"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:10-14 NIV).
These words really struck me this morning. John sums up the whole story of God's relationship with us in these few verses! God came into the world -- with us -- for us. Unspeakable! Beyond comprehension. God became man. He didn't just reach down from heaven, he stayed a while.
I marveled even more at this thought as I watched the sun rise through the back windows this morning - a purple and crimson sky welcomed the day! The God who made that majesty is the God who walked among us!
This is my Christmas reminder today: he walked among us.
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Showing posts with label John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Crippled
A church down the street has a sign up that says "Sorrow looks back; worry looks around; faith looks up." I've seen it several times now and every time I drive by I have a little "aha" experience. I've been thinking about making a blog post for the past several days on being crippled. This quote seems to affirm that intention for me.
Sorrow and grief are just two of the things that cripple us. Fear, self-doubt, self-loathing, shame, greed, lust, jealously, drugs, alcohol, depression, anxiety are crippling, and, well . . . you can add your personal condition or situation to the list as applicable. I've got quite a few of my own.
"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the [paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked" (John 5:1-8).
How like the man are you? Am I? We may not like being crippled, but to "pick up our mats and walk" requires stepping out in faith. It requires us to leave behind the crippling condition - which has, in reality, been a crutch hindering us from achieving the fullness of life Christ offers.
To trust Jesus to heal us also requires change - an end to worrying, a stop to the dependence upon substances, people, things, thoughts that cannot possibly save us. Even if we don't like where we are, what burdens we bear, how we are crippled, to give it all up and trust only Jesus . . . well . . . it's not easy. It's unthinkable almost. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak after all.
This man's family and friends plopped him down near the pool - near the one thing that (the people of the time believed) could have allowed him to walk - to heal him, to make him whole. He relied upon them and yet they never hung around to carry him into the pool. The man himself waited until the pool was stirred up before he headed toward the water. He didn't plan ahead, or, it seems, ever try to help himself.
Only Jesus offered him a better way. Only Jesus. Because of Jesus we don't need to look back in sorrow. Because of Jesus we don't need to look around in worry. Because of Jesus we can look up. Only Jesus can heal us. It's so easy! Ahhhh, but so difficult, because while He offers us healing, we must decide to accept it. To accept Jesus' offer we must accept responsibility for our lives.
Jesus is our all and everything. He heals the lame, forgives the sinner, upholds the downtrodden and cures us of the crippling condition that keeps us from living fully and completely, joyfully and intentionally. Jesus asked the crippled man - and asks us, "Do you want to get well?"
We can answer, "yes" or refuse. The choice is yours. And mine.
What will your answer be?
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Sorrow and grief are just two of the things that cripple us. Fear, self-doubt, self-loathing, shame, greed, lust, jealously, drugs, alcohol, depression, anxiety are crippling, and, well . . . you can add your personal condition or situation to the list as applicable. I've got quite a few of my own.
"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the [paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked" (John 5:1-8).
How like the man are you? Am I? We may not like being crippled, but to "pick up our mats and walk" requires stepping out in faith. It requires us to leave behind the crippling condition - which has, in reality, been a crutch hindering us from achieving the fullness of life Christ offers.
To trust Jesus to heal us also requires change - an end to worrying, a stop to the dependence upon substances, people, things, thoughts that cannot possibly save us. Even if we don't like where we are, what burdens we bear, how we are crippled, to give it all up and trust only Jesus . . . well . . . it's not easy. It's unthinkable almost. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak after all.
This man's family and friends plopped him down near the pool - near the one thing that (the people of the time believed) could have allowed him to walk - to heal him, to make him whole. He relied upon them and yet they never hung around to carry him into the pool. The man himself waited until the pool was stirred up before he headed toward the water. He didn't plan ahead, or, it seems, ever try to help himself.
Only Jesus offered him a better way. Only Jesus. Because of Jesus we don't need to look back in sorrow. Because of Jesus we don't need to look around in worry. Because of Jesus we can look up. Only Jesus can heal us. It's so easy! Ahhhh, but so difficult, because while He offers us healing, we must decide to accept it. To accept Jesus' offer we must accept responsibility for our lives.
