A Life Worthy

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, (Isaiah 9:6)

There can be a lot in a name.  My name is Michael, which means, “Who is like God?”  I like that—it’s a constant reminder of the answer…Nobody. When I begin to get a little too big for my proverbial britches, my very name brings me back to Earth.

Jesus is called Wonderful Counselor.  Think about it—what does a counselor do?  A good counselor does three things—listen deeply, see to the heart of the issue, and offer wisdom.   So, we serve a God who actually listens to us—listens deeply. He doesn’t just pretend to listen while he mentally plans out his day, the way I might.  He actually considers every word you speak—and those you don’t.

Jesus also sees to the heart of your issue—after all, he knows you better than you do—remember Psalm 139?  You couldn’t hide the truth from him if you tried, so knock it off already.

Wisdom?  Uh…do I need to point out that his words are the very words of God?  Literally? Yeah, worth listening to.

You, Beloved, have a Wonderful Counselor.  Walk in his wisdom today.

Happy Thursday.

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 mall that you grabbed just for the experience.

Not that you would ever do that because that 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 Monday 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.

Merry Christmas, Beloved.

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 Thursday

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 Tuesday, Beloved