Category Archives: Life of Jesus

Unwrapping Christmas

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Yesterday I received a heavy box in the mail, and since my granddaughter Emerald was over-to-play, we opened it together. That is, we tried.

The artistBefore I could fetch a scissors to cut the tape, Emerald (who was seated cross-legged on the kitchen counter) grabbed my pen and began drawing on the sturdy white box. Since it was heavy and seemed well-padded, I decided to let her have a moment with her idea and pulled out the colored markers for her.

She ended up working on that box for 25 minutes, a noteworthy attention span for a new two-year-old. As she chattered away, she turned the box (no small feat with its heft) and every so often asked for help with that. “Mee Mee help you?” I moved her to the floor where she continued to draw, decorating all 6 sides before she was finished.

While she was asleep, it occurred to me she’d never been interested in what was inside that big, heavy box, because she got distracted by the packaging.

The artworkSome of us are tempted to do that with the Christmas season, too, allowing ourselves to get so caught up with the trappings of the holiday we never get around to unwrapping God’s gift.

Admittedly, all the Christmas accessories fancy-up the season in ways that are difficult to resist. We buy into buying, and adorn our homes with baubles and bows. We choose well-balanced Christmas trees and load them with sentiment and family history. We entertain and bake and wrap and decorate till December 25 finally comes and goes. And then we fall into a tired heap with smiles on our faces, knowing fun was had by all.

Apples and jamBut did we ever take time to unwrap The Gift?

“…for the exceeding grace of God in you… thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:14-15)

 

Praising and Praying with Mary

Please continue to pray about my painful feeding tube and for God’s wisdom about whether or not to have it removed.

Conversation with God

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Crawling into bed in the wee hours last night, the only question I had was, “Lord, what should I think about all this, regarding Mary’s cancer?”

Though he didn’t answer right away, in the 6:00 AM hour he did. Before my eyes opened, he put a passage of Scripture into my mind that was resounding like the chimes in a Christmas concert. Over and over it came as God wanted to be sure I didn’t miss his answer to my question.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ( John 11:25-26)

Jesus was doing what he did throughout the Gospels, answering my question by asking one of his own. It didn’t take two seconds to answer, “Absolutely!” And that brief conversation, which took place before my head left the pillow, set the tone for today.

RejoiceAlthough the enemy of our souls, Satan, would like us to be despondent and despairing with the news of Mary’s cancer recurrence, yesterday she hung a banner over the upsetting news: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And she plans to do that to the best of her ability.

The piece of God’s Word delivered to me this morning seemed to be God’s stamp of approval on Mary’s determination to handle her crisis his way. As she places her hand in his on each of the days he gives her, the rest of us will do just fine if we follow their lead.

“I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I’m thankful for the incredible response of people willing to pray for me, for us, and I sincerely feel it.
  2. I’m thankful that so far I don’t have new symptoms and feel pretty good.
  3. Thank you for praying for our family as each one adjusts to the difficult news of the cancer.

Thank you.

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Those of us who started attending church when we were on the cradle roll are happy to talk about God. We’re usually faithful to pray, and we’re even comfortable with praying out loud if asked. After all, Jesus became our childhood friend as we met him through flannel-graph stories in Sunday school. Talking to him was much like talking to any of our other friends.

FlannelgraphThen we grew older and learned there was more to it than that. We realized God wasn’t on a par with any of our other friends but was unique, superior, someone who merited reverence and awe, and the utmost of respect.

Eventually we were taught that to fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and surely approaching God ought to be done as wisely as possible. Did that mean he wanted us to be afraid of him when we prayed? If so, then why did he tell us to “come as little children” and “come boldly to the throne of grace?” Can we come to him that way if we’re afraid?

At the very least, fearing God probably means respecting his authority and power. He’s the ultimate in both categories and can do anything he wants with anything he’s created, which includes us. If we’re on his bad side, he is to be feared indeed, since he will judge all of mankind. He also wants us to revere him as God of gods, holy and perfect.

While I was contemplating what might be the wisest way to approach the Lord, probably making it more complicated than it needed to be, I heard someone pray a wise prayer. Sandy was asked to pray at the conclusion of our women’s Bible study today. We’d had a discussion about true wisdom and fearing God. If I’d been the one praying, I probably would have started by begging God to give us more wisdom, but not Sandy.

ThankfulnessShe started by thanking God for who he is and continued to list reasons all of us were thankful for him. The middle of her prayer was more gratitude, one thing after another, and she concluded with a final series of thank you’s. Her prayer was all about the Lord and nothing about us.

How unusual, I thought, to pray for several minutes without ever asking for anything. It was simply thank you… thank you… thank you.

And it was wise.

“The Lord said… ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so’.” (Deuteronomy 4:10)