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)
Showing posts with label christmas devotionals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas devotionals. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day 23, The Christmas Story - Treasure Chests
We talked about truth from the mouth of unbelievers (the wise men), and arrogance within the body of Christ (the Jews). Today, we pick up after Herod had talked to the wise men and gotten all the information out of them that he could, then requested that when they find Jesus, they inform him of where he is. I followed tradition by saying there were “three” wise men (assumed because of the three gifts), but the Bible actually never states how many there were, the exact place they were from, or their names. So if you ever hear mention of these things, they are tradition, but not found in the Bible.
9 After this interview (with Herod) the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
So, the star was still there (long after the day of Jesus birth), and my tree is still up, so that is confirmation I can continue with this story.
I found a little background on the wise men that I find interesting and want to pass along to you. The word Magi is a Latin form of the plural of the Greek word magos (μαγος pl. μαγοι), itself from Old Persian maguŝ. The term is a specific occupational title referring to the priestly caste of Zoroastrianism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time a highly regarded science. Their religious practices and use of astrological sciences caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic. Translated in the King James Version as wise men, the same word is given as sorcerer and sorcery when describing "Elymas the sorcerer" in Acts 13:6-11, and Simon Magus, considered a heretic by the early Church, in Acts 8:9-13. Also, I find it interesting that the practice is condemned in the Bible, yet God brought these astrologers/sorcerers to see his son. And that they came to worship him and give him gifts!
After their meeting with Herod, the astrologers continued on to Bethlehem, with the star still leading their way, and then the star stopped over the place where Jesus was. The men were filled with joy, having now arrived at the home of this new baby king. And they were going to see him after all their months of studying and traveling. They entered a house and found Mary and Jesus there. Jesus could have been up to 2 years old when he was found by the Magi. Mary and Joseph were still in Bethlehem, for however long it was, and had not returned to Nazareth. When the men found him, it says they bowed down and worshipped him. These pagan men recognized that this baby was the rightful king of the Jews. They traveled countless days and nights, and forsook everything to come to find him. Eventually “every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The astrologers brought with them treasure chests containing gifts for the baby. The three gifts they brought are significant. I’m not sure if they even realized that or not, but I believe in part they did. The gold signifies Jesus’ position as King. Frankincense is an incense that was burned by the priests in the temple, and signifies Jesus’ position as our High Priest. Myrrh was an ointment used medicinally for healing, and also was an embalming ointment used to anoint one’s body at death, a gift that would point to his sacrifice of death for us one day. I wonder if Mary kept that ointment all those years, and if that ointment was used on Jesus when he was taken down off the cross.
But what is significant is that they sought him, traveled to find him, inquired about him, searched diligently, and prepared a chest full of gifts for him, to be opened before him when they bowed and worshiped him.
What is our treasure chest? Our heart, of course. The Bible says wherever our treasure is, there our heart is also. When we truly see Jesus as our King, our Priest, and our Savior, the only response can be worship and giving ourselves, opening our chest and giving him our heart. Giving him all of us, our hopes, our fears, our dreams, our time, our talents, our finances, our very being.
I pray that today you will search your heart and think about the treasure you have hidden there. Then ask yourself, is this a treasure that I am not willing to give up for the one who gave up life for me? What is it that I hoard as more important than the ultimate treasure of Jesus himself? Do I recognize who he really is and have I come to the place I am willing to open up my treasure chest and give him the only gift I can give him – my life?
Teresa
9 After this interview (with Herod) the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
So, the star was still there (long after the day of Jesus birth), and my tree is still up, so that is confirmation I can continue with this story.
I found a little background on the wise men that I find interesting and want to pass along to you. The word Magi is a Latin form of the plural of the Greek word magos (μαγος pl. μαγοι), itself from Old Persian maguŝ. The term is a specific occupational title referring to the priestly caste of Zoroastrianism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time a highly regarded science. Their religious practices and use of astrological sciences caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic. Translated in the King James Version as wise men, the same word is given as sorcerer and sorcery when describing "Elymas the sorcerer" in Acts 13:6-11, and Simon Magus, considered a heretic by the early Church, in Acts 8:9-13. Also, I find it interesting that the practice is condemned in the Bible, yet God brought these astrologers/sorcerers to see his son. And that they came to worship him and give him gifts!
After their meeting with Herod, the astrologers continued on to Bethlehem, with the star still leading their way, and then the star stopped over the place where Jesus was. The men were filled with joy, having now arrived at the home of this new baby king. And they were going to see him after all their months of studying and traveling. They entered a house and found Mary and Jesus there. Jesus could have been up to 2 years old when he was found by the Magi. Mary and Joseph were still in Bethlehem, for however long it was, and had not returned to Nazareth. When the men found him, it says they bowed down and worshipped him. These pagan men recognized that this baby was the rightful king of the Jews. They traveled countless days and nights, and forsook everything to come to find him. Eventually “every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The astrologers brought with them treasure chests containing gifts for the baby. The three gifts they brought are significant. I’m not sure if they even realized that or not, but I believe in part they did. The gold signifies Jesus’ position as King. Frankincense is an incense that was burned by the priests in the temple, and signifies Jesus’ position as our High Priest. Myrrh was an ointment used medicinally for healing, and also was an embalming ointment used to anoint one’s body at death, a gift that would point to his sacrifice of death for us one day. I wonder if Mary kept that ointment all those years, and if that ointment was used on Jesus when he was taken down off the cross.
But what is significant is that they sought him, traveled to find him, inquired about him, searched diligently, and prepared a chest full of gifts for him, to be opened before him when they bowed and worshiped him.
What is our treasure chest? Our heart, of course. The Bible says wherever our treasure is, there our heart is also. When we truly see Jesus as our King, our Priest, and our Savior, the only response can be worship and giving ourselves, opening our chest and giving him our heart. Giving him all of us, our hopes, our fears, our dreams, our time, our talents, our finances, our very being.
I pray that today you will search your heart and think about the treasure you have hidden there. Then ask yourself, is this a treasure that I am not willing to give up for the one who gave up life for me? What is it that I hoard as more important than the ultimate treasure of Jesus himself? Do I recognize who he really is and have I come to the place I am willing to open up my treasure chest and give him the only gift I can give him – my life?
Teresa
Monday, December 28, 2009
day 22, Christmas from a Toddler's Perspective
Good Monday morning. Whew! The rush is over, the paper cleaned up, and some of you ambitious people have your tree down already! I am one of the keep it up until New Year's people. So, since the tree is still up, that means I can still talk about the Christmas Story, right?! I was going to talk about the wise men further today, but instead, I’ve decided to talk about the truth I have found in a child's Christmas.
Shaelin is my granddaughter, now 3½ years old, and does not stop running (or talking) from the minute she wakes up until she goes to sleep at night. She is very well spoken and intelligent and focused, and of course, beautiful, with huge bright blue eyes, and more spunk than you would think such a small package could hold! (Of course, I’m not at all prejudiced!) She and my daughter lived with us for a while after she was born and I am especially close to her.
Anyway, I’ve observed her this season and also last Christmas, and I’ve learned so much by watching her, as I always do. Because of her innocence, she takes things at face value. She is a joy to spend time with and she loves to come play at Tisi’s house (that’s me). She lives in pure honesty. She hasn’t learned the trait of covering up, hiding, lying.
I have a nativity set I’ve had since my children were little. It is unbreakable and I’ve always allowed them to play with it. So last Christmas was the first year that a new generation has played with it. Shaelin went straight to it almost every time she came to the house. Over the years, I’ve added a few pieces, the last one being the “inn”. There is an innkeeper outside with his hand pointing people on down the street. The door opens and there is a light on in the inn.
When Shaelin first pulled her stool up to the table to stand and play with the nativity, she was drawn to the baby. I told her his name was Jesus and she picked him up and in her little girl inborn nurturing ways says, “Oh, baby Jesus” and held him close to her. Then she took him in one hand and with the other went “tickle, tickle, tickle”. Then she informed me he needed his diaper changed. To her, he was a baby, just like every other human baby, and she treated him as such. It bothered her that he was outside in the stable, and every time she left the house, I would always find baby Jesus just inside the door of the inn. She knew he needed a place, and that he did not belong outside.
Then on Christmas night last year, all the kids and Perry went to see Benjamin Button, and Shaelin and I stayed home and played. She sat in my lap and we were drawing pictures on a doodle board she got for Christmas. I drew a rough picture of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and sang “Away in a Manger” to her. Then I said, “Christmas is Jesus’ birthday”. And we sang Happy Birthday Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to You. And I love what happened next. She walked over to the nativity and got Jesus and brought him back to me. Then she realized that on a birthday there are presents. She got up out of my lap and said, “Oh, baby Jesus, I find you a present”. She went over to the tree and looked under there for something to give to Jesus. There still was a small box under the tree that I had gotten a candle in the year before as a gift, but the box was so pretty I just wanted to put it under the tree. There were snowmen outside, nothing religious on the outside of this Christmas box, and on the inside it was just blue with stars, like the sky. There was nothing in it. She went right to that box and picked it up and brought it back to him. And said “Happy Birthday Jesus, here is you a present.” And we opened the box. And she decided it should be a house for him, a room for him to stay in. And so, that is now Baby Jesus’ home, and every time the lid would go on the box, she would say “open the door and let Jesus in his house”.
Now, don’t you know that I will ALWAYS have that box under my tree on every Christmas?? It will be a reminder to me. That a child, in her innocence, saw so clearly, that Jesus needs a place to call home. That he became just like us, that his mother held him and tickled him and changed his diaper and he was a real human child. And that, on his day and every day, you should seek to give him a gift. You give an unused package, pretty on the outside, but empty inside, and you open the door and you allow him to come in and make it his home. It doesn’t get much more simple than that, does it?
Thank you Shaelin for the gift only a 2-year-old could give her Tisi. It was my best gift of all. The gift of innocence and love and giving.
I pray he has found a home in you.
Merry Christmas
Teresa
Shaelin is my granddaughter, now 3½ years old, and does not stop running (or talking) from the minute she wakes up until she goes to sleep at night. She is very well spoken and intelligent and focused, and of course, beautiful, with huge bright blue eyes, and more spunk than you would think such a small package could hold! (Of course, I’m not at all prejudiced!) She and my daughter lived with us for a while after she was born and I am especially close to her.
Anyway, I’ve observed her this season and also last Christmas, and I’ve learned so much by watching her, as I always do. Because of her innocence, she takes things at face value. She is a joy to spend time with and she loves to come play at Tisi’s house (that’s me). She lives in pure honesty. She hasn’t learned the trait of covering up, hiding, lying.
I have a nativity set I’ve had since my children were little. It is unbreakable and I’ve always allowed them to play with it. So last Christmas was the first year that a new generation has played with it. Shaelin went straight to it almost every time she came to the house. Over the years, I’ve added a few pieces, the last one being the “inn”. There is an innkeeper outside with his hand pointing people on down the street. The door opens and there is a light on in the inn.
When Shaelin first pulled her stool up to the table to stand and play with the nativity, she was drawn to the baby. I told her his name was Jesus and she picked him up and in her little girl inborn nurturing ways says, “Oh, baby Jesus” and held him close to her. Then she took him in one hand and with the other went “tickle, tickle, tickle”. Then she informed me he needed his diaper changed. To her, he was a baby, just like every other human baby, and she treated him as such. It bothered her that he was outside in the stable, and every time she left the house, I would always find baby Jesus just inside the door of the inn. She knew he needed a place, and that he did not belong outside.
Then on Christmas night last year, all the kids and Perry went to see Benjamin Button, and Shaelin and I stayed home and played. She sat in my lap and we were drawing pictures on a doodle board she got for Christmas. I drew a rough picture of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and sang “Away in a Manger” to her. Then I said, “Christmas is Jesus’ birthday”. And we sang Happy Birthday Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to You. And I love what happened next. She walked over to the nativity and got Jesus and brought him back to me. Then she realized that on a birthday there are presents. She got up out of my lap and said, “Oh, baby Jesus, I find you a present”. She went over to the tree and looked under there for something to give to Jesus. There still was a small box under the tree that I had gotten a candle in the year before as a gift, but the box was so pretty I just wanted to put it under the tree. There were snowmen outside, nothing religious on the outside of this Christmas box, and on the inside it was just blue with stars, like the sky. There was nothing in it. She went right to that box and picked it up and brought it back to him. And said “Happy Birthday Jesus, here is you a present.” And we opened the box. And she decided it should be a house for him, a room for him to stay in. And so, that is now Baby Jesus’ home, and every time the lid would go on the box, she would say “open the door and let Jesus in his house”.
Now, don’t you know that I will ALWAYS have that box under my tree on every Christmas?? It will be a reminder to me. That a child, in her innocence, saw so clearly, that Jesus needs a place to call home. That he became just like us, that his mother held him and tickled him and changed his diaper and he was a real human child. And that, on his day and every day, you should seek to give him a gift. You give an unused package, pretty on the outside, but empty inside, and you open the door and you allow him to come in and make it his home. It doesn’t get much more simple than that, does it?
Thank you Shaelin for the gift only a 2-year-old could give her Tisi. It was my best gift of all. The gift of innocence and love and giving.
I pray he has found a home in you.
Merry Christmas
Teresa
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Day 21, The Christmas Story - Pagans
Good Christmas Eve morning! I know you all are ready for tonight and tomorrow (haha). This is the day you try to get all the little things pulled together. Maybe some of you are doing a lot of cooking today or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to my family being here tonight and tomorrow. We'll play games and eat and play some more and laugh a lot.
Well, today we are going to talk about the "wise men". Actually when the wise men came to Jesus “Christmas” was over. They didn’t come to the manger, but actually to Jerusalem, and then later to a house where they found Jesus with his mother. Sorry to burst your bubble at the outset, but here we go...
Matthew 2
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.”
We see three men (actually the Bible never says three, that part is legend - sorry to burst your bubble again) coming from distant lands, actually they were pagan astrologers, who traveled hundreds of miles to see this newborn “King of the Jews”. They showed up in Jerusalem after weeks or even months of travel, asking where they could find the newborn King of the Jews? All the people in Jerusalem became “deeply disturbed”. Knowing how religious the Jews were, and especially the spiritual leaders, they were probably quite taken aback by these pagans coming into their Holy City and asking where their newborn king was. In their arrogance, some of them probably thought “how dare a pagan Gentile come to us and tell us the king of the Jews is born! What do they know about our prophecies and about our God? We are God’s chosen people. Don’t they realize that we would have known it if our Messiah had been born?”
