Advent, Day 23: ancestry.God

Good morning!

Today I'm going to borrow from my pastor's sermon yesterday because he preached on the genealogy of Jesus.  That sounds very boring; but, I assure you, it is not.

If you are a Christian, you probably accept these two truths of Scripture:
1.  Mary of Nazareth was Jesus' biological mother.
2.  Joseph of Nazareth was Jesus' adoptive father, the Holy Spirit being Jesus' true progenitor.

When examining genealogy, however, Joseph's role is very important.

One of the qualifications of being Messiah was that the man claiming this title had to have been a descendant of King David, to whom the Davidic Covenant God made.  Look at 2 Samuel 7:16 - - -

"Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever."

Wow, what a promise!  As usual, however, God didn't fulfill this promise in the way that David (or other descendants in the hundreds of years between then and the time of Jesus' birth) expected.

In Sunday School yesterday a friend wondered if all the Jewish girls thought that they might be the mother of the Messiah.  I commented that only those who were of the tribe of Judah (David's tribe), because the promise was made specifically to David's ancestral line.

Joseph was a descendant of David, through his son, Solomon.  (Solomon is mentioned in the verses just prior to 2 Sam. 7:16, as being the son through which God would build the first Jewish temple.) How do we know that Joseph was descended from Solomon?

One of the things about which the Jews were fastidious was genealogy.  They kept genealogical records back centuries.  This continued through Jesus' day.  It came to an abrupt bump-in-the-road, however, when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 A.D.  The temple had been the grand repository of all Jewish genealogical records, ever since its reconstruction in Nehemiah's day (around 500 B.C., I think....)  But, even before that, the preservation of records (including Torah and other prophetic writings, genealogies, etc.) was very, very important to the Jews.

This is why Matthew and Luke were able to record the genealogical record of Jesus in their gospels...because of this fanatical record-keeping.  Praise the Lord!

Let's look first at Matthew, who recorded the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph.  "So what?", you ask.  Joseph was not Jesus' "baby daddy", as the common vernacular goes.  That is true, biologically. But, Joseph adopted Jesus as a baby, which gave Him all the legal rights of a blood-born son and more.  My pastor pointed out that adoption was highly esteemed by the Jews.  Through Joseph's ancestral line, Jesus could make a legal claim to Messiah.

Joseph was a descendant of King Solomon, as you might expect.  In fact, before hearing yesterday's sermon, I thought that both he and Mary were descendants of Solomon.  That is incorrect.  Matthew was a Jew, writing to Jews to convince them that Jesus is Messiah.  So, he began his gospel by laying out the legal genealogy through Joseph.

After King Solomon came a long procession of kings of Israel.  Not too long after Solomon the people split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north (10 tribes) and Judah in the south (2 tribes - - Judah and Benjamin).  The last Hebrew king in the line-up was Jeconiah, also called Coniah (as a nickname, I guess).  At any rate, he was quite a loser.  During his reign, the Jews were vassals of the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar.  However, Jeconiah was stinking it up so bad that Nebuchadnezzar decided to take the whole lot of Judah (most of them anyway) into captivity in Babylon.  Jeconiah came to a "bad end".  His eyes were gouged out, after which he was hauled off in chains and disgrace to Babylon.

You see, a curse had been pronounced upon Solomon's kingly line, due to the many Solomonic kings who had done evil in the eyes of the LORD.  This is recorded in Jeremiah 22:24-30 - -

24 “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin(G) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring(H) on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will deliver(I)you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. 26 I will hurl(J) you and the mother(K) who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return(L) to.”

28 

Is this man Jehoiachin(M) a despised, broken pot,(N)

    an object no one wants?

Why will he and his children be hurled(O) out,

    cast into a land(P) they do not know?

29 

O land,(Q) land, land,

    hear the word of the Lord!

30 

This is what the Lord says:

“Record this man as if childless,(R)

    a man who will not prosper(S) in his lifetime,

for none of his offspring(T) will prosper,

    none will sit on the throne(U) of David

    or rule anymore in Judah.”