Jesus is our all and everything. He heals the lame, forgives the sinner, upholds the downtrodden and cures us of the crippling condition that keeps us from living fully and completely, joyfully and intentionally. Jesus asked the crippled man - and asks us, "Do you want to get well?"
We can answer, "yes" or refuse. The choice is yours. And mine.
What will your answer be?
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
We Have Found the Messiah!
"The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter)" (John 1:35-42 RSV).
We never really are told what Jesus did from the time he was 12 and his parents found him in the temple talking and asking questions of the elders, until he began his ministry. I imagine he learned Joseph’s trade and helped support the family, and then himself as a carpenter. All of the apostles needed to ply their trades as they traveled around with Jesus, some with their families, so they could support themselves. I imagine that they were viewed by some in the same way we would view day laborers today! Isn’t that amazing? These rough, strong, rowdy, impulsive and rowdy men were tasked with spreading the Good News to all the world!
Then we come to Peter, the Rock, upon which Jesus builds His church – note I didn’t say the church! My bible notes indicate what scripture later relates to us: Peter was anything but a rock in his early years! He was, in fact, unstable and impulsive—hardly the type of person one would look up to and model their behavior after! But my notes go on to say the Peter was chosen by Jesus because of what he would become through God’s grace. That is quite daunting! To think that Peter was molded and shaped, taught and re-taught all the lessons Jesus needed him to learn so that he could become the pillar of the church after Christ rose and went to heaven!
And God does that with each of us! I’ve had several conversations with friends lately about this topic. All of us have things we’ve experienced in our lives that were unpleasant, painful, even almost unbearable! But each of us has said – some with substantially more grace than others – that if going through it all again was what was required to be where we are today – we would do it! Not that I am so devout, good, strong, righteous, or by any stretch of the imagination the kind of role model I should be for anyone! But that if I needed to be refined and molded and broken over my lifetime to feel the almost tangible presence of God’s grace in my life, then yes, I would do it all again!
Andrew “got it!” And he wanted to share “it” with his brother! He was bound to be overcome with excitement and hope and overwhelmed with the realization that he was chosen by The Anointed One! Each of is chosen too. We have the responsibility and the privilege to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to bring others to Him. And we are able to do so, not because of our own ability, skill, talent, education or training. No. We are able because, through God’s grace we are who and what the world needs us to be right now, today. We are Christ’s disciples. We are to be the rock of another’s faith. We are to be Jesus to a fallen world.
This year as I wait for Christmas, I am waiting to discover who God will make me! I long to know and become what He has planned for me next! I rejoice that I feel his tangible and unquestionable grace as if it were a living, breathing being! I embrace it! I rejoice in it! I am both convicted and washed clean by it.
I hope you spend today experiencing with joy and anticipation what God is doing in your life, and how He is shaping and molding you to become who and what you were meant to be. And that you will rejoice in his grace and love, the vehicles through which we are transformed.
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
We never really are told what Jesus did from the time he was 12 and his parents found him in the temple talking and asking questions of the elders, until he began his ministry. I imagine he learned Joseph’s trade and helped support the family, and then himself as a carpenter. All of the apostles needed to ply their trades as they traveled around with Jesus, some with their families, so they could support themselves. I imagine that they were viewed by some in the same way we would view day laborers today! Isn’t that amazing? These rough, strong, rowdy, impulsive and rowdy men were tasked with spreading the Good News to all the world!
Then we come to Peter, the Rock, upon which Jesus builds His church – note I didn’t say the church! My bible notes indicate what scripture later relates to us: Peter was anything but a rock in his early years! He was, in fact, unstable and impulsive—hardly the type of person one would look up to and model their behavior after! But my notes go on to say the Peter was chosen by Jesus because of what he would become through God’s grace. That is quite daunting! To think that Peter was molded and shaped, taught and re-taught all the lessons Jesus needed him to learn so that he could become the pillar of the church after Christ rose and went to heaven!
