Month: December 2017

How Will We Come?

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And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  Luke 2:12 KJV

Try to imagine how the shepherds reacted after hearing the angel’s message, then being astonished at a crowd of more angels suddenly appearing in song. Can you picture with me sandaled feet eagerly tripping over rocks and roots along the dark pathway leading down into the village? Can you hear them eagerly urging one another on as they rush towards the stable filled with animals, hay and one small child?

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And how will we come? Will we shower and shave, then carefully pick out our finest new clothes for the church service? Will we slowly decide which tie best fits the mood for Christmas? Have we shined our shoes and carefully combed our hair? Where is the desperate flight towards the place of Jesus? Where is the longing to see if it is just as the angel said? How are we to come to the manger this year? Will it be just another soft sleek and memorable Christmas or will we join the earnest footsteps of the shepherds thundering down the trail to the manger. If we were to come in all our regal best would we even recognize Him, the very Son of the Highest lying quietly among cows and sheep and wrapped in swaddling cloths?

In the Beauty of His Weakness

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Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:25

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In one of the verses from the Battle Hymn of the Republic we sing, “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea…” And as we set out our manger scenes or listen to the familiar carols on our favorite radio station, the story of Jesus born in a manger seems to us so appealing and beautiful. But the reality was of an unwed virgin about to give birth; a bride-groom offended, a village scandalized and a young couple traveling by donkey from Galilee to Judea to pay taxes. In the dirty stable of Bethlehem filled with smelly shepherds it might have been better to sing, “In the beauty of His weakness Christ was born…”

Maybe God sent us His Son in weakness so that His lowliness could say to us, “Welcome to all who wish to come!” Then onto that stable floor God sent shepherds with the joy of angel songs ringing in their ears. Later to their small home, came amazing gifts, from wise men who sought Christ in all His weakness and they kneeled to worship Him.

 

Today, in your life and mine God comes, He gives and guides in some of the most foolish of ways because of His unfathomable love for us. The foolishness and the weakness of God lead us to Bethlehem where the Savior was born. He came for all who would believe and all who will come and worship Him!

 

 

 

Sharing Christmas Joy

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And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit Luke 1:41 ESV

In some ways Mary was unlike anyone else on earth. Who else can say that God entrusted to them the baby Jesus? But in some ways Mary was just like every one of us. She did not have any special standing or ability that caused God to choose her. We in some ways are all given the same opportunity that Mary had to surrender to God so that His Son can be born in us.

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When Mary went to visit her cousin she did not preach a sermon, or bring expensive gifts to impress Elizabeth. But the difference that the life of Jesus within her had already made brought joy to into their meeting!

 

So that has me wondering and asking the question: Does the presence of Jesus in my life give joy to the lives of others?” If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for me, then what have I given to others today as an expression of that gift?