Matthew 7:21, 24-27 ~ build His house

Matthew 7:21

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

It's odd the things we remember clearly, like a conversation between my godmother, my mom and me long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. :) My mother and godmother were grousing about putting up Christmas decorations. Momma paused, looked at my godmother to say, the children had really helped and wanted to help. My godmother laughed - all the ornaments go on waist high until the kids grow up and then they don't want to help. I said well at least we wanted to help. My godmother suggested next year I could help her. I retorted next year I planned to be so grownup, I wouldn't want to help. It was light-hearted, so everyone laughed.


2010-

It's that time of year.... the first time in 10 years I've had to build our artificial tree without the help of my sons, who are now in college. Yes... that project took me 3 days... I was calm the first 5 hours. By the 6th hour, I was like Moses, saying some pretty rash things; I even took a hammer to the metal inserts.

So...thinking back, back.... there were some years the Christmas gear went on happily and easily. First there was music planned to play in the background. There was part of the Christmas story read from Matthew 2. The time taken to say these decorations are to honor the Lord, not just to put up fuss. The focus is determined.

Houses are built with plans. First the Foundation - the rock of Jesus Christ. Even David, mighty King David told the Lord, His Father, in trust - I need Your help. And Solomon asked for help. Build His house. When You believe the Lord's promises to You, that open door allows God's Holy Spirit to dwell in You. You are His House, walking His plan.

Charles Schultz knew what he was writing about. I loved this program when it ran each year. Take it from me (sinner!), plan ahead, build your Christmas with Jesus as your rock. Reward your efforts with a planned relaxation to enjoy the fruit of your labors with your loved ones, in the true Spirit of Christmas.

 2013 ~ 
Nothing feels better than arriving at a solution that is a gift from God. So in 2011, we adopted the solution that Thanksgiving family visit time is a great time to put up that nine foot tall, four hour project to build that tree. Yay.

 And then 2013 rolled around and my sons were laughing when I entered the living room. What was so funny I asked them with a smile? They said they were taking rock, paper, scissors decision who would drive away with the TOP OF OUR CHRISTMAS TREE! WHAT? According to my sons, age 25 and 22, it was time to get another tree. Because, now lift your feet, the water is pretty um slippery - because I am so botanical - that I needed another tree that looks more real... Well. I'm botanical. But I'm also savvy to seasonal change - not the season of Christmas variety - but the season of that tree was pretty complex and its time to be in enjoyment of seasons with grown sons.

 And I'm a southern Scottish Jew, Episcopalian, Anglican, (descendant of James Lawrence Wilson, signer of the Declaration of Independence) who is going to find the best tree for sale on ebay and wait two weeks for that sucker like the old Mervyn's commercials. Open. Open. Open. And Edward did the nicest thing - he hates Christmas and should hum the Grinch song more - but he built the tree for me and was standing waiting for me to see that when I got home from my volunteer pregnancy assistance service.

(Where we all talk to people in the sexual trade, unwed moms, moms married with children, divorcing women, and mostly happy moms who decided for life, but also including abortion minded moms and fathers, pimps, rape victims, std testing for three diseases resulting from the complete, complex, lack of care people seeking love get from each other - revenge dating - and the untold media story of The Reality that the sexual climate is very dangerous and one of four women in the United States will have a sexual disease. But it would be absolutely fabulous to have a video of the women - all shapes, ages and races - who decide to valiantly strive for love and life - and go from curled up on our sofa's crying their eyes out trying to decide what to do when the baby's daddy has high-tailed - to brave and happy women who love their child and want homework and some comfort and talk for doing the heroic work of God gives life :) (Where the volunteers of PACN remind their clients God sits with us in love in all our adventures and misadventures and wants to say - come to HIM - get rest from being heavy laded - cast your cares upon HIM - He cares for you - and would immediately welcome you to His Higher Path. )

 How to have a Good Christmas ~ .

 ***** The good thing about Christmases with unusual circumstance is not to compare the rest of the world to you that particular year. We all have a year- like the year when Cal was born and about to die. No one gets out of a long life with a terrible Christmas or two. Fact of life.

I'm not perfect, But we've had some lovely Christmases.  We have young readers and young families with increasingly expensive teenage gifts.

