Treasure These Things

Listen here: The Angels Tell the Shepherd's about Jesus

Have you ever noticed how a baby can reduce the the toughest guy to the most gentle of man? I love this! Everyone loves a little baby! 

This irony should not surprise us especially when we discover that God chose shepherds to be the first to welcome the Lamb of God, Messiah! 

If anyone was rough and lowly in culture it was a shepherd. Yet, God chose them to see His Son and tell the people the Savior has arrived. 

If anyone could understand the importance of a first born sacrifice, it would be a shepherd. They were the ones that cared for the mother and delivered the little lamb. They had to inspect it to make sure it was without blemish and then walk it to the temple for it to be sacrificed. Shepherds got it! 

And they were amazed! They ran and told everyone.

While Mary treasured these things in her heart. Little Hinley (5 years old, Anneliese Kliewer) summed it up beautifully, "Mary locked these things in her heart." When he heard the story he understood that Mary was not going to forget the beauty of her little babe being born and the rugged shepherds coming to welcome Him. Or that they declared that a host of angels sang over them as they watched their flock that night. Because an angel told both her and Joseph about Jesus. Jesus would be the Son of God and Savior of the world. 

Have you welcomed the beautiful baby Jesus into your rugged ole' heart? 

I have! Shalom y'all!

Worry and Fear Kill

(Art by Scott Young)

"Death was walking toward a man who stopped him and asked, "What are you going to do?" 

Death said, "I'm going to kill ten thousand people." The man said, "That's horrible!" 

Death said, "That's the way it is; that is what I do!" As the day passed, the man warned everyone he could of Death's plan. 

At the end of the day, he met Death again. He said, "You said, "You were going to kill ten thousand people, and yet one hundred thousand people died." 

Death explained, "I only killed ten thousand. 

Worry and fear killed the others." (Source unknown, but found in Holman New Testament Commentary). 

Worry seems to be in a lot of my conversations and if I am honest my mind spends way too much time worrying, too. 

Been thinking on this alot because Grant has quoted at least three times, well maybe more, a line from Fantastic Creatures. "Don't worry because this means you live it twice." 

Everytime, he says it, I think some die a thousand times over. I know! It is easier said than done. I know this is why we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Mind renewal isn't just taking a positive thinking stance. It is the willful obedience to release the circumstances to the LORD and trust Him with the outcome. Sometimes, this must done a thousand times over before we just realize, "Hey, I did not think on that today!" 

Where are you reliving something two, three times or more?  

Beloved, release it to the LORD JESUS and enjoy the peace which surpasses all understanding to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. No point in giving Death more than he is accountable for!

Knowing the Names of God Builds Enable Obedience and Obedience Builds Hope

Listen here: An Angel Tells Joseph the Baby is Jesus

How do you respond when someone says, "Obey or Obedience!"  Does it cause you to want to fight or listen?  What if I told you that often obedience builds hope? 

In today's advent story, we will discover that Joseph's obedience gave him hope to do the right thing. 

This week as I reflected on the Christmas stories to teach them I wrote out every name given to Jesus through the Christmas stories. Here are some I noted.  They are from the three angel visits to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherd's stories.

Jesus

Son of the Most High

King David's descendant 

King of Israel

Holy

Son of God

The LORD Saves

Emmanuel

God with us

Messiah

Savior

The Lord

Knowing the names of God help us to understand His character and that builds hope. It also helps us to obey when things just don't make sense or seem hard. 

I love how God made sure Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds were given the character traits and names that would help them walk in obedience to fulfill His will in their lives. Our lives are changed because of it.

Where do you struggle with obedience? What character trait of God do you call upon to help you walk in obedience?  How did it give you hope? 

Blessings come when we obey! Joseph got to become the earthly father of the heavenly king because of his obedience and we now live in hope because of his gift.

Father, please use this story to build hope today. Here is to knowing the character of God and walking in obedience. Thank you for hope! 

