What My Daughter Reminded Me About God

That's right AK taught me this weekend.  Well, she reminded me of some things about God that I may have forgotten.  We get older and busier and the simple things in life just get ordinary, sometimes unimportant and often overlooked.  Here are two excellent examples.

We were walking through Wal-Mart yesterday and I heard a little voice say simply, "hand".  I looked over and she was reaching her little precious hand up wanting to hold her Daddy's hand, not for safety or because she had too, but just because she loved me and wanted to feel close to me.  Of course that made me smile on the outside and even more on the inside. 

It also reminded me that God is doing that with us, as our Heavenly Father.  He is always holding out His hand just waiting for us to take it.  He holds out his hand to everyone.  He is there for the lonely, the beat down, the sick, the one lost in addiction, and yes even the most terrible sinner.  He is there, but sometimes they or we don't see it at the time.  I've been there, I know.  We all could use a little voice to say to us, "HAND".  God is waiting.  He always picks us up and dusts us off if we will just take his hand.  He takes us and forgives us right where we are, but he loves us to much to leave us there.  He knows he has so much more in store for us. 

If you haven't yet please reach up for God's hand, He is waiting and will smile even more than you can imagine.  He will forgive, but we have to take the first step.  If you are already holding God's hand, please show someone who needs Him that He is there waiting.  That is the most important and loving thing you could ever do for anyone, and in doing so you just might lead a soul to salvation.

God Bless!

Everyday Christmas leads to EVERYDAY Christians

Christmas is always a very special time of year.  The people somehow get more friendly, usually more patient.  We all seem to somehow get the "Christmas spirit".  I think it's great that most people around the world pick a special day to celebrate our Savior's birth.  The problem is that most people only know the baby Jesus, and that's our fault.  They know "Silent Night", but have never heard of "Just As I Am". 

What if we used the Jesus of the cradle to show people the Jesus of the cross?  The Christmas spirit can live on into our daily lives.  We can take our Everyday Christmas and turn ourselves into EVERYDAY Christians.  I am not talking about Sunday.  What happens between Sunday and Monday?  Where does Jesus go then?  I propose that this new year we take Jesus with us into our everyday.  The days after Christmas we will prepare to be EVERYDAY Christians.  Are you ready?  Please come with me.  One person at a time is all it takes to start a rejuvination.  I am going to start with me.  Will you join me?

John 1:38-39
Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”  They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”  He said to them, “Come and see.”

Let's go and see where Jesus is, shall we?

God Bless!

Everyday Christmas #6 "Mary's Song"

⁴⁶ And Mary said:


      “ My soul magnifies the Lord,
       ⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
       ⁴⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
      For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
       ⁴⁹ For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
      And holy is His name.
       ⁵⁰ And His mercy is on those who fear Him
      From generation to generation.
       ⁵¹ He has shown strength with His arm;
      He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
       ⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
      And exalted the lowly.
       ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things,
      And the rich He has sent away empty.
       ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel,
      In remembrance of His mercy,
       ⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers,
      To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Let's just ponder these wonderful thoughts of Mary as we prepare to move to Extraordinary Christmas next time.

God Bless!

Everyday Christmas #5

Now that the shepherds have found Jesus, we will leave them for now.  What a night they must have had!  Now let’s go back to the beginning, well not the very beginning, because God has been working up to this since before Genesis and the Garden.  Jesus was there then too you know (John 1).  Let’s just go back to when the angel appeared to Mary.

Luke 1:26-30

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.  Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 

This was an important event.  God didn’t just send just any angel, but Gabriel to bear the news. God sent Gabriel to Nazareth.  If you had lived in that day, you would have said, “Nazareth, where is Nazareth?”  Of 204 towns and villages in Galilee, Josephus fails to mention Nazareth.  We all know what Nathaniel thought of Nazareth.  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth”, was his question.  (John 1:46)

Gabriel went to Nazareth to tell Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah.  Who is Mary?  Why did God choose Mary?  Her name means “bitter” and she seemed to be poor and from an unknown family.  Even when they presented Jesus at the Temple in Luke 2:24 they offered the sacrifice that was allowed for the poor.   I think the answer lies in how Gabriel greets her.  He says, “Rejoice, highly favored one”.  The Greek word for “favored” is also from the word for “grace”.

So Mary was chosen out of God’s grace.  Not because she was important at the time, or Rich or of the royal class, although she and Joseph were of the lineage of David. She was chosen out of the ordinary so that God could do the extraordinary, thus again our everyday Christmas.

Next Time: “Mary’s Song”

God Bless!

Everyday Christmas #4

What happened next might surprise some.  It seems logical now, but let’s think about it from the shepherds point of view for just a minute.

