A BIRTH THAT SECURED THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD

December 24, 2023

“The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”

-John 1:14

Merry Christmas!

Have a hope-filled day remembering Jesus' coming to the earth and anticipating His future advent to restore all things!

. . .

The incarnation of Jesus has huge implications.

God not only came to the earth, He came to an ethnic people group, Israel. He not only came to a nation, He came to a specific town, Bethlehem, the city of David. He not only came to a town, He came to a family. He not only came to a family, He came to an individual. But He didn't just appear to an individual, He dwelt on the inside of her. It could have been truly said to Mary,"Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)

SINGING AT CHRISTMAS & THE SON OF DAVID

December 24, 2022

Years ago a Savior for the earth was born in the city of David. The angels sang “glory to God and peace on earth.”

Though we can now have peace in our hearts, we still wait for there to be peace on the earth. Nation presently rises against nation, but the Son of David’s government of peace will have no end.

WHY CARE ABOUT ISRAEL

August 12, 2021

Reading the covenantal Scriptures from beginning to end give us a pretty clear picture of God's thoughts, emotions, and plans regarding His people Israel: He loves them with an everlasting love.

That alone should compel us to care about Israel---to love what He loves. Yet, here's a few more baseline reasons why any believer should care about Israel:

IF YOU LOVE JESUS

If you love Jesus, then you should love Israel. Jesus is the Jewish Man who is still resurrected from the dead and presently in heaven in His glorified body. He is at the right hand of the Father, until "the time of the restoration of all things" (Acts 2) when He comes to rule on the throne of David and all the nations stream to the mountain of the house of the Lord (Isaiah 2). He will come from heaven and return to Zion (Zechariah 1:16; 2:10).

If you have been quickly skimming over this facet of His return so clearly outlaid in the Holy Scriptures, you're missing out on a colossal part of His redemptive narrative.

JOYFUL OVERCOMERS

June 25, 2021

The fast paced world races on. Anxiety and busyness are the diet of society.

We think that we are succeeding by doing more and more activity. When in fact, we are growing more and more blind to the poverty of our souls. We may feel so accomplished on the outside, but deep inside us we actually feel discouraged and hopeless. (But there's good news coming...)

While growing fat on the things of this world, we can be malnourished in the deepest places of our soul as our society strays towards being evermore disconnected from the plumb-line of the Lord's Kingdom.

JESUS AND JOSEPH: GOD'S PROVISION IN FAMINE

September 30, 2020

I love the beautiful parallels and foreshadows written in the stories of the Old Testament and the way they point to Jesus. Jesus Himself taught His disciples after the resurrection and opened the scriptures to them, showing how the Messiah was foretold throughout all of the law and prophets (Luke 24:27). The more we study the Bible, especially the Old Testament, the more it’s clear - it’s not just a collection of nice stories for Sunday school. God, the author of our faith, is telling a grand story that has continuity and purpose in its entirety.

TRUSTING IN GOD'S JUDGMENTS

September 16, 2020

Throughout the scripture, the Lord speaks of His judgments time and time again. For some the word “judgment” sounds scary and offensive. We mostly think of discipline in a negative sense. Yet, His judgments are multifaceted in purpose and in nature and cannot be fathomed or explained so plainly. “How unsearchable are His judgments?” Paul says in Romans 11:33.

In the simplest terms God’s judgments are expressions of His will and His Word.

REMEMBERING THE GOODNESS OF GOD

August 5, 2020

Every time we check the news or open up social media we are bombarded with just one perspective - bad news. I find my heart rate increasing or my anxiety growing when I read all the trigger words that seem to be placed in headlines to cause just that kind of reaction.

Bad news is on the rise and it feels like we are all being targeted by fear.

THE COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES

July 23, 2020

I crack open my Bible to a well worn page. It’s seen many years of my eyes, sometimes scanning, sometimes seeking, sometimes crying. There are markings from past seasons and a few wrinkles from use and time (and maybe a toddler’s helpful hands).

I love the simple beauty that the Bible holds - no matter how many times you read it there’s always something new waiting to be revealed to you…

WHY GOD'S PEOPLE SHOULD WORSHIP AND PRAY NIGHT AND DAY

July 23, 2020

“What are some of the main Biblical reasons the church should worship and pray night and day?” It’s a good question to ask ourselves often, because we need to be Biblically convicted, convinced, and reminded - and then respond, act, and live our lives in accordance.

THE HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL GENERATIONS

June 3, 2020

In Matthew 21 we find the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Many people were declaring “Hosanna in the highest” and laying their coats and palm branches in the streets as Jesus passed by. He went straight to the Temple and drove out the money changers and those who sold there.

This is the moment when Jesus quotes that famous passage from Isaiah about His house of prayer. Directly afterwards, we see what was happening around Jesus and what His response was:

“But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:15-17)

The children recognized who Jesus was and they were not silent about Him. Even in spite of the scorn of the religious leaders they boldly declared His praise. Jesus heard and defended them.

HOPE IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY

March 31, 2020

COVID-19 has us all on overload with information and uncertainty. It can be overwhelming.

During this time of an overload of information and plentiful opinions, I want to encourage us all to turn our attention to the only opinion that matters: The Lord's opinion and what He says in His Word.

It's time to get deeply and personally rooted in the Word of God- not just for the sake of more knowledge - but to know the heart of Jesus.

Beyond this current pandemic, we have to see our lives in the context of a greater narrative and an everlasting hope. Times of trouble are certain. Times of victory are certain. We can't be disillusioned to thinking either happens exclusively.