You may be wondering where the name Jeconiah figures into this passage.  It becomes confusing because kings would often adopt a different name when they assumed the throne.   Jehoiachin and Jeconiah are the same person, son of Jehoiachim, whose name before assuming the throne had been Eliakim.  The point is that Coniah's imprisonment and dethroning ended the line of Hebrew kings temporarily...until the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came on the scene, born in a manger.

Now, let's look at Luke's recording of Mary's genealogy, in Luke 3.  Luke was not a Jew.  He was a Gentile, writing to persuade Gentiles of the deity of Jesus.  Therefore, he concentrated on the blood that flowed through Jesus' veins, through His mother, Mary.  Jeconiah was the end of the Solomonic kingly line, but not the Davidic kingly line.  Jesus, through Mary, carried the royal bloodline of King David, through his son, Nathan.  We don't know a lot about Nathan, except that he was the older brother of Solomon and that he was the son of Bathsheba.

13Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14Now these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,...

2 Samuel 5:13-14

and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

1 Chronicles 3:5

Now, we've got to get a bit technical here.  There seems to be a contradiction between the genealogies of Luke 3 and Matthew 1.  Both appear to be genealogies of Joseph.  Not true.  The genealogy in Matthew 1 clearly says that Joseph (Jesus' adoptive father) was the son of Jacob.  In Luke 3 the translation of "son of" in verse 23 is ambiguous, and can be interpreted to mean either "son" or "son-in-law".  In fact, the word "son" does not even appear in the original Greek text.  Heli was Mary's father.

So, will there be any other kings of Judah, to sit upon David's throne?  None other than that baby, born in a manger, whose birth we look forward to celebrating this week:  King Jesus.  When you think back to my earlier historical statement - - - that the genealogical records of the Jews were utterly destroyed when the 2nd temple was destroyed in 70 A.D - - - No other Jew making a messianic claim would be able to document his Davidic ancestry.  But, even disregarding that inescapable fact, the Bible is clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to David.  When He returns to earth, in God's perfect timing, He will set up His earthly reign, not only over the Jews, but over all mankind.

Hallelujah!

Good morning, Lord!  I rejoice in Your marvelous ways.  Thank you for teaching us through Your holy Word.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 22: Love Condescending

Good morning!

This is the week in which Christmas Day falls!
Today, in many churches across the world, the 4th candle of Advent will be lit.  On my Advent wreath, it is the rose candle.  Many refer to this candle as the Angel Candle or the Candle of Love.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that through Him all the world should be saved."  

John 3:16-17

This morning we are going to consider one of the most well-known Messianic Old Testament prophecies, Isaiah 7:13-14, which was given 500 years before the birth of Jesus.

 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!  Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

The prophet Isaiah utters this prophecy during a conversation with Judah's king, Ahaz, who was not one of the great ones.  Ahaz refused to honor God.  He was a pious hypocrite who tried God's patience and led his people to do the same.  The prophecy which Isaiah made gave great comfort to the House of David, the tribe of Judah, who knew they had been promised that Messiah would come from among them.  At the time of the prophecy, there were fierce kings waiting in the wings to topple Ahaz and destroy Judah.  But, God let them know He was not through with them yet, and would never be.  Messiah would come, and He would be born of a virgin.

So, this was not just a sign; it was a miraculous sign!  There were no modern fertility clinics in those days.  Women became pregnant "the old-fashioned way".  Certainly, there was no way devised by man that a woman could become pregnant and give birth while maintaining her virginity.  Yet, Messiah would be born through divine power and in divine purity.

And His name?  Immanuel.  God named that baby boy right there in this prophecy.  "God with us".

My niece is pregnant and has talked of perhaps naming the baby after his daddy, giving him one of his daddy's names.  My husband and I gave each of our sons one of his daddy's names, in addition to our last name.  It is a pretty common practice.

Here God the Father's name is in the Son's, the Messiah's name.  He is named "after His Father", Yahweh, God the Father.
His name signifies the miracle of God Himself, whose dwelling place is in the brightest of lights, clothing Himself in flesh, setting aside His majesty to inhabit a body, in order to dwell among us. The way that the commentator Matthew Henry describes Immanuel like this:  "introduced on a glorious errand, wrapped up in His glorious name!"  The beauty of His condescending to us!

