Hi Folks:

One week to go to Christmas!! Are you excited yet? We had our children's program today. To me it always feels a little more like Christmas once we do the program.

Some neat things God things this week. I hurt my thumb (tendonitis) about 10 days ago and didn't know if I was going to be able to play guitar today in the concert. I prayed about it, got the proper brace to rest my thumb, babied it a little, and played today without pain. Considering that last Wednesday I couldn't even pick up a piece of paper, that's cool.

On Fire will be a little sporadic over the next couple of weeks because of Christmas. However, I will send out a supplementary On Fire after this letter. It has a little bit of a case study / survey question which I hope that some of you will respond to. This question has been burning within me, and I hope it will spark good discussion. I'll send along the results.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas. May the the joy of Jesus be yours this Christmas

Troy

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Luke 2:8-10 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.*

The angel came to bring good news and announce joy to the shepherds. We are all familiar with the story, but some aspects may have escaped our notice. For instance, there is a connection between good news and the presence of God.

Verse 9 tells us the glory of the Lord shone around the angel. The glory of the Lord remained round the angel because he stepped directly from God’s presence to announce the good news of Jesus’ birth. God’s glory appeared bright in the darkness of the night and the sin of the world. The good news started at the throne of God, and was delivered to earth by the angel.

There is a pattern to this, especially in the gospel of Luke. In Luke 1:19, Gabriel responded to an unbelieving Zechariah."I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news." Gabriel was waiting on God and had been sent to deliver the good news. Once again, good news started at the throne of God.

In Luke 3:18, John the Baptist "exhorted the people and preached the good news to them." John was a godly man and stood often in the presence of God. From this experience, John had authority to encourage the people toward godliness and preach good news.

In Luke 4:18 Jesus quoted Isaiah, where we see the connection once again between good news and the presence of God (anointing, presence of the Holy Spirit). In Luke 4:43 Jesus told his followers the Father had sent him to preach good news. We see the result of Jesus’ ministry of "good news" in 7:22. Jesus remained faithful to his task of bringing good news (8:1; 20:1).

In Luke 9:6 the 12 apostles went out to preach good news after being in the presence of Jesus.

When the chief priests and teachers of the law discovered Jesus preaching good news in the temple courts again, they seized upon a key issue. By what authority did he speak? (Luke 20:1-2). Jesus wouldn’t tell them because he knew they were trying to trap him. But we know his authority came as an eyewitness to the things of the Father. He spoke about the things he saw directly. Again, good news came from standing in God’s presence.

Have I made the connection? Good news starts at the throne of God. A messenger who has stood in God’s presence carries it to a dark world. This was Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, Jesus, and the disciples.

Jesus calls us to bring good news to our world. But, how can we be the bearers of God’s good news if we do not regularly stand in his presence? Good news starts at the throne. If we want to bring good news to the world, we need first to stand in the presence of God.

Good news is not always about Jesus. Of course, the message of Jesus is good news. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life. But good news is more than the message about Jesus. It is hope and encouragement to people lost and discouraged. It is healing and wholeness to relationships and people who are broken. Good news is comfort and kindness when there is pain and sadness.

The message of good news we bring to the world starts as we experience God’s good news to us. And for that, we need to stand in God’s presence.

I wish I could say I’ve always done this. Its taken a long time for my experience to catch up to my head knowledge. Over the last couple of years I’ve experienced God’s comfort and peace in ways I knew (in my head), but hadn’t fully experienced. It makes a difference. There is a new power and conviction in my life which wasn’t there before.

Hope this helps. Be On Fire,

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. This letter published Dec 18, 2005. www.onfireletter.com