Birthday of a King

During this time of year, Christians focus on the birth of Jesus.  In America, the nation is thinking less about the meaning of Christmas and the beliefs our nation was founded upon and more about the "politically correct" things to say and do.  While it is correct to respect other people's ideas and religion or non-religion, it is also our right and privilege as Christians to express what we believe.


So what is it that we believe?  Do Christians think more about the commercial aspects of the Christmas season or do we know what, why and in whom we belief?  We don't really know the exact date of Jesus birth, but we do know where and how, Jesus was born.  We also know that Jesus' birth was planned while He was still in the heavenlies before His birth as a man as evidenced in the Holy Bible. Prophecies throughout the Old Testament foretold long before His birth:

His pre-existence and place of His earthly birth 

Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

From the tribe of Judah

Genesis 49:10 "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."

Heir to the Throne

Isaiah 9:6-7 "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. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,  establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Born of a Virgin and His name shall be called Immanuel (God with us)

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

Declared to be the Son of God

Psalm 2:7 "I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

Presented with gifts

Psalm 72:10 "The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts."

Remember who Jesus is and why He came.  He was the sacrificial Lamb of God, our Savior, and our King.  He was born of a virgin, lived among men, died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead and is coming again!! Praise the Lord!!

Merry Christmas everyone.  Remember Jesus is the reason for the season.

Thank You God For Everything

I learned a poem when I was a little girl that was brought to mind during this Thanksgiving season.  Many of you know this poem so perhaps it will take you back to a time when you were young.  It sums up just about everything we should be thankful for every day. 

Thank you for the food we eat 
Thank you for the world so sweet
Thank you for the birds that sing
Thank you, God, for everything.

Most of us in America have plenty to eat.  Some of us eat more than we should especially on holidays. There are many in the communities where we live that have little or nothing.  Perhaps we should share more with those who are lacking.   We need to remember Who it is that has blessed us with this abundance.  God blesses us so we can bless others. Find someone today and give of your abundance. God has created the most beautiful wonderful world.

Everywhere you look you can see God's glory. Praise the Lord for all His blessings everyday!  Take a look at a flower and notice the delicate nature it contains.  Smell the fragrance.  Even in the smallest details God's design is awesome.

God created birds to sing praises to His name and for us to enjoy their melody.  God must love music because He is the one who created it.  Stop and listen to their sound.  The melody from the birds that sing or children playing is beautiful!

Praise the God who has created you and all the things you enjoy!  Praise this God of the universe!  Our God of the universe-vast and marvelous and our God of intricate details in all His designs.  Thank You, God, for everything!!

The Guilt or Trespass Offering-Your Walk with God

Leviticus 5:14-19 The LORD said to Moses: ¹⁵ "When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the LORD's holy things, he is to bring to the LORD as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering. ¹⁶ He must make restitution for what he has failed to do in regard to the holy things, add a fifth of the value to that and give it all to the priest, who will make atonement for him with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.¹⁷ "If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. ¹⁸ He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering; he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD."

This was a personal offering. A ram without defect is offered for your sins.  You lay your hands upon the animal as a symbol of passing your sin to the animal while confessing your particular sin. You state that you have sinned and rebelled against God but also state you are repenting and this animal is your atonement for that sin. This may be an intentional sin or an unintentional sin. Both types of sin required the same sacrifice.

The ram is split open and the priest offers the fat of the inward parts upon the Altar. The priest then sprinkles the blood back and forth on the Altar.  The remainder of the blood is poured out at the base of the Altar.  You must also make restitution for any harm you may have done to another by reimbursing in full and adding twenty percent to the value of his loss.  This brings about reconciliation between the you and the one you harmed.

Note the words restitution and reconciliation.  Restitution means an act of restoring.  Reconciliation means to restore to harmony, to settle or to resolve. When Jesus became the guilt or trespass offering, He did this to restore our fellowship-our harmony with the Holy God.

