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 ...

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 Ed...

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 conversatio...

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 ...

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...

Luke 7:36-39   Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." I thought of something when I read this passage.  Why was the " woman who had lived a sinful life " in the Pharisee's house? Was she there to "set-up" Jesus?  Did the Pharisee have her there so that he could see how Jesus would react? I don't know. It doesn't really make any difference today. The...

Have you even noticed how easy it is to conform to the world?  I can walk up to a group of people I know and immediately join in their conversation even if it is a negative one. I jump right in with my two cents worth. It's like the group needs to know how I feel about the subject, especially if they all already agree with it. I add in my "evidence" of the atrocity, stating something I've seen or heard, or worse something I've heard that someone else saw or heard so it's not even a first hand account. Today's readings include some convicting passages.  James 1:27 .... keep oneself from being polluted by the world.    Matthew 12:35 : " The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." Matthew 12:30:   "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." I need to work harder to keep from being polluted by the w...

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart!    Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,    and lead me in the way everlasting! This is my prayer for today.  Search me, O God, and know my heart. Alert me to my areas of ungodliness. Find and expose my ugliness. Show me Your ways. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts! Uncover my shame. Bear witness to my anxiety and unfaithfulness. Help my unbelief and impatience. Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, Tell me where I grieve You. Rebuke me. Reform me.  Create in me a new heart and a new way of thinking. Melt me.  Mold me. Shape me into Your ways. And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Drag me until I walk behind in full submission. Lead me in every way. Break any stubbornness in me. Create in me a desire for all things everlasting. and lead me ...

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/worryfea/pride5.htm John 3:30 says "He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less."  This quote is from John the Baptist.  I don't ever remember hearing this verse or seeing this verse anywhere, like on wall hangings, coffee mugs, book marks and the like. I'm guessing it isn't a very popular verse.  We like Bible verses that make us feel good or profess our faith.  We don't much like the ones that call us on the carpet! And this one does. We often put ourselves first, as one greater than Christ. We want the worship service to fill us, the music to lift us, our prayers to grant us whatever we want/need.  This verse gives us the equation that sums up what our purpose is.  We are to increasingly make Christ bigger in our lives and make ourselves smaller in comparison.  We are to spend more and more time, money, brain power, activity on Christ and His work. AND we are supposed to spend more and more shrinki...

http://wanweihsien.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/scripture-homosexuality-and-difficult-truths/ Genesis 32:22-37 tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God...... physically ... wrestling ... with God.  I'm afraid that some of the oldest stories in the Bible just seem......unlikely to me.  I'm not saying they didn't happen. I just wonder if they are somewhat exaggerated, or if there was some misunderstanding, or if the people or writers were less sophisticated so some things SEEMED like the way they are recorded in scripture. I know thinking like that can cause doubts in other areas of the Bible. But a man (Jacob) physically wrestling with God and GOD was unable to overcome Jacob?  See what I mean?  I just don't think this is the whole story. Seems a lot of stories in the Bible don't give us the whole story. In fact, many stories leave as many questions as they do answers. For example, why is this story even in the Bible?  I'm not sure I get the point, any poi...

We tend to shirk our duties spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Most offer excuses like I don't know what to say.   That may be true, especially if we don't know much of Jesus' message.  That comes from Bible study and scripture reading. But we can be assured that if we try to spread the news, at that very moment, we will know what to say, with or without a great deal of Bible study and reading. Here's how I know.  Jesus says as recorded in Luke 12:12, " for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."   Notice the timing. " at that time ", not before time. Also notice how you will know... "The Holy spirit will teach you ."  There is no better teacher of the Bible.  You can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will get the message right, perfect for the listener, and you can't mess it up, unless you  let your ego get in the way and try to take over the message.  When the time is right, when you let the Holy Sp...

Isaiah 54 : 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer. God turns away from us, much like a parent might do with an unruly child to gather her composure before acting out of frustration or anger. Instead God turns away from us to count to ten so that He remembers we are weak and sinful.  He turns from us because He loves us and doesn't want harm to come to us. He turns to give us time to come back and remember who He is and that He has compassion on us. Thank You, God. 9b "So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. A promise of God. That though He has good reason, He will not be angry with us, that he will look upon us with forgiveness. This is a promise to hold onto, no matter what we've done, or how we provoked God. That God loves us and forgives us NO MATTER WHAT! Hallelujah! 10 Though the mountains be shaken ...

Psalms is full of poems. I've never been very good at understanding poems, deciphering the imagery, getting the rhythm of the cadence. So most of the Psalms are beyond me. I don't get most of them. However, there are phrases that I do get.  Psalm 86 :11b is one of those I get. It is a beautiful prayer in 11 words: give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. That is my prayer this day.  Lord God, give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name . Focus my thoughts and actions so that You are always the center. Amen Used by permission.  Photo by Deanna Etienne See ExpressionsbyD

In Matthew 10 , Jesus sends the disciples out to the "lost sheep of Israel" to preach, teach, heal, raise the dead, cleanse.  He tells them, "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave." (Verse 11)  He gives them a few more instructions about what gear to take and what to do while they are there. But He gives them no instruction about how to recognize a worthy person .  From knowing Jesus, we know that this doesn't mean those who are wealthy or powerful. It also doesn't mean the religious leaders, just because they are religious leaders. So what does it mean to be worthy? I looked up the word.  My resources say of value or merit, having worth, excellence.  It also implies that to be worthy means that it is due something, like a crime is worthy of punishment, or God is worthy of praise and worship or worthy is the Lamb (Jesus).  Would I be worthy if they were...

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, have been called according to his purpose. Late last week, I had an interesting job interview. I knew by the time I left that I was not chosen for the position. The interview was a joint interview with several applicants.  As a result I understood why I wasn't chosen. The problem was that I had thought it was perhaps THE job I was going to get. So I left with the knowledge that I was not the best person and the feeling that perhaps I won't be the best person for another job.  Yes, I know that is pessimistic. I'm working on that. The thing is, I was behind on my readings and devotions. On Saturday, I went to a formation - which is a planning/work session for an upcoming Walk to Emmaus three day event.  I am part of the team. During the session, someone talked about Romans 8:28.  I've heard it before, many times. As I caught up with my readings, I read that passage 2 more time...

I heard something on the radio the other day. It was on NPR.org . It made me think about light differently, especially the words light and lamp that are spread throughout the Bible.  Here is a clip from the program that I'm talking about: "We forget just how painfully dim the world was before electricity. A candle, a good candle,  provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt lightbulb. Open your refrigerator door, and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century . The world at night, for much of history, was a very dark place indeed. " This is from a book called At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson in the chapter called  "Fuse Box". Mr. Bryson quotes from a diary of a guest at a dinner party where there were 7 (only 7) candles (candles, not candleabras) lighting the room, stating that "it was a blaze of light". Think of that.  Look ...