Day 24, Knowing When to Run!

Today is the 30th, and tomorrow I will stop with the Christmas devotionals (I think). I do not know where I am going to study next, but I would like to continue passing on what I am learning, with occasional devotional posts on this blogspot. I know probably only a few on my list read these long-winded devotionals, but I guess you are the ones meant to read it, and I hope you have gained something from it. I know I have learned so much this month that I didn’t know before about the Christmas story that had become a bit passé for me. And I feel like I have only scratched the surface.

So, we continue with the last couple of days of our story. Yesterday, after encountering Herod, the wise men had found Jesus in Bethlehem in a house with his mother. They had followed the star there, then worshipped him, opened their treasure chests and presented him with precious and costly gifts.

12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

God is still actively speaking to the characters of this story, even the pagans, this time in another dream. He warned them not to return to Herod. Then, he spoke to Joseph in a dream. These men had sought Jesus to worship him and to bring him gifts. Now Herod was searching for Jesus himself, but for a totally different reason – to murder him.

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

So, two more dreams occur, both warning dreams. One for the wise men not to return to Herod, and the other for Joseph to quickly get up and run with his family to Egypt. As tricky and deceitful and sly as Herod had tried to be, God knew exactly what Herod had in mind – to kill Jesus. To find exactly where he was and put to death anything or anyone that would oppose his throne. Satan has tried throughout history to silence our salvation. (A whole other Bible study!) He had the baby boys killed when Moses was born, but Moses escaped. He has always tried to stop the seed of righteousness, now putting in Herod’s heart to kill Jesus. But God was already a step ahead of Herod and had warned both the wise men and Joseph. This gave Joseph time to flee with his family to Egypt. (The Egypt thing, again, is a whole other Bible study!) Odd that he should be sent to a land that is a picture of slavery, bondage, oppression, and sin. But also how very appropriate, as Jesus was born into a world just like Egypt, with us all in bondage and slavery to sin. Yet he appeared right in the midst of it all, to lead us out of it. He came right where we were to bring us out.

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
for they are dead.”

Can you imagine the scene that day when the soldiers charged into Bethlehem and went from house to house brutally murdering every young toddler and baby boy while their mothers screamed in horror? I don’t even want to dwell on the horror of what that day would have been like. I would imagine some of the mothers also lost their lives that day trying to save their children. I know I would have. Can you imagine the aftermath in that town, the wounds that would never heal in the hearts of the parents of this town in this story that is recorded for all of us to always remember? So, friends, ALWAYS keep in the front of your mind this fact: that Satan is ruthless. He doesn’t care who he kills, steals from or destroys, no matter their age or their innocence. He doesn’t care if it is you, your child, your finances, your health. His goal is to destroy using any means possible. And although it is true that we cannot blame everything in this world that happens on Satan, it is imperative that we are pure in heart and following the Lord closely, so that we can hear him when he speaks, whether it is through a dream, a word from a Christian brother or sister, a scripture that jumps off the page at us, or a deep knowledge that God is speaking to you. Why? So that we will be under his watchful protection. Then, when he tells us to watch out in a certain area of our lives, we can avoid the destruction that the devil surely wants to bring, by taking the precautions that the Lord provides for us and for our safety.

I have a stupid, almost comical, example of this. This morning, I was reading the last couple of chapters in Isaiah and God seemed to be talking to me rather strongly about those who turn away to do their own thing and rebel right in the sight of the Lord. And I began to think, “God is there something I am doing that is sinful because I couldn’t think of anything at the moment?” OK, here is where it gets funny. Perry and I have this energy/vitamin drink called “Spark” that we order from a health supplement company. It has tons of vitamins and amino acids and also some caffeine in it. I have drunk (drank?) it for years now, and something in it it really helps me with my chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. I do not want to go a day without it. Coffee just won’t do what Spark does. I always tell him a few days ahead of time that we are running out because, my friends, I am strongly and gravely concerned when the Spark gets low in the house! There are a few things in life that gravely concern and disturb me: When they run out of tuna at Subway, when they do not offer pecan pancakes on the menu at Cracker Barrel, when they run out of soy milk for my latte at Starbucks, and when we run out of Spark in the house! On occasion, Perry (who is in charge of ordering the Spark), has not ordered it in quite enough time for it to get here, or Fed Ex did not have it to us in time, and there was an occasion I went 5 days without it!! Not good.

