The Wait

I hear that during this week's lunar eclipse that the animals were very still, very silent.  They anticipate something that nature is bringing so they hush.  They sit still. They gather their young and lay securely in their nests or beds, waiting. 

I think that this is what happened on earth the night of the birth of Christ.  I imagine that some people, caught up in their own business and importance, missed the pause. They hustled and bustled through their daily activities. But those in tune with God simply knew.  Their air was heavy with anticipation of something.  The wind ceased.  Animals were quite.  Birds hushed their singing.  No wolves howled or dog barked or horses neighed.   

The earth was silent.  She was waiting. 

Suddenly, after a young girl's cries of labor pains, a baby's cry broke the silence.  Angels appeared on a hill top to shepherds.  I'm guessing that birds began to sing much earlier than normal.  Young kids danced while old goats watched.  Horses neighed and whinnied while roosters crowed in the middle of the night.  Trees danced, even without a breeze, while grass swayed.  Rivers babbled a little more joyfully. 

The wait was over.  The Savior was born.  Redemption and hope lay in a manger in Bethlehem.  Isaiah 9:6 tells us "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."

The wait is over.  Jesus has come. 

Let's tell the world. 

"Their children are a blessing"

We're making a big breakfast for the family this morning.  It's a lazy morning and a breakFEAST (as my teenagers call it) sounds like a great idea.  French toast is on the griddle, bacon is cooked, and eggs will be done soon.  Banana bread is in the oven.  Yum! 

Better than all of the delicious foods listed above is the fact that Mark and I are fortunate to be called children of God and along with that privilege comes this promise:  The godly always give generous loans to others,and their children are a blessing." Psalm 37:26

Do you know what that means?  That means that our children, all five of them (and the others that we consider children) are blessings regardless of the day, their attitude, our attitude, their address, their state of life in this very minute, our frustrations, busy schedules, whatever.

God has promised us this in His word.  They are blessings - encouragements, special favors, mercies, and benefits (www.m-w.com).  They are no accidents in our lives.  God has given them to us for reasons that He had in mind and part of that reason is blessing.  They are favors or gifts bestowed by God (www.dictionary.com). 

Take a look around you at the children placed in your life.  God has given them to you; they are blessings. Be thankful.  Enjoy them today. 

The Christmas Season

I don't like the Christmas season.  

Hear me clearly:  I don't like the Christmas season.  I love celebrating the birth of Christ.  

I think that at this time of year it's easy to get swept away in chaos and frenzy of other people's ideas about what Christmas should be.  Retailers entice us with glittering lights and deals "that can't be beat".  There are parties to attend, some of which are attended merely out of obligation.  There is a lack of time:  we get to sleep later and rise earlier.  We squeeze things in where there is really not time to do them. 

To me, this is what has become the American Christmas season.  I don't think this is what God intended. 

God announced the birth of Christ to shepherds, in the dead of night, with the presence of angels.  The announcement was grand but it was not harried.  Check it out for yourself in Luke 2:8-15 The announcement of the birth of Christ ends with the angels saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (v.15)


This season let's remember the true reason for Christmas.  Amidst the bags, bows, bells, and whistles, there is a baby who was born in a stable and placed in a manger, the Savior of the world.  He became a man and died a horrible death on the cross for me and for you to save us from our sin.  He overcame death so that we can live with Him forever. 

That is the greatest gift of all. 

My friend, Jim

On Saturday, December 18, many of us paid our respects to Mr. James Lee Bible Senior. Personally I didn't have the pleasure of knowing him for a long period of time but I did have the privilege of knowing him and I think that's great. What's even better is that I know I'll spend eternity with Jim. The duration of eternity will make this lifetime seem like the blink of an eye.

Jim Bible was very sick; stage four lung cancer had taken it's toll on his body. But guess what? There is no more pain or suffering. It gets better than simply "no more suffering". Jim is whole now. Isaiah 35:6 tells us that "the lame will leap like a deer". My friend, Jim, who often times relied on his walker for mobility, is now able to LEAP in the presence of his Savior.