I can't read this verse without thinking of the beautiful music which G.F. Handel wrote, to pair with this text.  The very brief recitative from Part One of "The Messiah" is sung by a contralto, and then, the whole chorus breaks out into the famous chorus from Isaiah 9:6 - - "For Unto Us a Child is Born!"  I'm so excited to go sing "The Messiah: Part One" with a friend this afternoon!

Mary was told to name her baby, "Jesus", which means "Savior".  In the Hebrew it is Yeshua, which is similar to the name, Joshua.  See Luke 1:30-33, where we see the Isaiah 7:10-13 prophecy fulfilled.

30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

That may sound confusing....why didn't she name Him "Immanuel"?
There are many descriptive names applied to Jesus in both Old and New Testament Scriptures. Consider that He could not be called Savior unless His name was also Immanuel.  He could not be our Savior unless He was also God in human form - - - God With Us.

The angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus would be given the throne of His father, David, that Jesus would reign over the house of Jacob forever and that of His kingdom there would be no end.  The physical rule and reign of Jesus Christ is yet to come, which is why Christians all over the world pray "Maranatha!".  This is a Greek word which means, "Come, Lord Jesus!"  It was the rallying prayer of the early Church, which endured horrendous persecution, much like many Christians in many parts of our world today.

He will return, though we know not when.  However, He has already come to us and dwelled with us, and established His never-ending kingdom in the hearts of His people.

Holy Father, I look forward to the second coming to earth of Your Son.  But, I rejoice in the truth that You have given me everything that I need right here, right now, because He lives in my heart.  You have allowed me to inherit His eternal kingdom, as Your child; and, Your Spirit is ever with me.  God with us.  God in me.  Thank you from the depths of my soul, for condescending to us - - - for not only coming to dwell among us, but for limiting Yourself by human body, so that you could be one of us. What a marvelous mystery!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 21: Waiting and Walking, Without Fear

Good morning!

Tomorrow begins the fourth week of Advent, although we will not complete an entire week before Christmas Day, which is 5 days from today.

The text for this morning features the praise words from Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, Luke 1:67-80.

Remember Zachariah had been struck wordless/mute by the Holy Spirit when, after receiving the angel's message in the Holy of Holies, he expressed doubt.  Now, his son John has been born and, at the naming ceremony, Zachariah indicates that the baby's name will be John (as opposed to the first born son being named after the father).  Immediately, his tongue was set free, and his first words were this public praise prayer to God.

67 And his father Zechariah (A)was filled with the Holy Spirit and (B)prophesied, saying,

68 

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for he has visited and redeemed his people

69 

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David,

70 

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71 

that we should be saved from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us;

72 

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

    and to remember his holy covenant,

73 

the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

74 

    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

75 

    ()in holiness and righteousness before him (S)all our days.

76 

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    in the forgiveness of their sins,

78 

because of the tender mercy of our God,

    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

79 

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 

to guide our feet into the way of peace."

80 (AF)And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was (AG)in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Zachariah focuses on God's faithfulness and His mercy in this psalm of praise.  He testifies to those listening that in sending Messiah God has remembered His agreement with Abraham, the patriarch who gave us all a wonderful example of how to walk with God in faith, as well as His promise to David's descendants, that Messiah would come from among them.

But, the best part of this Holy Spirit-inspired song occurs in verses 74 and 75.  It's the "why" of all this:  WHY is God doing this?  WHY is He keeping His promises?  Zachariah testifies of three reasons:

1.  So that we can saved from our enemies
Who is the number one enemy to whom this reference is made?  Satan, mankind's "public enemy number one".  Satan caused mankind to be subject to physical death, through his temptation of our ancestors in Eden.  Before the coming of Christ, Satan held a power over this world that made it a very different place than this earth we have known.  Even with the evil we see around us now, things were worse before the coming of Jesus and then the Holy Spirit.  Can you imagine?!
In John 10:17-18, Jesus testified of his coming sacrifice and affirmed that He has the power to lay His life down and to pick it up again.  Then, in His vision appearance to John the apostle in Revelation 1:18, look at His words:

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and now, look!  I am alive forever and ever!  And, I hold the keys to Hell and Death."