 Once again I'm reminded - of the Virgins with oil lamps. Christmas does not have to be so stressful. Trim your lamps. At PACN, we traded stories about gifts given. The nicest gifts are when people are listening to you all year and surprise you with something they heard you say you wanted. Dickens makes a very valid point - keep Christmas in your heart all year. Buy small and medium gifts from January to November and Put Them In One Place!!! 

With some adventure and Joy - this is an easy way to do Christmas.

And Decorate the week of Thanksgiving when things have not become so rushed. Take advantage of October. Make Veteran's Day November 11, a goal for the majority of gifts.

This season is about being given... what we did not deserve. Life. This season is about giving. This season is about giving because we have been given more than any of us ever deserved. A man chose to experience our lives in the nano moments of pressure and beauty and was Grace upon Grace. He could have called down angel armies to go before and beside Him instead He proclaimed mercy over sacrifice. Christmas is about giving. It's the key to enjoying the season.

We reuse ornaments and bows and tape them to the boxes. Looks pretty and the come out of a box to be pretty under the tree. 

A good list and a day - a majority of things get accomplished. Then you don't have to be so crushed and be behind and be struck by the consumerism that - cmon - really masks dissatisfaction of our own lives compared to others. 

One of the things about being solutions oriented is to listen to what people are truly saying. This can be the hap, happiest season of all if - and only if - you don't see this as life analogy season. Jesus gave. Paying bills is responsibility - no doubt - but joy comes from giving. Giving that is relaxed and adventure oriented and not mall shopping driven is fun.

The Light that Lights all of mankind is in the world. Hallelu Yah!

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Isaiah 42:10-18 ~ Let them give glory to the LORD

Isaiah 42:10-18  ~  New Revised Standard Version

Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.

The LORD goes forth like a soldier,
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.

For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor,
I will gasp and pant.

I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.

I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.

They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame -—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
"You are our gods."
Listen, you that are deaf;
and you that are blind, look up and see!






Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased!"


Sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD,
and declare his praise

And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this

And when they saw it, they made known
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.

Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.


They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame -—those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, "You are our gods."

And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

I will turn the darkness before them into Light.

There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.

These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” Which means, God with us!

Acts 2:2-4
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

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Romans 8:26 ~ the Spirit himself intercedes for us

It's the Christmas Shopping Final Push!!!
Here Comes Santa Claus,
Let's all give some applause.
As just maybe,
You'll shop while waiting for Santa Baby.

I was thinking about the Scripture passage - in

Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Even more than this mother does...

So if the Spirit intercedes for us, understanding our deepest longings better than we do...why should we rejoice in sufferings?

Romans 5:3
but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces...

this...

1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you...

The boy in the video delights these problems are...
overwhelming
unusual
fiery


Now if we had presented to you Corrie ten Boom's experiences we could all agree hair shirts are not what a Good and Loving Father would ask His children to wear. When Paul, in the Power of the HOLY Spirit is saying that he rejoices in these sufferings...

He is saying... with Billy Graham ...

“I've read the last page of the Bible, it's all going to turn out all right.” ― Billy Graham

In no way shape or form is our Father God telling us that we should love to suffer. How Do Diamonds Form?

Contrary to what many people believe, most diamonds do not form from coal.

1) Diamond Formation in the Earth's Mantle - Like Noah's life - God specifically prophesies the wives of Noah’s three sons would be saved aboard the Ark, we know it took at least enough time for all three boys to grow up and get married! All three boys were NOT born at the same time: Genesis 10:21 tells us.

To be more clear, God starts with His Plans well before we are born.

2) Diamond Formation in Subduction Zones
God uses trouble in our lives, even our childhoods to help us see a path for us or a way around this. Jesus was called to live in Exile in Egypt as a child. Later the Gospels record during the Pharisee examinations of their lives Nazareth people saw the Blended family Joseph had with God's Son as being cohesive. We would spare our children trouble, God would have us have difficulties - - - to

Romans 5:
 knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

3) Diamond Formation at Impact Sites
Jesus tells us His family are those who do His Will. Jesus lets that cohesive family go to do His ministry. I doubt Jesus enjoyed saying no to His mother and saying more blessed are they who Do the Will of God.

4) Formation in Vast Spaces
As Jesus went to the cross, he adopted John. Doesn't this appear to be a return of evil for evil? Thinking people are a little shocked Jesus would give Mary to John. And Jesus even adopts Mary, as Mary is the one who would go with spices and beg to find Jesus.