Shalom y'all!

Christmas: Being Seen Gives Hope

Listen to the story: Mary Visits Elizabeth

Do you ever feel unseen? There is something powerful that happens in us when we are seen. Hope rises. I love that God gave Mary the truth that her cousin was pregnant so that Mary would go see her. This would be someone she could tell what is happening inside her that might understand.

Upon arriving, Elizabeth's baby leapt in her womb because he knew who was in Mary's womb. Talk about miraculous sight! That moment confirmed what Mary had seen and heard from the angel. It gave her hope.

When I feel unseen or unheard I feel despair? Do you? We are created to know and be known.  

The moment Elizabeth saw Mary she was very specific in her words, "You are blessed among women..." As I reflect on how Elizabeth made Mary feel seen, I realize that she was very specific about what was important to Mary in the moment. This may not be what this story intentionally teaches, but this is the power of story unfolding. I see a leader, an aunt, speaking hope to someone in need of hope. She was quick in letting Mary hear her words of encouragement. I see this and I think I can do that! 

How can I speak to someone in such a way that they know they are seen? 

When the Spirit of God is at work in us, He will give us the miraculous in the moment, too. It may not be as dramatic as John the Baptist type moment leaping in the womb, but it will come in giving us insight in what to say.

Father, show us how to help others be seen and find hope!

Christmas: Uninvited Guests

Listen to the story: The Angel Tells Mary she will have a Son

I love preparing for guests to come over. As I bustle about my house, I consider their needs and how I can care for them. My heart overflows with goodness and I cannot wait for them to enjoy our time together. Yet, sometimes when a guest arrives uninvited it is easy for my response to be fear. My fear may come in many forms. I am not ready. I am not prepared. I am too busy. I am tired or my house is a mess. Ugh! 

As we enter the season of Christmas, I wonder at the bustle of heaven in preparation for Jesus' visitation on earth. People had been praying and anticipating His arrival, but it did not happen as they expected. 

I imagine God was so excited about inviting us to join Him that He sent on three different occassions messengers to prepare people.

The angels visits were not expected. In fact, they caused fear. The people were not prepared and most definitely did not expect it to happen as it did. Yet, each one responded to their uninvited guest with a yes.

How do you respond to uninvited guests? How do you respond to God's unexpected messengers? Have you allowed your bustle to get in the way of seeing the uninvited guests? Have you been preparing for God to come, but not welcomed the gift of His Son? 

I'm praying I am ready! How about you?

Their Minds are Sweetly Occupied with Higher Things

MargeMowczko.com

Do you ever struggle with keeping your mind on higher things?  I know I do! Here is a great reminder.

Spurgeon's response to the quarrel between two women in Philipi (Euodia and Syntyche), "I am glad that we do not know what the quarrel was about; I am usually thankful for ignorance on such subjects; - but as a cure for disagreements, the apostle says, 'Rejoice in the Lord always.' People who are very happy, especially those who are very happy in the Lord, are not apt either to give offense or to take offense. Their minds are so sweetly occupied with higher things, that they are not easily distracted by the little troubles which naturally arise among such imperfect creatures as we are. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord." (Spurgeon) 

I love how he notes that those who avoid quarrels are because their minds are on higher things. 

Praying for a mind focused on higher things. I have learned over and over that when I am offended that I am the one who walked out of love. Choosing to love provides so much peace and gives room for all to grow. 

My prayer word this year is rejoice. It has almost been ironic at the moments God has reminded me to choose joy and to rejoice. 

Question for the week... Am I giving offense or taking offense and if so how can I edify God, the other or self in this situation and seek higher ground?

A good reminder from November 27, 2016.

