Advent - The first Sunday

Prophecy 

 

 

Somewhere in time, tomorrow, it’s the first Sunday of Advent. 

Advent is not something I have normally celebrated as part of Christmas, but as I learn more about it I wonder why I haven’t.  There are four Sundays in Advent. There is a candle lit for each Sunday. The first is tomorrow and it’s a purple candle - purple is for royalty. It's a celebration of the prophecies of the coming Savior and king.

It was prophesied that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. That he would be called out of Egypt. That he would be called a Nazarene. 

The virgin birth, the death upon a tree – where all prophesies told long before Jesus walked the earth.

Yet when Jesus walked the earth, the people who knew the prophesies the best didn’t recognize that Jesus was the fulfillment of them. 

Perhaps if they had done a little checking they would have found that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His family had fled to Egypt to escape the Herod’s attempts to kill newborn Jewish children.  Why couldn’t they put two and two together?

Well, there are more prophesies waiting to be fulfilled.  Christ came once as a suffering saint, and the world missed it.  He is coming again as a conquering King.  Let’s not be caught unawares when that happens.

Isaiah 9:6New International Version (NIV)

⁶ 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.

 

 

Mandisa - What Child Is This? (Official Lyric Video) from mandisa on GodTube.

Being Thankful

It’s a matter of perspective.

 

 

Somewhere in time, this Thursday, America celebrates Thanksgiving.  The pilgrims gave thanks for surviving the winter. They gave thanks for food, shelter and health.  After the battle of Gettysburg, during the Civil War, President Lincoln established the Federal Holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I love having a holiday to remind us to give thanks, but I have been thinking about that.  What we are thankful for is a matter of perspective.

If we only have one pair of shoes and they are tattered and torn, we may not be thankful for them until we have no shoes at all.

If we have a job that is a daily drudge, we may not be thankful until we suffer the loss of that income.

If our home needs work, or it’s too small, or it’s not in the location we want; we may not be thankful for it until we are homeless.

I was watching a documentary about Corrie Ten Boom, one of my hero’s in the faith.  She and her entire family were arrested in World War II for hiding Jews from the occupying Nazi’s. She and her sister were together. One of the prison camps they ended up in was Ravensbruck.  It was notorious as one of the worst. They were placed in a barracks that had twice the women it was designed to hold. It was filthy and filled with lice and fleas.

They found out, however, that the guards would barely set foot in their barracks because they did not want to be infected by the lice and fleas.  The two sisters were thankful they could openly share from their small Bible and pray with the other prisoners.

What are you thankful for today?

1 Thessalonians 5:18New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

  

 

Oh

The Things We Say

 

 

Somewhere in time, or maybe every day in time, someone has said something they wish they could take back. I have been on both the giving and receiving end of hurtful comments, so I understand the hurt they can bring. 

Have you ever had someone say something to you and it really hurt?

As a child we used to chant – sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me. 

That is one of the biggest lies I know. 

The words I say have become more important to me as I have matured in life.  I am far from perfect.  Sometimes, I think I’m being funny when I say something hurtful, only to have the still small voice remind me how hurtful it was a little later.

James 3:9-10 (NIV)

 ⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

This is my prayer for today and every day:  Lord, help the words I speak to build up and not tear down. Help my words to bring life to those who hear them.

 

Rarely for a good man

will someone die

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I had a God moment.  This happens every once in a while and normally when I need to be reminded of something.

I have very long hair and one morning I was braiding the hair on the top of my head to keep it out of my eyes for work.  I do this several times a week and it normally only takes a few minutes.  Only this time, the first time through something went wrong and I had to take it out and start again.  The second time was equally disastrous.  I started to wonder if I should choose a different hair style for the day, but I gave it one more try.  My arms were starting to ache from being held up over my head so much.

That is when this thought hit me.

When Christ was hanging on the cross, His arms where stretched out. They were nailed by the wrists to a wooden beam.  If my arms were sore just by holding them up to braid my hair, imagine how much more Jesus’s arms ached.  Of course His pain didn’t stop there.  If we relaxed his arms, it restricted his breathing.  He would need to pull up on His arms or push up on his feet which were equally nailed to a beam, just to get a breath.

This thought reminded me how much God loves me.

I held my arms up for convenience and vanity.  Christ held his arms up for love.

He didn’t have to die, He chose to die.  He knew there was no other way for us to gain salvation than for someone to die for our sins.  He did it so we wouldn’t have to.  That is love.

Romans 5:7-8 New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

A Plea for

Reformation Day

 

 

Somewhere in time, yesterday, it was October 31^st.  This is the day when I wage a silent protest against Halloween.  I don’t understand the fascination with Halloween. Sure I understand a kid’s love of candy and even I like to dress up at times, but Halloween?  Why celebrate a holiday with dubious origins which focuses on witches, ghosts and ghouls.   Yes, I said this last year, but I believe it can be repeated.

October 31^st, should be celebrated as Reformation Day.

On October 31^st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses of contention to the door of the Wittenberg church.  He was not the first person to attempt reform of the Christian church, but he is still considered the father of the reformation. 

Martin Luther did extensive studies on the scriptures and he realized the error the church was making.  He wrote his 95 disagreements on paper and nailed them to the church door for everyone to read.  People copied the notes by hand and handed them out to everyone they knew.  

He had good points and most people agreed with him.  The church however did not care for being publically challenged, so they called Martin in to answer the charge of heresy.  At the meeting, he was given the chance to recant.  His response was:

                              Unless I am convinced by proofs from scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not recant, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience.  Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

I love reformers, but I realize after a while the stories all sounds similar.  They study God’s word, they normally translate it, they tell others and they are persecuted. It may be similar, but it’s always admirable. We need people to look up to when times get tough and reformers are such a group of people.  They stood up for what they believed against unbearable odds at time and they changed the world.    

Martin Luther wasn’t killed for his beliefs, but he did suffer for them.  Despite the persecution he stood strong and followed his faith.

Romans 1:16 (NKJV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

When I think of Holidays, I think it would be nice to celebrate something pure, holy or lovely.  If the Bible tells us to think on these things, it makes sense that we should celebrate them also.

Reformation day can be a day to stand up for what is right even against overpowering odds.