2.  So that we can serve our Savior without fear
Fear can be so debilitating to the resplendent walk.  Fear is the opposite of faith.  The reason that Zachariah mentions this next in his psalm is because of this beautiful truth:

When the fear of death is gone, all other fears lose their power.

I don't think about my own death very much, probably because I still see myself as a relatively young person.  (Those friends of mine who are in their twenties are laughing to read this...)  But, it's true! As a human, I am middle-aged (stop laughing!).  However, as a soul, I will never die.

Like a famous chef on TV says, "BAM!"

"Oh Gena, you think you are so special!"  

No. 

YOUR soul will live forever somewhere too.  What you decide to do with Jesus's offer of eternal life with him determines where YOU will live after your life on this earth is over.  There is no need for you to fear death either, unless you have not made peace with God through His Son Jesus Christ.  If that describes you, Reader, please go and read my earliest blog posts right now.  Get your soul right with God, while there is still breath left in your body.  Because once God decides your time here is up, it is then too late to become His.  That is the most fearful of all fearful thoughts.

Where my temptation of fear intrudes is in watching when friends and loved ones decide to reject Jesus.  I know that their eternal future hangs in the balance, and that often fills me with dread.  I am constantly having to lay that burden at Jesus' feet, through intercessory prayer.

3.  So that we can walk resplendent

The way Zachariah puts it in the version above is to "serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days".  I would add to that "in love".

The apostle John declares that "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).  When we are filled with love for our Savior, there is no room for our human fears.

Zachariah goes on to speak inspired words of blessing, of consecration, over his son, John.  I've read this and Mary's song and Elizabeth's song; and, I admit to being somewhat jealous of their revelations from the Holy Spirit. Who among us wouldn't like to be told, "Your child is destined to do great and marvelous things for the kingdom of Jesus Christ!"?  You have to remember, though, that with those callings came tremendous sacrifice.  Each of these three parents (assuming Elizabeth and Zachariah lived long enough to see it) saw their sons' lives laid down in service to the One, True King. Sobering, yes?

Maybe it is best that we mothers and fathers do not have foreknowledge of what the Lord will require of our precious children.

So, here, Zachariah knows and declares that Messiah will soon arrive, to fulfill scores of Old Testament Messianic prophecies.  He knows that Light is soon to break forth over the dark and sinful earth.  While we anticipate the anniversary of Christ's birth, let's thank Him that His light has shined on us.

"No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand."

                                       from "In Christ Alone", by Natalie Grant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWw24s5gG8

Father God, You have declared that You are Light, and that in You there is no darkness at all.  Let Your Light break out into our lives this day, banishing all fear into the distance.  Fill us up with Your love because "there is no fear in love; perfect love banishes fear" (1 John 4:18).  Whatever is troubling us, causing us to doubt Your goodness, please replace it with supernatural and abiding faith, hope, love.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 20: Promises, Promises

Good pre-5:00 a.m. morning,

When I first started this blog my mother opined that I should not be writing it at 3:00 a.m.  I replied that I wasn't, but that the time stamp the blog setting applies is whacked.  However, this morning, my writing is affected by my infrequent (but currently present) insomnia.  I had wanted more time to dig into the passage introduced yesterday.  Well, I got my wish....sigh!  Maybe an afternoon nap will be in my future.  Enough of my pre-dawn ramblings.  Let's look again at the two women in Luke 1:41-48 - - - Elizabeth and Mary.

...and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

46And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

Both of them claimed to be "blessed by God".  What does that mean, in their contexts, and in ours?

"Blessed", bless, "bless it", "bless you" - - - even that old Southern staple "Bless her heart!"  These are, for the most part so overused they have moved into the realm of meaninglessness.  In fact, the New York Times wrote an article last May, proclaiming that the hashtag #blessed had gone viral on social media!

When Luke interviewed Elizabeth for his gospel, she reported to him that she had called Mary "blessed" (vs. 42).  This particular form of the Greek word used for "blessed" here is "eulogemene", which means "to be well-spoken of by another".  The dictionary defines "blessed" as "divinely favored" or "consecrated".  "Consecrated" means "designated for a holy purpose".