But these astrologers had obviously been watching the star as it arose and had been studying it and following it. Herod eventually caught wind of what was going on in the city and became very concerned, and called for a private meeting with these astrologers. I find it very interesting that they were knowledgeable enough about Jewish prophecy, that they came to seek and worship this king from hundreds of miles away, yet the king of the Jews didn’t even know his people’s own beliefs and prophecies? He had to consult the spiritual leaders. These unclean Gentiles knew of the prophecy and believed it and traveled that far to see this king and, not only to see him, but to worship him and bring him gifts.
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
In an act of strategy, he invited the wise men for a private meeting. Don’t you know he wined and dined them? He learned all about when the star first appeared, about their background as astrologers. He picked their brain for every bit of information he could get. He feigned interest in their astrology and hung on every word. Then he commissioned them to go search for this baby, and when he was found, he asked the men to please come back and tell him so he could go and worship him too. We all know Herod never intended to worship Jesus. He was gathering information. Herod was probably beside himself wanting to know where this supposed king was. He wanted nothing and no one to overthrow his rule. He had even had some of his own wives and children put to death if they dared cross him in any way. He was ruthless. He was a paranoid, power hungry man, and he had a plan.
Today what strikes me about this section of the story is that, in our arrogance, and in our “spiritual knowledge”, we as Christians can sometimes have an appearance of being “holier than”. We forget our holiness is in Christ alone, and that sometimes he speaks his truth even through unbelievers. He spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament, so I’m sure it’s not too hard for truth to come out of the mouth of even unbelievers. Truth is absolute and truth is His, no matter what mouth it comes out of. It is us Christians that are sometimes too proud, too knowledgeable, too spiritual, to admit that we totally lost focus of the main thing – finding Jesus and worshiping him. No wonder sometimes we are ridiculed by unbelievers. If we have any form of arrogance, we should be ridiculed. God himself hates our arrogance. And so will the people around you that are looking for Jesus. They won’t want any part of what you think you have to offer, that is, if you are willing to offer it at all.
As this Christmas Eve is upon us, I pray we would re-evaluate our “Christianity”. Is it truly a humble walk with the Lord? Or is it an “I’ve got it together”, “no pagan’s gonna tell me anything I don’t know”, “I’m God’s chosen, who are you?” attitude. If we do not approach this new year with absolute humility before God and before all those around us, we will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the coming year for Christ! I pray that the first thing on our list of New Year’s “resolutions” is humility before God, being open to being used by him in whatever way he wants to use us. Remember, the only knowledge we have, the only spirituality we have, the only salvation we have is because of that baby the pagans took months to travel to find, when nobody in Jerusalem bothered looking. We are no different than any unbeliever, because all we have is from God, and that same grace is available to them too. And some of them will be seeking him this coming year. The question is, will you help them to find him?
I pray this is your most blessed of Christmases. There will not be a post tomorrow, but there will be one on Saturday. I pray that quiet awe will begin to surround you as the darkness sets in tonight and that your heart will be silent before your King and that you will feel the quiet holiness of this season. Tonight, set aside some time just for him, just for the king. Give him the first gift of Christmas - yourself. Before you go to bed, go outside in the dark and look up into the sky. Look into the same stars that were in the sky 2000 years ago on the night Jesus came to us and realize he is still with us - Emmanuel.
Merry Christmas,
Teresa
Well, today we are going to talk about the "wise men". Actually when the wise men came to Jesus “Christmas” was over. They didn’t come to the manger, but actually to Jerusalem, and then later to a house where they found Jesus with his mother. Sorry to burst your bubble at the outset, but here we go...
Matthew 2
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.”
We see three men (actually the Bible never says three, that part is legend - sorry to burst your bubble again) coming from distant lands, actually they were pagan astrologers, who traveled hundreds of miles to see this newborn “King of the Jews”. They showed up in Jerusalem after weeks or even months of travel, asking where they could find the newborn King of the Jews? All the people in Jerusalem became “deeply disturbed”. Knowing how religious the Jews were, and especially the spiritual leaders, they were probably quite taken aback by these pagans coming into their Holy City and asking where their newborn king was. In their arrogance, some of them probably thought “how dare a pagan Gentile come to us and tell us the king of the Jews is born! What do they know about our prophecies and about our God? We are God’s chosen people. Don’t they realize that we would have known it if our Messiah had been born?”
But these astrologers had obviously been watching the star as it arose and had been studying it and following it. Herod eventually caught wind of what was going on in the city and became very concerned, and called for a private meeting with these astrologers. I find it very interesting that they were knowledgeable enough about Jewish prophecy, that they came to seek and worship this king from hundreds of miles away, yet the king of the Jews didn’t even know his people’s own beliefs and prophecies? He had to consult the spiritual leaders. These unclean Gentiles knew of the prophecy and believed it and traveled that far to see this king and, not only to see him, but to worship him and bring him gifts.
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
In an act of strategy, he invited the wise men for a private meeting. Don’t you know he wined and dined them? He learned all about when the star first appeared, about their background as astrologers. He picked their brain for every bit of information he could get. He feigned interest in their astrology and hung on every word. Then he commissioned them to go search for this baby, and when he was found, he asked the men to please come back and tell him so he could go and worship him too. We all know Herod never intended to worship Jesus. He was gathering information. Herod was probably beside himself wanting to know where this supposed king was. He wanted nothing and no one to overthrow his rule. He had even had some of his own wives and children put to death if they dared cross him in any way. He was ruthless. He was a paranoid, power hungry man, and he had a plan.
Today what strikes me about this section of the story is that, in our arrogance, and in our “spiritual knowledge”, we as Christians can sometimes have an appearance of being “holier than”. We forget our holiness is in Christ alone, and that sometimes he speaks his truth even through unbelievers. He spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament, so I’m sure it’s not too hard for truth to come out of the mouth of even unbelievers. Truth is absolute and truth is His, no matter what mouth it comes out of. It is us Christians that are sometimes too proud, too knowledgeable, too spiritual, to admit that we totally lost focus of the main thing – finding Jesus and worshiping him. No wonder sometimes we are ridiculed by unbelievers. If we have any form of arrogance, we should be ridiculed. God himself hates our arrogance. And so will the people around you that are looking for Jesus. They won’t want any part of what you think you have to offer, that is, if you are willing to offer it at all.
As this Christmas Eve is upon us, I pray we would re-evaluate our “Christianity”. Is it truly a humble walk with the Lord? Or is it an “I’ve got it together”, “no pagan’s gonna tell me anything I don’t know”, “I’m God’s chosen, who are you?” attitude. If we do not approach this new year with absolute humility before God and before all those around us, we will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the coming year for Christ! I pray that the first thing on our list of New Year’s “resolutions” is humility before God, being open to being used by him in whatever way he wants to use us. Remember, the only knowledge we have, the only spirituality we have, the only salvation we have is because of that baby the pagans took months to travel to find, when nobody in Jerusalem bothered looking. We are no different than any unbeliever, because all we have is from God, and that same grace is available to them too. And some of them will be seeking him this coming year. The question is, will you help them to find him?
I pray this is your most blessed of Christmases. There will not be a post tomorrow, but there will be one on Saturday. I pray that quiet awe will begin to surround you as the darkness sets in tonight and that your heart will be silent before your King and that you will feel the quiet holiness of this season. Tonight, set aside some time just for him, just for the king. Give him the first gift of Christmas - yourself. Before you go to bed, go outside in the dark and look up into the sky. Look into the same stars that were in the sky 2000 years ago on the night Jesus came to us and realize he is still with us - Emmanuel.
Merry Christmas,
Teresa
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Day 20, The Christmas Story - Anna
Good Christmas Eve Eve! I hope you are not too hurried and harried to enjoy the upcoming days. Yesterday, we looked at Simeon in the temple, and today we look at a woman in the Temple named Anna.
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
There are women who are prophets mentioned in the scriptures several times. Anna is one of those women. For some reason, Luke gives more attention to women in his gospel than Matthew, Mark or John. And I’m glad he does, because he has shown us females what an integral part women can play in Christianity. Yay! From what we read it seems that Anna had become a widow only 7 years after her marriage. If you remember, from Jewish betrothal customs of the teenage girls, she would have only been in her early 20s when she became a widow. That means she had been staying at the temple for over 60 years! (I wonder if this is where Catholics get the idea of nuns. Bishop Stafford, if you are reading this, I’d love to hear about that.)
Anna’s father was Phanuel. Some sources say he was a high priest. If so, Anna would have grown up in the presence of a father who was a devout religious figure, devoted to God’s service. She would have known the meaning of every item of his priestly garments, his ephod, the stones on his breastplate, the colors of the robe and what they represented, the word of God rolled up into little pouches that he wore. I am sure he probably sat with her on more than one occasion and explained to his little girl all about what it meant to be a priest, a high priest. He would have been the only one allowed to go into the Holy of Holies. In modern day, she would have been a PK, a preacher’s kid. Now, I’m not a preacher’s kid, but I’m a preacher’s granddaughter, another preacher’s niece, and another preacher’s step-daughter, and life being raised around preachers is definitely different. Everything about your life is immersed in the church. Like I had told you in an earlier study, I spent my young days right by my granddaddy, going to the hospitals, visiting people at their home to witness to them, picking up carload after carload of kids for VBS, playing in the living room while my grandfather studied his Bible there for hours, went to more funerals as a little girl than most people go to in their lives, pretend teaching in a classroom while he was up at church doing stuff, standing by him after service while he shook each member’s hand as they left the church, (so they had to shake my hand too). Not the normal kid’s upbringing. But I loved it, and I still treasure it, and I’m sure Anna did too. It is a deep and dear part of anyone raised around it. So much so that after her husband died, as a young woman in her 20s, she devoted her life to being at the Temple, to prayer, and to fasting.
I’ve said if anything ever happened to Perry, I’d do like Anna and just devote myself to the church, go to Bible college, and do something in ministry. Guess I'd be a Baptist nun, haha. Now, believe me, I don’t want anything to happen to Perry because I love him dearly and he is one of the most wonderful blessings I have in my life. No one could ever replace him in my heart. But, I guess this may have been what Anna did. Alone, young, widowed and grieving, she returned as best she could, to what she had always known. After her husband died, she devoted her life to living at the Temple, to prayer, to fasting. She was called a prophetess. These are the trademarks that identified her to others when they heard the name “Anna”.
Also, as a woman, there were only certain areas she could have even entered around the temple, namely the outer courts. She could not go where the men went inside of the temple. But still, she devoted her life to God and stayed as "close" to him as her culture would physically allow her to. So as an old woman on this special day, she walked upon Simeon talking to Mary and Joseph about their son, Jesus. She heard the things he was telling them.
(33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”)
As she heard his words, she began to praise God. She realized that the fulfillment of all her prayers was bundled up right in front of her. The hope of her heart was revealed to her that day. And as a result, what was her response? She told everybody. It says she talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. What an amazing and exciting day that must have been for this old woman. She never held her own children in her arms, but she held the Messiah. She never could enter into the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies, but she held the Holy of Holies in her own arms and peered into his own face.
Anna’s father’s name, Phanuel, means “face of God”. Her father may have sought God through sacrifice and priestly duties, but his daughter, Anna, as devoted to God as himself and maybe even more so, would actually one day be the one to get to see the face of God in the human form of a 6-week-old tiny baby. Anna is a form of Hannah and means “grace”. God bestowed his grace on a woman that day when he allowed her to see what the priests never would, even though she would never be allowed to walk where the men walk. How's that for grace? Both her father's name and her own name were prophecies over her life.
I find it interesting that it says she talked to those who were “waiting and expecting God to rescue them”. She knew they would receive her report. Some people do not want to hear your report, and some will not receive it, but some are looking for something, and they are desperately praying and hoping and waiting for God to rescue them. When God reveals himself to you, it is not so you can keep it to yourself. It is a lifeline to throw out to others who are praying for rescue. To the one who is drowning and just about to go under. And like Simeon, she could not be silent about what she had been so graciously allowed to see. Both Simeon and Anna, in their old age, after years of seeking their Messiah, were both allowed to have him revealed to them, both allowed to actually hold him in their arms, both allowed to share with everyone they could what they had witnessed before their death. I can picture God's hand that day reaching out through the veil of the Holy of Holies, even before the veil ever ripped in half when Jesus was crucified. He reached outside the holiest place, out past the inner court, on to the outer court, where common people live. He reached out past the curtain that day.
I love a phrase in a song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean called "Mercy Came Running", where it says "I can almost see Mercy's face pressed against the veil".
Like Anna, like Simeon, like the "wise men" we will study tomorrow, everyone of us who seeks him WILL find him. It is a promise he has made to you. Jesus does not hide from us, nor does he play games with us. He wants to reveal himself to us. But he is a gentleman, and even though he knocks at your door and seeks you, he will wait for you to invite him inside. And when you finally do seek him with all your heart, he will faithfully make himself known to you. He wants to be known by us. He wants what we see to make a big enough impact that we are changed, and that we tell other people. Not because it is the “duty” of us as Christians, but because something alive and active is in us, and it flows out of us to others because it cannot be contained within human flesh or kept to oneself. Religion cannot do that for you – only relationship can do that, can make you want to share him with others, can allow you see others through God’s eyes of love, can cause you devote yourself wholly to him and him alone.
So today, and forever, seek him, diligently, earnestly, and you WILL find him.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. And we will see the final group that sought him in this story, the pagan astrologers who came hundreds of miles...
Click http://www.actionext.com/names_p/phillips_craig_and_dean_lyrics/mercy_came_running.html to hear this song.
Mercy Came Running - lyrics
Once there was a holy place
Evidence of God's embrace
And I can almost see Mercy's face
Pressed against the veil
Looking down with longing eyes
Mercy must have realized
That once His blood was sacrificed
Freedom would prevail
And as the sky grew dark
And the earth began to shake
With justice no longer in the way
Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures to the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running to me
Once there was a broken heart
Way too human from the start
And all the years left it torn apart
Hopeless and afraid
Walls I never meant to build
Left this prisoner unfulfilled
Freedom called but even still
It seemed so far away
I was bound by the chains
From the wages of my sin
Just when I felt like giving in
Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures to the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running to me
Sometimes I still feel so far
So far from where I really should be
He gently calls to my heart
Just to remind me .... MERCY CAME RUNNING
Happy Christmas Eve Eve! The gift of Mercy is born to YOU! Can you see his face pressed against the veil?
