and His people. You have every potential to do great things for the Lord Jesus. You received all of that potential the moment you believed. In fact, if you give me a minute to visit with you, I bet I could point out a lot of evidence that in you dwells the very power and presence of the Living God.”
God wants us at the end of our lives – however many years He gives us – to apply our hearts to wisdom. He wants us to serve the younger generations by making disciples of all the nations, praying always, loving our spouses, mentoring our children and grandchildren, blessing our neighbors and seeking first the kingdom of God.
Here are Paul’s great words to Titus and the Cretan elders: don’t let someone who is impure tell you how to become pure! These false teachers aren’t pure, and because they aren’t pure they can’t produce anything pure from the asceticism and the commands of men. They can’t produce purity from the outside in. It needs to come from the inside out, not the outside in.
Most of us believe this: “False teaching exists out there but it really doesn’t affect us. It doesn’t really impact our kids either. We are the good guys! We are the church that teaches the Bible every week and has precise doctrinal statements. Somehow the arms of false teaching can’t reach us.”
Grace brings us into the family, and grace also gifts us to serve the family.