Leading to Edification

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification” (Romans 15:2)

 

I remember the moment the mind shift was taking place in me. I was in my twenties; Greg and I were newlywed. Honestly, I was angry at God! Well, I was angry at Greg and letting God have it. Poor guy! We were in another of those early marriage spats. You know, the moment when you are yelling because they squeezed the toothpaste roll the wrong way. I quickly learned. Greg gets his own tube. I want to squeeze the way I squeeze my toothpaste! But the fight had nothing to do with the toothpaste, but with an unmet expectation that had not been clearly communicated. I cannot even remember what we were fighting about, but we were fighting again! UGH! I was reading my Bible and letting God have it because Greg wasn’t getting his stuff together! I was the master at telling God what Greg needed to grow up in. Sometimes, we can be masters at pointing out other’s faults. O God, forgive us! 

BUT GOD, kindly and graciously reminded me in my daily Bible reading that it was not about Greg. It is never about Greg. It is ALWAYS about me when it is a matter that I am talking to Him about in prayer. God wanted me to stop talking about what Greg was doing wrong and to start thinking about what I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to live right. UGH! SERIOUSLY! I thought to myself, “Can I not even whine in my prayers to You?” And again, God kindly reminded me that I could whine and tell Him all about my woes and worries, but that is where it must stop and then I must listen and obey. Why? Because God wants me to live my life so that I lead in edification! 

I am a bride. Can I lead? You betcha! I LEAD! It is as much my responsibility to lead as it is Greg’s and God was not going to let me off the hook! This morning I caught myself asking, what does it mean to lead with edification? God took me back to that memory of when He started teaching me this principle. If you would have asked me then if God was teaching me to live out a life that builds up, I would not have been able to see it. At the time, it felt more like God was tearing me down. But God grew me up in it despite me. 

The Greek word for edify is oikodome’. It means to build a house. Literally, visualize a house that is being built stone by stone. 

I once read that stone arches were used because of how they were so sturdy. Each stone was piled up on the other in such a way that the pressure caused them to provide support and stability that made them strong. The stones edified one another! It was in the stones leaning into each other that they were able to provide a beautiful archway that supported the infrastructure, and, in many cases, it weathered the elements and lasted years beyond the use of the entire building.

Greg and I had to learn to lean into each other as we faced pressure. We had to learn how to speak to one another in such a way that it built up (edified) rather than tore down. I needed to ask myself, “Do my words build my Greg up or do they tear him down?” He needed to ask it, too, but I am only allowed to talk and deal with my own sin. And y’all, I had much to learn and still do. 

Beyond marriage, I am grieved by so much that happens around me. I hurt when I see two people not able to talk about COVID vaccines without ripping apart the other person. It is as if we have forgotten how to build up. We are no longer leaning in and helping each other to be stronger. Greg read this verse to me this morning and it is a great reminder because it applies to how we react and interact with each other. “Be careful that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9). We don’t want to be the stumbling block. And it seems that this issue is becoming a massive stumbling block. How can we lean into each other and help support each other in our decisions? 

It grieves my heart when I hear people getting nasty over politics. History reminds us that politics and division will always be there, but it is the one that loves that can change the course of history. We need to live by ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31). 

Do I lead to edify in these situations? Sometimes, I have to stop myself midsentence and choose to do a redirect! Not because I am avoiding or running away, but because I love the person more than I love my opinion. I need to lean into them to make us both stronger and this provides stability. What can I learn from them? How can we use this pressure to help us get stronger and make us more stable as we support each other? How can I be a servant in the moment and make it less about me and more about understanding them? 

Jesus commanded us, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” (Matthew 20:25). 

If I am leading to edification then I am thinking about the other person’s heart, their mind, their soul, and yes even their spirit! I have to ask myself, “Am I a giving instruction that is helpful, useful, kind? Am I saying it in a way that builds up? Can I see that the way I am communicating is designed to improve, instruct, encourage, and bless? 

How does leading to edification challenge you today? Are you willing to pause and ask God how you might need to shift in tone, word, deed so that you lead to edify? 

Today, I will be asking myself, how am I leading to edification? 

Shalom y’all!