Tag: jesus

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A Season of Human (and Divine!) Encounters. . .

That old, familiar Story . . . told and retold throughout the centuries. That Story of a Baby Who changed the state of the world by His Coming. He changed the status of the realities of our earthly life forever. And most impossible of all . . . He provided the Way to change the human heart, mind, and eternal Destination of every man, woman and child of this Earth.

It is a story of Divine Encounters that are woven throughout the season that we call “Christmas.” Does God speak to young children? Does He speak to teenagers? Does God speak to hearts in the midst of serious life choices and crises? Stories of God’s personal Engagement with humanity cross all barriers of age, gender, social status, ethnicity and religious affiliations.

Holidays can often be settings for interactions that bring hurt, disappointment, tension, and emotional distancing. The Bible is full of stories of those human realities, including one of the most beautiful stories in all of history. . . the coming of the Messiah as an innocent baby, to be born and live in a world that would widely reject Him . . . then and now.

Yet, He walked through our world embodying Perfect Love. The only One Who ever did. He is our Example, and offers His Presence in our lives as we move through our days and our relationships every day.

May this short series of Stories of His First Coming touch your heart and mind as you walk through this Christmas season and all of the Divine Encounters that await. . .the unique sense of Wonder . . . Hope . . . Time with family and friends . . . sights and Signs of Beauty and Light . . .May you know He is near.

ENCOUNTER #1

An Old Priest, His Wife, and an Angel

Luke 1

The old Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem had been given the honor of serving there at a special time of year, and his very special assignment was to burn the sacred incense in the most holy place. He had this rare privilege through his heritage of coming from the priestly lineage of Aaron, and his lifetime of faithful service to God within the walls of the beautiful Temple . . . the Centerpiece of Israel. It may have been his only “Shining Moment” to enter that sacred space in his lifetime. Every detail of this Moment must be perfect. He was literally “in the Presence of God.”

Zechariah carried out each detail of this sacred experience . . . focused, memorized, exact, prepared. He was an old man, and it was likely that he would never experience this again. Was he memorizing every moment? Did he wish that his dear Elizabeth could see this? Did he wish that there had been a child . . . a son who could have shared this amazing Moment with his daddy? A son who would carry on his legacy of serving in God’s Presence in the Holy Temple . . . the Focal Point of his city . . . his nation. . . his people Israel.

Then, He appeared. Right there. Standing right there in that Most Holy Place. The Angel . . . Gabriel!! Standing with him to the right of that sacred space at the Altar of God. Zechariah was stunned. No one else was in the place. . . all the people who had come to worship were
praying outside while Zechariah carried out his most sacred responsibility and privilege to light the incense that God wanted to fill all the air around Him. But there were no instructions for this situation! Zechariah was shaken to his core!

Was he about to die? Had he made a mistake? He had never heard of anything like this before. There was no one else in this holiest place in the Temple. All the people were outside. . . worshiping . . . praying . . . waiting. He was alone. With an Angel. He was “overcome with fear”….AKA freaking out!!! Literally speechless.

The Angel spoke. “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. (The Angel knew his name!) God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son… (He knew her name!)… And you will name him ‘John.’ He will be your pride and joy, and many people will be glad that he was born.

“As far as the Lord is concerned, he will be a great man. He will never drink wine or any other liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring many people in Israel back to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord with the Spirit and Power that Elijah had. He will change parents’ attitudes toward their children. He will change disobedient people so that they will accept the wisdom of those who have God’s approval. In this way, he will prepare the people for their Lord.”

WHAT??? Hello??? This makes NO sense. This is impossible! I am an old man. Elizabeth is far too old to get pregnant!

The glowing Stranger introduced himself. “I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s Presence. This is all going to happen. Now you will just have to think about what I have told you. You won’t be able to say a thing until it all happens. It will all come true at the right time.” And he was gone.

Old Zechariah finally stumbled out to the crowd waiting outside the Temple. This was not the normal way this special event was supposed to go. What happened in there? The old guy couldn’t walk. He couldn’t speak! All he could do was try to tell his experience through pantomime. He looked crazy!

His time in Temple service was not finished. He had to go back into the Temple until his obligation was ended. He couldn’t even see Elizabeth. Did she have any idea of what was going to happen. . . an elderly couple was going to have a baby. Impossible.

But God. . .

Old age is rarely a season of life to which anyone looks forward. Although wisdom and
experience are a resource that the coming generations can draw from, the opportunities
or intentional pursuit may not be the reality. But God’s Word is filled with history and
stories of His value and engagement with a lot of very old people, women and men, who
played significant roles in their own and future generations. God uses old people, with
their life experiences, wisdom, and perspective of what truly matters in life.