Luke 2:15-16

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Now how many years have they been waiting for this Messiah, a loooooooong time?  I bet they had discussions about whether it was really ever going to happen.  Don’t you?  Not only that, but don’t you think they wondered “why us”?  Why did the angels come here, to us?  Once again, I think so.  You see the shepherds were not members of the country club, or on the Christmas card list of most of their day.  I mean, come on, they lived with sheep. They smelled like sheep.  I bet they, just like you and I, have had their days when they wondered if it was all worth it.  Wondered if they mattered, or what they really meant to God? 

I think they were the perfect ones to be the first to hear the news.  Not because of who they were, but because of what they were, Faithful.  Look at what they said, “Let us now go.”  They didn’t ask any more questions of themselves or the angels.  They Went!  Not only did they go, but they went “with haste.”

I wish I could be more like the shepherds in my everyday Christmas.  I wish I would always be ready to now go with haste.  Don’t you?

God Bless!

Everyday Christmas #3

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14

Savior, Messiah, Lord, Baby?  Did you catch that last part, a BABY wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger?  Our Lord and Savior came into this world the same way we all (Well most) do, just a regular, although lowly birth.  God was wrapped in rags and put in a feed trough.  Is this what we are supposed to be excited about, a baby being born in the middle of the night, in a barn in the middle of nowhere? 

Jesus was born into the everyday.  Not in Mt Sinai Medical to a Mother of prestige and power, but in a stable to lowly Mary.  Jesus was born into the everyday and announced to the ordinary. 

The angels did say it is good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Why?  Is it possible to separate the cradle from the cross?  Can we ever separate the nativity from the nail scarred hands?  The sign of the Savior was the baby.  The baby was born for you and me.

Next, What Next?

God Bless.

Everyday Christmas #2

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14

We will stay here with the shepherds and angels just a little bit longer.  There is more to be learned about celebrating Christmas every day from Luke.  Have you ever thought about what Christmas REALLY means to you?

I wonder what Christmas means to a little man in Haiti, 80 years old, living in a tent city, who knows nothing of malls or the “hustle and bustle” of the Christmas season?

I wonder what Christmas means to the street orphans, with smudges on their cheeks, in dirty clothes, looking up with those sparkling eyes?   They know nothing of Christmas trees and have little hope of Santa.

To merchants it means the busiest time of the year, and to a lot of employees Christmas bonuses and overtime.

What does Christmas REALLY mean to you?

Think on that for today.  Those who feel comfortable please comment.

Tomorrow I will Share some thoughts on The Cradle and the Cross.

God Bless.

Everyday Christmas #1

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14

Ever notice who God chose to be the first people to know that His only Son had been born?  I gave it away I think.  The words in red this time are not Jesus’ words, but who His birth was announced to first.  The first Christmas wasn’t celebrated first by kings, priests or royalty.  The royal birth of the world’s Savior was celebrated by shepherds, people living in fields, not people living in palaces.  Jesus’ birth was meant to be celebrated by the common man.

 I believe that was a magnificent plan by the Almighty God to show us what’s important about our everyday Christmas.  Who’s important to God?  You are.  I am.  We all are.  Just as God chose to tell the lowly shepherds, He comes every day to lowly you and me.  We should go to the least of them, the lowly, just like God.  We should tell everyone about Jesus every day.  That way we can make every day Christmas.

God Bless!

Prayer

We will finish up our study of the armour of God with prayer.  Prayer is what holds all the other pieces together, it is the energy that gives us the power to hold the shield and wield the sword.  Our power is not enough.  We need, not only each other in this battle, but the power that can only come from God.  He is our portion and our strength.  Do we pray only when times are tough?  Do we say thank you?  Do we pray with anticipation of an answer or just to go through the motions?
Luke tells us in Luke 21:36: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."  Are we ready for the battle?  Ready to escape all these things that shall come to pass?  I hope we are all suited up and ready to fight the good fight of faith.

Beginning with the next blog we will begin a series "Christmas for all seasons".  Hope you will join me then.

God Bless

Mind Games

Now we must put on the Helmet of Salvation.  The mind is where Satan often gets control of our hearts and eventually our souls.  God will fill our mind with His word if we will only let Him.  We are to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" ( 2 Pet 3:18).  Satan will try to get into our heads just like he got into Eve's head in the Garden.  We need to have enough knowledge to withstand the temptations Satan will throw at us.  Jesus resisted Satan each time with "it is written," or God's word through the prophets. Don't let Satan play mind games with you.  Put on the helmet of God's Word, and that will lead you to salvation.  If you are not a christian and are interested in more study please email me at:
rtalley10@students.hcu.edu  PLEASE.

God Bless