We are by our very nature sinful.  It all started in the garden with Adam and Eve.  Because of sin we can not come before a Holy God on our own.  God is a Holy God and can not tolerate sin.  God instructed Moses to set up a system of sacrifices to express the sinful nature of man and begin the process of showing His people the way of making restitution with Himself.  This system pointed the way and was fulfilled in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

The Burnt Offering

 Lev 1:10-13 'If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect. ¹¹ He is to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. ¹² He is to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. ¹³ He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of it and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.'

In the Old Testament, God instructed his people to offer a Burnt Offering.  The Burnt Offering expressed the individuals readiness for communication with God.  It was a volunteer offering of yourself.  You presented it of your own free will (self surrender) showing you are ready for communion with God. This was an expression of your readiness to present your entire being to God-a complete giving of yourself to God.

The animal sacrificed was raised by you, that is an animal that was familiar to you possibly even a pet.  The animal is skinned by the priest exposing all of its inward parts.  The priest quickly checks to make sure the animal is free from defects and then burns the entire animal on the Altar except for the skin that remains as evidence that a sacrifice has been made.  The smoke from the Burnt offering ascends as a sweet aroma to God as an acceptable sacrifice.

 

Ephesians 5:2 "...and live a life of love,  just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Jesus offered Himself willingly to become our Burnt Offering, with no reservations He offered His whole body as a "fragrant offering and sacrifice to God".  This made possible a return of communication and fellowship with God that was broken by sin in the Garden of Eden. In Hebrews 10:7-10, Jesus expresses the fact that because of his willful act of sacrifice on the cross, He set aside the covenant of the law and established the covenant of grace.

^{Hebrews 10:7-10 "}Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.' " ⁸First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). ⁹Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Recommended book:  "The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread" by Richard Booker

The Lamb of God

2 Corinthians 2:14-16  "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life..."

I am told that when a lamb is born, the fragrance of birth gives out a sweet aroma unlike any other animal birth. The mother ewe identifies her lamb by its smell and once that smell is identified she will not accept another lamb.  She can even identify her own lamb from all others in a crowded flock by its smell.

The parallels to Jesus as the Lamb of God came to mind.  Our Heavenly Father knows those that believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior because He can smell the aroma of Christ, the Lamb of God in us and He knows us even in a world of millions.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 tells us that we are the aroma of Christ in this world. Both the lost and the saved identify us as either the smell of death or the fragrance of life.  You may call yourself a Christian and look and act like one but people usually can tell whether you are sincere or whether you are a hypocrite.  The only way to smell like Christ is to belong to Him.  You must admit you are a sinner, repent of your sins, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Then and only then will you have the fragrance of life within you.

Do you smell like the aroma of Christ? 

The Blood Sacrifice

The Old Testament gives vivid detailed instructions about the offering of a sacrifice in atonement for sin.  Since Jesus was our sacrifice for sin, we do not offer blood sacrifices on this side of the cross.  And because our culture is so different, we often do not fully understand the significance of its meaning.

Because sin had entered the world through Adam and Eve, God's plan provided a way for man to come back into the presence of the Holy God.  God provided a way through the shedding of blood.  A sacrifice had to be made.  God would give man a preview of that plan through the system of blood sacrifices in the Old Testament.  In Numbers 28-29, God called for 1,273 public sacrifices a year-each morning and evening, each Sabbath, the first day of each month and during the special feasts days of assembly and celebration.  In addition to the public sacrifices, there would also be individual sacrifices.  This must have been a continual blood bath as blood ran from the altar.

The offering had to be spotless and with no defects or blemishes.  As the animal is killed, the blood is caught and then sprinkled by the priest on the horns of the altar and poured out at the base of the altar.

One day a year was celebrated as the Day of Atonement.  On this day the High Priest would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the nation.  These sins were symbolically transferred to the spotless, blameless lamb dying in the place of the people and became the sin subsititute for the collective sins of the Jewish nation.  The High Priest after offering an animal sacrifice for his own sins, would take the blood of the lamb into the Holy of Holies.

Only one is allowed behind the veil, the curtain separating the people from the presence of God.  Only one can present the blood before God.  If for some reason the High Priest dies while he is behind the veil, no one is allowed to go in to get him.  God would strike them dead on the spot.