Teresa
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
There are women who are prophets mentioned in the scriptures several times. Anna is one of those women. For some reason, Luke gives more attention to women in his gospel than Matthew, Mark or John. And I’m glad he does, because he has shown us females what an integral part women can play in Christianity. Yay! From what we read it seems that Anna had become a widow only 7 years after her marriage. If you remember, from Jewish betrothal customs of the teenage girls, she would have only been in her early 20s when she became a widow. That means she had been staying at the temple for over 60 years! (I wonder if this is where Catholics get the idea of nuns. Bishop Stafford, if you are reading this, I’d love to hear about that.)
Anna’s father was Phanuel. Some sources say he was a high priest. If so, Anna would have grown up in the presence of a father who was a devout religious figure, devoted to God’s service. She would have known the meaning of every item of his priestly garments, his ephod, the stones on his breastplate, the colors of the robe and what they represented, the word of God rolled up into little pouches that he wore. I am sure he probably sat with her on more than one occasion and explained to his little girl all about what it meant to be a priest, a high priest. He would have been the only one allowed to go into the Holy of Holies. In modern day, she would have been a PK, a preacher’s kid. Now, I’m not a preacher’s kid, but I’m a preacher’s granddaughter, another preacher’s niece, and another preacher’s step-daughter, and life being raised around preachers is definitely different. Everything about your life is immersed in the church. Like I had told you in an earlier study, I spent my young days right by my granddaddy, going to the hospitals, visiting people at their home to witness to them, picking up carload after carload of kids for VBS, playing in the living room while my grandfather studied his Bible there for hours, went to more funerals as a little girl than most people go to in their lives, pretend teaching in a classroom while he was up at church doing stuff, standing by him after service while he shook each member’s hand as they left the church, (so they had to shake my hand too). Not the normal kid’s upbringing. But I loved it, and I still treasure it, and I’m sure Anna did too. It is a deep and dear part of anyone raised around it. So much so that after her husband died, as a young woman in her 20s, she devoted her life to being at the Temple, to prayer, and to fasting.
I’ve said if anything ever happened to Perry, I’d do like Anna and just devote myself to the church, go to Bible college, and do something in ministry. Guess I'd be a Baptist nun, haha. Now, believe me, I don’t want anything to happen to Perry because I love him dearly and he is one of the most wonderful blessings I have in my life. No one could ever replace him in my heart. But, I guess this may have been what Anna did. Alone, young, widowed and grieving, she returned as best she could, to what she had always known. After her husband died, she devoted her life to living at the Temple, to prayer, to fasting. She was called a prophetess. These are the trademarks that identified her to others when they heard the name “Anna”.
Also, as a woman, there were only certain areas she could have even entered around the temple, namely the outer courts. She could not go where the men went inside of the temple. But still, she devoted her life to God and stayed as "close" to him as her culture would physically allow her to. So as an old woman on this special day, she walked upon Simeon talking to Mary and Joseph about their son, Jesus. She heard the things he was telling them.
(33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”)
As she heard his words, she began to praise God. She realized that the fulfillment of all her prayers was bundled up right in front of her. The hope of her heart was revealed to her that day. And as a result, what was her response? She told everybody. It says she talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. What an amazing and exciting day that must have been for this old woman. She never held her own children in her arms, but she held the Messiah. She never could enter into the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies, but she held the Holy of Holies in her own arms and peered into his own face.
Anna’s father’s name, Phanuel, means “face of God”. Her father may have sought God through sacrifice and priestly duties, but his daughter, Anna, as devoted to God as himself and maybe even more so, would actually one day be the one to get to see the face of God in the human form of a 6-week-old tiny baby. Anna is a form of Hannah and means “grace”. God bestowed his grace on a woman that day when he allowed her to see what the priests never would, even though she would never be allowed to walk where the men walk. How's that for grace? Both her father's name and her own name were prophecies over her life.
I find it interesting that it says she talked to those who were “waiting and expecting God to rescue them”. She knew they would receive her report. Some people do not want to hear your report, and some will not receive it, but some are looking for something, and they are desperately praying and hoping and waiting for God to rescue them. When God reveals himself to you, it is not so you can keep it to yourself. It is a lifeline to throw out to others who are praying for rescue. To the one who is drowning and just about to go under. And like Simeon, she could not be silent about what she had been so graciously allowed to see. Both Simeon and Anna, in their old age, after years of seeking their Messiah, were both allowed to have him revealed to them, both allowed to actually hold him in their arms, both allowed to share with everyone they could what they had witnessed before their death. I can picture God's hand that day reaching out through the veil of the Holy of Holies, even before the veil ever ripped in half when Jesus was crucified. He reached outside the holiest place, out past the inner court, on to the outer court, where common people live. He reached out past the curtain that day.
I love a phrase in a song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean called "Mercy Came Running", where it says "I can almost see Mercy's face pressed against the veil".
Like Anna, like Simeon, like the "wise men" we will study tomorrow, everyone of us who seeks him WILL find him. It is a promise he has made to you. Jesus does not hide from us, nor does he play games with us. He wants to reveal himself to us. But he is a gentleman, and even though he knocks at your door and seeks you, he will wait for you to invite him inside. And when you finally do seek him with all your heart, he will faithfully make himself known to you. He wants to be known by us. He wants what we see to make a big enough impact that we are changed, and that we tell other people. Not because it is the “duty” of us as Christians, but because something alive and active is in us, and it flows out of us to others because it cannot be contained within human flesh or kept to oneself. Religion cannot do that for you – only relationship can do that, can make you want to share him with others, can allow you see others through God’s eyes of love, can cause you devote yourself wholly to him and him alone.
So today, and forever, seek him, diligently, earnestly, and you WILL find him.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. And we will see the final group that sought him in this story, the pagan astrologers who came hundreds of miles...
Click http://www.actionext.com/names_p/phillips_craig_and_dean_lyrics/mercy_came_running.html to hear this song.
Mercy Came Running - lyrics
Once there was a holy place
Evidence of God's embrace
And I can almost see Mercy's face
Pressed against the veil
Looking down with longing eyes
Mercy must have realized
That once His blood was sacrificed
Freedom would prevail
And as the sky grew dark
And the earth began to shake
With justice no longer in the way
Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures to the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running to me
Once there was a broken heart
Way too human from the start
And all the years left it torn apart
Hopeless and afraid
Walls I never meant to build
Left this prisoner unfulfilled
Freedom called but even still
It seemed so far away
I was bound by the chains
From the wages of my sin
Just when I felt like giving in
Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures to the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running to me
Sometimes I still feel so far
So far from where I really should be
He gently calls to my heart
Just to remind me .... MERCY CAME RUNNING
Happy Christmas Eve Eve! The gift of Mercy is born to YOU! Can you see his face pressed against the veil?
Teresa
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Day 19, The Christmas Story, Simeon and Seeing
21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the LORD.” 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
We studied the circumcision ceremony when we looked at John, Zechariah and Elizabeth, which occurred eight days after the baby’s birth. There is another “ceremony”, a purification offering. I don’t know the exact time table of Mary, Joseph and Jesus leaving Bethlehem, or where the circumcision ceremony was performed. Or when they traveled to Jerusalem to the temple. All I know is there was a lot of traveling going on in the first couple of years of Jesus’ little life. This offering would have been made when Jesus was 40 days old, and the purification offering was for the purification of the mother. Also, according to Jewish law, if her first child was a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord. They were required to sacrifice two turtledoves for this. This shows Mary and Joseph's poverty, for that was the sacrifice required of poor people. Those with wealth would have been sacrificing larger animals.
Most interesting of all to me was that they had to redeem him, or “buy him back” from the Lord with a certain sum of money.
How interesting that Mary and Joseph took their child after 40 days to the temple in Jerusalem. What an ironic picture that they “bought back” and sacrificed for the very One who would buy us all back with the sacrifice of his own life, his own blood. And all the while the Redeemer of them all was in their presence!
25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there.
And yet again we have another person filled with the Holy Spirit. It honestly had never entered my mind that there was this much activity of the Holy Spirit until I studied this story more closely – how active the Holy Spirit was during this whole process. You think of him being there on the day of Pentecost and from there on out, but you don’t really stop to realize he’s been at work all along. It’s like watching an orchestra of divinely coordinated events.
A man named Simeon was eagerly looking for, and expecting, the Messiah. He was a devout and righteous man. Because of his relationship with God, earnestly seeking the Messiah, the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he actually got to see the Messiah. So on this day that day Jesus was being brought to the temple, the Spirit led Simeon go to the temple also. So that when Jesus came into the temple, Simeon was already there. When he saw Jesus, he recognized this child as the Messiah. The Holy Spirit revealed it to him. He opened his eyes. Simeon took Jesus in his arms, and as he held his newborn Messiah in his very own arms, he praised God with the blessing that you see here:
He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Why did Simeon see the Lord, the Messiah? Because he had so earnestly sought him with all his heart. Everybody quotes Jeremiah 29:11, but have you read further? Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” What a promise! God wants to be found. But your heart must seek for him like you look for a lost treasure. Daily.
Why is it we complain we can’t see God at work, we don’t hear him, it doesn’t feel like he’s there? Maybe we haven’t searched for him with all our hearts. Maybe finding Jesus isn’t the foremost concern in our life, the thought that wakes us up in the morning, the consuming passion of our life. Do you honestly even want to find him this week, during all the Christmas commotion? Is that on your list of things to do? Maybe our spirits are never quiet enough in his presence to hear the Holy Spirit tell us where to go, how to position ourselves, where to wait, to be there waiting when Jesus shows up!
Matthew 6:33 says “seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you”...
Simeon had been seeking Jesus, so intently so, that he had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would get to see him before he died. Simeon saw what the shepherds saw, that the Messiah had been born. He held the very Messiah in his arms and worshiped his God, saying “now let me die in peace, because I’ve seen your salvation”. Jesus was the desire of Simeon’s heart. And God was pleased to bless Simeon with seeing the Messiah for himself before he died.
We are all seeking something. What is it every day that you are seeking, that consumes your waking and sometimes sleeping thoughts, that takes your extra time, that asks for your money, that you think about the moment you wake up, that you ponder about, make plans for, study about, watch? What is your primary focus? What is the desire of your heart?
Excitement? Fun? Retirement? Your stock and 401k recovering? Your team making it to Superbowl? Fantasy Football? Your weight? Your looks? The acceptance of your peers? Your paycheck? Your house and car? And on and on your list might go...
Let me say this - You WILL find what you seek for, in one way or another. It just might not be exactly how you thought it would be.
Luke 11:9-10 says “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
So, what is it that you really are seeking deep in your spirit? I think if you are quiet long enough and brutally honest with yourself you will have to admit that what you seek, no matter what form it seems to be taking, is peace and contentment, and that can only be found by seeking one thing – a person - a savior - Jesus. Just as Simeon did. Seek him with your whole heart. Everything else will take care of itself. And while you live here on earth you will also get to see Jesus – every day.
Can you say like Simeon did "I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people?" It is my hope that you can.
Praying for open eyes to see.
Love, Teresa
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the LORD.” 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
We studied the circumcision ceremony when we looked at John, Zechariah and Elizabeth, which occurred eight days after the baby’s birth. There is another “ceremony”, a purification offering. I don’t know the exact time table of Mary, Joseph and Jesus leaving Bethlehem, or where the circumcision ceremony was performed. Or when they traveled to Jerusalem to the temple. All I know is there was a lot of traveling going on in the first couple of years of Jesus’ little life. This offering would have been made when Jesus was 40 days old, and the purification offering was for the purification of the mother. Also, according to Jewish law, if her first child was a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord. They were required to sacrifice two turtledoves for this. This shows Mary and Joseph's poverty, for that was the sacrifice required of poor people. Those with wealth would have been sacrificing larger animals.
Most interesting of all to me was that they had to redeem him, or “buy him back” from the Lord with a certain sum of money.
How interesting that Mary and Joseph took their child after 40 days to the temple in Jerusalem. What an ironic picture that they “bought back” and sacrificed for the very One who would buy us all back with the sacrifice of his own life, his own blood. And all the while the Redeemer of them all was in their presence!
25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there.
And yet again we have another person filled with the Holy Spirit. It honestly had never entered my mind that there was this much activity of the Holy Spirit until I studied this story more closely – how active the Holy Spirit was during this whole process. You think of him being there on the day of Pentecost and from there on out, but you don’t really stop to realize he’s been at work all along. It’s like watching an orchestra of divinely coordinated events.
A man named Simeon was eagerly looking for, and expecting, the Messiah. He was a devout and righteous man. Because of his relationship with God, earnestly seeking the Messiah, the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he actually got to see the Messiah. So on this day that day Jesus was being brought to the temple, the Spirit led Simeon go to the temple also. So that when Jesus came into the temple, Simeon was already there. When he saw Jesus, he recognized this child as the Messiah. The Holy Spirit revealed it to him. He opened his eyes. Simeon took Jesus in his arms, and as he held his newborn Messiah in his very own arms, he praised God with the blessing that you see here:
He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Why did Simeon see the Lord, the Messiah? Because he had so earnestly sought him with all his heart. Everybody quotes Jeremiah 29:11, but have you read further? Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” What a promise! God wants to be found. But your heart must seek for him like you look for a lost treasure. Daily.
Why is it we complain we can’t see God at work, we don’t hear him, it doesn’t feel like he’s there? Maybe we haven’t searched for him with all our hearts. Maybe finding Jesus isn’t the foremost concern in our life, the thought that wakes us up in the morning, the consuming passion of our life. Do you honestly even want to find him this week, during all the Christmas commotion? Is that on your list of things to do? Maybe our spirits are never quiet enough in his presence to hear the Holy Spirit tell us where to go, how to position ourselves, where to wait, to be there waiting when Jesus shows up!
Matthew 6:33 says “seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you”...
Simeon had been seeking Jesus, so intently so, that he had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would get to see him before he died. Simeon saw what the shepherds saw, that the Messiah had been born. He held the very Messiah in his arms and worshiped his God, saying “now let me die in peace, because I’ve seen your salvation”. Jesus was the desire of Simeon’s heart. And God was pleased to bless Simeon with seeing the Messiah for himself before he died.
We are all seeking something. What is it every day that you are seeking, that consumes your waking and sometimes sleeping thoughts, that takes your extra time, that asks for your money, that you think about the moment you wake up, that you ponder about, make plans for, study about, watch? What is your primary focus? What is the desire of your heart?
