Let your New Year’s resolutions be Spirit-led

Barrett Vanlandingham
December 27 , 2011


It’s hard to believe, but 2012 begins Sunday! For me, the end of one year and the beginning of another always serves as a time to reflect on what I accomplished or didn’t accomplish, and as a time to think about what I want to improve on in the coming year.

One important thing to remember in making New Year’s resolutions is to remember to include God’s Holy Spirit in every decision we make, every action we undertake, and every word spoken.

For Christians, that’s already the job of the Holy Spirit, to help guide, comfort, and counsel us into the kind of life that stays in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that mankind is better off to have the Holy Spirit with us than Jesus himself.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)

The apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” This important piece of advice is surrounded by several other challenging commands that are no doubt part of what the Spirit helps us achieve if we do not stand in His way.

Think about it. “16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

The inspired writer also reminds us of these things: “20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.”

Paul ends up this section by saying, “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

But how will He do it? How will the Spirit keep us blameless for judgment day? The only thing we can do is to accept God’s grace which includes His plan of salvation. We know we can’t get to the Father unless we go through Jesus the son (John 14:6), and it is the Holy Spirit who helps us find our way.

If you are not “in Christ”, what more of a wonderful way to start the New Year than to obey the New Testament plan of salvation:

1) hear the Gospel story of Jesus (John 5:24), 2) believe that He is the son of God (John 3:16), 3) repent (turn away) from worldly ways of living (Acts 2:38), 4) confess with your mouth that Jesus is God’s son (Romans 10:9-13), 5) then be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:1-11 and Galatians 3:26-27) where those who continue to walk with the Spirit can never lose the assurance of heaven.

May God bless your New Year with much peace, love, and joy!

The story of Jesus is amazing
by Barrett Vanlandingham
December 20, 2011

            How fortunate we are as human beings to have received the gift of Jesus Christ!  His birth must have been a magnificent event for all involved. 

Can you even imagine the stories that Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds must have told later about the events surrounding the birth of Jesus?

Can you imagine how the Inn Keeper must have felt when he realized later it was he who didn’t have room at the “Inn” for the Savior of the world!? (Luke 2:7)

And just imagine what a humbling experience it must have been for the “wise men” to have had a star lead them until it stopped over the house of the Christ child! (Matthew 2:11)  Do you think they still felt wise? (or maybe just a little stumped!)

The gift of Jesus in human form had only just begun.  And although we don’t know a lot about his growing up years, we do know that he was tempted in every way that we are today, and yet did so without sin (Hebrews 4:15). 

We also know that when he was twelve, he sat among the teachers in the temple courts and amazed everyone who heard his conversations with them (Luke 2:47).  Even so, he still must have behaved like an adolescent.  Reading between the lines, we can tell that the young Jesus evidently went through that time in life when kids think they’re grown up enough to separate themselves from their parents.  In fact, it was only after three days of searching that Joseph and Mary found the young Jesus in the temple courts having these religious discussions.  I am sure the parents were eventually proud of what their son was doing. But, I bet they also wanted to ring his neck for not telling them in advance what he wanted to do!  Nevertheless, after they found him, Luke 2:51 says he went with them and was obedient to his parents.

Jesus was also obedient to his heavenly Father, all the way to the cross. It is hard for us to understand how much of a sacrifice this really was.  Think about it, God the Son actually left his home in heaven to go through with the only plan that could have saved mankind from our sins.  Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice, sinless and superior to that of the bulls and goats that were sacrificed to God in the Old Testament.

So, this Christmas season, please remember to not only praise God for the gift of the baby Jesus, but also for his growing up years that made it possible for him to understand our earthly challenges.  And finally, for his death, burial, and resurrection that give us hope.  Then to top it all off, Christ sent his Holy Spirit as a gift (Acts 2:38) to guide and comfort every Christian until He returns.  Have a blessed week!

The Bible doesn’t tell us when Christ was born
by Barrett Vanlandingham
December 13, 2011

            Whether you think Christmas should be celebrated as a religious holiday or a secular one, you’ve got to admit, if you’re a Christ follower, it’s pretty exciting that much of the world actually thinks about Jesus during December!

But in all of my studies, I have never found a scripture in the Bible that tells me to celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25 or any other day.  The fact is no one knows when Jesus was born.

