by Sharon O | Mar 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
[52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52
Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.
And as he was praying, heaven was opened
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”]
I see this verse as a declaration of his identity and his ministry.
Jesus grew not only in wisdom but also in stature, I see this in the way my own grandson’s are growing up.
They change from the little boy look to the ‘young man look’ and desire to be taller than grandma.
Jesus grew up too and after he was baptized by John he went off to be alone.
[4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.”
10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.]
Jesus was put through a tremendous tempting time that was not much different than what we go through sometimes. The enemy wanted to remove his identity and test it to the fullest.
If you are … then do this. Jesus knew how to rebuke that and it was through the written scriptures.
This is the lesson for us, to memorize scripture so that in a time of testing we will understand and know, this is NOT from God this is from someone wanting to harm us.
His IDENTITY was established. “YOU are my son whom I love and who I am well pleased with.”
What a beautiful promise for us.
Can you even imagine the honor for John to baptize his own cousin and also his ‘Savior’?
Can you even imagine the people in the crowd watching the dove and then to hear the voice?
This is such a powerful point in the story as his identity is established in public now.
Which is the beginning of the process of the religious leaders attack against him as we head into the Easter story.
by Sharon O | Mar 20, 2018 | Uncategorized
[39 When they had performed everything (in the book of Luke) according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.
40 The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Visit to Jerusalem
41 Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.
42 And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;
43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,
44 but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.
45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.
46 Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.
47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
48 When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”
49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.
51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.]
When I read this there are many questions that come to mind for me.
First of all how could Mary and Joseph not realize Jesus was not with them for so long?
There must have been a lot of people in the crowd; but how could you not know?
A day’s journey back then was a long time, there were no fancy ways of travel.
It was either by foot or donkey so that would have been quite the back tracking for them.
Then they looked for three days, IS that NOT a significant number?
HE would later be buried and raised in three days.
Then they found him in the temple sitting with the leaders. He was only twelve years old.
I find it both interesting and understandable that ‘they did not understand him when he said, “I had to be in my father’s house.”
In their heart they knew he was different from the beginning, but he was also their child.
The word tells us Mary treasured all these moments in her heart. A heart that would soon be broken.
She was just like any other ‘mother’ who loved her children and didn’t want them to be hurt
Let’s move closer to the Easter story as we read and learn more about what happens next for him.
by Sharon O | Mar 18, 2018 | Uncategorized
When we think of the Easter story we have to go back before we go ahead.
The whole purpose of the cross was so that we ‘the people’ who God loved with a fierce and everlasting love could find salvation and hope through His SON.
Christmas was the beginning. He had to come as a real, living person just like us.
So the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit the third part of the trinity, and placed in Mary the chosen one.
The miracles began as the story moved through the players; and those moments when Mary pondered and held them close to her heart, were just a preparation of what was to come.
She wasn’t any different than any other expectant mom.
She was in newness and amazement as her round tummy grew, I’m sure she had fatigue and nausea.
We all had those moments, if we had children.
I remember watching my tiny ’round tummy’ grow and move as our little babies expanded the size of me.
Mary was in the same situation only she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Who would be the savior.
In preparation for what was to come she listened and took in all that was spoken about her child.
Every word was showing her that this SON, this baby who was hers, this ‘chosen one’ was different.
No mom wants to realize her test of love would come when the death of her child would happen.
It’s a grief too horrible for a heart to bear and Mary was not protected from that, in fact she was chosen for that.
She watched her son grow with the internal knowing that someday, he would leave her.
I wonder sometimes how it felt for Jesus.
We don’t often think of him in terms of a child growing up.
Did he play in the streets and kick a ball with friends? did he follow Joseph around like a son watching his dad learning many life skills?
He was known as a carpenter so Joseph must have taught him some tricks of the trade.
It’s a very interesting thought since we often move from his birth to his death and somehow not focus on the middle teaching part.
Let’s do some thinking as we move towards the direction of the cross.
by Sharon O | Mar 13, 2018 | Uncategorized
Spring is also a time for coming together for Easter celebrations.
I remember as a little girl we didn’t do much in a church but we did dress up for Easter.
Our mother would dress us in matching outfits, always with white anklet socks with prim and proper dresses.
The pictures are so sweet and precious when you look at them.
Not necessarily how life was at the time, but sweet little girls are always precious.
Easter is a hard holiday, it is full of hope and full of the anticipation of life, but also death.
A hard and brutal death for without the death of Jesus on the cross, we would have no hope.
It is the story of God’s love for us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONE and only son, so that who ever chooses to believe in him shall have everlasting life.” John 3:16
HE GAVE, chose purposely for us to have a chance. That is what it’s all about.
The Christmas story leads us down a lifetime road to the Cross of Easter.
Jesus only had a few years of ministry to show us what needed to be done.
He impacted lives for generations because of HIS love through the Father, through the Spirit.
When we read the story it is hard. It is painful. It is confusing. It is freeing.
All the emotions of the story of the cross.
Just as Mary, Jesus mother pondered all the ‘Christmas’ moments of birth in her heart.
The death moments had to have been horrendous for her.
As he walked down the via dolarosa, the road to Golgotha, dictionary.com says:
a trying, painful, or sorrowful course or series of experiences. The route followed by Christ from the place of his condemnation to Calvary for his crucifixion.
It is the story of God’s love for us as we move through the Easter story in the next few weeks.
by Sharon O | Mar 12, 2018 | Uncategorized
Spring is a time for flowers and birthdays.
It’s always so delightful to have the first few warm days of spring after the winter’s rain.
This part of Oregon is known for rain and overcast skies and when we are treated with a spring warmth and blue skies we all try to go out and enjoy it.
The flowers are beginning to bloom. Crocus tiny purple and yellow colors, buds of daffodils and beginning tulips peek out from under the dirt. 
Our children were both born in March. First our son and then our daughter.
Our son Christopher was such a surprise. We were young in our marriage and learning how to navigate adult hood and then parenting, back then they didn’t have all the tests to tell you what your baby would be.
It was a wonderful surprise.
He turned 43. A man now with son’s of his own. His wife Sarah also born in March and the same age.
Then our daughter Sarah will be 40 this week.
Life is passing us by and it is just so quick.
Those days of raising babies, a blur to the memory. Where did we live? what did we do? how did we survive?
Then the puppies and kitties added to our mix of children and days of daycare.
I was back then considered; a stay at home mom.
I wanted to be home, in fact I took in day care kids to help pay for extra things we needed.
It was something that we both wanted and felt it to be important for us as a family.
When I think of birthdays and spring, it reminds me of new beginnings.
Every year we have a chance to make things better, and more personal.
A time of renewing and restarting.
With both of our children in their 40’s it feels like we are getting older and hopefully wiser.
We are grandparents to 6 wonderful children all very different.
Spring is a time for flowers, birthdays and remembering.
All the wonderful things that make our lives rich and beautiful.