The Most Convincing Evidence
Evil for Evil? Jesus also told us families would be divided over Him. Even Revelation says one person ascends and another does not. Is this suffering to be delighted in? No. God wants to save the world. Sending His Son to bring people to a higher place where corruption is not needed as people trust one another in the fulness of God's plan.

Does God want to be a builder of mankind?
Let's consider God's family - in Acts 2 we see Jesus' mother and brothers and sisters gather with the disciples to have fellowship and pray.  Jesus' family goes out to spread the Good News - John helps Mary and is single.

In the Church - in Two Millenniums - the gates of hell have not prevailed. The Light continues to shine.

Has the Goal of God changed? No. We celebrate Emmanuel - God is with us. For us. By us. In us. Moving within us and dwelling there. All the people of God we read about in Hebrews 11

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—


And the answer to rejoice in our sufferings is provided by Jesus

Hebrews 12
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.


These people did not want to suffer but instead

33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

This was despising the shame - suffering - gives. The goal of God is to save the world. People for generations and millenniums have looked to God to provide them with miracles, provisions, and God provides us His Son to offer us Hope - the promises of God are for you. Faith - God is who He says and does not lie. Love - for who you are. How High, How Deep, How Wide, HOW Pervasive is the Love God has for us seeing us in His Eternal Kingdom fulfilled completely. He sees in you today - that you need a Savior and HE loves you TODAY. As you are. Lifting you up, building you, encouraging you because Jesus tells us again and again and again - His warehouse does not run out of blessings and HE wants you in His Kingdom.

Come with HIM to a Higher Path. Where Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Come to Him and expect to see.

Isaiah 6
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the traina of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

God seeks to remove suffering -

Isaiah 25
He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth!

The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."


THIS IS THE LORD!!!

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Malachi 1 ~ “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

Malachi 1

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.[My Messenger]

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”


Malachi is found in 445 and 432 B.C. He is a contemporary of prophets Zechariah and Haggai - close in historical time periods. Malachi is very familiar with Ezra and Nehemiah. The Targum reads, "by the hand of my angel, whose name is called Ezra the scribe."

I wondered why Nehemiah and Ezra were not considered to be prophets rebuilding the Second Temple - but they focused on rules of etiquette and genealogy - excluding the Samaritans like Elisha. Excluding those who lost their genealogy.

The LORD restores the Temple Tools of Moses, but not the Ark of the Covenant - the Mercy Seat of the Lord. Hidden by the Prophet Jeremiah.

2 Maccabees 2:4-62
One finds in the records that the prophet Jeremiah ordered those who were being deported to take some of the fire, as has been mentioned, 2 and that the prophet, after giving them the law, instructed those who were being deported not to forget the commandments of the Lord, or to be led astray in their thoughts on seeing the gold and silver statues and their adornment. 3 And with other similar words he exhorted them that the law should not depart from their hearts.

4 It was also in the same document that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. 5 Jeremiah came and found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense; then he sealed up the entrance. 6 Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the way, but could not find it. 7 When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: "The place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. 8 Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.

And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be[b] great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

We celebrate Hanukkah thanks the wonders and miracles of God found in the Aramaic books of the Bible including Maccabees.


Malachi tells us Jesus will go beyond the borders of Israel. God said He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He surely did not say the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus arrived when the Holy of Holies was perhaps empty. We are not privileged to know what one priest saw when he entered the Holy of Holies. The Ark is not recorded among the Temple Tools returned from the exile.

Jesus fills the Holy of Holies tearing the veil as He departs to create a new Heaven. However His arrival brings true nobility from afar.

Isaiah 60

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.

5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the LORD.

Remember singing We Three Kings from Orient are. No. Nada. Maybe.

~ Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?" Matthew 2:1-12

They were from the East and followed the brightness of the star. Isaiah, in chapter 60, agrees & may tell us more than Matthew 2. Nations came to the brightness of Jesus, the nations mentioned are Midian, Ephah and Sheba - these are all the descendants of Abraham. Jesus is pulling us together. Even at His birth, His Story is being told. 

I love the beauty Isaiah uses describing the mystery of Godliness.


Blessed Be God our Savior and His Son Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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Zechariah 2: 10-13 ~ for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.