So, Elizabeth and Mary were both proclaiming that God had favored them by fulfilling His holy purposes through them.  They were both ordinary women of the day who loved God.  They were not rich or prominent.  They were typical, godly Jewish women - - - one in middle age or later, and the other in her early teens.

Do you realize that, if you are a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you too are blessed?

"But I don't feel blessed", you say.

Sometimes, our feelings or our circumstances can lead us into unbelief, error...a pit.  Let's look at the truth, presented in Scripture.

• We are blessed with salvation through Jesus Christ.
• We are blessed with the indwelling in our hearts of the Holy Spirit.
• We are blessed with purpose, God's calling to each of us, according to the unique spiritual gifts and talents He has given us. "Consecration"
• We are blessed with everything we need.  (I didn't say "want"; God is not Santa Claus.)
• We are blessed with the many promises of God.  

Elizabeth made the following statement to Mary:
"Blessed is she who has believed the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." (vs. 45)

Listen to this powerful truth:  the promises of God transcend current circumstances and feelings.
Faith.  Belief.  Trust.  Rest.  Do you struggle with believing the promises of God?  Do you really believe that He is good....all the time?  Do you believe that He is at work behind the scenes, even when you can't see it?

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

Oh Blessed One!  Oh Child, consecrated, "called according to His purpose"!
Maybe, like me, you need to remind yourself of God's precious promises to you.  Here is a link that may bring you comfort today.  Go here and read about just a few of His many precious promises to His children.

http://www.intouch.org/you/article-archive/content/topic/god_s_precious_promises_article#.VJQIH8AAJA

Let's agree together this morning, this day, that our God is greater than all our blind stumbling around in the dark, our frantic groping for peace in the midst of severe pain.  Let's affirm that He will be faithful - - - that He who called you out of the pit of sin and eternal damnation LOVES YOU and WILL keep His promises to you.  Let's hold on with everything we've got to the beautiful truth - - - that He does not change.  His word is eternal.

Darlin's - - - we don't have to "feel it" to believe it!

Ah Lord God!  I declare that You are the Most High, the God of Angel Armies, and that what you promise, you will do.  Just as you fulfilled Your promise of a Messiah, prophesied in Genesis, through Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah and elsewhere, you will fulfill your promises to Your children. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I will praise You! (Psalm 63:3)  In Jesus' name, that Name which is above every name, that Name at which every knee will eventually bow, amen.

Advent: Day 19 - - And the Answer Is.....

Good morning!

This morning's text is Luke 1:39-56.

39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

46And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

50His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

53He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

54He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

55to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

56Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

It is tempting to read these passages and wonder why God chose these women for these roles.  The Almighty's ways are past our understanding.  Truly, wondering such things is to some extent a distraction; Luke does not reveal all.  We can look at these women and draw some conclusions, being careful not to read into the text things that are not there.  We will do that in more depth in tomorrow's post.  But, here is the take-away for today.

God chose these women to fulfill His purposes because He knows all and because He created them for these.  But don't miss this:  He was able to work through them because in both cases their responses were submission and worship. Each of them could have responded to her calling so differently!

Do you feel special?  In God's eyes, you are!
"Oh, you don't know....I am the worst of sinners", you say.
And, I say to you:
God created you with all of your gifts and your struggles to glorify Him.  The question is: will you?
We admire Elizabeth and Mary and marvel at the roles that they were given, but don't you understand that they could have refused to give God glory in their situations?

I read a quote on FB (Facebook) yesterday that was sobering....and true.  Here it is:
"You cannot save everyone.  Some people are going to destroy themselves no matter how much you try to help them."  Bryant McGill
There's a whole blog post in that quote, but I mention it here to emphasize that God has given each of us free will.

So, let's focus on our own callings today and ponder not only the callings of Elizabeth and Mary, but their responses.   Their answers were "yes".

