the visit…

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV)

Of course we all know this story…

Of when the 3 men named Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar come and bring the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to Jesus as a baby in the manger. Right there along side of the shepherds and the animals in the stable…

Except, I didn’t read any of that in the story here…

And the story actually said, On entering the house. The went to a house, not the stable, or manger. The star did not rise until Jesus was born, so there is no way that they would have arrived the night of His birth.

Actually it probably took them 2 years to get there.

And as for their names, that is not in the Bible, nor is the number. The gifts numbered 3 only in what they were, but how much Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh was there? Maybe there were 300 magi…

We do not know, but we know that they did not return into Jerusalem or to Herod, because they were warned to not go back that way. So they did not tell Herod where to find the King of the world…

So we know there were 3 kinds of gifts, and at least 2 magi, because the word is plural, and they did not see Jesus in the stable, but in a house, probably 2 years after His birth, but does that change what Jesus has done for us?

And it is most certainly true that wise men (and women) still seek Him!

 

with His people

The word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah, and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”; and join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. And when your people say to you, “Will you not show us what you mean by these?” say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it; and I will put the stick of Judah upon it, and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand. When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their GOD. My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore. (Ezekiel 37:15-28, NRSV)

One nation under one King!

The divided nation of Israel shall be joined back together under God. He will dwell among them and be their God.

Then the nations will know that God has sanctified them, when His sanctuary is among them forever!

The once divided nations were joined back together under the Davidic king. But where they all united and of one mind?

I doubt they were completely united and agreed on everything, but the one thing they had in common should be enough to unite them.

God told the Israelites and us today, that He will dwell with us and He will be our God and He will wipe away all the apostasies into which we have fallen.

Are we ready for Him to do this?

Are you ready for peace?

Are you ready to relinquish control of your life?

God will dwell among us and give us peace.

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!

Life style changes

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

This is the first month of the New Year 2015!  Time to make resolutions… But is a resolution something we follow through on?  So many times we say we are going to walk more, start exercising, eat less, stop eating so many sweets, stop smoking, start reading our Bible more…

There are so many things we want to do and we think they will be easy to do, so we plan to start to do this in the new year.  I for one know these changes are not easy. You see 5 years ago I made a change, not in January, but July. I changed my exercise habits and eating habits, and it paid off. I lost 100 pounds, and have kept it off. But I did not start exercising or go on a diet I made a lifestyle change. If I had not changed my lifestyle, things would have been bad, very bad.

Yet we seem to forget that we are already new. Christ made us a new creation, when He followed through and was faithful to the plan that was set in motion from the beginning of time.  We have all been given a new lifestyle to live, one in Christ!  He has accepted us as is, and continues to work to perfect us. We just need to allow Him to continue the good work He started in us. So remember that as one year passes away, and the new one comes upon us, that you are a beloved child of God, a new creation!  You are a wonderful work of art being ever molded and shaped into the perfect ideal for you in the eye of God.

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!