So, I have to ask the question, “What authority do we have to celebrate the birth of Christ?”  This question has been a matter of debate among many in the Christian faith for generations.

Biblically speaking, the only event Christians are commanded to remember in the New Testament is the death of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), which we do on the first day of the week during the Lord’s Supper. 

 In the Old Testament, the Feast of Purim in the book of Esther was not authorized by God, but was certainly an event that all good Jewish people (Jesus was a Jew)  celebrated  to remember the time when Jews got relief from their enemies (Esther 9:22). In fact, so much is written about Purim it wouldn’t be a stretch to conclude Esther was written to explain the origin of that Jewish feast. 

I don't really know anyone who thinks Jesus was born December 25.  But I can’t help but feel a great amount of joy when I think about the very special gift of Jesus.  The angels must have felt the same way! Luke 2:13-14 says that as soon as the angels heard about a Savior being born, they praised God and said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”   

Then after the shepherds saw the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, they spread the word about the child, and glorified and praised God.

In Matthew 2, the wise men were overjoyed at the sight of the star in the sky that marked the place where the child was. Then, when they arrived, they bowed down and worshiped him, and presented him with gifts.

So, while I would not feel comfortable binding on others the idea that Christmas is a religious holiday or more sacred than other days in some way (ref: Romans  14:5), I would also not say that Christians should ignore this great opportunity to go back to that awesome time in history when our Savior came to dwell among us.  After all, aren’t Christians supposed to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16)?

I can’t deny it.  My family loves the tradition of Christmas trees, Santa, reindeer, and sleighful of toys for good girls and boys. But hey, if the stores, media, and people around the globe want to jump on board once a year to celebrate the arrival of the Christ child, I'll take it!  And I’ll enjoy it! After all, don't you think our world could use a good shot of Jesus at least once a year.  Have a blessed week!

The Baby Jesus Was Prophesied Long Before He Came 
by Barrett Vanlandingham
December 6, 2011

            This month, people all over the world, and certainly right here in Fort Gibson will be celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Christ.  It’s a wonderful time of year when the global spotlight shines on one of the greatest events in history for all to see.

            One of the incredible things about Christ’s birth that gives me additional confidence in his story is the accuracy of Old Testament prophecy.  Besides the New Testament accounts in Matthew and Luke, the birth of Christ was written about by OT prophets Jeremiah (600 B.C.), Micah and Isaiah (700BC) hundreds of years before He arrived on the scene as a human infant, born in Bethlehem.  Other OT prophesies spoke about his life, death, and resurrection.

            Isaiah 9:6 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

            Can you imagine what it must have been like for the young Mary, as she slowly realized that she would play such an important role in OT prophecy (ref: Micah 5:2-5 and Isaiah 7:14 and Jeremiah 23:5-6) written so long ago?  Could it be that the promised ruler from Bethlehem would really be born of Mary, a virgin, some 700 years after it was prophesied?  The answer was yes!

            Still, this must have been extremely difficult to believe for the soon to be parents!  But God was watching out for this descendant of David known as Joseph and his soon to be wife, Mary.  God sent an angel, who not only spoke with Mary (Luke 1:28) personally, but also appeared in a dream to Joseph (Matthew 1:20) who was on the verge of backing out of marrying this young woman to whom he was pledged (Matt. 1:18). 

In fact, until this angelic visit, Joseph had planned to quietly divorce Mary before the marriage was consummated.  After all, who had ever heard of such a thing?  A virgin being with child?  Really?  But the angel was evidently convincing enough that Joseph obeyed and took Mary home to be his wife, though they had no union until she gave birth to a son (Matt. 1:24-25).  And yes, they named him Jesus.  He would also be known as Immanuel, which means “God with us”, a term prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 and mentioned again in Matthew 1:23.

With the exception of his miraculous birth, Jesus was probably much like any other kid in his Nazareth neighborhood. Of course, word probably began to spread pretty rapidly by age twelve that his level of wisdom in conversations with the elders at the temple was nothing less than remarkable.  Then by about age thirty, the supernatural miracles he performed after his official ministry began let everyone know that this guy had something to offer that no one else had!

One thing we know for certain is that there were eyes of skepticism and hearts of hope on Christ’s life from the time he was born, until even after his resurrection.  How could one man affect an entire world and even the angels from the time of his birth unless he was truly the son of God, our only hope of salvation?  Have a blessed week!