TUSITE TISEMA 31, 2024

THE BREVITY OF LIFE

‘OKU FUONOUNOU PE ‘A E MO‘UI KO ENI

PSALM 103:15-17

"As for man, his days are like grass: he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gene…But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him." 

SAAME 103:15-17

15 Ko e me‘a vaivai na ko e tangata ‘oku tatau mo e mohuku hono ngaahi fo‘i ‘aho, Pea ko ‘ene matamatalelei ‘oku tatau mo ha fisi‘i ‘akau vao. 16 He ‘oku laka atu ai ‘a e matangi, pea kuo ‘ikai, Pea ‘oku ‘ikai ke kei ‘ilo‘i ia ‘e he potu na‘a ne ‘i ai. 17 Ka ko e ‘ofa ‘a Sihova ‘oku talu mei mu‘a ‘o ta‘engata Kiate kinautolu ‘oku ‘apasia kiate ia; Pea ‘oku a‘u ‘ene faitotonu ki he fānau mo e makapuna;

Life passes us by a lot more quickly than we imagine. I vividly remember the birth of my first child - and then it seemed that he was a teenager only a few weeks later. When we were children, just the time between December 1 and December 25 stretched out for years; now the years race by ever more quickly. Suddenly, we wake up older or we hear of the death of someone who was our age, and we realize that life really is very brief. We flourish for a time, but not forever.

As we age, our physical and mental abilities fade, old friends pass away, familiar customs which have been routine disintegrate, and our long-held ambitions lose their potential or appeal. These realities, though, shouldn't drive us into despair but rather stimulate us. Like grass, we have a limited number of days, but there is opportunity in every one of them! As the Bible scholar Derek Kidner writes, "Death has not yet reached out to us: let it rattle its chains at us and stir us into action." With the minutes that remain in our lives, we can lift up our eyes and look at the "fields" - at those who live and work around us and who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, who are not enjoying the steadfast and everlasting love of the Lord. As Jesus said, those fields are already "white for harvest" (John 4:35).

The Bible doesn't encourage us to wait until we graduate or get married or settle down or sort ourselves out or retire before we start to serve Christ. Rather, it calls us to do so today. The wise person knows that we have limited time and that the best way to spend it is on the Lord's errands.

So whether you are at the start of life, or feel you are in the prime of life, or are looking back at life, before the strength in your hands fails you a and your teeth, eyes, and ears grow weak, will you choose to live all out for Jesus Christ? If you wait until tomorrow, tomorrow may be too late. As C.T. Studd once put it, there is…

Only one life,

Twill soon be past.

Only what's done

For Christ will last.

Therefore, look at your days in this life as the "grass" that they are. Spend them in awe of the God who will love you eternally - and spend them not building your own empire of sand but on the work of the only kingdom that endures forever. And pray that as you do so, the Lord will "establish the work of [your] hands" (Psalm 90:17), both today and throughout the year that tomorrow will bring.

PSALM 90

Bible Through The Year: Malachi; Luke 24:36-53

 MONITE TISEMA 30, 2024

ALL THINGS MADE NEW

‘E FAKAFO‘OU ‘A E ME‘A KOTOA PE

REVELATION 21:3-4

"God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 

FAKAHA 21:3-4

3 Pea ongo mai ha fu‘u le‘o mei he taloni, ‘oku ne pehē, Ko eni, ko e Tāpanekale ‘o e ‘Otua, ‘Oku tu‘u mo e kakai. Pea ‘e nofo hono Sikaina mo kinautolu, Pea te nau nofo ko hono kakai; Pea ‘e nofo ‘e He‘ene ‘Afio, Ko e ‘Otua ‘oku kau ma‘anautolu, ‘Io, ko honau ‘Otua. 4 Pea te ne holoholo ‘a e lo‘imata kotoa pē mei honau mata; Pea ‘e ‘ikai toe ai ha mate, Pea ‘e ‘ikai toe ai ha mamahi, pe ha tangi, pe ha ongosia; Kuo mole ‘a e ngaahi me‘a mu‘a

