Category: Holiday

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…  (Isaiah 9:6)

Babies are amazing.  Tiny noses and toeses and fingernails.  They even smell good.

Mostly

The feeling of joy, of life, that you get from holding a newborn—it’s…wow.  It doesn’t even have to be your baby. It can be a nephew, or a cousin, or the child of a friend.  Hey, it could be a random kid from the grocery store that you grabbed just for the experience.

Not that you would ever do that because it would be very very wrong and earn you psychiatric evaluations and the serious threat of incarceration.

My point is this: Hope arrives with every baby.

How great is it that God chose to bring Christ to us in this way. Think about it—the Messiah could have appeared fully grown, striding out of the desert on a Tuesday morning.  He could have simply walked into the temple and started preaching. Instead, we get to see him as a baby—yes, so that his genealogy could be verified and so that prophecy would be fulfilled—but also so that we could see the Lord of the Universe willing to humble himself by birth, as he would one day humble himself by death.

Your God loves you so much that he sent a baby—the epitome of life—to call you to eternal life.

Heed the call.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears,

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt 

and faithfulness the sash around his waist (Isaiah 11:3-5).

Our leaders…

meh.

Oh, I’m sure there are some in leadership who are trying their best to do the job wisely and well, but overall I am unimpressed.  I look at the upper echelons of power and I see corruption and narcissism and a fundamental refusal to submit to truth. And this comes from both sides of the proverbial aisle.

It disgusts me.

It frustrates me.

It frightens me.

Then, I read this passage, and peace washes over my spirit.

Go ahead, reread it–I’ll wait…

…

See what I mean?

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him–

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power,

the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord–

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord  (Isaiah 11:2-3).

The Son,

guided by the Holy Spirit,

submissive to the Father,

being what I could not,

and showing me the Way to become

whole. 

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Happy Monday, Beloved

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1).

A stump is dead.

It’s kind of the epitome of dead.

And yet, to quote Miracle Max, sometimes it’s “only mostly dead.”

Sometimes, new life will break out of the stump.

The line of David was dead–stump dead.

Israel was done.

But God wasn’t.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Happy Friday, Beloved of Christ.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

This is the nature of light and dark.

We instinctively fear the dark and crave light.  In fact, a flashlight or candle or somesuch is near the top of every emergency supplies list. And it’s not just for the practical value–light is also, by its very nature, comforting and encouraging.

The deepest, blackest darkness can be pushed back by the light of a single candle.

Metaphorically and literally

An alternate translation of this verse is, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it. As though if only the enemies of God could really understand his light, his love, his purpose for us…everything would be different.

If only the darkness in me could truly understand…

Someday, Beloved.

Happy Thursday

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind (John 1:4).

Through him all things were made…

Even us.

That life that was breathed into Adam, that spark that separates us from all other creation…

That’s from Jesus.

At the cross, he gave his life to redeem us. But at creation, he gave of his life to bring us life.

Perhaps that is why accepting Christ feels so much like coming home.

Breathe deeply today, Beloved.

Happy Wednesday

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3).

Not a random collection of happenings

Not an impersonal, unknowable force

Not a philosophical construct

But a person, a personality, an artist who spoke this world into being with a desire for beauty and the knowledge that one day you would be here to enjoy it.

Nothing random about it.

One of the reasons Jesus came to us was so that he could identify with us, experiencing this life and this world as we do. I wonder what he thought as he gazed upon the night sky, or a storm-tossed sea, or a flower or a bug or a sunrise or…

I wonder if he thought, “Wow! I done good.”

Of course, Jesus had correct grammar, because bad grammar is a sin, but still.

Enjoy the world he created for you, Beloved.

Happy Tuesday

‘Tis the Season…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

Before the tomb

Before the Cross

Before the trial

Before the betrayal

Before the garden

Before the temple

Before the mount

Before the desert

Before the river

Before the wise men

Before the manger

Before the star

Before the angel

Before the prophecies

He was.

And he was God.

Happy Monday, Beloved