by Sharon O | Dec 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
I have taken a few days to think about and enjoy the Christmas season.
Christmas Eve was spent at church for a service and it was wonderful to sing and rest in the words of our Pastor.
Christmas day we had family over and of course the children enjoyed their gifts and brunch was good.
Clean up is always not too fun as it requires hand washing of china and special glasses.
But I did it and it was all not too bad.
The few days between Christmas and New Years is always a quiet time, taking decorations down and putting them away.
Getting the house back in order. I am praying about my new ‘word for the year’ and many other things.
The story of Christmas is not quite done as our Pastor said today, the story continues.
He shared today on Anna and Simeon. Can you imagine just living in the ‘temple’ day in and day out?
They waited with expectancy for the Messiah.
THE Messiah, the one who, they would understand and know without any question, that this is the one.
Some thought the Messiah would save them from the rulers of the land and set up a new kingdom.
God had other things in mind.
He not only wanted His Son to come down to save us, he also wanted His character and the kingdom to pursue us in a deep and abiding love.
He wanted to love us so deeply and to give us a way of ‘redemption’ through the Story of Christmas.
Everyone loves a story. Everyone loves a ‘beautiful story.’
The Story of Jesus, the Spirit of Christmas is all about the story of God’s perfect plan.
A foretelling of His desire to come alongside us and not leave us alone without Hope.
God waited for the right time. The right place in time for Jesus to come to us.
There was an expectant HUSH throughout the galaxies. A baby was born.
I read a note on face book that spoke of the expectant hush, when all of creation stopped, for an instant.
And it said the stars, and the angels and everyone held their breath and beauty.
Till the baby was born. Waiting for the expectancy of a Savior. The fulfillment of a promise.
Who would save us from not only ourselves, but from times of being alone for eternity.
God loved us SO much, that He gave, His only son so that we could believe in him and find hope.
God had other things in mind. He had love from the depth his heart to us.
by Sharon O | Dec 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
There is so much to share and study about the Christmas story.
I pray that as you have read these little devotionals, you have been challenged to think of the Season in a much different way.
The Spirit of Christmas was everywhere. Holy Spirit orchestrated in each and every person and activity.
The players all played an important part in telling the story. It was simple yet very profound.
It had to be that way, the miracle of a baby.
The miracles taking place over and over meeting each one on a very personal level.
How did God plan this very perfect birth? We will never know fully.
We just know it was Holy, it was ordained and a son was born.
We often sing songs like “Oh little town of Bethlehem, or “away in a manger,” Or even the more meaningful ones like “Oh Holy Night.”
We hold our candles in the Christmas eve services and we know and understand that without a little baby, born in a manger, we would not have salvation and hope.
Hope is so necessary for life to continue for us. It allows us to trust more and love deeper .
The song says, “Fall on your knees” and we breathe deep as we listen to the powerful words of the singers.
When Silent Night comes on we slow down, we listen and we remember.
It is good to remember the reason is not just Santa and Rudolph and candy canes.
It is about a Savior who changed lives. Mary’s and Joseph’s and the Shepherd’s and the wise men.
We cannot forget Zechariah and Elizabeth, or Anna or Simeon.
We cannot forget how the Angel Gabriel shared the good news in a powerful and moving way.
I think he tells us, “do not be afraid” too.
God brought us a redeeming love so we can sing, “Oh Holy Night” and mean it perhaps for the first time.
The Spirit of Christmas is right where we find it…in our hearts if we truly receive.
by Sharon O | Dec 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
The other night as I was talking to my husband about the Christmas story, I asked him who I was missing.
I have covered all the players I think, the story is mostly over at this point.
The angels visit Mary and Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Elizabeth, the baby is born, and both shepherd’s and wise men, have come.
Mary and Joseph headed back home now that Herod is gone. The life of Jesus continues but I was not figuring out my new direction in telling this story.
He has been reading a book that I read and really enjoyed and I recommend it to you too.
Flash by Rachel Anne Ridge.
He said, “You are forgetting the donkey.” I looked at him as if to say, “what? no one talks about a donkey.”
But that is the point. In Rachel’s book she shares how wonderful Flash was, and how he came to mean so much for them as a family.
She shares the delightful character of her ‘donkey’ and the lessons learned from him.
It almost made me want to go out and find one for our yard, only we don’t have a farm.
Mary and Joseph had a donkey too. In fact, if you think about all the traveling they had to do in her fragile condition.
Without a donkey she could not have made it so far.
A simple donkey played a very important role in the Christmas story.
As they traveled over rocks and hard places, she trusted it’s strong legs and soft back.
