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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

The Arduous Journey

Posted in Lent, tagged , on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 2:4-7
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

This was not an easy journey for either Joseph or Mary. To travel on foot or by donkey (no one really knows if Mary rode a donkey… it is also possible that they traveled in a caravan and not alone because it was dangerous to travel alone) … but in any case, the journey was at least 4 days and longer if they went around Samaria. And then, the birth, with no midwife? Of course, it’s possible the innkeeper’s wife assisted. Still, it was not easy… a strange place, her first child, and she was really so young.

Yes, this was an arduous journey. We have them too. And yet, I do believe God is in the hardest of paths. It is the only way I hold off despair.

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Will You Recognize God?

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , on March 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 19:44b
“…They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

“If it was a snake, it would have bit me.” That’s an old Southern saying about missing something in plain sight. Will I miss God today? So often, when we talk about being in awe of God (“fearing God”), we remember an amazing nature scene or something cataclysmic that shows God’s power or, perhaps it’s something man-made, but of such beauty, that we are sure it is inspired by God. But, what about the ordinary? What about the rocks in the road that would have cried out when Jesus entered Jerusalem that fateful week of his sacrifice. They recognized God in Christ.

Jerusalem was a city of sophistication. There was culture, knowledge, money, power, and much, much more. And yet, the people did not recognize God coming. They had stopped looking. They accepted the normal flow of things and people and commerce, but didn’t really see.

Open my eyes today, Lord, that I might see You. Open my ears… Open my heart. Let me see You in the ordinary.

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Why Do You Doubt?

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , on March 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 14:31
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

As much as God has done for me… why do I doubt? I think I know. It’s because I think/believe/fear the good things will stop. Some of it comes from my constant battle with condemnation: “you don’t deserve this,” etc. Some of it comes from old scripts, “you don’t appreciate what you have” (that’s my mother talking, in case you’re wondering). And some of it is my trust issues, “if I don’t protect/control this situation, it’s going to go downhill.”

God’s prophets, throughout the scripture, keep telling us to “remember!” We are to remember all the wonderful things God has done for us. And in this, our faith will be stirred. Our hope will be rekindled. Our trust will be buoyed. Our mind will be renewed.

Today, I will remember, keep my eyes on the Lord, and walk on the waters of fears.

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Seeking Savior

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , on March 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Last Christmas I watched the entire first season of “Heroes” the television series. It was great fun and a good story. One of the “gifted” characters was a little girl who was a “finder.” As I contemplated this scripture today, I thought of her and realized how I think of my Lord in a similar way. He isn’t just searching like the shepherd who looks for lost sheep or the woman for the lost coin, he is also supernaturally seeking out individuals who, when He finds them, they recognize Him right away … like Zacchaeus, and accept being found. The hidden areas of my heart and soul are the same. They are lost in a morass of memories, mistakes, and shame. Come, Lord, find those parts of me and reconcile them to you. I am ready to be found.

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What Do You Want?

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 18:40-41
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

At my Thursday night Bible study, we are studying Philippians and the most recent lesson was on verses 3:2-11. All throughout the evening, my heart drummed with the phrase, “What do you want?” In years past, this question would give me pause. There were so many things I wanted…. I never knew how to answer. But today, the answer has become crystal clear. I want to know Jesus, the Christ.

David Hazard has paraphrased St. John of the Cross in You Set My Spirit Free:

Press, and keep pressing into His heart, until you have pressed the image of His invisible nature into the substance of your soul… God offers to take you with His loving hand and lead you where you cannot go by yourself… along a way that no human eye can see, and that is the way of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God. I present my heart-soul. This is where I begin, pressing in and pressing on, in the way.

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Prepare Your Heart

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , on March 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 3:4
As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him…”

Lent is a time of preparation and this is the word I am hearing for us today. Before anything of import can happen, usually there is a time of preparation. If we are going on a trip or buying a house or having company for dinner, there is planning and preparing the way. God used John to prepare the way for Jesus. And He wants us to remember that process. I sense that something is about to happen … but are we ready? One of my favorite songs says, “Lift up your head, to the coming King…” and it is based on Psalm 24:7-10:

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

And although the words say “heads”… I am so sure it also means our hearts… lift up the gates of your heart that the King of glory may come in! Prepare your heart. The Lord is near.

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Love the Lord Your God

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , on March 18, 2009| 1 Comment »

Mark 12:28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Foundational to everything and yet, we seem to behave as though this is beyond us. Is God difficult to love? Is it because we continue anthropomorphizing God as one of us? Oh, but God did offer us the anthropomorphic version of Self in Christ Jesus. Is Jesus difficult to love? Oh, and when the Holy Spirit is present… primarily within us, is the Holy Spirit difficult to love?

Love, the verb! Love is action. Love is trust. Love is a choice. Nike seemed to get the point in their advertising: Just Do It!

Today, I choose to love God … and I’m guessing God will appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and circumstances.

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