I don't know if Jim liked to dance but I'm betting he has already cut a heavenly rug! Laughed with James and John (the Sons of Thunder) until his sides hurt. I believe that he has listened, awestruck, to Paul and Peter tell their stories.

After all of this, I believe that there may have been silence in heaven. The crowd stilled and Jesus looked at Jim and said, "Tell us your story, my son". And Jim spoke. Moses nodded his silent approval. Paul remembered the scar in his neck as Jim talked about his cancer. Elijah recalled not having had to taste death in this world. Peter could relate to leaving a family behind.

And after Jim finished, I'm betting Jesus said again, "Well done, good and faithful servant, well done".

I think angels applauded as the heavens broke into joyous praise for our God and our brother and friend joined them in loud voice.

You see, my friend Jim has experienced the hope of heaven. This life is but a moment, a passing through. Our home waits in heaven.

"When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be, when all get to heaven, we'll sing and shout the victory"

A-men!
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What You Do (Part Deux)

I've been thinking about yesterday's blog and I feel that an addendum is in order.

Yesterday's blog had a slant toward service and that needs to be expanded. WHAT YOU DO should be done because we love the Lord. Colossians 3:23 tells us "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."

Here are some thoughts:

• Go grocery shopping as for the Lord
• Go to work every day as for the Lord
• Drive in traffic on 285 as for the Lord
• Go Christmas shopping as for the Lord

The idea is that I do WHAT I DO because I love God more than anything else. My love for Him should be the motivation for all I do.

Pray and ask God that He will help you to make Him the motivation for all you do today.
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"Would you still do what you do if your name was not on it?

If you received not credit for doing it?

If no-one knew you were involved in it?"

I took the author's name off of the above quote because I thought it was fitting.  I assumed that it would be okay with the author of that quote if he/she gets no credit for it. 

What about you?  What about me?  Do you do what you do because you love it?  What you do might be parenting, being a good spouse, a great friend, serving the homeless, teaching a class, changing a diaper, picking up trash – the list of possibilities for what you do is endless. 

Do you love what you do so much that you would do it even if no one knew that you did it?  Jesus tells the people in repeatedly in Matthew 6 that if when they do what they do to be seen by men "that they have received all the reward they will ever get" (Matthew 6:2). 

What if you were "nameless" in your service?  For example: 

• These children were raised (with "by Joe or Susie" excluded - no one's name here)
• This class was taught
• The garbage gets picked up
• Our babies get their diapers changed

Would you still do what you do if no one would ever, ever, ever know? Think about it.  Is what you do the passion of your heart or a way that you measure your worth because others praise you for what you do? 

Today, don't do what you do "publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:1).  Do what you do because God sees it; because your Father in heaven sees everything and He will reward you (Matthew 6:4). 
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Dropping the Mom Ball

I dropped the mom ball recently.  I juggle several balls at once and am fairly successful but I let the mom ball go, hands down.  Kersplat!  I didn't actually just gently release it.  I inadvertently threw it to the ground. 

 I felt like a total bust.  It was so stupid, the releasing of the mom ball.  I was grumpy, the day had been long, and with a wicked and resounding thump, that usually light, airy orb dropped to the ground like a rock.  A boulder even.  One unthinking little (really, I mean, little) act on my behalf and disappointment was instantaneous.  Hurt and confusion were apparent in the eyes of my child.  No amount of explaining could rationalize what I had done in a moment of selfish pettiness. 

Funny how a split second can change everything. 

Thank God for repentance and forgiveness.  After a deep breath I said, "I'm sorry.  I won't do that again."  (Repentance means saying,  "I was wrong and I won't do that again".)  And my baby looked at me and said, "It's okay.  I love you."  We've moved on.  That was moment has become a drop in the bucket of our history, of our story.  That forgiveness liberated me from my selfishness. 

Again, funny how a split second can change everything.  This time for the better.  