I imagine how she held onto the hair with it tightly wrapped around her fingers, trying not to fall off with each step the donkey took.
She was able to rest and find some comfort, while riding on this ‘pack animal’ who made her trips so easy.
Amazing how God uses what we would not consider, to get a message to us, and also to tell his story.
This is not the first time God used a donkey, in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, we find Balaam in chapter twenty two verse thirty.
Balaam had disciplined his donkey for not going in the direction he told to go, and the donkey responded to him.
[And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?”
And he said, “No”] He meaning Balaam. Now we have to stop for a second because a donkey talked and a man responded.
All things possible with God right?
I wonder what the donkey could have told us about the travel time, with Mary and Joseph. Now that would be quite the conversation!
And also remember when Jesus enters into the city as a grown man, during the triumphal entry in John twelve verses fourteen through sixteen.
[Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said,
“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look your King is coming riding on a donkey’s colt”]
So we can see now that the donkey is very important to the Spirit of Christmas and the story of Jesus.
We cannot have the story without the donkey. Joseph needed the help of his ‘long time’ donkey to pack food, blankets and Mary.
One more character added to the story of Jesus. A simple donkey doing what is most natural to him.
How wonderful of God to use what we consider not usable, in the powerful story of His Son.
by Sharon O | Dec 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
The next scene we move into was after the wise men left Mary and Joseph.
In the book of Matthew verse thirteen we find the angel appearing to him.
[After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.
“Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said, “Stay there till I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”]
We all have had ‘dreams’ that were disturbing but this one for Joseph, must have been quite upsetting.
I am not sure how far Egypt was from where they were, but it could not have been an easy task especially in a hurry as the angel said to flee quickly.
It is not like they could get in a rental car and drive there. It was a journey that would take time.
And how did he explain this ‘dream’ to Mary? she had to trust him and go.
The story continues in verse fourteen.
[That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there till Herod’s death.
This was fulfilled what the Lord had spoken to the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt.”
Herod was furious when he realized the wise men had outwitted him.
He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.
Herod’s brutal actions fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
A cry was heard in Ramah–weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.]
Ok let’s stop here. Let us think for a moment, imagine yourself in their thoughts and feelings.
Mary and Joseph were running for safety, and realizing at some point in time, what was going on in the lands.
Can you even begin to imagine the chaos, the sorrow, the intensity, and for Mary and Joseph the burden weighing down on them for all the baby boys?
As a young mom her heart had to have been moved so intensely, feeling the depth of despair for even perhaps some of her friends?
I would imagine the words spoken to her in Luke two verse thirty five: [and a sword will pierce your very soul.] played back in her mind and heart.
We have all had a deep soul hurt. An intense pain that is not even describable.
This was the beginning for Mary.
Prophecy was fulfilled at the cost of pain and agonizing grief. Also through the jealous words of a man concerned about nothing but himself.
We have to understand the birth of Jesus was not just a warm fuzzy baby in the manger time.
It was filled with many emotions and feelings, for many who played a part in this drama.
Each scene, each person, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, as the spirit of Christmas continues.
It is a story of obedience and sacrifice. A story of a savior who fulfilled prophecy in the city of Bethlehem.
by Sharon O | Dec 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
The next scene we see in this story of Jesus is found in Matthew two verse one:
[Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.
About that time some wise men (royal astrologers or magi) from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw a star as it rose (or star in the east), and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”]
Let us pause for a moment as you can get this scene in your ‘story’.
The wise men have come to see the new baby king, Herod became worried, concerned and even jealous of his kingdom being taken by a new ruler.
A newborn king is definitely someone to be scared or afraid of, especially if you are a king who is unsure of yourself.
So in verses seven and eight, Herod set up a meeting to discuss how the wise men would go see this new baby, and then come back to let him know where he was found, so he ‘could’ go worship this little baby king too.
Now that was not a true motive, and we will find more about that out later.
In verse nine we see what takes place next:
[After this interview (the one with Herod) the wise men went their way.
And the star they had seen in the east guided them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
They entered the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.]
When reading this we must not forget the meaning of these gifts given to the new baby.
Gold equals money, wealth and riches. Frankincense was an aromatic gum resin used primarily in incense or religious ceremonial practices.
Myrrh is also an aromatic used for incense or perfume. It was not uncommon to use these two oils when embalming someone after death.
SO let’s think about this, these were not the usual baby ‘shower presents’ for a newborn, these had meaning and significance.
Also some believe he was not newborn when they finally found him. It could have taken them months to arrive where the baby was with Mary.