What is God calling you to today?  Is He asking you to do something difficult, out of your comfort zone, something that requires..... faith?  Glory be!  Is He asking you to "walk by faith", to trust Him when you cannot "see"?  Imagine that.... ;)

What will be your answer?

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are."  

1 John 3:1

Oh my precious Lord....sometimes I find it hard to breathe.  Sometimes, your calling seems "too much", and I have to just force myself to "breathe out, breathe in".  At those times, I'm reminded to take great big gulps of You, to ask Your Holy Spirit to fill me "to the uttermost".  Help every single one of us no matter what our circumstances to "breathe" You in today, and to embrace the love You have for us today by responding as Elizabeth and Mary did . . . by magnifying You, giving You the glory.... saying, "YES!"  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 18: Linear Faith?

Good morning!

Most of us like to be linear people when it comes to progress, right?  We desire that things move along smoothly in a straight line, to a beautiful conclusion.  No setbacks, no problems, no aggravation.

Life, however, even the Christian life, especially the Christian life, is not that way.  God knew it would not be.  And, that's okay.

How can we have peace with this ongoing turmoil?  Why does God allow this?  As one of the newer Christmas songs puts it:  what a strange way to save the world!  Indeed.  It all seems backwards at times.

The resplendent walk is not a linear walk, because ours is not a linear faith.

The Bible calls Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith".  So, let's look at His example (Hebrews 12:1b-3) - - -

"Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Source and Perfecter of our faith,

Who for the JOY that lay before Him endured the cross,

And despised the shame

And has sat down at the right hand of God's throne.

Consider Him, who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself,

So that you won't grow weary and lose heart."

God Himself, pours Himself into a human body, with all it's problems and restrictions, to make the way of redemption for us.  How backward is THAT?  John Piper calls this "God's Most Successful Setback".  In the same manner, our problems and trials are "divinely appointed setbacks" (Piper), which will always look and feel like failure.

The world looks at us and draws all kinds of erroneous conclusions.  Here are some of them:
1.  "Those people are too good, and I can't be one of them.  I just don't have it in me."
2.  "Those people claim to be so good, but look at what one of them did!  Such a spectacular fall!  What's that all about? I want no part of that."
3.  "Those people are crazy to govern their lives by a mere book.  They have a distorted view of reality."
And, their reactions range from hostility to indifference to ridicule.

No wonder!  This path, this "race" as Paul put it doesn't seem to make sense.  It is more like a meandering pig trail through the woods, really.  Sometimes we get disoriented and wander off. Sometimes, we step into a mole hole and twist our ankle.  Sometimes a branch flies into our face and pokes us in the eye. Sometimes it is uphill.  Sometimes it is gloriously downhill.

Why did God do things this way, engineer our redemption in such a strange fashion?
He did it so that He would get the glory, and the worship and the praise, and not us.

There are two diametrically opposing principles in Scripture and in life.  They are rebellion/pride versus submission/worship.  If you will recall, the former was the original sin of Satan's, and Eve's and Adam's....and ours.  When our race, our path becomes too linear, what is our fleshly reaction? We tend to exalt ourselves and take on the glory that does not belong to us.  We tend to stop walking by faith and instead trusting in our own power.  This serves to move us away from God, to estrange us from Him, because it is sin.  It is the bedrock of our sin nature, which is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, but which is ever with us as long as we live in these mortal bodies.

Glory and worship and praise are His, and only His.   As a result, He allows the natural consequences of our sin nature to train us for future glory  (Hebrews 11:12).  The reaction He desires from us in all circumstances is the submission of our will to His, our worship.

If you have ever learned to ride a bike you may have a memory similar to this.  You fell a few times, and your mama or daddy encouraged you to try again.  Then, they ran a distance across the yard and said, "Keep your eyes on me.  Don't look down.  Keep your eyes on me and pedal toward me."  And, you did.  By focusing on your loving parent, you successfully pedaled your way toward him or her. Do you remember that joy?!

This is what Hebrews 12:2 is urging us to do, to keep our eyes on Jesus, when our progress is linear and when it is not.  Jesus kept His eyes on His Father and on "the joy that lay before Him"!

Let's follow His beautiful example as we walk....resplendent!