And God does that with each of us! I’ve had several conversations with friends lately about this topic. All of us have things we’ve experienced in our lives that were unpleasant, painful, even almost unbearable! But each of us has said – some with substantially more grace than others – that if going through it all again was what was required to be where we are today – we would do it! Not that I am so devout, good, strong, righteous, or by any stretch of the imagination the kind of role model I should be for anyone! But that if I needed to be refined and molded and broken over my lifetime to feel the almost tangible presence of God’s grace in my life, then yes, I would do it all again!
Andrew “got it!” And he wanted to share “it” with his brother! He was bound to be overcome with excitement and hope and overwhelmed with the realization that he was chosen by The Anointed One! Each of is chosen too. We have the responsibility and the privilege to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to bring others to Him. And we are able to do so, not because of our own ability, skill, talent, education or training. No. We are able because, through God’s grace we are who and what the world needs us to be right now, today. We are Christ’s disciples. We are to be the rock of another’s faith. We are to be Jesus to a fallen world.
This year as I wait for Christmas, I am waiting to discover who God will make me! I long to know and become what He has planned for me next! I rejoice that I feel his tangible and unquestionable grace as if it were a living, breathing being! I embrace it! I rejoice in it! I am both convicted and washed clean by it.
I hope you spend today experiencing with joy and anticipation what God is doing in your life, and how He is shaping and molding you to become who and what you were meant to be. And that you will rejoice in his grace and love, the vehicles through which we are transformed.
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Thursday, June 3, 2010
LIfe in the real world
Angela's post at Free Spirit Haven about her "life in the real world" being more fulfilling than it had in the past really hit home with me.
I haven't spent as much time on my blogging as in the the past. At one point I had become almost like a slave to posting, posting, posting on multiple blogs. But at some point I realized God wanted me to expend my time and energy in my "other" life more than in the blogosphere.
Like Angela, our family has had some struggles and challenges. Like Angela, our family is stronger because of it all--individually and as a family unit. God is so very good to shape and mold, refine and fine-tune us continually. He longs for us to seek Him and His will. He longs for us to be conformed to His vision of us. When we don't make a concerted effort to sit with Him, to read scripture, pray, spend quality time with Him alone, we risk missing His message(s) to us.
We all need to take time to reorder our priorities once in a while. It's easy to drift off track. I rejoice with each of you that our God is a loving and gracious God with a heart that can hold us close even when we forget to seek Him, honor Him, thank Him for our manifold blessings.
Thanks, Angela, for the reminder that we must place God first, our families next and then everything else "falls into place" according to God's divine plan.
How about you? Are your priorities in order?
"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16 NIV)
"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10 NIV).
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
I haven't spent as much time on my blogging as in the the past. At one point I had become almost like a slave to posting, posting, posting on multiple blogs. But at some point I realized God wanted me to expend my time and energy in my "other" life more than in the blogosphere.
Like Angela, our family has had some struggles and challenges. Like Angela, our family is stronger because of it all--individually and as a family unit. God is so very good to shape and mold, refine and fine-tune us continually. He longs for us to seek Him and His will. He longs for us to be conformed to His vision of us. When we don't make a concerted effort to sit with Him, to read scripture, pray, spend quality time with Him alone, we risk missing His message(s) to us.
We all need to take time to reorder our priorities once in a while. It's easy to drift off track. I rejoice with each of you that our God is a loving and gracious God with a heart that can hold us close even when we forget to seek Him, honor Him, thank Him for our manifold blessings.
Thanks, Angela, for the reminder that we must place God first, our families next and then everything else "falls into place" according to God's divine plan.
How about you? Are your priorities in order?
"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16 NIV)
"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10 NIV).
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Saturday, April 24, 2010
He gives us the desires of our hearts
"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil: (Psalm 37:2-8 NIV).
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:12-14 NIV).
There's that word I struggle with: fret. I've written extensively how I fret and fret and fret! I even have a poem and devotion in my book about fretting. Yet I still fret. When I'm tired. When I'm not feeling well. When the world just seem so off-kilter and out of sinc. When I begin to lose hope. I fret.