So this time, I thought ahead and I put a couple of scoops of Spark powder in a little baggie and hid it in the cupboard behind the coffee cups. (Sounds like I’m stashing cocaine doesn’t it?) I thought, if it doesn’t get here in time, I’m covered, and Perry can fend for himself because he doesn’t need it like I do.

So, I get up yesterday, and in the container there is only one scoop of Spark left and I enjoy the last presumed precious glass of liquid gold we know as "Spark" before it arrives via Fed Ex, (hopefully the next day). As I did, Perry comes in from training and tells me he noticed there was only one serving left, so he made coffee and let me have the last of it instead of drinking it himself. And I told him how sweet he was as I sipped and savored my Spark and how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness. And I really truly did. He gave his Spark to me sacrificially. And that is where it all began.

So, the next morning, when I sat down with that secret hidden delicious scoop of Spark that no one but myself knew about, and began to be “spiritual” and started reading Isaiah, God convicted me!!! I know, that seems crazy and trite, but he did! And here is the thing – it wasn’t really about the Spark. It wasn’t wrong to be sitting there drinking Spark like I do every morning when I study my Bible. What was wrong is that Perry and I are a team, we are one in the sight of God, and anything I keep from him, hiding it for my own use and my own pleasure, and not sharing with him, is a wedge that is put in our relationship. A form of dishonesty and self-preservation. I know at this point some of you are saying that is utterly ridiculous and a far stretch, but, Hey, I’m just telling you what God convicted me of today. He said everything starts with a small little grain, seemingly insignificant, and it doesn’t even cross our mind that there is a problem with the action. Then it takes root and becomes a way of behaving, and grows more, and before long it is a huge thorny bush. So, God checked me on hiding the Spark! He said if I could hide that from Perry without thinking twice about it, what is the next thing I would hide from him, and the next thing after that? Of course, then, as soon as Perry walked in, I told him I had hidden some Spark and there was one scoop left and that he could have it. And I sat reading my Bible, feeling scolded like a little kid. But God reminded me that there is no condemnation for us who are in Jesus (Romans), and by the time I got up from the couch I actually was thankful and appreciative that he pointed out something so small to me. He caught it right at the start, he exposed a dark area in me that I honestly didn’t even think about when I hid that Spark. And he showed me how easy it is to slowly get caught up in a stronghold that you didn’t even see coming.

That is how Satan works though. Like Herod, he is very subtle, always planning, always scheming, always cleverly presenting himself as an ally. And if we are not in tune to the Lord, we WILL fall for his schemes because we have gone out from under the protection of God.

Now, I know I have totally chased a rabbit trail away from wise men and Jesus and Herod, but I don’t know, it just came to me today and I thought I’d share that random thing with you. About remaining under God’s protection, about listening to him even in the small seemingly insignificant things.

As the first chapter of Jesus’ life story comes to a close, Joseph took his family to safety. He continued to hear the Lord, because he was later instructed in a dream to return to Israel, specifically back to Nazareth, where he would spend his childhood years alongside Joseph and Mary, and eventually his brothers and sisters, Mary and Joseph’s children.

So, in looking back over this month, I see past the outer layer of this story much deeper now than I did before this month started. I see people, just like us, chosen by God for a purpose. I see angels coming from God’s throne, dreams being dreamed, doubts and fears being raised, time being spent alone in silence, time away with the Lord, putting his desires ahead of our own reputation, allowing him to plant things in us that he desires to birth, choosing to join him in what he is doing even when it changes the plans we had for our lives, and of course, bringing a truly human tiny baby, yet wholly God, into the middle of our darkness to bring us light. I see that when people allow God full access to their lives, that he will do miraculous things, and that nothing, not kings or Satan himself, can stop his plan. God will always accomplish what he sets out to do.

As you enter this New Year within a few hours, I will leave you with these verses to carry into 2010 with you.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days, when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your own land.”

God has a plan for you this year, a purpose, and you can be sure it involves knowing him, listening to him, spending time with him, and learning from him. You can also be sure it involves you touching other people with his love. The question is, will that be the resolution that matters to you the most this year?
I hope it is, for you and for me both.

Love in Christ,
Teresa (prayerfully expecting a shipment of Spark today)