In the Holy of Holies the High Priest must sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant.  God either accepts or rejects the offering.  If God rejects the sacrifice, the High Priest is struck dead.  If God accepts the sacrifice, the High Priest returns to the people and rejoicing takes place.  The people knew their sins were forgiven for another year.

Jesus was both the High Priest and the Lamb of God.  He was the blameless lamb sacrificed for the sins of the nations.  He was the High Priest who carried His blood before the Father and presented it as atonement for our sins.  This is what John the Baptist meant when he said:

John 1:29  “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

He Is Risen!

Mark 16:6

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him."

Without the resurrection there could be no salvation.  Jesus would have been like other men. He would also have been a liar since Jesus told His disciples what was going to happen. (Mark 8:31, Matthew 17:22 and Luke 9:22)  He told them He would suffer many things and be rejected, killed and rise again.

Because He was resurrected, He was who He claimed to be...undeniably God. And because He was resurrected, God the Father accepted His atoning work on the cross.  This means the blood sacrifice was accepted and our sins were forgiven.  We are assured of a righteous judgement.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

 Because He was resurrected, we are guaranteed our bodies will also be raised.

I Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Death has been abolished.  We will not suffer hell but will have eternal life in heaven.  Jesus conquered death.  He is risen. The tomb was empty. He paid the blood price so that we might live! 

I Corinthians 15:54-55  So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. “ O Death, where is your sting?O Hades, where is your victory?"

God's Hesed

I read a book several years ago "A Sacred Sorrow" by Michael Card.  As a result, I learned a new word: "hesed".  This word describes the indescribable un-definable characteristics of God. This Hebrew word is untranslatable into one word in English. Our English language defines the word simply as lovingkindness but it encompasses so much more.  I suppose it would take a vast number of words to describe "hesed" and even then we would not be able to cover what it truly means.  So the best way to define "hesed" is to say it means the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love of our Father God who shows grace and mercy! The Bible gives us these verses concerning God's "hesed":

Jeremiah 31:3  "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

Exodus 34:7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations

Psalm 86:15  But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.

While it is hard for us to understand the full meaning of the word "hesed", it is through Jesus that we can see glimpses of the true meaning of the word.  Because God came in the flesh, lived a life that was fully "hesed", He died on a cross and rose from the dead.  He was the incarnation of this indefinable word.
For more on "hesed", click on the following link:

Michael Card devotion

Jesus Loves Me, this I know

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

 I learned the song, "Jesus Loves Me" when I was a little girl and I have taught it to my children and now sing it with my grandchildren.  I don't sing that song very often but I was reminded the other day about the very truth of this little song.

Jesus loves me, this I know.  Jesus loves me, this I know. Jesus loves me, this I know.  Jesus loves me, this I know.

How do I know the song is true? Because the Bible tells me so... 

1 Cor 8:3  "the man who loves God is known by God."

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

John 16:27  "the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."     

Titus 3:4-5 "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy."

Because I know Jesus loved me enough to die for me that I may be reconciled to a Holy God. He is my Lord and Savior.

Colossians 1:22 "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation"

Jesus is Savior

Colossians 1:19-20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus is 100% God.  Jesus is 100% Man.  Jesus is 100% Lord.  Jesus is 100% Savior.

Because man is sinful, God had to provide a way for us to be reconciled to Himself, the Holy God.  Jesus was that way...God in the flesh.  This God/Man became our way to reconciliation to God.  Reconciliation means "to bring back to harmony".  Because God is a Holy God, we could not and can not do this for ourself.   Sin can not enter His presence.  Our harmony with God was broken by sin and only a sacrifice could bring us back.  A sacrifice for sin by the shedding of blood had to be offered.  That sacrifice was Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God.  Jesus chose to be the sacrifice for you and me so we might boldly go before the throne of God and harmony could be restored.

Jesus is 100% Savior.

The only way He will be 100% your Savior is a simple as ABC.

Admit to God you are a sinner and need a Savior.  You recognize that you are sinful and are sorry for the sins you have committed.  That means to repent and turn from your wicked ways.

 Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

 Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"

 Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" 

Believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is who He says He is and He died for your sins on a cross, and rose from the dead in His resurrected body.

 John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"

 John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

 Romans 5:8 ^"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Confess your faith in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord.

 Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved"

 Romans 10:13 "for, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Jesus is Lord

Colossians 1:17-18  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.    

 Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man but He is also 100% Lord.

Colossians tells us that Jesus holds everything together and in everything He has supremacy.   Think about that for a moment.  Jesus holds everything together...this vast universe, the stars in the sky and all the planets are held together by Him.  He holds the earth together.  He holds us together!  He is Lord over all.  He is the supreme authority.  And because of who He is and what He did for us, we owe Him our allegiance.  He is Lord, the supreme master.  He has absolute control.  He didn't have to die for our sins but He did.  He died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead, we owe Him our allegiance.

The word Lord means one possessing absolute control; supreme master.  That is Jesus.  Jesus is Lord of all.

Jesus is 100% Lord.

Jesus is Man

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."


Jesus is 100% man.
God took on flesh to walk among us.  His name was Jesus.

Matthew 1: 23 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). 

Jesus is 100% man minus the sin nature of man.  He is the incarnation of God with skin.  He took on flesh to feel what we feel.  He took on flesh to provide the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Jesus is 100% man, God in the flesh.  If Jesus was not a man, He couldn't identify with our struggles and our temptations and He could not have died in our place.

Jesus is God

Colossians 1:16-17 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.




Jesus is 100% God.  It is God who created all things.  Only God has that power.  Jesus is 100% God.

John 1:1-3  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

According to John 1:1  Jesus (the Word) was with God and was God and He created all things.  Jesus is eternal.  The Alpha and Omega-the beginning and the end.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In Genesis our Holy Scriptures say that God created the heavens and the earth.  It did not say that man created the earth.

Jesus is 100% God.

If He were not God, He would not have the power to heal, perform miracles, cause the winds to cease upon the sea and no authority to save us from sin.

Jesus is 100% God.

In Times of Trouble

"Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into His heavenly Kingdom.  All glory to God forever and ever! Amen"  2 Timothy 4:18

Sometimes the Lord doesn't deliver us from troubles in the way we think He should.  We want to be completely removed from the situation.  In the case of my Mother, I want complete healing from the Alzheimers disease.  But that is not what God has intended at this moment and I am assured according to His promises that He will heal her once she reaches heaven for there will be no sickness there.

I journal.  I write my prayers, thoughts and devotions to God and as I was looking backward on past entries, I came upon an entry from March 13.  The devotion I read was from Charles Stanley's In Touch magazine.  The devotion sheds light on thinking about adversity and pain and asked us to take a different look at adversity from God's perspective and not ours.  Think upon these questions:

 1. Which is a greater demonstration of the Lord's power changing something around me or changing something within my heart?

2. Which is the greater faith builder, seeing God's deliverance for every difficulty or experiencing  His presence and strengthening in the midst of trials?

3. Which is greater, the immediate relief from discomfort or a tested and refined faith that will result in praise and glory when Christ returns?

4. Which answers to prayer is greater, that God has removed something and given me extended peace or that He's left me in a trial and given an internal peace that nothing can steal not even my circumstances?

God uses our trials, pain and adversities to grow our faith and trust in Him.  Father, give me strength and wisdom in the midst of trials to remember who You are and that You see the complete picture and I only see the moment. 

My Mother has Alzheimers

My Mother has Alzheimers.  She was diagnosed with moderate Alzheimers disease in February 2004.  My Dad passed away in October 2001.  The disease has progressively gotten worst.  I hate this disease.  It robs you of memories and all those things that make up who you are.  One of the hardest parts of this disease is for family and having a Mother who doesn't remember who you are.  My Mother and I had a special mother-daughter relationship.  We were close and so it hurts.

Mother and Daddy took me to church and taught me about Jesus.  I asked Jesus into my heart when I was twelve years old during a revival.  My Mother accepted Christ when she was a teenage girl and my Dad was older when he accepted Christ as Savior.  I know she loves the Lord because she told me so and she also modeled the love of Christ in her life.  She was not perfect and neither am I.  She is my Mother and I love her.

When you forget who you are or who your family is,  do you remember Jesus?

