Moments

  "With the dawn redeeming grace"   Christmas isn't about a child only but the birth of a child who came to be our way to redeeming grace.  He didn't come as Christ our child in the manager but as "Christ the Lord.  "Jesus, Lord at thy birth."   He was already Lord, already our Saviour.  There is much more going on here at Christmas than a simple birthday party for Jesus.  It is something  of a birthday party for us as well because now, because of the Christ child, we can be born again unto newness of life. Merry Christmas because Christ the Saviour is born and, in a sense so are we.

  Things get more different every year with Christmas.  As sanctification goes on over the years, things don't change, but I do.  Christmas is less fanfare but more real each year.  Christmas is the first step to the cross and the angels celebrated His coming.  Do you suppose the angels knew the "rest of the story"  when they announced the birth of the Christ child? He came first to the marginalized: the shepherds, who were  "in the same country."  "We three kings came from a ways off and had to follow a star to get there. And didn't Jesus later say that  "The last shall be first and the first last?"   And then there is the lowly carpenter stepfather Joseph who didn't want to put Mary away when she came up pregnant.  This same Joseph,  angels visited in dreams, and he believed and obeyed.  He must have been a pretty great guy to begin with because God chose him for this task.  He must have been close to God alrea...

  There is a risk in telling a joke. You could look like a fool and no one gets it or they get it but don't see the humor. Based on their life situations past and present, some can't see much joy, happiness, or humor in much of anything. It's easy to fall into that trap.  I've been there before. It is easier and less risky personally, to be negative, and pessimistic about everything. Bah- Humbug is a piece of cake which is why most of us fall into that hole from time to time.  It takes guts, it takes God to find joy in this fallen world.  We may have been beaten up so much in the past, and the future doesn't look that great either.  So consequently, people are afraid to trust happiness, to take the risk to laugh, to smile, to say something is good, and to have the courage not to be turned aside because of the probability that there will be some who will think they are crazy.    Live long enough and we'll find that happiness and joy leave us vulnerable....

The last six months it has rained challenges, and hardships.  In the same six months, it has also rained blessings. God has seen to shelter me from the falling rain.  I know there will be some hardships in the future I will have to go through but the same God who sheltered me from the rain will be with me in the storm. Each time a new challenge came up, we just took it to prayer. We asked for deliverance but accepted "nevertheless thy will" too. Each time God delivered us - sometimes almost miraculously.  Sometimes the timing or circumstance that affected deliverance seemed much  more than coincidence.  Yesterday contained a series of deliverances, so today I just gotten go public with my gratitude.  Praise God for all He has done.  Praise God for all He has saved me from, and all I know He will carry me through in this world and into the next. AMEN

 I've been called a good listener, but I am not so sure when it comes to listening to God.  In prayer, I seem to have the notion that I need to do  steady, non-stop talking about what I want God to do and then it is Amen time.   Sometimes I think I treat God like He is my personal genie in a bottle.  In looking at that more closely, I can see that I do not honor Him enough in prayer. I do not give thanks and praise nearly enough.  I don't be still and let the Spirit work on me without words nearly enough   During my exercise program, there is the spot right after push-ups where I am face down on the floor and I use that interval for a short prayer time.  The beauty of it is that sometimes it evolves into something much more than a short prayer time.  In my perfunctory mindset, I list all my concerns about the people and things I want to pray for.  But in the best of times, I can't say Amen.  Sometimes, after exhausting all...

    Self-sufficiency comes with a price.   Several people we have had to come work on the place say that we have what everyone wants; a quiet place in the country.  However, nothing stops anyone from having it except a deep down "want it."  Out here in the country, you have to put out a lot of work and be able to figure things out. There is a lot to be done on your own and there are a lot of downsides to it. Most want the benefits of country living without paying the full price.  It is like the story of the husband listening to his wife playing the piano.  He remarks how beautifully she plays and he says he wished he could play like that.  She replies. "well obviously, not enough to practice at it." Most people don't truly pursue what they say they wish for. Most don't even try. I say all that to say this:  I count myself among those "I wishers." I say I am a triathlete but I haven't done one in years.  I say I want to do an ironman...

  The world seems in such a mess. People are so lost.  They are often sterile and uncaring, barely noticing those around them or anyone else's pain. What happened to humanity that caused her to sink so low? How can I love these people like God says I am supposed to?  These folks are not easy to love. How do I look aside at who they are and what they do and love them?   Then John 3:16 hits me;  "For God so loved----."   The world that Jesus came into was no Sunday School picnic either.  People were just people then too and that's why He came.  He came for those who crucified Him.  He came for the empty hearts of today.  We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.  We have all disappointed God.  In some way, we have all betrayed Him.  And the Bible is full of people who did those things during those times when Jesus walked on the earth.  These times are not much different than the world Jesus came i...