The Lowly King

Can you imagine?  The creator of all things, the sky, the earth, the animals, the atoms which compose the straw which he lay upon.  Does it not confound you?  Love Himself was sent to earth, not as the king and creator He was/is, but as a helpless baby whose parents are human.  Can you imagine rejecting your Lord and Saviour because you had no room in your house or inn?  Thousands and thousands of of people continue to flood the small city.  Those who can, camp outside of the city, those who were early have rooms, But God is given a place in a stable next to an inn.  Meanwhile, the sky proclaims his arrival to the world as Angels sing to shepherds, and the stars align to fulfill ancient prophecy.

From the start He was humble, He didn't come as a king, but a sacrifice, a servant.  Let us imitate His humility, his servant's heart.


Philippians 2:

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
 ⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
   being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!

Weak

Ah, food poisoning... Very few things draw your attention to your human weakness like sitting in your bathroom waiting for the inevitable.  Since I had some time to do just that this morning, I reflected a bit on who God is... and how I have treated Him.  I must say, my behaviour most closely resembles that of the Israelites out of Egypt.  Having been blessed and blessed, they immediately turn on God.  Moses says to his people:

⁶ Is this the way you repay the LORD,   you foolish and unwise people?  Is he not your Father, your Creator,^[a] who made you and formed you?  - Deuteronomy 32:6

 This semester has been fantastic for me...  I made it through the whole time without once being sick.  I did better than ever in all my classes (though French was a bit dicey).  How much time have I given my Father and Creator?  Essentially none.  He made me and everything else... He died for Me... He loves me, and I talk to Him for a half an hour a day?  Really?  How much does He deserve?  All of me.  Yet I get done with a great year, and say three minutes of prayers before going to sleep... how stupid.  How hateful of me.  All God wants is to spend time with me, yet I push Him aside.  Would I do that to my earthy father?  Maybe, but I still spend as much time with him as I can... yet when it comes to God, my Heavenly Father and my Creator... I don't give Him even that much.  EVERYONE, He just wants to be with you!  Why else would he have his back lashed until the skin hung in strips, or hang naked from a wooden post until He suffocated?  Please don't be like me or the Israelites... Please, please, please!  Spend time with your God.

Yours,

Communion

Yesterday I took communion.  The church was solemn.  One by one we received the bread and wine.  When I was handed the cup to partake, a little splashed on my hand.  I looked down and there was a crimson drop on my right thumb.  In my mind's eye I could see His blood there on my hand.  It were as if I had just finished nailing him to the Cross.  The thought sent chills through my body.  But, I realized how much truth was in the idea.  In the truth of things, Christ was sacrificed for my sins, in order that I may receive salvation.

 ⁴ Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. --Isaiah 53

On my hands lay the blood of my Savior and God.  In part, I am responsible for his death.  How awful.  How disgusting, yet how beautiful.  In his book Edge of Eternity (a modern take on Pilgrim's Progress) Randy Alcorn describes a scene in which his main character pounds nails into the feet of the only one who can help him.  It's incredibly moving, and it gives the reader as sense of what it might be like had we been the ones to nail Christ to the Cross.  It's an terrible thought, yet true, as we are all responsible for His death.

For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. --Isaiah 53:8

The story does not end though.  That is what is so fantastic.  His death brings life!  So, my response should be repentance, humility, and joy.  How awesome, how beautiful.

Blessings,

Carry Me

A few years back, I saw for the first time a short story titled "Footprints in the Sand."  In it the main character talks to Jesus about his life's journey.  He then mentions how good it was to have Christ there through much of the way, but points out that several times, during hardships, he saw only one set of footprints.  He then asks Jesus why, in that time of need Christ would leave him alone.  Jesus' response is "When you see only one set of footprints, I didn't leave you, it was then that I carried you."


I love that story so much, and as life gets crazy and deadlines, meetings, and chaos build up around me, sometimes I can only say, "Jesus, carry me."  I say it because I ought.  I say it because He can.  I say it, because without Him there is no point to anything I do.  

Psalm 28:7 - The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Lamentations 3:57 - You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”

Psalm 39:7 - "But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you."

Psalm 121:1-2 - I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

In reality, God carries us everyday.  We shouldn't turn to him just because we encounter difficulties... but all the same, when the difficulties arrive, it is good and right to ask him to carry us.

Blessings,

Stuff

The masses stiffened.  A tremor moved through the group.  Hundreds standing side by side.  Complete strangers to one another, yet all united by a common goal: to buy stuff.  A crowd of people two isles away began yelling, pushing and grabbing.  Immediately those around me began to moan and groan to the manager and employees standing nearby.  A few tried to slip past the caution tape and were chastised by the manager and the other shoppers in the vicinity.  Tension was growing, as patience receded.  it was a quarter till midnight on Thanksgiving day.  I had seen an advertisement for the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the paper.  I thought the price was reasonable and just arrived at my local Wal-Mart.  What was I thinking.  Hundreds of people filled the isles for sales that would begin in five hours.  I did my best to politely squeeze through the mobs to the location dvds would be sold in a few minutes.  So many people, and they were all there to buy stuff in order to save a few bucks... but this wasn't an ordinary trip to the store for groceries, there was hate, greed, and distrust in the air.  The masses stiffened, and suddenly the group lurched forward.  Hundreds of people rushing into an even smaller area pushing, yelling, and scrambling for the deals some had waited hours obtain.


I was disgusted.  Disgusted with the people around me and with myself.  I found myself getting drawn into the same mindset others had.  I'm supposed to be different.  Supposed to be focused on higher things.  Hebrews 13:5 reminds me to "keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  The Bible is a very anti-materialistic book...  Do I live my life in a way that reflects that.  I sometimes forget that Christ is the greatest treasure I will ever receive, and I did not even have to go to the store and wait in line for fifteen minutes fearing for my life.   I sometimes need to be reminded of my priorities.  

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:19-21

I can't help but wonder what would the church look like here in America, if we Christians were as serious about the infinite reward we have in faith as all those people who waited in lines for hours... outside... in the cold, just to get some temporal thing.

Blessings,