The whole idea of a new heaven and a new earth is hard to comprehend. But we can say with absolute certainty that God is going to take what is present and transform it, and He's determined that no one and nothing will be capable of destroying His perfected kingdom. We can say this with such certainty because He is the God who is powerful to keep His promises, seen most gloriously of all at a wooden cross and an empty tomb. Right now, behind the scenes of what we call history, God is preparing to bring His kingdom in all its fullness and it is, in fact, something He has been preparing from all of eternity. When Christ returns, He will usher in this new kingdom, a new heaven and earth in which righteousness dwells.

When God's perfected kingdom is finally established, sin will have been punished, justice will have been satisfied, and evil will have been destroyed. There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. Those will all be merely "the former things" that will have "passed away." When God brings His kingdom to fruition, when His perfect plan unfolds, no one and nothing will be able to spoil it.

The word "new" as it is used to describe the new heaven and new earth in Revelation is not describing time or origin; it's describing kind and quality. In other words, God is going to transform creation so that it reflects all the glory and magnificence that He originally intended for it. Satan will not get the satisfaction of watching God destroy His creation. Rather, God is going to use fire to purify it, just as He once used water in the days of Noah (2 Peter 3:5-7).

So the new earth will still be earth. It will be a physical place inhabited by physical people, but now it "shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). No wonder, then, that the whole of creation stands on tiptoe, longing to be liberated from its bondage to sin and decay (Romans 8:19-22)!

This new creation is worth waiting for. It is worth living for and even dying for. God is going to renew all things - our souls, our minds, our bodies, and even the environment in which we live. None of the things which currently spoil life on earth will be present, and all that is hoped for, all that is anticipated, will find its fulfillment.

So "we wait eagerly" (Romans 8:23). There is never a need to despair, no matter how dark life may become - for the day God wipes your tears away lies ahead. And "we wait for it with patience" (v 25). There is never a need to seek to seize all you think you need now, no matter be for the day when God brings all the joy and satisfaction you could imagine lies ahead. Let eagerness and patience be your watchwords today.

ROMANS 8:18-25

Bible Through The Year: Zechariah 13-14; Luke 24:1-35

 SAPATE TISEMA 29, 2024

SEASONS OF WAITING

KO E FA‘AHITA‘U ‘O E TATALI

GENESIS 15:5-6

"[God] brought [Abraham] outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be. And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness."

SENESI 15:5-6

5 Pea ne taki ia kitu‘a, ‘o ne me‘a mai, Hanga hake ā ki langi, pea lau ‘a e ngaahi fetu‘u pe te ke lava hono lau: pea ne folofola kiate ia, ‘E pehē ho hako. 6 Pea ne tui kia Sihova: pea ne lau ia ma‘ane mā‘oni‘oni.

If our faith is to remain steadfast in seasons of prolonged waiting, then we must be confident of these truths: first, that God has the power to do what He promised to do; and second, that God Himself is sufficient to meet all of our needs, in every season.

Abraham's faith was tested in the waiting room of life. For years he lived in a foreign land, waiting for his "very own son" to come into the world as God had promised (Genesis 15:4). And it was his trust in God's promises while he waited that God "counted… to him as righteousness."

Paul, when he writes of Abraham's faith during this time, says, "No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to Gad, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" (Romans 1:20-21). In other words, Abraham believed that nothing and no one could stand in the way of God Fulfilling His spoken word even when he could not begin to see how God would keep His promises. His faith wasn't a blind leap in the dark. Rather, it was a belief based on God's character.

Fast-forward to today, and one of the great promises to which we cling is that the Lord Jesus has promised to prepare a place for us and that He will come to take us to Himself (John 14:3). Therefore, when we take Him at His word, we are filled with the hope of heaven. We can be certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is coming back personally, He is coming back visibly, and He is coming back for His own. These promises to us are as sure as the promise God made to Abraham, for which he waited 25 years before it was fulfilled.