I am a child of God and that is all I need! I thank the Father every day for adopting me into His family!
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:12-14 NIV).
There's that word I struggle with: fret. I've written extensively how I fret and fret and fret! I even have a poem and devotion in my book about fretting. Yet I still fret. When I'm tired. When I'm not feeling well. When the world just seem so off-kilter and out of sinc. When I begin to lose hope. I fret.
I am a child of God and that is all I need! I thank the Father every day for adopting me into His family!
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Evil works where discouragement lodges
This past Sunday, I was just not up to braving the icy conditions and cold weather, so I watched the Grove Avenue Baptist Church broadcast. I have come to really like Mark Becton, the pastor. I was struck by one comment he made and it has stayed with me. He said, "Evil works where discouragement lodges."I know this statement impacted me so much because it applies to me and my life! How about you? Are you discouraged?
I am prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder and it has been a long and cold winter here in Virginia. The snow is beautiful and I have savored the sunrises particularly in the past two weeks. I assume there is some meteorological reason for the especially stunning dawn sky recently. I love sitting in my living room watching the morning sky change and brighten through the glass doors to the deck.
In my writing nook hangs the calendar my son gave me for Christmas. Each month displays an absolutely gorgeous nature scene and offers a verse of scripture. The photo for February is a close up of a cherry blossom branch with a white dove, either landing or preparing to take off. The background is nothing but the blue sky.
We have been to Washington DC for many a Cherry Blossom festival and it's difficult to imagine balmy breezes and the almost overpowering scent of cherry blossom trees blooming when the thermometer reads 12 degrees and the landscape resembles a frozen tundra!
My discouragement whispers to me that winter will never end and I will experience this near claustrophobia until I die! Discouragement revisits the nibbling thought that the cherry blossoms will never bloom when I'm tired. I can deal with the 'regular' discouragements of life on a "good day." In the depths of winter, smothered by cold and draped in snow, I can all too readily invite discouragement in to where I lodge.
I rejoice that I know Jesus, the defeater of discouragement! With Him I have the energy and the strength to kick discouragement out, clean out the guest room where he comes to visit and send him packing on a one-way trip back to where he came from!
Spring is just around the corner!
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 NIV).
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Monday, March 2, 2009
MONDAY MANNA!
Welcome to Monday Manna. The purpose of this meme is to get together and get to know Christ more through His Word. The first and third Monday of each month, anyone who wishes can post their thoughts on a verse Joanne introduced at her blog the Thursday before. It doesn't have to be a long post -- just a few thoughts, a picture you feel helps express it, a poem, a short story, a devotional. Today's verses are Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The following poem is included in my book, Woman At The Well. It was inspired by these 2 verses:
NOW
To speak would mar the vast silence of His love within me.
It would shut out the cries of a hundred million years of creation.
To form a thought would shatter the perfect void.
It would overshadow the instant creation began.
To move would cause a tidal wave within my soul.
It would wash away the utter emptiness with which He has filled me.
I no longer want Him to hurry and finish with me.
Now I long for Him to begin.
I no longer search for happiness in this life.
Now I celebrate the joy of His promise for the next life.
I no longer crave the things of this world.
Now I am satisfied into eternity with the whole of Him.
I no longer need to look upon the cross.
Now I pick it up and feel it, own it, live it every day.
I no longer aspire to greatness on the earth.
Now I wait, content to attain a future glory.
Now I feel the expectation in every sunrise,
Savor the quiet calm of each sunset.
Now I am comforted by the company of a billion stars: the saints who wait for me in heaven.
Now I recognize the face of God in every living thing on earth.
Now I long to be the balm of every hurt and to care for all mankind.
Now I know and accept that I am unworthy.
Now I bow down in abject humility before His mighty throne.
Now I lay my heart at the door of His plan for me.
Now I am satisfied beyond anything imagined or dreamed about.
Now I am alive.
Now I am whole.
Now I am empty.
Now I am ready.
And I am worthy.
(c) 2008 - Mary Moss
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