Venite Adoramus - Come let us Adore Him, Christ the Lord! Jesus born to  
The Tribe of Judah,  Revelation 5:5
Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 2: 20

Flash Mob: The U.S. Air Force Band at the Smithsonian Dec 5, 2013

Zechariah 2: 10-13

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD.  And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.; And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem." Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

To what shall we ascend - the hope we will again have Freedoms? Freedom of Speech?

To what shall we ascend?  The original Nativity probably looked the same, having these stairs of ascent.

To ascend to Wonder what Jesus' Nativity looked like?

O Little Town of Bethlehem -

Did you dream of a white Christmas
Just like the ones we used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Treetops were beginning to glisten at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem this week.

Shepherds still abide in the fields hearing the Good News that Gabriel - who Stands in the Presence of God told Mary -

 Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30-33

Luke 2:

 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

A Phenomena repeats today, Diamond Dust probably honors this inexplicable mystery of Faith as Love became flesh dwelling among us.

1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
Vindicated by the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in Glory.

And God saw that it was good.

Luke 2

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

What then shall we ascend to, finding a place for Jesus?

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"

What then shall we ascend to?

It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

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John 1:14 ~ the Word became flesh and lived among us

JESUS CHRIST:
OUR NEXT DOOR SAVIOR
By Max Lucado

"There’s something wrong with this picture."
Remember those handouts in elementary school? The teacher would pass out drawings with the question at the bottom, "What’s wrong with this picture?" We’d look closely for something that didn’t fit. A barnyard scene with a piano near the water trough. A classroom with a pirate seated on the back row. An astronaut on the moon with a pay phone in the back-ground. We’d ponder the picture and point to the piano or pirate or pay phone and say, "This doesn’t fit." Something is out of place. Something is absurd. Pianos don’t go in barnyards. Pirates don’t sit in classrooms. Pay phones aren’t found on the moon and God doesn’t nurse from Mary’s breast or sleep in Peter’s boat.

But according to the Bible he did both! He did God things and man things. He is all God and all man.

"For in Christ there is all of God in a human body." (Colossians 2:9 LB)

Jesus was not a God-like man, nor a man-like God. He was God-man. And because he was, we are left with these scratch-your-head, double-blink, what’s-wrong-with-this-picture moments: Mary changing God’s diaper. A 12-year-old Jesus stumping religious scholars. Ex-lepers hugging kids. The formerly blind taking art classes.

Wine where there was water. The crippled sponsoring the town dance. A sack lunch
satisfying five thousand tummies.

And, most of all, a grave: guarded by soldiers, sealed by a rock, yet vacated by a three-day dead man. John has a word for such moments: "Glory."

"The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son...." ( John. 1:14)

My prayer is that we, over the next few months, might see the same. For the balance of the year we plan to use our Sunday morning lessons to journey through the life of Jesus.

Beginning with Jesus in pre-birth continuing on to Jesus at his promised return. We’ll pause along the way at the "glory moments." Those occasions where Jesus’ humanity and divinity converge, those conjunctions of diverse sources where the majestic intertwines with the mundane and we are left open-mouthed.

In fact, God being our helper, open mouths will be the first-fruit of such a quest. If his claims are true, he is the single most important person who has ever lived. No one comes close. He is not at the head of the parade; he is the parade. He’s not the main event; he’s the only event. He’s not the MVP; he is the entire league. And—this is important—he does not just answer prayers, he is reason for faith.

The reward of Christianity is Christ.

Philippians 3:8 (New International Version)
8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

The reward of seeing the Grand Canyon is not the T-shirt or the glass bubble with the snowflakes that fall when you shake it. The reward of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon. The wide-eyed realization that you are a part of something ancient, splendid, and powerful. Something greater than you.

The reward of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a healthy body or a better self image. Those are likely, yet secondary and tertiary fruits. But the first fruit, the cache, the treasure of faith is Him. Fellowship with Him. Walking with Him. Pondering Him. Exploring Him. The heart-stopping realization that in Him you are a part of something that is ancient, endless, unstoppable, and unfathomable.

And that He, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, knows you and thinks you’re worth dying for. Christ is the reward of Christianity. Why else would Paul make Him his supreme desire?

Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
We ponder Christ to stir our awe.