Excitement? Fun? Retirement? Your stock and 401k recovering? Your team making it to Superbowl? Fantasy Football? Your weight? Your looks? The acceptance of your peers? Your paycheck? Your house and car? And on and on your list might go...
Let me say this - You WILL find what you seek for, in one way or another. It just might not be exactly how you thought it would be.
Luke 11:9-10 says “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
So, what is it that you really are seeking deep in your spirit? I think if you are quiet long enough and brutally honest with yourself you will have to admit that what you seek, no matter what form it seems to be taking, is peace and contentment, and that can only be found by seeking one thing – a person - a savior - Jesus. Just as Simeon did. Seek him with your whole heart. Everything else will take care of itself. And while you live here on earth you will also get to see Jesus – every day.
Can you say like Simeon did "I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people?" It is my hope that you can.
Praying for open eyes to see.
Love, Teresa
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Day 15, The Christmas Story, The Journey to Bethlehem
Good morning. Yesterday we studied Zechariah’s speech being restored and the life of faith that he now exhibited after his time of silence. Today, we are actually getting near the birth of Christ! I’m shocked – because I’m so long winded, that we might actually be having him born before the 25th! Miracle! But as usual, I’ll just keep going and stop where God says stop for the day and who knows what will happen!
Luke 2
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his wife, who was now obviously pregnant.
This will be one of those days of historical background, but will be necessary to the rest of the story, so bear with me, because the good stuff is soon to come.
A regional census leads Joseph and his betrothed, Mary, to the city of David, better known as Bethlehem. The decree had come from Caesar Augustus, better known as Octavian, who ruled from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14. The administrator of the census was Quirinius, governor of Syria. The census was most likely in order for tax purposes. I would imagine the Roman occupation of their land would have caused the Jews great bitterness toward paying them taxes. Although a lot of scholars argue that Joseph wouldn’t have gone to his ancestral home, it does make sense that the Roman authorities would seek to keep things peaceful and act in accordance with their tribal culture. A journey to the ancestral home would have fit Jewish practice, so that the custom was done in a culturally inoffensive manner (2 Sam 24). This was important, since the tax itself would have been a painful reminder of Israel's position before Rome.
Bethlehem has hot summers and cold winters, sort of like we do here in Tennessee. 70%of their rainfall occurs from December through March. So add cold to wet and rainy, and add traveling in it for three days, and you get chilled to the bone cold.
From Nazareth to Bethlehem was about a ninety mile trip when Samaria was bypassed. Jews generally avoided going through Samaria since they were basically enemies. (That’s a whole different study.!) So, this journey would have taken around three days! The scripture says Mary is “obviously” pregnant. You know, I wondered as I read this, how far along she actually was. If she endured a three-day journey on foot and on the back of a donkey, (traveling 30 miles a day!) it is quite plausible that this would have induced labor, even earlier than she was expecting. Anybody that’s ever had a baby has heard other women tell them to walk around a lot, in hopes of inducing labor. I cannot imagine Mary’s discomfort for these three long days. At the end of pregnancy, your back hurts, you certainly move at a snail’s pace, the baby is pushing up on your ribcage making it more difficult to breath. You have to go potty EVERY 15 minutes. There is NO way I could have ridden on a donkey before I had my last child, because Sarah Beth was so long and big, and I was so short-waisted that I truly believe she hooked her toes around my lower ribs like a monkey would and hung upside down, and occasionally push up on the barbells to stretch - agony. If I did sit, it would have to be bowed backward just to have breathing room! It is a medical fact that your heart is enlarged and working overtime during those last weeks. You are exhausted. Add to that the cold weather and the rainy season, well, that adds up to complete misery for a very pregnant woman.
I find it interesting that the number of days travel would have been three. Three is so interwoven through the Bible and is so significant in so many things. The three of the Trinity, 33 the age of Jesus when he began ministry, three days in the belly of a whale, Jesus was buried and raised again in 3 days, and I could go on and on (again, a whole ‘nother study). Even pregnancy by modern science is now divided into three “trimesters”.
But God had planned it this way, because a prophecy had stated in Micah 5:2 the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, David’s ancestral town.
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."
. IEverything is subject to the plan and purpose of God and to his timing and to his Sovereigntyn Proverbs you may remember the verse that says he turns the hearts of kings. Remember the story of how he hardened Pharaoh’s heart? And in this case, it was the Romans, the authorities who sought to subdue and control the Jews. Caesar had made it law that there would be a census taken of all the known world (in this case, the Roman Empire). And during Quirinius’s term as governor, he administered it. But, ironically, the move of the authorities to take this census and tax the people at this particular time in history, orchestrated (even though they didn’t realize it) by God himself, would bring Joseph, Mary and their unborn baby, the Messiah, straight into the town where God had promised so long ago that he would be born. Every last detail does not escape the notice of God. It was in Bethlehem that David had been born, and now the "eternal king" would be born in this very same town. Royalty, a "King of kings", was soon to enter human history. Bethlehem means "house of bread". Do you remember the day we studied Nazareth and how the "Living Water" was sent to be raised in a town so needy of water in its dry, arid region. And today, we can now see that the "Bread of Life" was prophesied to be born in a town that means "house of bread"! I think that is so cool that God has such awesome little details. And sometimes I wonder why Jews can't see it? Why is it not obvious to them that Jesus is truly their Messiah? I guess so their eyes would be blind and we Gentiles would be offered the same salvation that they are!
When God has a plan, there is no struggling on our part to force it to happen. It falls into perfect timing, like pieces in a puzzle, effortlessly because you have the Holy Spirit with you. We have all tried to make things happen, make things be like we thought God would have them. But in our wildest dreams, we can never know the ways of God. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And sometimes it may take us on a long, uncomfortable journey to get us to the place that he is ready to fulfill his promise in his time. Remember, He did not even spare this discomfort on Mary or Joseph, the very people chosen to raise his son.
As you journey to the place God is preparing for you, do not assume all is not well if the journey seems difficult at times. He will still prepare the way ahead of you, still bring you to the right place at the right time, with ways beyond our own means, ways that we could never dream of. And out of the long journey will in time come a treasure, as we are soon to see.
Teresa
Luke 2
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his wife, who was now obviously pregnant.
This will be one of those days of historical background, but will be necessary to the rest of the story, so bear with me, because the good stuff is soon to come.
A regional census leads Joseph and his betrothed, Mary, to the city of David, better known as Bethlehem. The decree had come from Caesar Augustus, better known as Octavian, who ruled from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14. The administrator of the census was Quirinius, governor of Syria. The census was most likely in order for tax purposes. I would imagine the Roman occupation of their land would have caused the Jews great bitterness toward paying them taxes. Although a lot of scholars argue that Joseph wouldn’t have gone to his ancestral home, it does make sense that the Roman authorities would seek to keep things peaceful and act in accordance with their tribal culture. A journey to the ancestral home would have fit Jewish practice, so that the custom was done in a culturally inoffensive manner (2 Sam 24). This was important, since the tax itself would have been a painful reminder of Israel's position before Rome.
Bethlehem has hot summers and cold winters, sort of like we do here in Tennessee. 70%of their rainfall occurs from December through March. So add cold to wet and rainy, and add traveling in it for three days, and you get chilled to the bone cold.
From Nazareth to Bethlehem was about a ninety mile trip when Samaria was bypassed. Jews generally avoided going through Samaria since they were basically enemies. (That’s a whole different study.!) So, this journey would have taken around three days! The scripture says Mary is “obviously” pregnant. You know, I wondered as I read this, how far along she actually was. If she endured a three-day journey on foot and on the back of a donkey, (traveling 30 miles a day!) it is quite plausible that this would have induced labor, even earlier than she was expecting. Anybody that’s ever had a baby has heard other women tell them to walk around a lot, in hopes of inducing labor. I cannot imagine Mary’s discomfort for these three long days. At the end of pregnancy, your back hurts, you certainly move at a snail’s pace, the baby is pushing up on your ribcage making it more difficult to breath. You have to go potty EVERY 15 minutes. There is NO way I could have ridden on a donkey before I had my last child, because Sarah Beth was so long and big, and I was so short-waisted that I truly believe she hooked her toes around my lower ribs like a monkey would and hung upside down, and occasionally push up on the barbells to stretch - agony. If I did sit, it would have to be bowed backward just to have breathing room! It is a medical fact that your heart is enlarged and working overtime during those last weeks. You are exhausted. Add to that the cold weather and the rainy season, well, that adds up to complete misery for a very pregnant woman.
I find it interesting that the number of days travel would have been three. Three is so interwoven through the Bible and is so significant in so many things. The three of the Trinity, 33 the age of Jesus when he began ministry, three days in the belly of a whale, Jesus was buried and raised again in 3 days, and I could go on and on (again, a whole ‘nother study). Even pregnancy by modern science is now divided into three “trimesters”.
But God had planned it this way, because a prophecy had stated in Micah 5:2 the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, David’s ancestral town.
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."
. IEverything is subject to the plan and purpose of God and to his timing and to his Sovereigntyn Proverbs you may remember the verse that says he turns the hearts of kings. Remember the story of how he hardened Pharaoh’s heart? And in this case, it was the Romans, the authorities who sought to subdue and control the Jews. Caesar had made it law that there would be a census taken of all the known world (in this case, the Roman Empire). And during Quirinius’s term as governor, he administered it. But, ironically, the move of the authorities to take this census and tax the people at this particular time in history, orchestrated (even though they didn’t realize it) by God himself, would bring Joseph, Mary and their unborn baby, the Messiah, straight into the town where God had promised so long ago that he would be born. Every last detail does not escape the notice of God. It was in Bethlehem that David had been born, and now the "eternal king" would be born in this very same town. Royalty, a "King of kings", was soon to enter human history. Bethlehem means "house of bread". Do you remember the day we studied Nazareth and how the "Living Water" was sent to be raised in a town so needy of water in its dry, arid region. And today, we can now see that the "Bread of Life" was prophesied to be born in a town that means "house of bread"! I think that is so cool that God has such awesome little details. And sometimes I wonder why Jews can't see it? Why is it not obvious to them that Jesus is truly their Messiah? I guess so their eyes would be blind and we Gentiles would be offered the same salvation that they are!
When God has a plan, there is no struggling on our part to force it to happen. It falls into perfect timing, like pieces in a puzzle, effortlessly because you have the Holy Spirit with you. We have all tried to make things happen, make things be like we thought God would have them. But in our wildest dreams, we can never know the ways of God. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And sometimes it may take us on a long, uncomfortable journey to get us to the place that he is ready to fulfill his promise in his time. Remember, He did not even spare this discomfort on Mary or Joseph, the very people chosen to raise his son.
As you journey to the place God is preparing for you, do not assume all is not well if the journey seems difficult at times. He will still prepare the way ahead of you, still bring you to the right place at the right time, with ways beyond our own means, ways that we could never dream of. And out of the long journey will in time come a treasure, as we are soon to see.
Teresa
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day 14, The Christmas Story, A Vision for your Child
Good morning. Yesterday, we learned about the birth of John, and how it was that Zechariah was given his voice and his hearing back at John’s circumcision and naming ceremony. The people around him knew that John must be a special child because of what they had seen God do that day. Upon God restoring his voice, he also filled him with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was already upon Elizabeth and his son John, since before John’s birth. We think of the Holy Spirit only being active after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, but here we have it. He’s always been around and active, and always will be. The verses immediately following that tell us what Zechariah’s focus now was. He immediately had this to say:
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: (When we encounter God in a personal way, we will open up our mouths and speak. Our hearts will be full and will overflow and we can’t help but talk about it.
)
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
It sounds like to me the time of quiet had done Zechariah a lot of good. He wasn’t calling his son, John, the savior, but rather was acknowledging that God had indeed done what he told him he would, and that it was all a part of the plan for the Savior’s imminent coming, within six months actually! The same Zechariah that Gabriel had prophesied to and responded with doubt, now prophesies himself over the people around him that day! This day, as Zechariah stared into the face of his one-week old little baby boy, he stared into the physical manifestation of God’s promise to him. It had now come to be. Faith had become sight. The years of waiting for a child had passed, nine months of waiting for the pregnancy had passed, a week of waiting after his birth had passed, and now on this special day, Zechariah saw the fullness of what the Lord was doing. It was almost as if his eyes were fully opened along with his mouth and ears. I’m sure that Zechariah had listened quietly around Mary and Elizabeth as the spent time together talking of what their God had done in their lives and the miracles and the angels, and things that were nothing short of divine. And when we are left in silence as he was, there is a lot of thinking and pondering time.
Join Zechariah at this overwhelmingly precious and tender time as he holds his son and begins to speak this prophecy over his son.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
I think Zechariah’s time of reflection prepared him to be the father John was going to need to be this man God called him to be. John became a strong man, full of purpose, not wavering, very focused, and very different from his peers. That happens when God has a calling on someone’s life, and also when those around him, nurture him in that calling.
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
If you are a Christian and a parent, what do you see as God’s vision for your child? Do you truly see his truly everlasting eternal vision and purpose for your child and those whose lives he will touch to be soccer on Monday, dance on Tuesday, music lessons on Wednesday, karate on Thursday, football on Friday, tournaments on Sunday, and every other imaginable kind of busyness during any available free times? Do you see it as making sure they get as much as everybody else under the tree this year? Do you see it as making sure they “succeed, achieve, compete, win, get a great job, go to the right school”? Do you see it as making life as busy and performance oriented as possible, and to look out for themselves above everything else? Some of you might. It is, after all, a rampant epidemic in our self-focused, achievement-oriented culture, enslaving our children with a spirit of busyness and self-satisfaction. Or do you let them see you pray on your knees, let them catch you reading your Bible, choosing church over those endless Sunday travel teams, watch you give away what you have instead of hoard it, watch you spend time building relationships, watch you parents loving each other, who sit and play games with them and do puzzles and spend time with them, not a computer screen, not a TV screen, not in shuttling them to the next activity while driving through McDonald’s.
God as our Father is totally about relationship with us. “Be still and know that I am God” is only one of countless verses in the Bible where God stresses quietness and alone time with him, relationship, friendship with him. Are you passing that virtue on to your children? What is it you are speaking over them with every action you take or every word you say to them? As as always, I ask myself the same questions, because once your children are grown as mine are you have a lot of regrets and see what you wish you’d done differently.
