Advent, christian living, faith walk, forgotten, God first, life experience, perseverance, Prayer, relationships, spirituality
I remember when my husband and I first moved to Portland, Oregon: Lush evergreens flanked our drive; the Cascade mountains, covered in snow, surprised us at every gap in the forest and two large rivers made its bridge city nick name obvious. I remember asking him if he thought our new views would ever feel commonplace – familiar.
Author, Paul David Tripp challenged me with these words: “When we become familiar with things, we begin to take them for granted… we quit examining them… we quit noticing them. We tend to not celebrate them as we once did. Familiarity tends to rob us of our wonder.”
As a believer in Jesus Christ, his gift of salvation through faith alone, I never want to lose the awe and wonder of what these words mean:
- My faith means I trust even when I can’t see.
- Believing goes beyond physical senses and includes a spiritual connection to truth.
- The word salvation implies a need to be saved from something to something better.
I talk and write about it, but do I stop in my tracks at the wonder of it all? Do I examine and ask: “Has the reason for the Christmas season become such a familiar tradition that I no longer celebrate with awe and wonder, the Shepherd of Truth that walked among humanity, teaching, loving, giving, and calling us to follow Him?”
So how does one ignite the wonder in their heart, mind and soul? They focus on the One who placed the stars in their heavenly orbit and the seabirds along the shore. The One who calms the storm with a word, speaks from burning bushes and parts deep waters for dry land passage. The One whose love caused Him to send His only Son from heaven to earth for us.
Lord, our Savior, help me slow down and gaze at your holiness. To stand in awe of your mercy and grace. To tell others the peace you freely give. Remind me to celebrate the hope I’ve found in knowing you. May I be ever thankful for your perfect gift of love this Christmas.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17 ESV
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9
Light the 4th Advent candle.
Sing: Joy to the World
Ask: How do I ignite the wonder of this Child born to save us?
Advent, christian living, faith walk, God first, perseverance, Prayer, relationships, spirituality
STABLE – Christ is Our Home
The stable wasn’t their home. How helpless Joseph must have felt as his young wife, Mary, labored in the straw with cattle nearby. I’m sure Mary longed for familiar sights and comforting smells as she brought God incarnate, the prophesied King of Kings, into His earthly season (John 1:14). Whatever the ideal scenario in the minds of Joseph and Mary, stable birth was their reality. Forced to travel in response to the census count, they were far from home and less than comfortable.
It’s so easy for me to get caught up in creating a physical “comforts of home” experience in this life. If I’m not mindful, I focus on what I can cling to rather than who in this less than ideal and sometimes exhausting world that is not our home.
Do you also long for the “comfort of home” feeling?
If your circumstances have you overwhelmed and wondering if or when it gets better, remember that Christ meets us in the here and now. But He is also preparing for us the “not yet,” our eternal home. This life is temporary. The homes we build here will one day vanish. Our hope is not in this life, but with Christ, our Creator, for eternity. This advent season lets focus on the eternal more than we focus on the temporal.
The stable was not Joseph, Mary, or Jesus’ home, but God met them there. This world is not our home, either. Stable or palace, it all stays behind. My prayer for us is that we know better Immanuel God with us, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Read about Him in the Bible. From the stable to the cross – He prepared the way for a restored relationship with God through the forgiveness of sins. Now, Christ also prepares our eternal home, which gives us eternal hope.
It is in our nature to long for home, but it is not a comfortable home on this earth our hearts truly yearn for. It is the home we find in the presence of Jesus, whose name is above every other name. When we see the stable–we think of our eternal hope: being forever home with Christ.
Are you clinging to this ultimate hope of Christmas?
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body; we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. ESV
Sing “What Child is This?” Read Luke 2:1-32
Ask–What does this song tell me about my eternal home?
Sing “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” Matthew 12:17-21, Titus 2:11
Ask–What does this song tell me about my eternal hope?
+ Click on song titles and scriptures for added resource links
christian living, faith walk, God first, Prayer, spirituality
I fall into the category of people who find it hard to ask for help, advice, input or feedback. My short list: pride, shame, fear or rejection for lack of perfection. I get so focused on what I can to do to “fix” my current situation that I loose sight of the One who calls me to relationship with Himself. He calls me to come. To worship. To rest. To know Him better. Matthew 7: 7 – 8 says that when I ask, seek, and knock, there will be a response from my good Father in Heaven. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” The God of the universe, Creator of all things, including you and I, knows how needy we are. He knows our shortcomings. Which is why he made it plain as day- we will need to ask. He’s promising He’ll be there to hear and answer. Ask away dear one. Ask. Seek Him in His Word. Don’t hesitate to knock – His, is an open door policy. No shame, no guilt, no lack of perfection will turn his eyes from you. No matter what. Jesus paid it all. He has you covered!