We also study the incarnation to balance our faith. The title of the series may trouble you. Jesus: Our Next Door Savior is, for some, unsettling. Some are bugged by the "next door" part. To think that Jesus could be as human as the fellow you see changing his oil on Saturday morning? Some don’t like that. Others don’t mind the humanity; it’s the divinity they resist. Call him prophet, a teacher, a revolutionary, but a Savior? Don’t go that far. But we must. We must let him be all God and all man. All God so he can save you. All man so he can understand you. Dismiss either expression and you have to take issue with many passages of Scripture.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Paul urged Timothy to:

2 Timothy 2:8
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel

See the confluence? "descendant of David" (next door) and "risen from the dead. (Savior).

Jesus: accessible enough to live next door. Mighty enough to be our Savior.
Such words can be said about no other person. He resists any effort to be lumped with
Buddha, Mohammed or Moses. He cannot claim what he claimed and be regarded as a good man or great prophet. He is either divine or deluded, God or godless. Any attempt to categorize him in between is inaccurate.

My prayer is that these lessons will lead all of us to state for the first or the thousandth
time, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God."

**** Extra note, Jesus isn’t just the guy next door, Jesus Christ promises to live in us and to dwell in us.

Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God's Sanctuary, and that the Spirit of God has His home within you?

Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Corinthians 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

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Psalm 1 ~ like a tree

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man [a]
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law[b] of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes:
a. Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portraying a godly person
b. Psalm 1:2 Or instruction


2011

We  had an incredible year for the trees here in the Houston area. Record drought. A stunning number of trees were still standing and dead as a doorbell. Being a gardener, a friend called me to show me her incredible composting skill.  Anyway, they called me to show me their patio tree, one of 3, shading their patio, died in the middle of the drought. It had been fertilized, watered and it just keeled over. It was the 'one' they relied upon for shade. "Why?" They asked.

I said my cousin worked for the Louisiana State Forestry Commission and when he visited he said record drought is Not record drought. It is just an event that has occurred again and again over the millenniums we have no record of. It is nature's way of making the forest - - - stronger.

But they said, "The tree had all the necessary things for life." I said," It's still the stress of the event of constant wind, constant heat and it got to the tree."

Psalm 1 is about hope and believing we can trust God. The acorns left by a 120 year old Oak left a tree. We are the tree that survived this year's drought. Life goes on. 

Some day, we will be the Christmas tree of  glory. 

In God's promises - all those lights of Christmas - are today - Jesus the Light - continue to shine.

2013 December

There is a Psalm saying one day tells its tale to the next. We finally have a pond filled with water. The trees are still in the glory of their fall color. Actually, this is rather phenomenal color. 

Change involves recognizing the times, living the emotions, allowing Jesus to fill our needs while admitting we have these times. This fall color and lush time is the realization that record drought is not here to stay - like the dire threats indicated. This is exactly how life works and God's plan.

The little oak seedling is still ready for planting.

I've finally realized life has seasons. We get so used to the Mississippi River of life pushing us in the same direction, we feel like life is on a permanent course. Life Does moves along just like the Mississippi River - looking calm and still - yet has deep waters and suddenly can change a lot. Knowing you are loved is the part that gets us through the whole adventure.

The objective of life is to know that Love created the universe. We are being pushed and pulled and prodded through life. Fight the good fight. The punches come because we aren't doing the comfy chair thing. Water flows to the sea, where it was created. We flow towards Love and pray to be the one who will recognize that Love - not the alligators, overcome us.

Let us be the grateful Children of God. Dwelling in HIS Grace. Amen.



John 1:

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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John 1 ~ the Light shines

A Country Church Christmas

John 1:1-14,17,29-35 ~ Today's New International Version

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One."

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" 

 The Church of the Nativity Celebrates Christmas Day in Bethlehem - Link


This is is my favorite chapter of the Bible, John 1. The gospels written by Mark and John are sometimes compared without kindness, at Christmas, to the narrative of Jesus Christ's birth written beautifully in Luke and Matthew. Yet actually Mark speaks of a wilderness wanting to be tamed and John speaks of light coming out of darkness. Isn't this the deepest desire for Jesus Christ?

Christmas can bring forth all of our deepest longings. Matthew begins with an engagement, the most important choice in life. Luke begins with a barren priest. God addresses all of these concerns by reaching out to hear, to heal, to love and to care. For all of our seasons in life, God is part of them. Just as God watched, with love, each day of Jesus' life on earth, the Light continues to shine for us.

The Peace of God always be with you.

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