The answer to that question is yes I believe you do.  As the disease gets progressively worse, you may not be able to express it but perhaps somewhere inside the presence of Jesus is even stronger.  Since the Holy Spirit lives within each Christian until the day we die, He is still there because His promise says, "I will never leave you or forsake you."

The Lord allows me to see glimpses of His presence in my Mother on occasion. The other night, I spent the night with Mother while my sister who is the primary caregiver went to a woman's retreat.  Mother and I had a pleasant evening and I thought she remembered my name although she never called it.  When she went to bed, I asked her if she wanted to pray.  She did and begin to pray, "Dear Father".  She prayed a very sweet prayer and even prayed for this "sweet lady that was staying with her tonight".  And then she spoke to God in these words as she ended her prayer, "I love you, I love you, I love you.  Amen."

Thank you Father for allowing me to see You through her and thank you for your care for your children even when our mind doesn't remember.

The Image of the Invisible God

"He is the image of the invisible God"...  Colossians 1:15

I am the firstborn of my mother and through the years I have been told on numerous occasions that I look like her.  I admit that it is true and the older I get, the more the reflection in the mirror tells me so.

While you can see me in my physical body and Mother in hers, God is invisible.  How do we know what God looks like?  How do we know who He is?  How do we know His nature and His character?  There is only one way.  That is through the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is God in the flesh. God Himself took on flesh and was born as a baby.  He lived.  He walked among us as a human.  He died on a cross for my sins and yours.  He was buried in a tomb.  He rose from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and He is coming again!

How do we know what God looks like--look to Jesus and you will know.  How do I look to Jesus?  Open the Holy Bible and you will find a wealth of information about this God who became man.  This man who died on a cross for our sin.  This man who was with God and was God before the foundation of the world.  This man who was firstborn over all creation and the firstborn from the dead.

We do not know what Jesus looks like physically but we do know His character and His nature.  He himself said that He is the way, the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father but through Him.  He provided a way for the forgiveness of sin.  Won't you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior right now?

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

While physically I look like my mother, my greatest desire is to look like Jesus.  I can only do that through the power of His saving grace as I journey through this life.

A Reflection of His Glory

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.




Paul wrote about reflecting God's glory in this verse.  Imagine being transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What do you think that would look like?  Would your face reflect love and compassion for the lost?  Would your face reflect humility and submission to the will of God?  Would your face reflect grace so that your mouth would speak words of kindness, compassion and love to others?  Would your face look like Jesus?

When you look into a mirror from a distance, the image is not clear.  Only as you stand a few inches from the mirror can you see a clean, clear image that define the lines of your face.  The source of the reflection is so near that you can see yourself clearly.  The closer you get to Jesus through daily prayer and Bible study, the more you will be transformed into His image.

Use me for Your kingdom's Glory, Father and make me a reflection of Your Son Jesus.

Humility Through Jesus

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalms 16:11

Paul had a personal encounter with Jesus on his journey to Damascus. (Acts 9) It was such an incredible experience with the Lord that he was blind for three days and could not eat or drink anything.  From that point on, Paul whose name had been Saul served the Lord Jesus all his life.  Paul had an enthusiasm for the Lord and a genuine desire to please Him.  If you look closely at Paul's life, you will see Paul's growth in the faith.  At the beginning of his ministry, Paul wrote in Galatians describing himself as "an apostle".  Five or six years later when he wrote Corinthians, he described himself as "the least of the apostles".  In Ephesians after another five years, he referred to himself as "less than the least of all God's people".  In Philemon a year or so later, Paul called himself "a prisoner of Jesus Christ" and near the end of his life in Timothy, he called himself "the worst of sinners".

Why did Paul describe himself using more humble words as he journeyed the Christian path?  Was he a worse sinner than before his conversion when he executed Christians? I believe with each day that passes as a Christian matures, we begin to realize and appreciate who we are and who God is and what He has done for us.  When we realize the holy nature of God, our prospective changes.  We no longer see ourselves as the important prideful person that our human nature tells us we are but that our Holy God is mighty and powerful. This Great God, Creator of the universe made me and you. I am but nothing except for His grace and love.  He alone is worthy of praise.  This God provided the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.  This Jesus, who is God and with God provided the ultimate sacrifice for my sin.