Dear Father God, my prayer is that when people look at me that they say, "What a wonderful Savior she serves!"  So often, my sin nature wars tremendously against your Holy Spirit, who lives in me. More times than I would like, I wander off the path of righteousness.  I am so grateful for your forgiveness and restoration.  Thank you for going after and rescuing me, over and over again, for being both the Author and the Completer of my faith.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 17: Preps 2

Good morning,

Yesterday, I was driving to the grocery store when a friend called.  She is the mother of one of my son's friends.  She needed a sympathetic ear.

We commiserated about the foibles and antics of our sons for a bit.  One of the things she said to me was that she felt like a failure as a mother.  So, I (hopefully) encouraged us both, talking about "perspective".

For a woman, to feel a sense of failure at a job is one thing, as a wife another, but....as a mother...that is (to me at least) the hardest "failure" to get through.  Christian mothers see their number one "ministry" as their families, especially their children.

In yesterday's blog post, the theme was "getting ready for God".  John the Baptist had this as his primary mission, to "get the people ready for God's new thing".

To recap from yesterday, during Advent we need to get our hearts ready for Jesus' birth .  But, just like my friend yesterday, and I am also susceptible to this, we can sometimes let our "failures" or perceived failures steal our Christmas blessing.

The reality is that, whether you are a Christian or not, if you have lived long enough, you have experienced failure in some form or other.  Some people react to that by rejecting God and "giving up".  Their attitude is:  "I can't be good enough for God or for those Christian people; so, I'm just not going to try."

Then, there is a pernicious lie out there.  It says that if you live the Christian life "the right way", you will have no problems, no adversity, no disappointments, no failures....
This lie has been around since even before Jesus' day.  It was a hallmark of the Pharisees' belief system.  It is anti-God, and it cripples many Christians.

God has made it plain that He uses our adverse circumstances to purify us, refine us, mold us more into the image of His Son.  So, sometimes, what we perceive as "failures" aren't really failures at all. That does not make them any less potentially paralyzing or painful, however.

"For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison."

2 Corinthians 4:17

If you are wrestling with your own failures today, real or perceived, here is God's antidote so that you can prepare your heart for Christmas:
1.  Confess and repent.  If you have truly sinned, there is no other way to become restored in your relationship with your Lord.  He will use your failures for His glory, if you will give them to Him.
2.  Perspective - - - Recognize that God is in control of your past, present and future realities.  Like my friend, I sometimes am in total despair over my circumstances ... and the self-beatings begin. This snare of Satan's is not God-honoring, because it usually leads to my becoming less effective for my Savior.

"Let every heart prepare Him room"...

Do you understand what that command means?  It means to exert your own will to move yourself off of the throne of your life and make room, so that King Jesus can reign in your heart!  And, not only during Advent, but especially during Advent.

If you are wondering where the scripture reference is for that phrase above, there isn't one.  It is not a Bible quote, but is instead from the Christmas hymn "Joy to the World".  It is impossible to have joy, though, unless we make room for Jesus Christ and His lordship over our lives.

We read in Luke 2:1-7 that there was no room for Mary, Joseph and the soon-to-be-delivered Baby Jesus in the local inns of Bethlehem.  Perhaps Isaac Watts, who wrote "Joy to the World", was meditating on that when he wrote that famous Christmas hymn.  Or perhaps he was thinking of Psalm 98:1-4.

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

3.  Praise Him!  Ugh...in the midst of sorrow, failure, pain?  So hard....so necessary!

OH yes!  Joy to the world....the Lord is come!  Another verse from that Christmas hymn says, "No more let sin and sorrow reign..."

If you are "sorrowing" today, give your sorrow to God as you submit to His greater plan.  His ways are beyond our understandings, but always, always, we can trust in His infinite love for us!  So, let's praise Him!

Dear Lord, help us.  Let Your Holy Spirit flame up within us, filling us up.  Send your light to our darkest corners and burn out from there all of our sorrow, and regret and doubt and fear.  Let your glorious light sweep our hearts clean and fill them with your everlasting joy and peace today.  As we prepare You room, prepare our hearts for Christmas.  With love and praise, in Jesus' name, amen.