Furthermore, through Abraham's experience we see that it is God alone who is sufficient to bring us through seasons of waiting. In Genesis 17, God appears once more to Abraham in order to strengthen his faith. How? By revealing who He is "When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty [El-Shaddail] walk before me" (17:1). This Hebrew term, El-Shaddai, can mean "God who is sufficient." God, in other words, affirmed His promises to Abraham on the strength of His character.

The Christian life is a life of waiting. And all of God's "hold ons" and "not yets" are part and parcel of His purpose. Every season of waiting is an opportunity for you to take God at His word. And while you wait, you can surely trust Him to meet your every need. Rest in this: the God in whom you believe is able to do all that He has promised.

GENESIS 17:1-8

Bible Through The Year: Zechariah 9-12; Luke 23:26-56

 TOKONAKI TISEMA 28, 2024

THE ANTIDOTE TO PRIDE

KO E FAITO‘O KI HE ‘AFUNGI

MARK 8:15

"Watch out: beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

MA‘AKE 8:15

Pea ne na‘ina‘i kiate kinautolu ‘o pehē, Mou ‘ā, ‘o vakai, telia ‘a e lēvani ‘a e kau Fālesi, pea mo e lēvani ‘a Hēlota

It is sobering to consider how many people saw the Lord Jesus, heard His teaching, and witnessed His miracles - and yet refused to believe.

The same day that they saw Him feed 4,000 with a few loaves and fishes - revealing Himself to be the God who provides for His people in the wilderness (Marie 8:1-10; see Exodus 16) the Pharisees asked Him for a "sign from heaven" (Mark 8:11). In response, Jesus cautioned His followers, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

The Pharisees were marked by hypocrisy: Herod by hostility. The Pharisees wished to hold on to their self-righteous assumptions that they merited blessing from God, and so they had no place for a Savior. Herod wished to hold on to the power he wielded over the people, so he had no place for the King. Therefore, they were committed to a blindness to truth. Their approach refused to believe or understand who Jesus was. They were essentially saying, I really don't want to find out what Jesus means, and I certainly will not accept that He is my Savior or my King. Jesus warned against taking on that same attitude, because even a trace amount of leaven-of unbelief-can make a significant difference.

When pride rears its ugly head, it can lead us to judge the Scriptures rather than learning from them. When we stand in judgment over God's word, though, what we might regard as trivial and insignificant tweaking of truth will actually be the leaven-the yeast-which spreads throughout the entire bread of our convictions.

Jesus' challenge to us is to humbly accept Him as who He is-to allow Him to save us of our sins and to rule over our whole life. He patiently reminds us again and again of who He is. His challenge is prophetic and parental, direct and loving.

We need the work of Christ to overcome the effects of the leaven of pride. It takes divine intervention to understand Christ's work in our lives. That's why people can read the Bible and see nothing - can listen to the gospel story and hear nothing. Until the eyes of understanding are opened and our ears are unplugged, we will remain unaffected. But every day that God's Spirit shows us the beauty of Jesus, and reminds us of our desperate need for Him, our hearts and minds can sing:

I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin.

Revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith in Him.

But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able.

The antidote to the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod is the work of the Spirit. Do not be so proud as to assume you do not need Him. Pray that He would show you Jesus afresh in His word today, so that you might worship your Savior and King with every part of your life.

LUKE 18:9-14

Bible Through The Year: Zechariah 5-8; Luke 23:1-25

 FALAITE TISEMA 27, 2024

THE FRAILTY OF LIFE

KO E TU‘UNGA PELEPELENGESI ‘O E MO‘UI

JAMES 4:13-15

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 

SEMISI 4:13-15

13 Me‘a mai ‘eni, ‘a kimoutolu ‘oku lau, ‘o pehē, Ko e ‘aho ni, pe ko e ‘apongipongi, te mau fononga ki he kolo ko ē, pea mau nofo ai ‘o ta‘u kātoa, pea te mau fai fakatau ai ‘o ngaohi pa‘anga: ‘osi, ‘oku ‘ikai te mou ‘ilo ‘a e me‘a ‘o e ‘apongipongi. 14 He ko e hā tū ho‘omou mo‘ui? Ko e mao pē kimoutolu, ‘a ia ‘oku hā fuoloa si‘i, pea toki mole foki. 15 ‘Ē, na‘a mou mei pehē, Kapau ko e finangalo ‘o e ‘Eiki te mau mo‘ui, ‘o fai ‘a ē mo ē.

