What I Really Need For Christmas

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
    he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)

He came as a baby. He was born in basically a barn; laying in a feed trough where animals drooled. You can't get much more base than that. Yet, he was God. He gave up living like God, he gave up being divine, so we could live. What a sacrifice. And knowing this, I still sometimes think I should have it better than I do. I sometimes act entitled. What is wrong with me?

Maybe this Christmas I need to pray for the humility of Christ.

Looking Back To See The Future

For the Mighty One is holy,
    and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
    to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
    He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
    and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
    and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and his children forever.”  Luke 1:49-55 (NLT)

Mary had been told she was about to become an unmarried, pregnant woman in a culture of people who stoned women for such acts. Her life was turned upside down. It was the perfect definition of a "messy life." How did she handle it? She surrendered the plan to God and then she praised him. Instead of looking forward at what she couldn't fathom, she looked back at all the things God had done. She remembered where he showed up in the past and she trusted in that.

Got a messy life? Remember....remember that God was there in the past and he will be with you now. He hasn't gone anywhere. Have you?

Decisions Made A Long Time Ago

Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
    to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
    so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
    And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
Out of that terrible travail of soul,
    he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
    will make many “righteous ones,”
    as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
    the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
    because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
    he took up the cause of all the black sheep. Isaiah 53:10-12 (MSG)

Jesus made the decision to face a non-people pleasing, struggle for your mission life. He made the decision to face death.....for us. That decision started with the choice to come here as a baby. The birth of Christ, which we celebrate at this time of year, was one of many decisions that he made to save us. And this is why we celebrate.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

What do you want me to do for you? Luke 18:41 (NLT)

What would you respond if Jesus asked you this question?  What do you want?

To me, this is a hard question to answer. I want a lot of things.  Even if you take out the material things, the healing for other people I know, the desire for my loved ones to be whole or to have the pain taken away or to have them know Jesus, even if you take out all of those things, I still get stuck.

Just say I focus only on me.  What do I personally want from Jesus? Even there the list is long. There are so many things......I guess then I wonder what really matters?

And then, another question. If I don't know what I want from Jesus, how will I ever know if I got it?

Maybe, we don't have to break it down to one answer. Maybe, it's about just wanting Jesus, the whole package and all that that brings to my life. The fullness and completeness of a relationship with him that looks different every day and accomplishes so much throughout a lifetime. Maybe it's about starting with the wonderment of a stable through the glory of a second coming and not trying to put it all in one box - one size fits all. One size doesn't fit all....and Jesus knows that.

So for now, for today, that is my answer.  I want Jesus. All of him and every wonderful, difficult, challenging, amazing, joyful, messy scenario that comes with loving him.

A Minute In It - How Well Do You See?

A minute in God's word will change your life. Take a minute to read the passage below. Then, ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post. 

In John 9, Jesus healed a blind man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees got wind of it and started interegating the blind man and his family. They kept asking the same questions over and over trying to find out who did this. The people were afraid of the Pharisees so they gave generic answers trying to get out of the whole ordeal. The blind man just kept repeating the same story and finally the Pharisees threw him and his family out of the synagogue. Jesus heard about is and when and found the man. The rest of the story is below.

When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you! Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus. Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” John 9:36-39 (NLT)

Are there things in your life that are sacred?
If Jesus showed up and performed a miracle that was contrary to what you thought was sacred, would you question if it was God?
How do you treat people that believe different things than you?
Is it possible that we are the ones who think we can see when in fact we are blind?

Praying With Attention Deficit

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord. Psalm 139:1-4 (NLT)

"Dear Lord, Thank you for a new day. Speaking of a new day, how am I going to get it all done? And what am I going to wear to that meeting....especially since I have a pile of laundry that didn't get done this weekend because ....oh, this weekend. Maybe I shouldn't have said what I said to her. But did you hear what she said to me?"

Do your prayers ever feel like they wind around the bend with no particular focus? Mine do, especially if I am not journaling them. I start out with good intentions but get side-tracked  easily. This used to bother me. I would get frustrated when I realized that my mind had wandered off some place and I was not really focused.