All that from a child.  How much more does Jesus forgive us when we turn to Him in true repentance, after repeated acts of selfishness, pettiness, and sheer rebellion and say, "It's okay.  I love you." 

We've all dropped the ball on some front.  Maybe it's not the mom ball for you; maybe it's the spouse, sibling, friend, child, co-worker ball, or complete stranger ball.  Maybe it's the Jesus ball. 

Jesus paid everything for us because He loves us that dearly.  He is waiting anxiously for us to say, "I'm sorry that I haven't lived for You, Jesus." Pass the Jesus ball to someone else today.  Give them the chance to hear the Savior whisper gently to their hurting heart, "It's okay.  I love you." 

What Do you Call Me?

One of the things that Pastor Jeff said during the sermon was that Jesus doesn't call me by my sin, He calls me out of my sin. Man, oh, man!  The world call us by our sins.  "ou're the adulterer, the drunk, the thief, the liar, the (fill in the blank)".  They remember us for what we have done and don't want to know us for who we are now, in Christ.

Now here is the sticky part:  how do we label fellow Christians?  How do you label me?  How do I label you?  If I am stepping on your toes, don't feel bad.  I am dancing the jig on my own as I write this.  Do we, as Christians, remember that fellow Christians are just as forgiven as we are?  Jesus tells us to forgive others (Mark 11:25) but He also tells us that if we don't forgive others that God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15, John 20:23). 

Let me tie two things together for you, for me.  If I don't "unlabel" my fellow Christians, if I choose to remember their past (sordid or otherwise) while claiming that my own has been forgiven, why would I ever expect that the world would see forgiveness as whole, all encompassing, and total?  Why would I expect that non-Christians would believe that Jesus can forgive when I don't act like I believe it? 

Ouch.  Maybe even double ouch. 

Division in the church is a great tactical weapon of Satan and labels fuel discord among believers.  My prayer for us all that we will not only present but truly live in such a way that we show a united and forgiven front to the world.  I pray that we will allow the light of our God to shine brightly through us and pierce the dim, hopeless darkness that covers this world. 

Silly Anecdote No. 902

Today I'm going to share Silly Anecdote No. 902 from the Michelle files with you.  I have ear aches - lots of them.  My Mama tells me that I was not really sick as a child but that good health does not seem to have followed me into adulthood.  Regardless, I suffer from ear aches and I'm really sick of it. 

The goofy part of this story is the fact that I decided that if I were to put cotton in my ears to block the wind from getting in them then I can ward off future issues.  The problem is that I was in the house and, while our home may be a little chilly from time to time, it is not known for it's wind gusts. After I got past the gales of laughter coming from Mark I decided that this idea was actually okay.  I was going to prevent the ear ache from returning. 

I have no idea if this flash of brilliance is going to work but I discovered something phenomenal.  I mean fantastic.  Show stopping.  Awe inspiring.  

I couldn't hear much of anything with cotton in my ears.  

This is perhaps the most brilliant thing that has happened to me in a long time.  "Why?" you ask.  I'll share with you.  All of the little sounds that distract me from everything that goes on around me were muffled.  I couldn't hear them.  They were gone.  The sounds of the television coming from downstairs - finito.  The hum-drum noises of the dryer (or the silence when the cycle finished) were gone.  I was in my own world and I was quiet.  The lack of chaotic noises helped to quell my need to participate in the frenzy. 

The lesson that I learned is this:  sometimes maybe I need to put a little cotton in my ears in order to spend time alone with God.  I mean really alone with God.  Maybe I need to take an extra step to drown out the noises of things around me and focus on Him.  Perhaps silencing the sounds in my atmosphere will encourage me to hush to so that I can hear His still small voice. 

I think that  I may add a couple of cotton balls to my daily quiet time.  It may not prevent ear problems but I'm betting it's going to change my life. 