Really, our lives of belief and faith only truly make sense in the context of difficulty. It is because we have a certain hope (Ephesians 1:18) that we can "endure to the end" (Matthew 24:13) --- but not just barely making it --- actually running the race with JOY and STRENGTH even in the midst of suffering, difficulty, and trial (James 1) until the Day of the Lord - the Day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

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WHAT WE WILL BE HAS NOT YET APPEARED

March 13, 2020

That’s how the Bible says it in 1 John 3.

We don’t yet know who this child is, what they will be like, how their voice will sound, what their personality will be — but after this 9 month journey in the womb, we will then see him/her face-to-face. We don’t yet KNOW this child, but we DO know that he/she is ours, belongs to us, and will bear our image.

Our immediate lifespan is really like a “womb” experience. (I say “immediate lifespan” to refer to our years of life in this age before we are with Christ — really, you have an eternal lifespan). In the next age, when the Lord has come and we are in our resurrected bodies, then we will truly be “born again” and be seen as for who we truly are.

I’ve been pondering this and think there’s so much parallel between this ~9 month womb experience and our ~90 year life experience.

HOW JUDAH GOT HIS NAME

April 28, 2018

In the summer of 2016, when I was just engaged to be married and before babies were even on my mind, Blake and I heard a Bible teacher sharing from the story of Rachel and Leah in Genesis 29. Leah was unloved and unnoticed by her husband Jacob, even though she was bearing children, while Rachel the favored wife, was not. With each son Leah bore, she expressed her anguish and hope through the name she gave them. Rueban: “Maybe this time I will be loved.” Simeon: “Now the Lord has heard me”. Levi: “Maybe this time my husband will become attached to me”. But despite her hopes and many sons born to Jacob, her circumstances did not change. She was a woman with unmet expectations and in a painful relationship. With the three previous sons she expressed her desire for her life to change, but finally, when she had her son Judah, she said “this time I will praise the Lord”. She stopped trying to get her circumstances to change and instead her heart changed. She chose to praise the Lord before the anwer to her years of longing came. So she named her son Judah which sounds like the Hebrew word “to Praise”.

HE DOESN'T FORGET

September 14, 2017

Just a few weeks ago a hurricane battered the Texas coast and dropped trillions of gallons of water across many cities surrounding Houston. Ya'll remember that, right? The damage is still being assessed and water is still receding in places.

I'm not really one for writing about current topics, and well, I guess if it was 2 weeks ago it could hardly be called "current". And though everyone has probably already read their fill of social media posts and blogs and news sources about Harvey, I did have a few thoughts I feel are worth sharing.

THE BLESSING OF LIFE - AND THE ENEMY WHO IS STEALING IT

August 30, 2017

Is is possible to be in love with someone you've never met?

There's a little boy I keep having dreams about. I kiss his cheeks and make him smile and laugh. I hold him close while I walk down a beautiful wooded lane. I sway back and forth with him in my arms as I sing in Church during worship. And I wake up knowing that he's the most precious gift in the world to me. My heart is undone, unwoven by love for a boy whose debut is still a few months out.

WHY THE BOOK OF ISAIAH GIVES ME HOPE

August 22, 2017

At some point in your life you may have skimmed through some passages of Isaiah and found them confusing or intimidating. You also probably know the most famous verses (like Isaiah 53's description of the crucifixion or Isaiah 40's encouragement of "being lifted up on wings like eagles"), but I want to contend that reading the book of Isaiah for its entirety and in context can be one of the most hope-filled and encouraging experiences you can have.

WHY THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED ANOTHER BLOG

August 18, 2017

It's true. The world doesn't need another blog. We don't need more voices making noise. If that's true though, and there are already so many people who are tweeting and blogging and posting and sharing, what's the point in my attempt to find my voice amidst it all?

That question has literally shut me down and kept me silent for much too long. I have wrestled over and over, wondering if anything I do or say really matters. But when I look at the Father and I ask myself who I am, I come to the conclusion that I am a writer. I am a writer and I just can't help it. I am a writer and it doesn't matter what everyone else is.

FINDING THE RHYTHM

August 15, 2017

He's my constant rhythm. The more I talk to Him as a habit, the more I can hear that faint tapping that keeps me steady as I do everything else. When I practiced those rhythm patterns over and over it wasn't much fun, but now as I play I am finding an awareness of the beat. I feel the tempo and my left hand feels led by it, not dominated, like a subtle nudge that keep things sounding beautiful.

QUIET VICTORIES

August 11, 2017

Thinking back to a little journal entry I made. Do you ever find yourself having to make consistent and hidden choices to believe? To love? To have faith?

This is what the Father believes about those moments.

"I love those quiet victories. The ones nobody else sees. The little choices to believe. That's where the ground is gained, where the battles are won and the tide is turned. It's not extravagant, its not overwhelming, but its real."

Keep making your quiet victories today. It is worth it.

OPHTHE - PT 5

August 2, 2017

The one who walks through walls brings good news. I know because He made it through mine.

I think about your friends, the ones who walked with you on the road without recognition. You broke the bread and they saw you, and instead of commenting on how you just vanished they said, “Our hearts knew it was Him.” They burned.

So they ran. They had just come a whole day’s journey, it was already night, but they left that SAME hour. They had good news to carry too.

They found the eleven and told of the joy that had carried them all the way back. Saying, He has “appeared”! Ōphthē. Yes, the Lord has risen indeed!

And in the middle of their good news, you trump it all and say,

“Peace to you”.

[Luke 24:36]

“The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”-John 1:14

. . .

The incarnation of Jesus has huge implications.

IF YOU LOVE JESUS

“The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”

-John 1:14