Little did this elderly couple realize that Elizabeth’s young relative, Mary, was about to
go through her own experience of a Miracle Baby. . . as a virgin. There would be the “looks” …“whispers”… “questions.” Auntie Elizabeth would provide a safe shelter to the
young girl whose life would be turned upside-down, as her own miracle pregnancy
became noticeable to her friends and neighbors. Two “impossibly” expectant mothers
would have a safe place in one another to share their joys, fears, questions, and time.
Poised together on the threshold of the arrival of two baby boys who would impact the
world for Eternity, the two women, old and young, would walk through the eternally
singular Experience of carrying Miracle Baby Boys within their own bodies . . . so near
to their hearts.

And God orchestrated the faithful, childless couple to play a significant role in the life of
a beloved niece, whose Child would change the World forever. Zachariah and Elizabeth’s miracle baby, for whom they had hoped and prayed was now nearing birth. John. And the One. . . the Messiah. . . for Whom they had waited and watched throughout their lives was now nearing His Own entrance into the world, through their own niece, Mary. God rewarded their faithfulness with a miracle son, and the experience of a “front row seat” to see the physical signs of the unborn Messiah, for Whom they had prayed throughout their lives.

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The Vine (with a twist)

“I am the Vine….you are the branches.
Abide in Me…and you will live.”

John 15:5

This morning, checking my little flower garden beside my back porch, I discovered, much to my delight and surprise, that my favorite flowering vine had sent out a new little tendril, which had somehow reached, through mid-air, to a tall shepherd’s hook about a yard away from the blossoming vine. There was nothing but air between the vine and the shepherd’s hook to which it had now begun to wind itself.

I was delighted . . . yet surprised and puzzled. I know, from the growing bouquet of bright red, large blossoms, that the shepherd’s hook will soon extend that original beautiful “bouquet” further into the garden far beyond what I could have hoped.

I couldn’t help but think of the Words of Jesus, as He taught His dear followers, using a word picture they were seeing as they walked with Him in the countryside.

My dear, Good Shepherd Whispered to my heart the Words He had spoken to His closest followers as they walked along with Him.

I don’t know how that Vine reached across the space and onto that shepherd’s hook. I did not see it happen. But carried by nothing tangible, it had reached beyond where it was planted and blooming, and was now beginning to bring beauty to a plain old, rusty-black shepherd’s staff among the stones.

That’s what Jesus does with us . . . for us. Apart from Him…the Vine….we’re sure to become a shriveled, droopy, dying blossom. We’ll hit the ground eventually, and again become part of the earth.

But the blossoms still connected to the Vine continue to bring color and life and beauty to a landscape of rocks and dirt. A vine moves…extends…and nobody sees it happen. It simply does. And its blossoms will come, open,and bring beauty to a spot that had nothing but stones and a plain, rusty pole.

I am sure that I will soon see that Shepherd’s Hook “blooming” soon.

Our Good…GOOD Shepherd does that as He leads us to places beyond where we were planted. And through our lives that are wrapped around Him, beauty…color…fragrance…
will extend to the rocky places that had no beauty nor life before. It often happens in unexpected ways, and not by human orchestration. That’s part of what makes it so special.

No person can take credit for the new color and fragrance that has entered a plain, rocky place. He simpy chooses to share His surprises in unexpected places where He has brought new life and all ofits beauty.

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Talking to Myself

“For God alone, O my soul,
wait in silence,
For my Hope is in Him.”
Psalm 62:5

Do you talk to yourself?

I am in a stage of life that gives me a lot of quiet time throughout most days. I’m quite
comfortable with that. But I do find myself talking to myself quite often. Sometimes I even
answer myself. (shhh….let’s keep that just between us, if you don’t mind!)
I know that I am not alone in this sort of activity. I find comfort in reading the Psalms of David, and he talked to himself quite a lot, too. So I am in good company.

What do I talk to myself about? Stuff like, “Now, where did I put ?” “Why did I come in here?” “What should I wear today?” “Why do I have all this stuff?” “Why did I say
that?”

What do you talk to yourself about?

Sometimes we need to talk to ourselves, like David, and remind ourselves of Truth that we have learned through past mistakes, through experience, and through good advice we have gotten from wise people in our lives. We need to remind ourselves of Truth that God has whispered to us in the past. . . often repeatedly.

Some nuggets of wisdom that we can glean from David’s personal conversation with his soul are worth our own consideration, “. . . For God alone , O my soul . . . “ The deepest core issue is that my very innermost “self”, the part of me that will continue on forever, long after my earthly life is finished, must focus on God more than anything else in life. What things of this earth take up most of my thoughts?

Most of my time? Most of my worries? Most of my energy? When do you / I intentionally
Pause all the noise of our day, and simply listen to silence. When do you give your full
attention to the silence that allows the Still…Small…Voice of God to be heard by your soul.
“…Wait in silence. . .” How much “silence” is in your day? The TV is off. The radio is off. The
phone is silenced. The music is paused.

Who does most of the talking to your soul . . mind . . . heart?

Maybe you need to ask yourself what you are afraid to hear in that silence.
“… for my Hope is in Him.”

We are all very experienced in the ways we personally choose to avoid listening to His Voice. But…
Thank You, God! . . . He continues to listen for ours.