The Bible does not condemn business acumen or future planning. What the Bible does condemn, however, is a prideful, self-centered way of thinking that, whether intentionally or unintentionally, leaves God out of our decisions and future plans a mindset that assumes certainties that are never promised to us.

James confronts us in no uncertain terms with the reality of our finite knowledge and understanding. Indeed, he reminds us that we need to accept what we do not know. Do we want to be able to plan weeks and months in advance? Of course we do! But James points out that we don't even know what will happen tomorrow. It is pride that leads us to assume that our next breath is a given.

He then goes on to remind us of our frailty. The fact is that our lives are each "a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Like an early-morning fog that hovers over the grass and is gone at the first touch of the sun's rays, our lives are transient; eventually, they seemingly vanish, without even a trace left to be seen by future generations.

In light of our frailty and limitations, how are we then to think about the future? James not only calls out our presumptuous thinking and planning, he also supplies the antidote. Very simply, we need to learn to make plans in humility, recognizing our complete dependence on God's providential care. Nothing in the entire universe - including us - would continue to exist for one fraction of a second apart from God. As Alec Moryer writes, "We receive another day not as a result of natural necessity, nor by mechanical law, nor by right, nor by the courtesy of nature, but by the covenanted mercies of God."

Tomorrow is not promised. We may plan for it, but we may not assume we can control it. God's mercy alone enables us to awaken to each new day. The sin of presumption is exposed as folly when we realize that our very life is grounded in God's sustaining gifts. We cannot ignore our limitations and life's brevity, but we can allow these realities to shape and transform our thinking and our decisions for the sake of His glory. So consider your plans for today, for tomorrow, for next year, and for further on in your life. Did you pray about them? Have you acknowledged that His plans are sovereign and that all of yours are contingent on His? Lift your plans up to Him now and place them in His hands. You cannot control the future. But you do not need to, for you know the one who does.

MATTHEW 6:25-34

Bible Through The Year: Zechariah 1-4; Luke 22:47-71

 TU‘APULELULU TISEMA 26, 2024

CHRISTMAS ACCORDING TO CHRIST

KO E LAU ‘A KALAISI KI HE KILISIMASI

HEBREWS 10-5-6

"When Christ came into the world, he said. ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me: in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.’ " 

HEPELU 10-5-6

5 Ko ia ai, ‘i he hoko ‘a ‘Ene ‘Afio ki māmani, ‘oku ne me‘a, Na‘e ‘ikai te ke tangi ki ha feilaulau pe ha foaki, Ka kuo ke teuteu ha sino mo‘oku: 6 Ko e ngaahi feilaulau li‘aki, Mo e ngaahi feilaulau he angahala na‘e ‘ikai te ke hōhō‘ia ai.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke introduce us to a whole cast of Christmas characters with whom we've grown quite familiar: Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the wise men, and so on. Sometimes we even consider those who are less known, such as Zechariah, Elizabeth, Anna, and Simeon. With each passing Christmas season, we have probably been treated to sermons and studies from the perspective of just about every cast member. Yet there is one notable exception: surprisingly few of us have pondered Christmas from Jesus' vantage point.

In this verse, the author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that when Jesus stepped onto the stage of history. He took the words of Psalm 40 upon His lips. Just as Cinderella's glass slipper fit only her foot, these words fit nobody but Jesus.