How can we pass onto our children wisdom unless we have attained it, lessons learned from life experiences unless we have chosen to learn them, the importance of a close walk with God unless we ourselves have a close walk with God, the vision for their future if we do not have one for them or ourselves, faith to be our provider when our true faith is in our job and our Visa card, hope for eternity if we do not even have hope for making ends meet, true joy in living unless we have found the author of true joy? The answer is we can pass no abundant life, nothing of value onto our children if that virtue doesn’t already reside in us. You cannot give what you do not possess. God allowed Zechariah to grow in virtue so he could raise a virtuous young man. And when he again had his voice, he from that point began a life of speaking over John God’s purpose for his life. His manner of speech changed from doubt to faith and prophecy. And John then as an adult pointed people to Christ everywhere he went. Just like God wants us to. Just like he wants our children to.
The absolute three best gifts you can give your son or daughter this Christmas are first of all, Jesus himself, secondly you can give them you, thirdly you can give them your time.
Take one step today to center your life and the life of your family in the middle of purpose – God’s purpose.
Teresa
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: (When we encounter God in a personal way, we will open up our mouths and speak. Our hearts will be full and will overflow and we can’t help but talk about it.
)
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
It sounds like to me the time of quiet had done Zechariah a lot of good. He wasn’t calling his son, John, the savior, but rather was acknowledging that God had indeed done what he told him he would, and that it was all a part of the plan for the Savior’s imminent coming, within six months actually! The same Zechariah that Gabriel had prophesied to and responded with doubt, now prophesies himself over the people around him that day! This day, as Zechariah stared into the face of his one-week old little baby boy, he stared into the physical manifestation of God’s promise to him. It had now come to be. Faith had become sight. The years of waiting for a child had passed, nine months of waiting for the pregnancy had passed, a week of waiting after his birth had passed, and now on this special day, Zechariah saw the fullness of what the Lord was doing. It was almost as if his eyes were fully opened along with his mouth and ears. I’m sure that Zechariah had listened quietly around Mary and Elizabeth as the spent time together talking of what their God had done in their lives and the miracles and the angels, and things that were nothing short of divine. And when we are left in silence as he was, there is a lot of thinking and pondering time.
Join Zechariah at this overwhelmingly precious and tender time as he holds his son and begins to speak this prophecy over his son.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
I think Zechariah’s time of reflection prepared him to be the father John was going to need to be this man God called him to be. John became a strong man, full of purpose, not wavering, very focused, and very different from his peers. That happens when God has a calling on someone’s life, and also when those around him, nurture him in that calling.
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
If you are a Christian and a parent, what do you see as God’s vision for your child? Do you truly see his truly everlasting eternal vision and purpose for your child and those whose lives he will touch to be soccer on Monday, dance on Tuesday, music lessons on Wednesday, karate on Thursday, football on Friday, tournaments on Sunday, and every other imaginable kind of busyness during any available free times? Do you see it as making sure they get as much as everybody else under the tree this year? Do you see it as making sure they “succeed, achieve, compete, win, get a great job, go to the right school”? Do you see it as making life as busy and performance oriented as possible, and to look out for themselves above everything else? Some of you might. It is, after all, a rampant epidemic in our self-focused, achievement-oriented culture, enslaving our children with a spirit of busyness and self-satisfaction. Or do you let them see you pray on your knees, let them catch you reading your Bible, choosing church over those endless Sunday travel teams, watch you give away what you have instead of hoard it, watch you spend time building relationships, watch you parents loving each other, who sit and play games with them and do puzzles and spend time with them, not a computer screen, not a TV screen, not in shuttling them to the next activity while driving through McDonald’s.
God as our Father is totally about relationship with us. “Be still and know that I am God” is only one of countless verses in the Bible where God stresses quietness and alone time with him, relationship, friendship with him. Are you passing that virtue on to your children? What is it you are speaking over them with every action you take or every word you say to them? As as always, I ask myself the same questions, because once your children are grown as mine are you have a lot of regrets and see what you wish you’d done differently.
How can we pass onto our children wisdom unless we have attained it, lessons learned from life experiences unless we have chosen to learn them, the importance of a close walk with God unless we ourselves have a close walk with God, the vision for their future if we do not have one for them or ourselves, faith to be our provider when our true faith is in our job and our Visa card, hope for eternity if we do not even have hope for making ends meet, true joy in living unless we have found the author of true joy? The answer is we can pass no abundant life, nothing of value onto our children if that virtue doesn’t already reside in us. You cannot give what you do not possess. God allowed Zechariah to grow in virtue so he could raise a virtuous young man. And when he again had his voice, he from that point began a life of speaking over John God’s purpose for his life. His manner of speech changed from doubt to faith and prophecy. And John then as an adult pointed people to Christ everywhere he went. Just like God wants us to. Just like he wants our children to.
The absolute three best gifts you can give your son or daughter this Christmas are first of all, Jesus himself, secondly you can give them you, thirdly you can give them your time.
Take one step today to center your life and the life of your family in the middle of purpose – God’s purpose.
Teresa
Friday, December 11, 2009
Day 10, The Christmas Story, Gabriel and Mary
Good morning. Yesterday, we stopped at the place where Gabriel had come to Mary, and told her she was favored and what God was going to do in her by bringing Jesus our Messiah through her. After her confusion over how a virgin could have a child, Gabriel graciously explained further how it would happen. He even told her about Elizabeth, her relative, being six months pregnant in her old age. So, now, we wait for Mary’s response. What she is asked to do will alter the course of her life forever. If she had made any plans for the future, this would certainly change them. If she was worried about her reputation and harming the name of her family, this might be a big problem. If she was worried about the betrothal to Joseph and how in the world he would take this, this also would be a big problem. If she was planning on a house with a white picket fence and 2.3 children, this might affect the plan a little bit. If acceptance of the people around her is really high on her list, then this would be a problem. Everything she could think of in her life would be dramatically altered if she agreed to this. So... what was her response going to be?
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
WOW! Do you realize the significance of what she said? I don’t think Mary was superhuman. I believe she honestly at some point had all those things mentioned above flash through her mind. It is our human nature. And I believe God understands that. Mary was just as human as any of us. In Psalms 103 it says he knows us, knows our frame, knows we are only dust. He knows our human tendencies because he created them. There is no sin in that. The sin or blessing would be in the RESPONSE to what was asked of her. In the choice of whether to serve doubt or serve truth. And her response was, in essence, “I am your servant, Lord. Even with all these other questions coming at me right now, I am going to choose to believe you, I am going to choose to trust you, I choose to allow you my life, my body, all of me, for your plan and your purpose for this world. You, Most High, who will birth in me the Son of the Most High, are the Name above all Names, and you are over any name I will be labeled with, over any name of any person that doesn’t believe and ridicules and gossips about me, and you are the Name above the name of Doubt. ”
That, in itself, is a lesson that we could study and ponder for days and days! When God approaches us with his plan, his purpose, and it will dramatically (or even slightly) alter our plan, our purpose, what is our response? ? ? Moses complained that he couldn’t speak well, Sarah laughed because she was too old to have a baby, Zechariah doubted and needed proof. But Mary said, whatever you want, God, make it happen in me. God will never require this particular task of anyone again, but he will ask you to join him in his purpose in an area he has designed just for you to fit in as a piece of his puzzle. And you can laugh, start pointing out your weaknesses, doubt, ask for proof, say pick somebody else, or whatever response you choose. Or you can willingly bow in the presence of the Name above ALL names and allow him to place on you your garment of divine purpose!
“And then the angel left her.” So, Gabriel left. I am sure Mary was in awe and couldn’t do much at that point but have the angel’s words continually repeating in her head. Maybe it was now that the whole impact of what he said began to settle in. Maybe it was now that her mind started recalling scriptures taught to her from Isaiah about the Messiah coming to his people. You know how when anything really big or dramatic or traumatic or overwhelming happens, you spend the time that follows sorting through it, thinking about it over and over, playing it like a tape recorder again and again? I know I do. Maybe it was like when we read a Bible verse. The more you read it, then the more it says to you, the more the words become alive, the more you are reminded of other verses that correspond to it. The more it takes root in your heart.
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.
She left Nazareth a few days later and hurried to see Elizabeth in Judea. Maybe she told Joseph her experience before she left. We’ll look at Joseph tomorrow. But, regardless of whether she told anybody before she left, one thing is for sure. She wanted to go see Elizabeth, she needed to see her. Gabriel had mentioned her. She must talk to Elizabeth. Elizabeth would understand. Elizabeth would believe her. She needed this support. Don’t we all need the support of our Christian brothers and sisters, who we can confide in what the Lord is showing us and they confirm it, encourage us and believe us and pray for us? One of the best things you can do for your walk is to surround yourself with those who truly believe in and seek God, those people that will build up and not cast doubt and fear. Those that have a personal experience with God himself. Those that set themselves apart with the Lord, secluded with him and spending time with him to learn more of him. Those that will rejoice with you when God does something miraculous.
If you’ve ever done the monthly walk through Proverbs, you are aware of just how many verses allude to the importance of who we surround ourselves with. Today’s verse is another picture of that. We need our brothers and sisters. I believe God will even bring to mind for you the people that you need to align yourself with for support and growth and encouragement, and will also bring to mind those that will not do those things, that you should guard your heart from. Ask him to show you today who those people are. Ask him to show you if your walk is being effected by those you align yourself with. Do they bring doubt and negativity to your walk, or do they bring faith and encouragement and build you up? Now ... ask that same question of yourself? What is your influence on the people you are around? Are you the one that comes to mind when they need encouragement, need somebody to believe in them? Or are you the one they avoid and distance themselves from because they find in you negativity, discouragement, and unbelief?
I really want to be one that believes, that encourages and lifts up, that believes WITH GOD, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. That rejoices with them. That partners with them. I believe that if we know the Lord, that deep within our spirit, we all want to be that kind of person. That “Elizabeth” that is there and available, that has spent time alone with the Lord, that has experienced God’s provision and blessing in her own life in seemingly impossible circumstances, and is excited to pour herself into another life.
Enjoy your Friday as you seek to be both an open, available, trusting, believing “Mary”, and an encouraging, supportive, believing “Elizabeth”. And then watch how God works through you.
Teresa
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
WOW! Do you realize the significance of what she said? I don’t think Mary was superhuman. I believe she honestly at some point had all those things mentioned above flash through her mind. It is our human nature. And I believe God understands that. Mary was just as human as any of us. In Psalms 103 it says he knows us, knows our frame, knows we are only dust. He knows our human tendencies because he created them. There is no sin in that. The sin or blessing would be in the RESPONSE to what was asked of her. In the choice of whether to serve doubt or serve truth. And her response was, in essence, “I am your servant, Lord. Even with all these other questions coming at me right now, I am going to choose to believe you, I am going to choose to trust you, I choose to allow you my life, my body, all of me, for your plan and your purpose for this world. You, Most High, who will birth in me the Son of the Most High, are the Name above all Names, and you are over any name I will be labeled with, over any name of any person that doesn’t believe and ridicules and gossips about me, and you are the Name above the name of Doubt. ”
That, in itself, is a lesson that we could study and ponder for days and days! When God approaches us with his plan, his purpose, and it will dramatically (or even slightly) alter our plan, our purpose, what is our response? ? ? Moses complained that he couldn’t speak well, Sarah laughed because she was too old to have a baby, Zechariah doubted and needed proof. But Mary said, whatever you want, God, make it happen in me. God will never require this particular task of anyone again, but he will ask you to join him in his purpose in an area he has designed just for you to fit in as a piece of his puzzle. And you can laugh, start pointing out your weaknesses, doubt, ask for proof, say pick somebody else, or whatever response you choose. Or you can willingly bow in the presence of the Name above ALL names and allow him to place on you your garment of divine purpose!
“And then the angel left her.” So, Gabriel left. I am sure Mary was in awe and couldn’t do much at that point but have the angel’s words continually repeating in her head. Maybe it was now that the whole impact of what he said began to settle in. Maybe it was now that her mind started recalling scriptures taught to her from Isaiah about the Messiah coming to his people. You know how when anything really big or dramatic or traumatic or overwhelming happens, you spend the time that follows sorting through it, thinking about it over and over, playing it like a tape recorder again and again? I know I do. Maybe it was like when we read a Bible verse. The more you read it, then the more it says to you, the more the words become alive, the more you are reminded of other verses that correspond to it. The more it takes root in your heart.
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.
She left Nazareth a few days later and hurried to see Elizabeth in Judea. Maybe she told Joseph her experience before she left. We’ll look at Joseph tomorrow. But, regardless of whether she told anybody before she left, one thing is for sure. She wanted to go see Elizabeth, she needed to see her. Gabriel had mentioned her. She must talk to Elizabeth. Elizabeth would understand. Elizabeth would believe her. She needed this support. Don’t we all need the support of our Christian brothers and sisters, who we can confide in what the Lord is showing us and they confirm it, encourage us and believe us and pray for us? One of the best things you can do for your walk is to surround yourself with those who truly believe in and seek God, those people that will build up and not cast doubt and fear. Those that have a personal experience with God himself. Those that set themselves apart with the Lord, secluded with him and spending time with him to learn more of him. Those that will rejoice with you when God does something miraculous.
If you’ve ever done the monthly walk through Proverbs, you are aware of just how many verses allude to the importance of who we surround ourselves with. Today’s verse is another picture of that. We need our brothers and sisters. I believe God will even bring to mind for you the people that you need to align yourself with for support and growth and encouragement, and will also bring to mind those that will not do those things, that you should guard your heart from. Ask him to show you today who those people are. Ask him to show you if your walk is being effected by those you align yourself with. Do they bring doubt and negativity to your walk, or do they bring faith and encouragement and build you up? Now ... ask that same question of yourself? What is your influence on the people you are around? Are you the one that comes to mind when they need encouragement, need somebody to believe in them? Or are you the one they avoid and distance themselves from because they find in you negativity, discouragement, and unbelief?
I really want to be one that believes, that encourages and lifts up, that believes WITH GOD, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. That rejoices with them. That partners with them. I believe that if we know the Lord, that deep within our spirit, we all want to be that kind of person. That “Elizabeth” that is there and available, that has spent time alone with the Lord, that has experienced God’s provision and blessing in her own life in seemingly impossible circumstances, and is excited to pour herself into another life.
Enjoy your Friday as you seek to be both an open, available, trusting, believing “Mary”, and an encouraging, supportive, believing “Elizabeth”. And then watch how God works through you.