christian living, faith walk, God first, impatience, resilience
Like a beaver out to win a logging competition, I attacked my shrubs with a vengeance. My tool of choice, a Hedge trimmer. The two-foot bar of steel teeth whirring back and forth, open cut, open cut; devouring anything caught between the sharp blades, making quick work of the pruning task. I told myself all the branches hanging over the driveway had to go. Although I encourage the natural growth pattern of plants and allow them to find their own shape, even this felt out of control. I pointed the Hedge trimmer to line up with the planter’s edge and turned the power on. It was a drastic move that gave a severe outcome. With a blur of blades, task complete, and the shrub no longer hung over the driveway. Perhaps I enjoy power tools a little too much.
Choices and consequences. A moment of haste, and well….
The now exposed undergrowth was dull and leafless. I wasn’t really going for the midwinter brown, bare-branched look. The indiscriminate Hedge trimmer removed all the greenery. In my haste to get caught up on yard work, my efforts looked choppy and extreme.
Quick, yes, but….
All the things I know to be true about caring for and tending to plants flash across my mind as I stare at the result of my impatient choice. There is a way to prune a shrub that doesn’t leave such scars on the exterior but-it takes more time.
What I know and what I do, don’t always align…
I’ve seen the skillful touch of a master gardener finding individual branches and clipping below the surface, leaving healthy plant life on the exterior. In my humanity and haste, I get frustrated and impatient. Instead of following the lessons of the master gardener, who gently prunes with a snip here and a snip there, I want radical change yesterday, so I end up creating a naked bush, begging for a do-over or at least a different gardener.
For tools, any tool will do, right?
So maybe the Hedge trimmer wasn’t the right tool for this job. The raw evidence of a job done in haste revealed my impatience. I assure myself that the plant will sprout new leaves and cover my rash decision, but hindsight reminds me, I could have chosen a different tool.
Bigger isn’t always better…
My garage is full of tools of varying sizes and purposes. Shovels, rakes, power trimmers, leaf blowers, edgers, loppers and pole saws. My favorite, the hand pruner is small, maybe 7 inches total. It has a sharp curved blade that cuts clean through small branches.
Precision is priceless…
I also know the Master Gardener for being precise. His aim is sure. He doesn’t lay bare everything in my life all at once. In His mercy and grace, He tends to my soul with finesse. He does not use a hedge trimmer on my wayward growth patterns. He carefully, thoughtfully because he knows, and loves me – reaches into the shrub that is my life and snips a little here and trims a little there. Taking his time to nurture and encourage new growth patterns in me.
Patience is a virtue, but I’m in too much of a hurry…
I need to learn it anew, Lord. Slow my pace. Teach me to believe your methods are for my good and your glory. Challenge me to trust your wisdom and the tools of your choosing.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
John 15:1-2 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
faith walk, God first, Prayer, relationships, Ressurrection, spirituality
It was early–the sun wasn’t up. But I was ready. Styled like a first century woman, I wore a long pull over dress tied with a fabric sash, sandals and a long head covering. The retreat location, off the coast of California, resembled the Mediterranean hills surrounding Jerusalem. My character was mourning the loss of the most influential person she had ever known. He saw right through her, knew her story, healed her with redemption and love. This Mary I portrayed heard him teach with wisdom, heal with words, and feed multitudes from a boy’s lunch. She served and supported his travel and teaching. Listening and learning, all while serving and seeing. He spoke of repentance and a kingdom to come–The kingdom of Messiah spoken of by the prophets. This is who she knew him to be.
Like all Jews, Mary celebrated Passover. Individually and collectively, remembering how the blood of the lamb, brushed on the doorposts of their homes, had spared them from the angel of death before their ancestors fled Egypt. This teacher/Jesus she followed was honored with shouts of Hosanna as He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds shouted: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the highest.” Longing to be freed from Roman oppression, they didn’t realize he was their sacrificial lamb. That it would be His blood that would save them once for all. They wanted a physical King in their here and now.
From shouting Hosanna; to give us Barabbas, just days later. Jesus didn’t meet their expectations.
At our island retreat, the students had learned all these details. Hearing of Jesus’ betrayal, beating and cross bearing. The trek to Golgotha. The gruesome crucifixion. Hideous Roman crosses. Thieves. Forgiveness. Pain and anguish. Nail-pierced hands. It is finished. Then Silence.
The students had gone off to bed solemnly. The next morning, the outdoor arena filled with tired high school campers wrapped in sleeping bags and jackets–awakened early and asked to make their way to the small amphitheater. No breakfast and no insight about what would happen next.