^"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.  ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3

It is only through Jesus that we can come to the Father. This is the path of life.  It is only through Jesus that our sins can be forgiven.  Paul was humbled by that sacrifice as he drew nearer and nearer to His Redeemer.  And so am I.

Be Strong and Courageous

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:7-9

We as God's children are called to be "strong and courageous", obey God's Word, and do not turn to the right or the left in order to be prosperous and successful.  Being strong and courageous is not easy.  In fact sometimes we can be so full of fear that we can not take the next step forward.  But in these verses, God promises He will never leave you nor forsake you.  In fact, He commands us to not be terrified or discouraged because "He, the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go".

It is comforting to me to know that I worship a God who cares and loves me and He is with me every step I take.  Being strong and courageous then does not depend on me in my fleshly strength but depends on my trust in the living, risen Saviour Jesus Christ.

                           

Through the Watches of the Night

Psalm 63:1-8  O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, 
and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Gen 1:21 “So God created…”

I was out in my yard the other day taking photos of the flowers and butterflies and came upon this tiny creature I had never seen.  There were about five or six of these little “critters” busily gathering nectar from the marigolds.  I had never seen anything quite like it before and at first I thought it might be a baby hummingbird but then I noticed his body resembled the body of a bumblebee.  The wings were different-dark around the edges but transparent in the middle.  I later, after an Internet search, discovered this little creature is called a “Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth”.

I continue to marvel at God’s creation.  He makes everything unique to it’s own purpose.  Every moth He makes He creates in a very special design and for a very specific purpose.  He does the same for us.  He creates each of us unique to His purpose and plan.  He designs us to look a certain way, have a unique personality, talents, etc. and places within each of us a desire to know Him and love Him.

Psalm 139:15 “For You created my innermost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”

The great God of the universe created this tiny distinctively different hummingbird moth and He created me and you!

Don't Let Me Miss the Glory

Several years ago before a trip to Alaska a friend of mine gave me an album entitled “Don’t Let Me Miss The Glory” by Gordon Mote. I downloaded it to my ipod and took it with me on my trip. Every morning I stood on the balcony and as I beheld the awesome beauty of my surroundings, I listened to this album. The theme song of the album became my prayer each day. “Lord, don’t let me miss Your glory!” God richly answered that prayer. What beauty I saw in His beautiful creation! As I stood on the balcony and smelled the fresh clean air and felt the gentle cool breeze on my face, God opened my eyes to see His beautiful creation and what an awesome mighty God He is. Since that time He continues to show me very special “delights” and glimpses of His glory in my own backyard. I serve a Mighty Holy God!

I love to take photographs of things He allows me to see. I have included some those photos in the slideshow attached here, along with the song, “Don’t Let Me Miss The Glory!” by Gordon Mote. My hope is that as you view this, you too will recognize what a Holy God we serve. Don’t miss His Glory, He reveals it every day if we will just notice! We serve an awesome God!

How Marvelous is Your Creation!

Psalm 139:13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Isn't it amazing that God formed us in our mother's womb and so delicately and intricately formed every part! From cell to cell, eyes that blink, a heart that beats, a brain that thinks, a mouth and vocal chords that enable us to speak and so much more, He created it all! When you think of the human body and how it functions, you have to know that it didn't "just happen". We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

This verse in Psalms also tells us that not only did He form us but He also wrote in His book the number of days we will have. He laid our path before us even before we were born. How amazing is this God that cares for me! How amazing is this God that cares for you! Thank You, Father God, You are an amazing God!

How Majestic is Your Name!

Psalm 8:1, 3 "O Lord, our Lord how majestic is Your Name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens...When I consider Your heavens the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?"

Isn't it amazing that the God of the universe, the Creator of all things, loves me and you? Such an awesome God!! This one who created the majestic mountains, the birds that fly, the stars, sun and moon above, is mindful of you and me.
Not only did He create us but He laid out the plan for our life before we were born! He demonstrated the most amazing love of all when He sent His Son Jesus to become a man to die on the cross for sin. Thank You, Most Holy God!! Praise and Glory to Your Name in all the earth!