Teresa
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Day 9, The Christmas Story, Logic or Faith
Good morning. It is Thursday, December 10. I hope you had time yesterday to place your hand on the scripture and remind yourself that your name is written in the palm of God’s hand and that he calls us by name. We continue with Mary’s visit with Gabriel today...
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
I find the pattern here interesting, because it is so very much like Gabriel’s encounter with Zechariah. Gabriel shows up, the person is startled and even afraid. Gabriel calls them by name and tells them not to be afraid. He then proceeds to tell what God is going to do, and even the details to follow. He tells Mary that she will have a baby, a boy, and tells her what to name him (Jesus, meaning “The Lord Saves”), that he will be given the throne of his ancestor, David, he will reign over Israel forever, etc. (A fulfillment of the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7:16) A mind-boggling string of announcements, enough to cause one to stagger. And what does she do? Exactly what Zechariah did. She heard the first thing he said and probably was in shock over it and couldn’t move past it yet to get the full effect of the rest of the announcement.
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
Just as had happened to Zechariah, her finite mind stopped at the point she heard “you are going to conceive and give birth to a son”. Which would be the obvious place it would screech to a halt for any human, since she was a virgin. She may have been young and naive, but she was smart enough to know virgins don’t have babies! And the old friend Logic showed up and asked, How can this happen? Zechariah asked “how can I KNOW this will happen”, but Mary only asked “how can this happen”. Zechariah, a priest, a man up in years, a man who was a leader, who ministered in the temple, wanted proof that he could know it would happen. Mary, young and naive, was not asking for proof. I believe she was innocently wondering how you could have a baby if you are a virgin. So Gabriel proceeded to explain it to her.
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
Remember, in the last verse, Gabriel said Jesus would be called the “Son of the Most High”. Here, he reiterates that phrase by explaining to her that the “power of the Most High” would overshadow her. Gabriel explains that the reason she will have a baby in a humanly impossible way is that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The child will be holy. Her son will be called the Son of God. (Among others, Peter’s pronouncement comes to mind from Matthew 16:16, when he said “You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God.”) So, Gabriel took the care to explain to Mary further. Then he gives another announcement to Mary...
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
I believe he was fueling her faith. He told her what was going to happen. He then explained it further. Then, he added to his pronouncement the fact that her relative, Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age (Zechariah wasn’t quite so blunt – he said she was “well along in years” – smart man). Not only was she going to have a humanly impossible baby, her relative Elizabeth, who had been wanting a child for years, but was old and barren, was now six months pregnant. There was somebody else out there to talk to, who would believe her story, who could encourage her, who had also experienced a divine intervention that could not have occurred apart from the Most High God.
“FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!”
Do you really believe that? Do you honestly believe that is still a true statement today? Are you truly able in your mind and heart and spirit to look back those few years ago and believe this actually happened? We say yes, we are a Christian, of course we believe it happened just like it is written. We say, yes, we believe that God’s timing was impeccable. After years of praying for a Messiah, we believe God had chosen that time to come to answer the prayers of his people. Yes, we believe Zechariah was in the Holy Place burning incense that day by divine providence. Of course, we believe Mary was a virgin and yes, we believe Gabriel was burning up the highway between heaven and earth. And yes, even though we can’t physically explain it, we believe Jesus was actually God’s son. And yes, we believe God delights in impossible situations. And yes, we believe old barren Elizabeth had a baby. And yes, we believe the impossible situation is really the truest way for Him and Him alone to receive glory. And yes, he uses finite, frail, logical humans, so his power can be show-cased in our weakness. We believe he used that pattern over and over and over in the stories we read in the Bible. Maybe, by now, you even say you believe that God calls you, personally, by name and writes your name in the palm of his hand.
We say we believe, but ... we worry over the smallest, most insignificant things. Things that, in the end, make absolutely no difference in eternity. Things that won’t matter by next week or next year. Things that are material and temporal. We believe our situation is beyond help, beyond saving. Let me just tell you, you can’t believe both ways. And, believe me, I’m preaching to myself too! One is going to win out, no matter what you profess. The one that wins out will be the one you truly believe, and it will be the one you base your life and actions on. It will be the one everybody sees when they watch you. Only one belief is true. Whether it is 0 A.D. or 2009 A.D.,did God change? Does he still have a perfect timetable? How would we, in our culture, today, accept these events? With skepticism? With doubt? Asking for proof? How do you accept the own impossibilities in your life? What would your answer be to Gabriel if he showed up while you were reading this email and told you God wanted to do something unexplainable and miraculous in your life? Would you rely on logic? Would your first reaction be to doubt? If you are like me, you fit the above description. I don’t like that, but I must admit that is how I often live and act.
Today let God convict you in the dark corners of your heart that harbor unbelief in his ways, his timing, his miracles, his provision, his answers. And tomorrow, we will see what Mary’s response was to Gabriel.
Isaiah 41: (9) "I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. (10) Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (13) "I am holding you by your right hand - I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Do not be afraid. I am here to help you." (20) Everyone will see this miracle and understand that it is the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, who did it."
Praying that God helps us all in our personal areas of worry and doubt and unbelief before we go any further in this story...
Teresa
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
I find the pattern here interesting, because it is so very much like Gabriel’s encounter with Zechariah. Gabriel shows up, the person is startled and even afraid. Gabriel calls them by name and tells them not to be afraid. He then proceeds to tell what God is going to do, and even the details to follow. He tells Mary that she will have a baby, a boy, and tells her what to name him (Jesus, meaning “The Lord Saves”), that he will be given the throne of his ancestor, David, he will reign over Israel forever, etc. (A fulfillment of the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7:16) A mind-boggling string of announcements, enough to cause one to stagger. And what does she do? Exactly what Zechariah did. She heard the first thing he said and probably was in shock over it and couldn’t move past it yet to get the full effect of the rest of the announcement.
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
Just as had happened to Zechariah, her finite mind stopped at the point she heard “you are going to conceive and give birth to a son”. Which would be the obvious place it would screech to a halt for any human, since she was a virgin. She may have been young and naive, but she was smart enough to know virgins don’t have babies! And the old friend Logic showed up and asked, How can this happen? Zechariah asked “how can I KNOW this will happen”, but Mary only asked “how can this happen”. Zechariah, a priest, a man up in years, a man who was a leader, who ministered in the temple, wanted proof that he could know it would happen. Mary, young and naive, was not asking for proof. I believe she was innocently wondering how you could have a baby if you are a virgin. So Gabriel proceeded to explain it to her.
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
Remember, in the last verse, Gabriel said Jesus would be called the “Son of the Most High”. Here, he reiterates that phrase by explaining to her that the “power of the Most High” would overshadow her. Gabriel explains that the reason she will have a baby in a humanly impossible way is that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The child will be holy. Her son will be called the Son of God. (Among others, Peter’s pronouncement comes to mind from Matthew 16:16, when he said “You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God.”) So, Gabriel took the care to explain to Mary further. Then he gives another announcement to Mary...
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
I believe he was fueling her faith. He told her what was going to happen. He then explained it further. Then, he added to his pronouncement the fact that her relative, Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age (Zechariah wasn’t quite so blunt – he said she was “well along in years” – smart man). Not only was she going to have a humanly impossible baby, her relative Elizabeth, who had been wanting a child for years, but was old and barren, was now six months pregnant. There was somebody else out there to talk to, who would believe her story, who could encourage her, who had also experienced a divine intervention that could not have occurred apart from the Most High God.
“FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!”
Do you really believe that? Do you honestly believe that is still a true statement today? Are you truly able in your mind and heart and spirit to look back those few years ago and believe this actually happened? We say yes, we are a Christian, of course we believe it happened just like it is written. We say, yes, we believe that God’s timing was impeccable. After years of praying for a Messiah, we believe God had chosen that time to come to answer the prayers of his people. Yes, we believe Zechariah was in the Holy Place burning incense that day by divine providence. Of course, we believe Mary was a virgin and yes, we believe Gabriel was burning up the highway between heaven and earth. And yes, even though we can’t physically explain it, we believe Jesus was actually God’s son. And yes, we believe God delights in impossible situations. And yes, we believe old barren Elizabeth had a baby. And yes, we believe the impossible situation is really the truest way for Him and Him alone to receive glory. And yes, he uses finite, frail, logical humans, so his power can be show-cased in our weakness. We believe he used that pattern over and over and over in the stories we read in the Bible. Maybe, by now, you even say you believe that God calls you, personally, by name and writes your name in the palm of his hand.
We say we believe, but ... we worry over the smallest, most insignificant things. Things that, in the end, make absolutely no difference in eternity. Things that won’t matter by next week or next year. Things that are material and temporal. We believe our situation is beyond help, beyond saving. Let me just tell you, you can’t believe both ways. And, believe me, I’m preaching to myself too! One is going to win out, no matter what you profess. The one that wins out will be the one you truly believe, and it will be the one you base your life and actions on. It will be the one everybody sees when they watch you. Only one belief is true. Whether it is 0 A.D. or 2009 A.D.,did God change? Does he still have a perfect timetable? How would we, in our culture, today, accept these events? With skepticism? With doubt? Asking for proof? How do you accept the own impossibilities in your life? What would your answer be to Gabriel if he showed up while you were reading this email and told you God wanted to do something unexplainable and miraculous in your life? Would you rely on logic? Would your first reaction be to doubt? If you are like me, you fit the above description. I don’t like that, but I must admit that is how I often live and act.
Today let God convict you in the dark corners of your heart that harbor unbelief in his ways, his timing, his miracles, his provision, his answers. And tomorrow, we will see what Mary’s response was to Gabriel.
Isaiah 41: (9) "I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. (10) Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (13) "I am holding you by your right hand - I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Do not be afraid. I am here to help you." (20) Everyone will see this miracle and understand that it is the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, who did it."
Praying that God helps us all in our personal areas of worry and doubt and unbelief before we go any further in this story...
Teresa
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Day 8, The Christmas Story, He Knows My Name
Good morning. It is Wednesday the 9th of December. I must add a disclaimer here. I was sitting on the couch this morning, thinking, hmmm... it’s two weeks till Christmas Eve. Today, we’re just getting to the Annunciation. Will I even get to the birth of Jesus in this study by the 24th, Christmas Eve? See, I don’t know, because every morning when I sit down, I don’t know what I’m going to say or how far in the scripture passage I will go, so hey, who knows? I don’t even know what I am fixing to write below this paragraph. I was thinking “I need to make sure we have Jesus being born on Christmas Eve”, and in my analytical mind thought I might need to count off the scriptures remaining and divide them by days, so the outcome would be just right. BUT God reminded me that this story should be told as HE gives understanding, and not to meet a schedule, and that, as in all things, perfect timing is his. Otherwise, in my own hands of planning and scheduling, I and all of you would just become the victim of another hurried, rushed, meaningless Christmas destroyed in the hands of humans. So, it will be interesting to see what day Jesus is born on in our study this month!
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![d]”
Yesterday, we pondered Mary, and the day before learned about her hometown, Nazareth. We learned what their engagement/betrothal customs were. And now, we come to the conversation between her and Gabriel.
So in the meanwhile between visiting Zechariah, and at least six months later on this day, Gabriel has been back up at the throne of God. I am wondering during that year if all these occurrences ranked the highest for numbers of angelic visitation in Bible history. I think in this story there are more than 4 angelic visitations, maybe more, at least two of those by Gabriel himself. Once again, Gabriel is sent to earth, this time to Mary. I wonder if he finds out about these things just before the fact? It is my guess he does. You know how God never seems to lay out the whole story to us, just part of it? I wonder if he did that with Gabriel. Nevertheless, Gabriel continues his post at the throne of God, watching for any sign from God that it was time to carry out the next portion of his plan. And six months after visiting Zechariah, he is now sent to earth again, this time to a young, unimportant, unknown teenage girl in a similarly unimportant small village. And the first thing he says to Mary is “Hello, woman who has been given favor, the Lord is with you!”
There is an exclamation point in this verse, as there was when Gabriel spoke to Zechariah. I think he was truly excited and enthused. Remember, he had been in the throne room. He was seeing the God of the universe, his creator and our creator, now setting in motion the events of the Messiah’s coming to earth. Of course he was excited! He, no doubt, had a bigger picture than the humans who he was sent to would have. And he was enthused!
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. At this point, he’s come to her, excited, calling her favored, saying the Lord is with her. I think it is correct to say that a young girl of her culture would be very confused and disturbed and trying to figure out what was going on. Do you know the thoughts that can run through your mind in a split second after hearing a person speak only a sentence? It is amazing how fast the brain can start analyzing and churning out information and questions.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!
I saw something here I didn’t catch before with Zechariah. In both instances, Gabriel calls them by name and tells them not to be afraid. He was not some obscure entity from another planet sent to deliver a generic message. He was debriefed by the God of the Universe, about Zechariah, and then about Mary, their positions, their lives, about them as people, and their names. He knew the people he was speaking to, and he called them by name. Doubtless, as Gabriel stood in front of God himself, God spoke their names. “Mary”... I just love that, because even that one little gesture shows the personal nature of God in his relationship with us individually. He calls us by name. And the angel who had watched his every move, not only brought a message, but he was bringing relationship. It is one thing to have an angel show up in your room. It is another for them to look you in the eyes and call you by your name and tell you not to be afraid. How loving, how personal, how intimate a picture of God’s desire for relationship with us. And that desire for relationship with us is the crux of this whole story, the reason he would soon send Jesus to us. I just never saw before that hint at relationship.
I know that’s not very far along in the story today, but that’s where I feel led to stop. I feel it is vital today, that you end this segment with the knowledge that God Almighty KNOWS your name and he SPEAKS your name. He knew intricately the players of this story, but just as intricately he knows us. Look at the verses below. And let it sink in, that HE knows YOU. HE designed YOU.
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. Jeremiah 1:5
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3
See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:16
Zephaniah 3:17(NIV) The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take GREAT DELIGHT in you, he will QUIET YOU with his love, he will REJOICE OVER YOU with singing.
Your mother, whether your birth mother or your adoptive mother, had a desire to sing over you when you were a baby. It is innate in us as mothers. We hold our babies tenderly and close to our hearts and sing to them. It is a time of bonding, of soothing, of expressing our love, our watch care over the one we have been entrusted to love. Mary would soon hold her child close to her heart, as we still do, and sing over him. But, remember, God said he made us in his image, and this innate desire in us is but a picture of our God, who in the same manner sings over us. It began with him, not with mothers. It is an image of him. He knows you, he made you, he set you apart, he called you by name, claimed you as his. He wrote his name on the palm of your hand. There is something close and intimate about the palm of the hand (remember writing your girlfriend or boyfriend’s name on the palm of your hand as a kid, closing it tightly to keep it close to you?) I used to get on to my middle son for constantly writing on his hands as a kid. Obviously, I might now have rethought that, as this was another trait of God that was passed to us when we were made in his image. He takes great delight in you, he quiets you, and he sings over you. If that is not enough, read Psalms 23 about every benefit he provides YOU.