God was preparing for the first Christmas throughout the centuries of the Old Testament, for all the Old Testament sacrifices were mere shadows of the reality to which they pointed. Those sacrifices involved the death of animals that had to be prodded to the altar. They had no choice in the matter; they were simply pressed into service. But before He even experienced humanity, Jesus knew His role - His sacrifice - would be different. He willingly consented. In the humblest of forms and in an unexpected setting, God the Son took on a body that was prepared for Him - prepared "as a ransom for many" (Marthew 20:28). He looked at this broken world and its sinful people, and He said to His Father, Yes, I will go there. I will become one of them, and I will die for them.

Peter grasps the weight of Christ's death when he writes, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus, being fully God and fully man, entered this world to do in His body what no animal sacrifice could do: He has borne our punishment, cleansed our consciences, and held out divine mercy. He perfectly accomplished all that is necessary for sinful men and women to enter into fellowship with God.

This is very different from the promise of mere religion, in which rules and effort become futile mechanisms for trying to climb into heaven. In contrast, the manger's message is one of liberating mercy. God has wonderfully taken the initiative and come to rescue us through Jesus. We don't need to make a long journey to find God, because Christ, the newborn King, knew His role. What is the right response? Simply to bow before Him humbly, praise Him wholeheartedly, and wait for Him expectantly all of our days.

PSALM 40

Bible Through The Year: Micah 6-7; Luke 22:21-46

 PULELULU TISEMA 25, 2024

COME, ADORE ON BENDED KNEE

HA‘U, HU MO PUNOU KIATE IA

LUKE 2:15-16

"Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And [the shepherds] went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger." 

LUKE 2:15-16

15 Pea na‘e pehē, ‘i he ‘alu meiate kinautolu ‘a e kau ‘āngelo ki he langi, pea fetālaaki ‘a e kau tauhi sipi, Tau ō mu‘a ‘o hoko ki Pētelihema, ‘o vakaia ‘a e me‘a ni kuo fai, ‘a ia kuo fakahā mai ‘e he ‘Eiki. 16 Pea nau ō fakavave, ‘o ‘ilo ‘a Mele mo Siosifa fakatou‘osi, pea mo e tamasi‘i valevale ‘oku tokoto ‘i he ‘ai‘angakai.

Come to Bethlehem and see

Him whose birth the angels sing

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King

When we sing these kinds of words in our Christmas carols, not many of us physically kneel. We understand that this carol's invitation is metaphorical. Yet if we wish to actually behold Christ, then we must be ready to accept the invitation to come on bended knee in terms of the posture of our hearts. What does that mean? It means to come humbly and expectantly, and in recognition that this person is worthy of such homage.

Much like the shepherds, we are compelled and enabled to go to God because He is a seeking God. At the Nativity, He wonderfully took the initiative, sending His Son to the world as a helpless baby, and speaking to the shepherds through the angel: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is barn this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). God took the initiative in grace, and the shepherds responded in faith. They believed the angelic message and eagerly began seeking the manger. Prioritizing their search above their livelihood and all they knew, they immediately sought to know for themselves the Redeemer of the world. What a wonderful illustration of how we ought to respond to God's message!

Some may view the shepherds with ridicule, deeming them foolish in their simple belief and response. What prevents a man or woman from trusting God's message like they did? One word: pride. Pride would have kept the shepherds in the fields, in possession of the angelic announcement but not of a relationship with the Christ. Pride will keep us from coming to Christ on bended knee and blind us to the truth that to know God truly requires of us a contrite spirit and a humble heart (Psalm 51:17).

At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, it's impossible to just stroll in. The door is too low. If you want to enter the place that represents the birth of the Lord Jesus, there is only one way to get in: stoop, bow down, and kneel. This is a beautiful picture--and it moves us to ask: Am I prepared to humble myself before Christ? Am I willing, like those shepherds, to give up my prior assumptions and previous plans to know and follow this Redeemer? Check your heart this Christmas Day: let its posture forever be one that bows before God's glory and adores the one who first humbled Himself by coming to us as an infant King.

LUKE 2:1-20

Bible Through The Year: Micah 4-5; Luke 22:1-20