This Is as Close as I'd Like to Get, Thank You

In Sunday's sermon Pastor Jeff said something that got my attention.  My paraphrase is this:  for non-Christians this [world] is as close to heaven as they are ever going to get and for Christians this [world] is as close to hell as we're ever going to get. 

Does that make you stop and think?  If it doesn't then you need to stop and think about the fact that you didn't stop and think. 

This world is as close to heaven/hell as you're ever going to get

based on the decision that you have made about Jesus.  

Thank God that I know Jesus and have chosen Him as the Lord of my life.  If this world is as close to hell as I'm ever going to get, I'm just fine with that.  Most days that pass find me longing for my eternal home.  I don't want to stay here forever; this life is hard and tough and there is a gross separation between the worldly and the spiritual.  Being here leaves me in the world, away from my true home, my spiritual home, and away from my spiritual family and a perfect existence that is spent praising my Creator.  Being on planet earth leaves me with a hole, a longing for the God of all the Universe and only eternity with Him is going to fill it.  There is good news for the Christian. 

The news is bleak if you're not a Christian.  This life is as close to heaven as you'll get.  The brokenness, the hurt, the uncertainty, the pains, the mortal body - all of this is the best there is if you don't know Jesus.  Hell will be a thousand times, no, a million times, no, a bazillion times worse than this life.  And the very, very, very worst part?  Eternal separation from the love of your God - knowing that He is there and all that you had to do was invite Him in to live in your heart but you did not do it.  Living with the knowledge, that after every knee has bowed and every tongue has confessed, that the perfect Lamb died for you but you made a choice to leave Him out of your life.  That decision will haunt your forever and you won't have the chance to change it once you've landed in hell. 

The good news is that if you are reading this, there is still time to change that decision. TODAY IS THE DAY!  Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.  Weigh the costs.  Discipleship is not easy.  It's not always fun.  But it is always rewarding.  Ask Him now.  If you're not sure you're ready, ask Him to make you ready.  He will.  He loves His people and He meets us where we are, but only on this side of eternity.  Once we've crossed that divide there is no looking back. 

I am praying for you today that you will know Jesus as Lord.  If you already know Him, I'm praying that you (and I) will have a desire to tell the others around us that He is alive and living and that He he died so that you don't have to. 

As for me?  I'm doing my best to stay the straight and narrow path and am looking forward to eternity with my Jesus.  This as about as close as I'd like to get to hell, thank you.

Pride and Joy

I never really appreciated Stevie Ray Vaughn until after his tragic death in a helicopter crash in August, 1990.  He played a mean blues guitar; I'm talking wicked mean.  Not many folks could make a Fender sing like Stevie Ray, not even his brother Jimmy. 

One of my fave SRV tunes is Pride and Joy.  The last verse of this song is

Yeah I love my baby....heart and soul
Love like ours wont never grow old
Shes my sweet little thang....shes my pride and joy
Shes my sweet little baby....Im her little lover boy

Man, Stevie is proud of his girl!  The lyrics lead you to believe that she is, in return proud of him.  As much as Stevie and his girl love each other, though, they got nothin' on God and His love for us.  

You might think that I'm stretching here but did you know that God wants to be our pride and joy?  Isaiah 28:5 (NLT) tells us that after God's children have been exiled and returned to Him that

 

Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
      will himself be Israel’s glorious crown.
   He will be the pride and joy
      of the remnant of his people

 

God desires to be my pride and joy, your pride and joy?  He wants me to want Him more than I want any other person or thing in my world.  He wants to be my One desire, the One place where I place my hopes and dreams, more so in Him  than in my husband, my children, my friends, my job, or any other thing.  He wants me to take pride in Him, in being His child, in having the Creator of the Universe as my Father, and in knowing that all things come through Him and by Him.  

 

Don't be shy!  Let the whole world know that God is your pride and joy.  Let Him reign supreme in your life and watch others notice the change that is evident in your life.  Maybe you'll get to break out your blues guitar and put a little rhythm to your praise.  Something tells me that God (the ultimate creator of the Fender Stratocaster) loves a good blues guitar, too!