Today let Him call you by name. I challenge you to do this - When you are near your Bible, do this. Open it up to the passage we studied today in Luke 1. Now open your hand and look at your palm. Be reminded that your name is written on God’s palm. Now close it tightly and feel the complete protection the hand provides over that palm. Lastly, now open your hand, stretch your fingers wide, and press your palm into that passage in the Bible we studied today. Leave it there. Let your alive body touch God’s alive and active words and realize that you are touching truth.
Do you hear what I hear? Listen, and you will hear him call your name.
How wonderful.
Teresa
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![d]”
Yesterday, we pondered Mary, and the day before learned about her hometown, Nazareth. We learned what their engagement/betrothal customs were. And now, we come to the conversation between her and Gabriel.
So in the meanwhile between visiting Zechariah, and at least six months later on this day, Gabriel has been back up at the throne of God. I am wondering during that year if all these occurrences ranked the highest for numbers of angelic visitation in Bible history. I think in this story there are more than 4 angelic visitations, maybe more, at least two of those by Gabriel himself. Once again, Gabriel is sent to earth, this time to Mary. I wonder if he finds out about these things just before the fact? It is my guess he does. You know how God never seems to lay out the whole story to us, just part of it? I wonder if he did that with Gabriel. Nevertheless, Gabriel continues his post at the throne of God, watching for any sign from God that it was time to carry out the next portion of his plan. And six months after visiting Zechariah, he is now sent to earth again, this time to a young, unimportant, unknown teenage girl in a similarly unimportant small village. And the first thing he says to Mary is “Hello, woman who has been given favor, the Lord is with you!”
There is an exclamation point in this verse, as there was when Gabriel spoke to Zechariah. I think he was truly excited and enthused. Remember, he had been in the throne room. He was seeing the God of the universe, his creator and our creator, now setting in motion the events of the Messiah’s coming to earth. Of course he was excited! He, no doubt, had a bigger picture than the humans who he was sent to would have. And he was enthused!
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. At this point, he’s come to her, excited, calling her favored, saying the Lord is with her. I think it is correct to say that a young girl of her culture would be very confused and disturbed and trying to figure out what was going on. Do you know the thoughts that can run through your mind in a split second after hearing a person speak only a sentence? It is amazing how fast the brain can start analyzing and churning out information and questions.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!
I saw something here I didn’t catch before with Zechariah. In both instances, Gabriel calls them by name and tells them not to be afraid. He was not some obscure entity from another planet sent to deliver a generic message. He was debriefed by the God of the Universe, about Zechariah, and then about Mary, their positions, their lives, about them as people, and their names. He knew the people he was speaking to, and he called them by name. Doubtless, as Gabriel stood in front of God himself, God spoke their names. “Mary”... I just love that, because even that one little gesture shows the personal nature of God in his relationship with us individually. He calls us by name. And the angel who had watched his every move, not only brought a message, but he was bringing relationship. It is one thing to have an angel show up in your room. It is another for them to look you in the eyes and call you by your name and tell you not to be afraid. How loving, how personal, how intimate a picture of God’s desire for relationship with us. And that desire for relationship with us is the crux of this whole story, the reason he would soon send Jesus to us. I just never saw before that hint at relationship.
I know that’s not very far along in the story today, but that’s where I feel led to stop. I feel it is vital today, that you end this segment with the knowledge that God Almighty KNOWS your name and he SPEAKS your name. He knew intricately the players of this story, but just as intricately he knows us. Look at the verses below. And let it sink in, that HE knows YOU. HE designed YOU.
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. Jeremiah 1:5
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3
See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:16
Zephaniah 3:17(NIV) The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take GREAT DELIGHT in you, he will QUIET YOU with his love, he will REJOICE OVER YOU with singing.
Your mother, whether your birth mother or your adoptive mother, had a desire to sing over you when you were a baby. It is innate in us as mothers. We hold our babies tenderly and close to our hearts and sing to them. It is a time of bonding, of soothing, of expressing our love, our watch care over the one we have been entrusted to love. Mary would soon hold her child close to her heart, as we still do, and sing over him. But, remember, God said he made us in his image, and this innate desire in us is but a picture of our God, who in the same manner sings over us. It began with him, not with mothers. It is an image of him. He knows you, he made you, he set you apart, he called you by name, claimed you as his. He wrote his name on the palm of your hand. There is something close and intimate about the palm of the hand (remember writing your girlfriend or boyfriend’s name on the palm of your hand as a kid, closing it tightly to keep it close to you?) I used to get on to my middle son for constantly writing on his hands as a kid. Obviously, I might now have rethought that, as this was another trait of God that was passed to us when we were made in his image. He takes great delight in you, he quiets you, and he sings over you. If that is not enough, read Psalms 23 about every benefit he provides YOU.
Today let Him call you by name. I challenge you to do this - When you are near your Bible, do this. Open it up to the passage we studied today in Luke 1. Now open your hand and look at your palm. Be reminded that your name is written on God’s palm. Now close it tightly and feel the complete protection the hand provides over that palm. Lastly, now open your hand, stretch your fingers wide, and press your palm into that passage in the Bible we studied today. Leave it there. Let your alive body touch God’s alive and active words and realize that you are touching truth.
Do you hear what I hear? Listen, and you will hear him call your name.
How wonderful.
Teresa
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 7, The Christmas Story, Humble Women
Good morning:) Yesterday, we learned a lot about Nazareth, Mary and Joseph’s hometown, and the place Jesus would be raised as a boy. Today, we are going to look more at where Mary was in terms of age, position, engagement, etc.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
In Matthew and in Luke, the lineages of Joseph and Mary are given. They are both considered to be from the lineage of David. The engagement of Mary and Joseph is not at all like our Western culture. It is actually a very interesting process. It is, of course, an arranged marriage. The usual age for betrothal (engagement) for a girl was around the age of 15, even as young as 12 or 13!!, and for a young man was around the age of 25. The bride was chosen by the groom’s parents or by a confidential friend. Upon entering into the engagement, a dowry and financial considerations were agreed upon by both sides. Betrothal was much more formal and far more binding than "engagement" is in our culture. It was considered to be the most binding part of the marriage transaction. Mary and Joseph had gone through a ceremony of betrothal, with acceptance before witnesses of the terms of the marriage as contracted for. God's blessing was then solemnly asked on the union, however, the complete union would take place after anywhere from some months to one or two years, completed by a procession where the groom took the bride into his house to live. In Mary’s case it would be in about a year. Mary then went back to her home to live with her family for this year until the groom took her into his house. We don’t know how long they had been engaged when this passage was written. The ceremony had already occurred. Joseph was working on her dowry during this time. She was living at home still with her parents. There were no sexual relations during this time. Their communication was always carried on through a friend of the bridegroom. They lived in separate houses during that time. The year of their betrothal was likely spent for Joseph in service to Mary’s family or in other ways raising money for her dowry, to purchase his wife. However, they were legally in the position of a married couple and any unfaithfulness would have been considered adultery. Unfaithfulness was punishable by death according to Jewish law. And, a groom would have the right to divorce his “wife” before he ever took her into his house, before there was ever a wedding procession.
So, Mary was a very young girl. I know in our culture, we cannot imagine this kind of occurrence in a 14 or 15-year-old girl. She was a virgin and was pure. (That one is unfortunately becoming harder to imagine today too.) And she had been legally bound to a man, Joseph, by a ceremony. She was a “wife” and yet under the authority still of her parents’ home. Mary was the last person to know of her intended marriage. It would have been Joseph’s parents or a trusted friend of the family who chose his wife. Then, they would have talked to Mary’s parents first and gained their approval. Mary would have been the last to know. Women did not have any kind of status in their culture. What is interesting about this is that Luke is careful to include women instrumental to the gospel in this book he wrote. You will find Luke including histories of the women involved in the life of Jesus, as well as the men. From his unique perspective as a non-Jew and a physician, his account is more detailed and recognizes women more than in the other gospels. First, we learn about Elizabeth, and now about Mary.
Remember at the first of Luke how it said that he had interviewed people and gotten first-hand accounts and collected all his data before writing this book? I wonder if he interviewed Mary. I wonder if she sat with him one day as an old woman, and began to recount her story to Luke, as he jotted down every detail she could tell him. Luke, being a doctor, no doubt believed in the validity of Mary’s virginity at the time of Jesus’ conception, or he in his medical profession would not have included it in his writings. I wonder if, looking back all those years, past all the things that had happened in her lifetime being the mother of Jesus, she began to recount for Luke the days when she was just a girl living at home, when she found out one day who her husband was going to be. The day she went to her betrothal ceremony to a man she hardly even knew. The day Gabriel came to her. The day he told her what God asked of her. The day she said yes. The day she felt the first faint flutter of her child moving inside of her. The aloneness she must have felt. The many times she submitted to choices made outside of her own will. Wow, haven’t we as women come so far from what Mary’s environment was? We choose who we date, who and if we marry, we choose our education, our careers, we choose when and if we want to have babies, and unfortunately, we have also been given a legal “right” to choose to terminate the babies that were not in our plans. Yes, when it says “we’ve come a long way, baby”, I wonder in which direction sometimes? One of the things I struggle with as a female is a very strong and independent spirit. Now, I believe God put in me exactly what he intended me to have in terms of my spirit and personality, just as he did all of us. But, I have a hard time not being “in the know”, not being part of any decision making that’s going on, not being considered an equal, deferring to my husband when we disagree and a final decision must be made. I am a daughter of Eve. But when I think of Mary, I think of a purity and an innocence, a submission, an availability, an openness, and a godliness, all wrapped up in the body of a young teenage girl. That in our day alone would be considered a miracle. But I also know that Mary was a strong young woman to be chosen to endure what she would over her lifetime. Just think, the day that Mary’s mother gave birth to her, she was born into this world with a purpose that would change the course of history, less than two decades down the road. Just think, Mary’s own mother was probably only in her 30s!
So, today, women, I especially ask you to consider what it is that causes you to not be in a position of purity and submission before the Lord. Think of the task God placed before Mary by the age of 15, and then think of where you are in your walk with the Lord today, at your age. Is there a place for greater devotion to him? Is there a place of more humility and less “rights”? Is there an openness in our hearts for what he wants to bring about through us, for what he wants to use us for, for what he wants to birth in us? What do you think he would have done in you and through you by now were you totally submitted and devoted to him and to his purposes? It is a hard question for me. But these women are placed throughout the story of Jesus birth for us to learn from. We will later study the last chapter of Proverbs, chapter 31, the virtuous woman. But for today, think about the virtue of the women we have met so far in this story. And remember, humility is not an absence of strength, but rather it is “strength under the control of God”.
Teresa
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
In Matthew and in Luke, the lineages of Joseph and Mary are given. They are both considered to be from the lineage of David. The engagement of Mary and Joseph is not at all like our Western culture. It is actually a very interesting process. It is, of course, an arranged marriage. The usual age for betrothal (engagement) for a girl was around the age of 15, even as young as 12 or 13!!, and for a young man was around the age of 25. The bride was chosen by the groom’s parents or by a confidential friend. Upon entering into the engagement, a dowry and financial considerations were agreed upon by both sides. Betrothal was much more formal and far more binding than "engagement" is in our culture. It was considered to be the most binding part of the marriage transaction. Mary and Joseph had gone through a ceremony of betrothal, with acceptance before witnesses of the terms of the marriage as contracted for. God's blessing was then solemnly asked on the union, however, the complete union would take place after anywhere from some months to one or two years, completed by a procession where the groom took the bride into his house to live. In Mary’s case it would be in about a year. Mary then went back to her home to live with her family for this year until the groom took her into his house. We don’t know how long they had been engaged when this passage was written. The ceremony had already occurred. Joseph was working on her dowry during this time. She was living at home still with her parents. There were no sexual relations during this time. Their communication was always carried on through a friend of the bridegroom. They lived in separate houses during that time. The year of their betrothal was likely spent for Joseph in service to Mary’s family or in other ways raising money for her dowry, to purchase his wife. However, they were legally in the position of a married couple and any unfaithfulness would have been considered adultery. Unfaithfulness was punishable by death according to Jewish law. And, a groom would have the right to divorce his “wife” before he ever took her into his house, before there was ever a wedding procession.
So, Mary was a very young girl. I know in our culture, we cannot imagine this kind of occurrence in a 14 or 15-year-old girl. She was a virgin and was pure. (That one is unfortunately becoming harder to imagine today too.) And she had been legally bound to a man, Joseph, by a ceremony. She was a “wife” and yet under the authority still of her parents’ home. Mary was the last person to know of her intended marriage. It would have been Joseph’s parents or a trusted friend of the family who chose his wife. Then, they would have talked to Mary’s parents first and gained their approval. Mary would have been the last to know. Women did not have any kind of status in their culture. What is interesting about this is that Luke is careful to include women instrumental to the gospel in this book he wrote. You will find Luke including histories of the women involved in the life of Jesus, as well as the men. From his unique perspective as a non-Jew and a physician, his account is more detailed and recognizes women more than in the other gospels. First, we learn about Elizabeth, and now about Mary.