Then, I thought Why not pray about all this stuff that has me so distracted? Why not talk to God about it?

Does God care about my pile of laundry? Well, maybe not specifically but he does care about what I was doing that caused it to still be sitting there. And he does care about the fact that it's really distracting me which is taking my focus off what he wants me to do.

As I started praying through my attention deficit, I realized that a lot of what distracts me are actually things I can pray about. When I pray about the interaction over the weekend, God brings to mind that maybe I wasn't seeing things the way he does. When I pray about what I am going to wear to a meeting, it becomes prayers about my day and who I will meet with, not the actually meeting itself. And from there, the people in my life flood into my mind and I lift them up. Sometimes. Every time I pray it's different because every day is different.

I used to try to pray so it made sense but I don't do that anymore. Now, I pray real. I let my brain and my heart (which God created) lead the way and I know that God is listening and he doesn't get distracted at all. After all, he knows what I am going to say even before I say it. He's just waiting for me to get to the points he needs to bring home to my heart. Good thing he's so patient.

That's My Son

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19 (NIV)

When we go back to Greece to visit, I am often surprised at the intimacy of the villages. Usually, folks know we are there to visit before we reach out to them. Someone saw us and started telling folks and the word gets out.

I would guess Mary experienced this in a much greater magnitude. What do you think she heard as she walked around villages and towns?

"Did you hear what Jesus did? He made the blind man see."
"Jesus healed the leper."
"It's too incredible to believe, he walked on water!"
"Jesus fed 5,000 men with just 5 loaves and 2 fish!"

The Bible tells us in a few places that Mary pondered (treasured) these things in her heart. Here's my question. How did she stay humble? I'm a Mom. I am super proud of my kids. My heart swells when I see them and I feel good. Here is this Mom who has a son that is the Son of God. He heals people! He calms storms! How would you keep your pride in check in that scenario?

Maybe that's why God chose Mary. Maybe he knew that she would keep coming to him each day to keep herself grounded. Mary was not supernatural. She was a human that needed a Savior just like we do. I am sure she struggled with being a Mom, being a woman, being a human just like the rest of us. We don't know a ton about her but we know she had a relationship with God because God said she found favor in his sight. We also know she pondered....contemplated....thought about the things that were happening....is it possible this could also mean she prayed about them? In all that pondering, was she praying?

I look at Mary and I want that.  I want that relationship with God that grounds me so well that no matter what good is happening in my life, I stay humble. I stay connected. I want to stay grounded in the one thing that is true. I want to always remember that it's God who is doing great things, not me.

Father God, It is impossible for us to be humble without you. As soon as we think about how humble we are, we are not humble! But you, Holy Spirit, can change us from the inside out so that we can truly experience your humility. Please do that in my life. Amen

Until Then.....

Then Jesus wept. John 11:35 (NLT)

As I stood there in the middle of the the second Memorial Service in a month, I felt numb.  I watched the people cry around me and I didn't respond much.  My brain was telling me that Jesus will come again and this would all go away. I kept thinking about the hope that the cross brings to us and how important it is to know that during this time. It helped me hold on.

Then, after the service was over, after the lunch, on the long drive home, I sobbed. I sobbed and sobbed because of the pain I knew everyone was going through. I sobbed because children shouldn't have to bury their 'too young to die' mother. I sobbed because mothers shouldn't have to bury their daughters and husband their wives way before it was time. And I sobbed for my loss as well.

After the sobbing I pondered the fact that we were not created for this.  We were created to live forever and because of sin, we don't. And I longed for the day when Jesus will come so there will be no more tears. And I was comforted with the fact that Jesus wept when Lazarus died. Jesus also knew that this was not what we were supposed to be doing. He knew that there is a better life ahead and that he would hold the key to that life. Yet he wept anyway. He wept because he could feel the pain around him and his tender heart broke.

As we drove home, I was comforted with the fact that my Lord and Savior also felt this pain and expressed it. I was also comforted with the knowledge that he will come again and take us home to a place where we won't have to say good-bye to people we love ever again.

Until then, J-9, until then.....