In our outdoor theatre, the other woman and I waited just out of sight. The youth leader started reading the account of Jesus’ Resurrection, sharing from the different Gospels what happened after the horror of the crucifixion. Gambling for garments. His body removed. A burial place offered. His body prepared. Sabbath requirements quickening. More weeping and sorrow. His body entombed. Expectations unfulfilled. A long night and silent Saturday.
As he read “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James went to the tomb to check on the body”, my fellow scene-mate and I ran into the arena calling out, “He is not there. He has risen.” The dust rising as we moved our feet and carried our skirts. Emotion overwhelmed me as I ran. Imagining all she had seen and experienced.
From within the crowd of huddled students, several male counselors-also cast members-stood up, responding to us with disbelief–a harsh contrast to the women’s exhilaration. However, one, portraying Peter, jumped from his place, climbed over students, running past me and out of sight, saying he had to see this revelation for himself.
At the week’s beginning, Jesus was the celebrated Messiah. Friday, they crucified him as a liar. Saturday’s despair and disbelief contrast with Sunday’s victorious discovery–A Risen Lord and Savior. Truth met even those who doubted His appearances to them.
Truth also meets us where we are and sets us free.
As I pondered the experience of the Mary I was portraying, I realized she didn’t know who was standing before her-at first. The filter of grief lifted as He called her name. “Mary.” I am Alive. Whole. Not yet ascended. His teaching and truth affirmed in an instant. She knew his voice. Hope restored. Faith bolstered. Prophecy fulfilled. What a gift His appearance and His resurrection. From death to life. Forever.
I may have portrayed Mary Magdalene, but I can identify with each of the ones who encountered Jesus: Healed. Fed. Amazed. Mother. Sibling. Pharisee. Doubter. Betrayer. Thief. Soldier. Sleepy students. Peter said let me see for myself. Like Mary, I don’t always realize who is standing before me. In my weak ways, I forget what it means to encounter the living Christ.
Lord, may every day’s resurrection celebration remind me anew all that I am because of you:
Unblemished–because of your blood sacrifice. 1 Peter 1:18-21
Sealed–I cannot be ripped from your love. Ephesians 1: 13-14
Worthy–because Your Holy Father sees me through the filter of You, Jesus Christ. Revelation 5:12-14
I wonder, have you encountered him? Have you seen Him? Do you know the truth of his resurrection, and do you believe? He came that we might experience the depth of his Grace, the powerful salvation of our souls by the protective blood of the lamb. Prophecy fulfilled. Life, breath and days in his hands forever more.
May we like Mary, run and tell others what we know to be true–He is Risen.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
faith walk, God first, perseverance, spirituality
I sat at my new desk and the first thing he said to me was, “Take out a pen and paper. I want to see that you are taking notes. This is how I want you to do the following tasks.” Intimidating? You bet. Fear of forgetting? Absolutely. I didn’t want to do it wrong in front of him or the others in the office. I wanted to impress my new boss by remembering the things I needed to do.
So how does one commit to memory the important things in life? I used to have all my friends’ and family’s phone numbers memorized. Probably because I had to write them down. Birthdays and Anniversaries. The digital age has changed that practice of remembering. Copy and paste doesn’t do much to help my memory. I spent many childhood Sunday mornings looking up verses in the Bible, as my teacher called them out. I had to have the books of the Old and New testaments memorized to accomplish the task. If I was quick, sometimes I got a prize–I could flip pages fast for chocolate! Result? Books of the Bible memorized.
“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12 ESV What a verse. I never want to forget all He has done for me.
So, how do we remember something, anything? Repetition. My almost 3-year-old granddaughter knows this very well. She learns everything right now through repetition. Oh, to learn again like a toddler. I must repeat it to remember. Say it again and again. Sing it again and again. Write it again and again. Tell someone again and again. I remember by repeating.
Are you training someone new at work? You get this. You might be the one getting trained. You get it. Moms with kids. You get this, too. Teaching and training feels never ending. Coaching someone toward a goal? They need repetition. New years headlines are full of articles telling us how to start a new habit. You guessed it – repetition.
In the Old Testament, God told the Israelites how to remember. He was the ultimate coach, teacher, mentor and parent. Deuteronomy 6:6-9,12 says, “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates… then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
These are actions of repetition – the same thing written or told many ways, talked about in many places often and over again. Just like God was telling the Israelites to repeat what He had done – sparing their lives in Egypt and parting the waters of the sea, his challenge was to remember and repeat his mights deeds.
Lord, keep me humble, so I never stop telling of your wonders and ways. May I never grow out of remembering and repeating all you are and everything you have done.
I want to remember, ponder and meditate on the things of the Lord. I’ll be writing this Psalm out and reciting it for a while. Repeat to remember.