Remember at the first of Luke how it said that he had interviewed people and gotten first-hand accounts and collected all his data before writing this book? I wonder if he interviewed Mary. I wonder if she sat with him one day as an old woman, and began to recount her story to Luke, as he jotted down every detail she could tell him. Luke, being a doctor, no doubt believed in the validity of Mary’s virginity at the time of Jesus’ conception, or he in his medical profession would not have included it in his writings. I wonder if, looking back all those years, past all the things that had happened in her lifetime being the mother of Jesus, she began to recount for Luke the days when she was just a girl living at home, when she found out one day who her husband was going to be. The day she went to her betrothal ceremony to a man she hardly even knew. The day Gabriel came to her. The day he told her what God asked of her. The day she said yes. The day she felt the first faint flutter of her child moving inside of her. The aloneness she must have felt. The many times she submitted to choices made outside of her own will. Wow, haven’t we as women come so far from what Mary’s environment was? We choose who we date, who and if we marry, we choose our education, our careers, we choose when and if we want to have babies, and unfortunately, we have also been given a legal “right” to choose to terminate the babies that were not in our plans. Yes, when it says “we’ve come a long way, baby”, I wonder in which direction sometimes? One of the things I struggle with as a female is a very strong and independent spirit. Now, I believe God put in me exactly what he intended me to have in terms of my spirit and personality, just as he did all of us. But, I have a hard time not being “in the know”, not being part of any decision making that’s going on, not being considered an equal, deferring to my husband when we disagree and a final decision must be made. I am a daughter of Eve. But when I think of Mary, I think of a purity and an innocence, a submission, an availability, an openness, and a godliness, all wrapped up in the body of a young teenage girl. That in our day alone would be considered a miracle. But I also know that Mary was a strong young woman to be chosen to endure what she would over her lifetime. Just think, the day that Mary’s mother gave birth to her, she was born into this world with a purpose that would change the course of history, less than two decades down the road. Just think, Mary’s own mother was probably only in her 30s!
So, today, women, I especially ask you to consider what it is that causes you to not be in a position of purity and submission before the Lord. Think of the task God placed before Mary by the age of 15, and then think of where you are in your walk with the Lord today, at your age. Is there a place for greater devotion to him? Is there a place of more humility and less “rights”? Is there an openness in our hearts for what he wants to bring about through us, for what he wants to use us for, for what he wants to birth in us? What do you think he would have done in you and through you by now were you totally submitted and devoted to him and to his purposes? It is a hard question for me. But these women are placed throughout the story of Jesus birth for us to learn from. We will later study the last chapter of Proverbs, chapter 31, the virtuous woman. But for today, think about the virtue of the women we have met so far in this story. And remember, humility is not an absence of strength, but rather it is “strength under the control of God”.
Teresa
Monday, December 7, 2009
Day 6, The Christmas Story, Nazareth
A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON FOR YA
Happy Monday! I hope you had a great day with your family and friends and at your church yesterday. It’s my favorite day of the week (Sunday, that is, not Monday!!). I just soak it in like a sponge. I am blessed to be a part of a ladies class that spans every age group and every walk of life, yet we are sisters in the truest sense and God always shows up in there with us. Yesterday was no exception.
So, today, we continue with day six of our story. I hope you have been able to read the previous days on Zechariah. These stories of each person all tend to build upon each other.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary.
Today, we shift our focus to Mary. We have studied about Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the Christmas story is well under way now in our studies. As you’ve seen, the Holy Spirit has been quite active, making sure Zechariah got to burn the incense, sending Gabriel to show up in the temple, making people deaf and dumb, old women bearing children, a baby like John on his way to prepare the way for the Messiah. Elizabeth has spent the last five months in seclusion, spending time alone with God. If you were to do the same, starting today, you would be secluded alone with God from today until May 7 of next year! Don’t you know her relationship with him was deepened in a huge way during that time?! A lot has happened in the lives of these people in a short amount of time. And now the story gets even more overwhelming.
Today we head over to a little town called Nazareth where we find a young girl named Mary. I have found some interesting facts about Nazareth that I want to share with you today, as a background for you getting to know Mary’s life during that time better. So, today will be a little of a history lesson for us all, hopefully enlightening and not boring. It helps me to know the background when we read a story, and I hope it will you too, so here goes....
Nazareth was a long way from Jerusalem (which was the center of Jewish life and worship). Nazareth, in rural Galilee, was located on a major trade route and it was visited often by Gentile merchants and Roman soldiers. It was near a caravan route linking Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was a very arid, dry, hilly climate. They often lacked water and no one knew if enough rain would fall that year enough to provide abundant crops. They were hard workers and because of struggling in this uncertain environment, were a close-knit community.
Mary likely lived in a small family house of stone and mud-brick. She worked like any young girl, grinding wheat and barley into flour, preparing dishes of beans, vegetables, eggs, fruits, nuts, and occasional chunks of mutton. Wool had to be made into clothing. Bread had to be baked. A few chickens and a donkey had to be fed. And in the village, small as it was, there were always little children to care for.
Almost daily she carried a large jar of water from the town well for washing and cooking (the well still supplies modern Nazareth today and is called "Mary's Well").
Early on, the Jews found that cleanliness prevented disease, so frequent washing -- an important chore of women -- became part of their religious practice. The well also was a favorite spot where women talked and traded bits of everyday news.
Just as for the other women of Nazareth, the seasons and times of harvest determined what Mary had to do. With the first downpour of rain in October, the vital wheat crop was sown on the mountain fields, to be gathered -- if all went well -- in May. Small dark olives, knocked from dull green trees in September, had to be pressed into oil for lamps and food. In May or June, early figs were picked; in July, the softer juicy fruit. Grapes and pomegranates ripened in September and October. God blessed the hills of Galilee with his bounty, but it could never be taken for granted. The unpredictable land could just as well give nothing to those working it.
The people of Nazareth had a strong Jewish faith. As descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jews believed this land was theirs, given to their ancestors whom Moses led out of Egypt. They knew by heart the deeds of kings like David and Solomon and the words of prophets like Isaiah and Elijah. Even though the Romans, with Herod's family as their puppets, now occupied Palestine, the Jews of Galilee believed God would someday send a Messiah who would free Israel from her enemies.
They lived in a war-torn land. For centuries before the Roman occupation, conquering armies of Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and Greeks fought over Palestine. Despite their wars, revolts and riots, the Jews remained a subject people -- taxed, bullied and despised by succeeding rulers. Like their compatriots, the Jews of Nazareth were never far from the dangers of political violence. During the Jewish uprisings in Galilee around 6 A.D. -- when Jesus was a child -- Roman legions captured the city of Sepphoris, sold all its inhabitants into slavery and burned the city to the ground. (Now I understand much better why the Jews were looking for a military Messiah to set them free from oppression!)
Mary's faith was strong. Yet, in fervently religious Nazareth with its high moral standards, she hardly stood out at all, even in the eyes of those who knew her best. Besides, as a woman living in a society where men counted most, she would be little noticed except as a mother and a wife.
When she was 15 or so, Mary's parents made plans for her to be married, as was customary in those days. They chose Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter, for her husband. The engagement took place and Mary returned home to wait about a year before she would go to live with her husband as his wife. But then, something happened...
I want to end here today with the history lesson. Now you know the background of Mary’s town, Nazareth. Sometimes history can be dull and dead, but think with me for a few moments about some things I find very interesting today about the place the God chose for his son, Jesus, to grow up. I believe God purposefully chose Nazareth, and that everything he does is with a plan and a purpose in mind.
Think about it, Nazareth was actually nowhere near the center of Jewish worship. It was a place far removed from the center of Judaism, just like it's inhabitant, Jesus, would be. People there were familiar with Gentiles traveling along their routes. Jesus would be raised in a town far removed from the center of Judaism. He himself would later rebuke the legalism of the Pharisees, the laws which they had added to and made unbearable for his people, their “religion”. He would not be isolated from Gentiles, and his people of Nazareth would possibly be a lot more open to Gentiles because of their location along the trade route. (Remember, he was also the Messiah to the Gentiles, and he grew up watching them, knowing their ways and beliefs and lifestyles, knowing them as people, maybe even befriending a little Gentile boy who came through with his father on the trade route.) He had a heart for others not like him, for all of mankind. Remember the story of the good Samaritan, remember he himself going through Samaria instead of around it, remember his discussion with the woman at the well, his going to a tax collector's home forlunch. He was very comfortable around those that the rest of us are maybe not so comfortable around. Maybe Nazareth was instrumental in this. Maybe we need a Nazareth experience in our lives today.
But the thing that struck me most today was that, in a land that needed water and never knew if it would be available or not, in that dry, arid place, God chose to send the LIVING WATER, Jesus Christ, to live as a child, their “eternal living water” growing up right in the midst of the people who likely prayed for water fervently every year. There is a well to this day named after his mother, Mary. But it probably never crosses their mind to this day, that Mary’s son, Jesus, is their Messiah, their living water, the well that never runs dry. As they draw from Mary’s well water to sustain them, we now draw from Mary’s offspring, Jesus the Messiah, to sustain us with his living water! Amazing!
I will return tomorrow. Love you all. Teresa
Happy Monday! I hope you had a great day with your family and friends and at your church yesterday. It’s my favorite day of the week (Sunday, that is, not Monday!!). I just soak it in like a sponge. I am blessed to be a part of a ladies class that spans every age group and every walk of life, yet we are sisters in the truest sense and God always shows up in there with us. Yesterday was no exception.
So, today, we continue with day six of our story. I hope you have been able to read the previous days on Zechariah. These stories of each person all tend to build upon each other.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary.
Today, we shift our focus to Mary. We have studied about Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the Christmas story is well under way now in our studies. As you’ve seen, the Holy Spirit has been quite active, making sure Zechariah got to burn the incense, sending Gabriel to show up in the temple, making people deaf and dumb, old women bearing children, a baby like John on his way to prepare the way for the Messiah. Elizabeth has spent the last five months in seclusion, spending time alone with God. If you were to do the same, starting today, you would be secluded alone with God from today until May 7 of next year! Don’t you know her relationship with him was deepened in a huge way during that time?! A lot has happened in the lives of these people in a short amount of time. And now the story gets even more overwhelming.
Today we head over to a little town called Nazareth where we find a young girl named Mary. I have found some interesting facts about Nazareth that I want to share with you today, as a background for you getting to know Mary’s life during that time better. So, today will be a little of a history lesson for us all, hopefully enlightening and not boring. It helps me to know the background when we read a story, and I hope it will you too, so here goes....
Nazareth was a long way from Jerusalem (which was the center of Jewish life and worship). Nazareth, in rural Galilee, was located on a major trade route and it was visited often by Gentile merchants and Roman soldiers. It was near a caravan route linking Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was a very arid, dry, hilly climate. They often lacked water and no one knew if enough rain would fall that year enough to provide abundant crops. They were hard workers and because of struggling in this uncertain environment, were a close-knit community.
Mary likely lived in a small family house of stone and mud-brick. She worked like any young girl, grinding wheat and barley into flour, preparing dishes of beans, vegetables, eggs, fruits, nuts, and occasional chunks of mutton. Wool had to be made into clothing. Bread had to be baked. A few chickens and a donkey had to be fed. And in the village, small as it was, there were always little children to care for.
Almost daily she carried a large jar of water from the town well for washing and cooking (the well still supplies modern Nazareth today and is called "Mary's Well").
Early on, the Jews found that cleanliness prevented disease, so frequent washing -- an important chore of women -- became part of their religious practice. The well also was a favorite spot where women talked and traded bits of everyday news.
Just as for the other women of Nazareth, the seasons and times of harvest determined what Mary had to do. With the first downpour of rain in October, the vital wheat crop was sown on the mountain fields, to be gathered -- if all went well -- in May. Small dark olives, knocked from dull green trees in September, had to be pressed into oil for lamps and food. In May or June, early figs were picked; in July, the softer juicy fruit. Grapes and pomegranates ripened in September and October. God blessed the hills of Galilee with his bounty, but it could never be taken for granted. The unpredictable land could just as well give nothing to those working it.
The people of Nazareth had a strong Jewish faith. As descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jews believed this land was theirs, given to their ancestors whom Moses led out of Egypt. They knew by heart the deeds of kings like David and Solomon and the words of prophets like Isaiah and Elijah. Even though the Romans, with Herod's family as their puppets, now occupied Palestine, the Jews of Galilee believed God would someday send a Messiah who would free Israel from her enemies.
They lived in a war-torn land. For centuries before the Roman occupation, conquering armies of Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and Greeks fought over Palestine. Despite their wars, revolts and riots, the Jews remained a subject people -- taxed, bullied and despised by succeeding rulers. Like their compatriots, the Jews of Nazareth were never far from the dangers of political violence. During the Jewish uprisings in Galilee around 6 A.D. -- when Jesus was a child -- Roman legions captured the city of Sepphoris, sold all its inhabitants into slavery and burned the city to the ground. (Now I understand much better why the Jews were looking for a military Messiah to set them free from oppression!)
Mary's faith was strong. Yet, in fervently religious Nazareth with its high moral standards, she hardly stood out at all, even in the eyes of those who knew her best. Besides, as a woman living in a society where men counted most, she would be little noticed except as a mother and a wife.
When she was 15 or so, Mary's parents made plans for her to be married, as was customary in those days. They chose Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter, for her husband. The engagement took place and Mary returned home to wait about a year before she would go to live with her husband as his wife. But then, something happened...
I want to end here today with the history lesson. Now you know the background of Mary’s town, Nazareth. Sometimes history can be dull and dead, but think with me for a few moments about some things I find very interesting today about the place the God chose for his son, Jesus, to grow up. I believe God purposefully chose Nazareth, and that everything he does is with a plan and a purpose in mind.
Think about it, Nazareth was actually nowhere near the center of Jewish worship. It was a place far removed from the center of Judaism, just like it's inhabitant, Jesus, would be. People there were familiar with Gentiles traveling along their routes. Jesus would be raised in a town far removed from the center of Judaism. He himself would later rebuke the legalism of the Pharisees, the laws which they had added to and made unbearable for his people, their “religion”. He would not be isolated from Gentiles, and his people of Nazareth would possibly be a lot more open to Gentiles because of their location along the trade route. (Remember, he was also the Messiah to the Gentiles, and he grew up watching them, knowing their ways and beliefs and lifestyles, knowing them as people, maybe even befriending a little Gentile boy who came through with his father on the trade route.) He had a heart for others not like him, for all of mankind. Remember the story of the good Samaritan, remember he himself going through Samaria instead of around it, remember his discussion with the woman at the well, his going to a tax collector's home forlunch. He was very comfortable around those that the rest of us are maybe not so comfortable around. Maybe Nazareth was instrumental in this. Maybe we need a Nazareth experience in our lives today.
But the thing that struck me most today was that, in a land that needed water and never knew if it would be available or not, in that dry, arid place, God chose to send the LIVING WATER, Jesus Christ, to live as a child, their “eternal living water” growing up right in the midst of the people who likely prayed for water fervently every year. There is a well to this day named after his mother, Mary. But it probably never crosses their mind to this day, that Mary’s son, Jesus, is their Messiah, their living water, the well that never runs dry. As they draw from Mary’s well water to sustain them, we now draw from Mary’s offspring, Jesus the Messiah, to sustain us with his living water! Amazing!
I will return tomorrow. Love you all. Teresa
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