aSacredRebel

Lived among us

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:10-18, NRSV)

The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus Christ stepped down from the throne of grace to humble Himself to become like us.

To bring us grace upon grace!

To give us an example of how to live the life God has called us to.

To learn what it was to be like us, to be tempted, but to show us through the temptation that a holy set apart life was possible.

Not a life that make the religious elite happy, but a life lived in the glory and grace of God!

So receive from Him the fullness of grace that Father has for you, and live in His example of a God filled life!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 148, NRSV)

God has created everything we see and everything that we try to see through science out in the galaxies!

He set the limits of creation in place, and fixed the bounds of everything.

Even if we do not praise Him, all of creation does all around us.

Listen as the mountains declare His majesty!

Listen as the stars sing of His wonder!

Listen as the trees shout His awesomeness!

All of creation exalts Him!

Why not join the chorus, and sing His praise!

tomorrow

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, NRSV)

Tomorrow, tomorrow I love you Tomorrow, your only a day away…

But will it actually be?

There is nothing that is assured in this life except physical death and taxes…

Well maybe not taxes, but we can not be sure that tomorrow will come. Our death may come, or Jesus could return.

We need to be about here and now. Sharing the love that Christ has shared with us with those around us.

Planning only for the will of God, and following where that leads.

So love today, because God gave you life, to share His love!

The gift of a new year…

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by. (Ecclesiasties 3:1-15, NRSV)

There is a time for everything.

Sometimes things need to start new, like today is the beginning of a new year and here you are.

Sometimes things need to pass away, like last year, it is now gone. With its joys and sorrows, it is a memory.

It was your life, but what your life will be lies ahead of you.

And God gives us all our lives, and nothing can be added to our life or taken away from our lives that God does not do.

So what will you make of this gift of a new year?

Will you honor God with your days to come and follow His will for your life?

This is a new year, so use it in service of the one who gave you life!

a new thing

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. (Isaiah 43:16-21, NRSV)

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…

Have you ever been to the desert? Any desert?

There are not many rivers in the deserts… This is partially what makes them deserts.

But if God wanted to, He could make a river in the desert, and His living water would flow there!

You see things can change all the time, and just because something has never happen that doesn’t mean it won’t or it’s not possible for God.

All things are possible for God.

So hold not to the things of the past, but look to the future and wonder with amazement at all that God will do!

Now

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:1-2, NRSV)

I remember being told many times as a young child, “You won’t learn this any younger.”

I always wondered what my parents meant by this. But now I find myself wanting to say it to my children.

And that is what this verse reminds me of.

Now is the time to accept the grace you have been given and live the life God has set before you.

You will not be able to do it any younger, and the best time to do it is now.

Life will only get better when you give up control and follow Him.

Now is the acceptable time and you can’t do it in the past and why wait for tomorrow?

Now is the time!

saved

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14, NRSV)

So do you need salvation?

I mean really what are you a slave to?

And what is it we need to be saved from?

Hell?

Well maybe, but what is it that would end us up in Hell?

Impiety?

Worldly passions?

According to Titus we need to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly…

Jesus came to teach us how to live in the life God has set before us and to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people for good deeds.

He has to purify us and save us from ourselves!

We need to be sanctified, or made more like Him, to save us from our own sinful desires, that would draw us from Him.

So yes we need to be set free from our own desires, and lifted to a mind like His.

Thanks be to God that Jesus came to set us free!

According to…

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2:22-40, NRSV)

As a new parent, or even on the third child, if someone came up to us and took our child from us, and we did not know them, I have to admit I would probably be like, “What do you think you are doing, give me my child back…”

And then to be told that this child is destined for the falling and rising of many in my nation and a sword will pierce my soul too, then I would really freak out!

But Mary and Joseph seem to take Simeon and Anna in stride. I mean after being visited by angels to announce Jesus’ coming, Simeon and Anna were just another proof to them that God was upholding His promises.

Christ had come and according to God the promises would be fulfilled, and Mary and Joseph get to be a wonderful part of the in breaking of the Kingdom of God.

Would you be as ready? Because you are a part of the in breaking of the Kingdom of God!

Allow Him to shine through your life!

Faithful

I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him? O LORD God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds you. (Psalm 89:1-8, NRSV)

I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations!

I will forever sing of your wonderful love and proclaim it from the mountain tops!

God made a covenant with His people, and He has kept it!

We can praise the heavens and the faithfulness of our God. For He is steadfast and trustworthy to the promises He has made to us His people.

So praise God and make sure everyone knows that He is faithful, and worthy of our love!