Matthew 2: 1 - 12 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:  “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler    who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the kin

Mark 13:13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Is this why much of the world hates the United States? ... .because the United States was built on Christian beliefs?..... and is the strongest/largest group standing strong for Christ? Something to think about.

John 14:13 " And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." John 14:31a  "but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. " I think of the tough questions like Why was Jesus here? What was His purpose? Why would He do anything for me? The answers are not as hard as we may think. I think Jesus tells us very plainly. Jesus was here, Jesus' purpose and what He did for me is explained in the fourteenth chapter of John . Jesus came so that the Father may be glorified in the son and so we learn that Jesus love[s] the Father , as is evidenced by do[ing] exactly what [his] Father ha[d] commanded [him]. I'm not trying to imply that Jesus doesn't love me or you.  But He loves the Father more, actually the most of anything or anyone else.  He endured what he endured because of his love for God.  He loved God and had to demonstrate that immense love by

There were two "special" trees in the Garden of Eden.  ( Genesis 2:9 ) The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.    Notice one was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is the tree Adam and Eve were supposed to leave alone because they would "surely die" if they ate its fruit. The other tree was the Tree of Life.  This phrase is mentioned eleven times in the NIV version of the Bible.  Sometimes it is more of a metaphor than an actual tree.   In Genesis 2 it is an actual tree. Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Genesis 3:24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherub

1 Thessalonians 1:6a - 8a - You became imitators..of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers....The Lord’s message rang out from you....your faith in God has become known everywhere.... Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica. He has praise for them. He builds them up by telling them what they are doing right - that they reflect Christ, that they must be filled with the Holy Spirit because they are joyful in the midst of their severe suffering, that their faith in God is evident and well-known.  I have been very fortunate and blessed in my life to not have suffered anything severe. I don't know if I could be joyful in the midst of severe suffering. I do know that when I am in pain, oftentimes, God comes to my rescue even without my asking. I went to the dentist today. I don't do dentist visits very well. I had a large cavity that needed filled. I needed sh

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. What if all our conversations were full of grace?  Can you imagine how nice they would be?  Even if they were harsh issues, like telling an employee that they need to be on time, every day, to all meetings, or telling a friend that they are headed for trouble if they don't rethink their priorities.  All conversations would be kind, only stating what is necessary using the most gracious words and tone of voice. And those speaking to us would be full of grace. How pleasant! What a goal to strive for! I wonder if it'd be possible to have all our conversations full of grace, even those conversations with people who are growing in Christ, or those who make us mad, or those who are usually difficult to deal with. If we keep ourselves in a state of grace (which is only possible through Christ Jesus), we may be able to steer the tone of any conversation to o

Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! These are the words of Jesus. It is in the conversation where Jesus tells the disciples that they must be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven, that they must accept the children and never lead them astray. I was surprised by " such things must come ", such " things that cause people to stumble" . I haven't thought of temptations and trials as being necessary. Perhaps I'm wrong but what other reason could there be that " such things must come "?  Why do things that cause people to stumble have to come? God calls us and woos us. He gives us loads of chances to meet and commit to Him. Perhaps that is why " such things must come ". They say that people won't get help for their addictions until they have hit rock bottom. Perhaps they won't come to Jesus until they reach

2 Corinthians 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.     In chapter 12 of Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul is telling the Corinthians that he is not superman, that he has weaknesses and even perhaps even has a disability. He goes on to explain that he is made strong through those very weaknesses, that God can be glorified by Paul's weaknesses or disabilities maybe even more so through his strengths. Good lesson.   Today the preciseness of his prayer is what I noticed. I pray a lot. I started using a prayer system this summer to help me be more diligent and less all-over-the-place in my prayer life. But I am no where close to knowing how many times I pray for any one particular thing. I am not that precise. I don't know if I need to be. I think God accepts our prayers as they are said, whether once or a million times. I just wonder if I'm missing something because I am not precise enough.    If I know precisely how

I've been studying the Book of Job . I've always hears that it is a really depressing, sad story.  I find it to be the exact opposite. Yes, there is a lot of depressing stuff.  Job loses his family (except wife) and all his livestock, much of his possessions and likely the respect of others. But much of Job is about how great God is. There are tons of questions that we can't answer about how the world is built and how it operates. These questions are to expand our minds to accept how really big and magnificent God is. Here are some examples: Job 5: 9-11 He [God] performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,    miracles that cannot be counted. 10 He provides rain for the earth;    he sends water on the countryside. 11 The lowly he sets on high,    and those who mourn are lifted to safety. Job 7:17-18 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,    that you give them so much attention, 18 that you examine them every morning    and test them every moment? Job