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You have a seat at the table, in the heavenlies, with Christ. We've all heard that phrase before, "a seat at the table." We're looking for a seat at the table. When it's used in an organization, it's about having a place, having a voice. Usually when we say we want a seat at the table, it's because we feel we deserve a part; we deserve to be heard, to lead. We want a seat at the table. This is not that kind of seat. This is not the kind of seat we earn.

This is more like the seat that would have been empty at Lazarus' house but now is filled because of resurrection. It's a seat like the one Mary sat in while Martha worried and labored over having things in her home just right. Mary sat at Jesus feet to just listen to his words. It's a seat where Jesus says, "Come here, slow down, be still for a bit. Just sit... here with me... I've got a seat for you at my table."

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Ephesians 2 is a tough passage of scripture. But it also contains one of the greatest transformation stories of all time. I was a nobody. I was dead, doomed and damned -- but God --.

Oh, how I love those two words, "but God." Later on you should circle those words, highlight them, underline them in your Bible. "I was dead, doomed and damned but God, is so rich in mercy. Those words are the turning point of my story and yours. They mark the point where God turned my story into His-story.

I love the "but" of God!

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I love what Paul Miller writes in his book, "A Praying Life." He writes, "If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But, if like Jesus you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired
you are, you will find the time to pray." In other words, if I know I need help, I will pray. And perhaps the best words of prayer to start with are...

God, I need help...

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How well do I know God? If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves as we start a new year...it would be, "How well do I know him?" Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) How well do I know God? Moses spoke with God like a man does with his friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than knowing Christ. I want to know Christ. Maggie Ross described the start of spiritual life as beginning to understand that the feeling of emptiness is really an indication of our hunger for God.

In other words, every need you have experienced is a reminder that what I need more than anything... is to know God. How well do I know God?

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In his book "The Prayer of Jabez" Bruce Wilkinson writes, "To bless in the Biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God's Blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We're crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to give us."

I think the problem is that somewhere along the way, we quit believing that God's blessing matters, or maybe we quit believing that God really wants to bless us. But let me tell you God's all-in on your blessing!

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In this episode, you will hear Jesus ask a question, that on first hearing, you may be tempted to think, "That's the dumbest question I've ever heard." He walks up to one broken man lying in the midst of hundreds of broken people. They're all laying around a pool because of a legend that when the pool bubbled, the first one in would be healed. Jesus walks up to this man who has laid poolside for over three decades and Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?"

But of course, it's not really a dumb question. It's the question, we probably all need to answer. Do you want to be made well and... do you trust Jesus to do it?

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In Malachi 3, I believe Malachi, or rather God through Malachi, is trying to tell us that generosity ushers in heaven on earth, that generous people are the people who unwrap heaven. So in this episode I'll dare you to take a NY's dare to be more generous than you ever thought possible. And actually it's not my dare. It's God's. "I dare you to test me." God says. "I dare you to try to outgive me. Care for the poor in your midst and in your circle. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and give you a New Year filled with heaven all year long."

Perhaps this is how we return to God and live under open-heavens!

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There is a light that shines in the darkness and in the end, Christmas wins. In the days after Christmas there there’s still darkness and we will still need light. We need the light of hope for the darkness of difficulty. Difficulty didn't take a break over the holidays. We need the light of hope. We need the light of generosity for the darkness of selfishness. Christmas scratches the itch of grace deep within us. It gives us a chance to counteract that selfish streak we hate in ourselves.

And what if, rather than being a holiday, here and then gone, Christmas was a holy day that is meant to ignite a light that burns through a year of days? What if the Christmas lights are simply a metaphor of an unseen reality that the light of heaven has now invaded our world and all the darkness of the world cannot stand against the glory of that light?

What if Christmas is a reminder of the wonder that heaven is now in our midst? What if heaven is here?