Mary's Baby Boy...Our Deliverer

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one
day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save
our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has
come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you...

{Mark Lowry}

I hope you're stopping to be amazed during this season.

I love the lights...the music...I love the fact that this is the beginning of Easter.

In the mind of God, Christmas and Easter were all planned before time began. And all of the Old Testament pointed to the coming of the Messiah. But Christmas--the Incarnation--when Emmanuel came--this is the beginning of the miracle of redemption.

I probably said the same thing last year. But exciting things are worth mentioning more than once. :)

The reading for my class these past few weeks have been about salvation. Redemption. Justification. Forgiveness. God imputing His righteousness to us.

That's an amazing concept. That God would humble Himself and become the baby of a sinful woman (obedient and faithful, yes, but still a sinner), to grow up to die a horrible death. Not because He had to...but because He loved us and wanted to redeem us.

Have you ever thought about what humility really looks like? For those of us who grew up in church and even have memorized Philippians 2 before, we can easily take it for granted. But Mary's little Boy was not a normal child, not even just a prophet or a good rabbi. He was God.

He became like one of us...so that we could become like Him.

But when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his Son,

born of woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

For those whom he foreknew

he also predestined to be conformed

to the image of his Son,

in order that he might be

the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called,

and those whom he called he also justified,

and those whom he justified he also glorified.

{Galatians 4:4-5, Romans 8:29-30}

Sometimes I Wonder

* I wonder...what would it have been like to walk through the red sea?

*What would it have been like to be a Canaanite girl sitting by the Jordan River and all of a sudden the water flowed by and was no more (for awhile at least...and then to be there when the water started to flow again)?

*What would it have been like to grace myself against a fiery furnace only to begin walking through the flames like it was a flower garden...with God?

*What would it have been like to see Jerusalem again after 70 years...the joy, yet the heartbreak at its ruin?

*What would it have been like to be a shepherd kneeling at a manger? Would I really have understood?

*What would it have been like to eat the fish and loaves? Would I even have realized it came from nothing?

*What would it have been like to be praying for Peter, and know that God miraculously opened the prison doors?

*What would it have been like to see a friend fall from a window but to be assured by Paul he was okay?

*I wonder what it would have been like to be Mary. To be Joseph. To be Mary's parents or Joseph's parents.

Sometimes I wonder...

Do you?

Giving Thanks...

...Even when walking on streets of gold.

"Although sins and punishments

will be forgotten,

this  will  not  lead

to forgetting its liberation,

or being ungrateful to its liberator."
{St. Augustine}

Giving Thanks...

for grace that never runs out
for mercy that has an endless flow
for patience that does not grow weary
for love that never fails
for peace than transcends understanding
for compassion that comforts my soul
for strength that gives me eagles' wings
for goodness that follows me always
for promises that always are fulfilled
for blessings that overwhelm me
for eyes that see the hurt 
for ears that hear the anguish and desire
for hands that have my name written on them

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of His name;

give to Him glorious praise!

Say to God, "How awesome are Your deeds!

So great is Your power that

Your enemies come cringing to You.

All the earth worships You

and sings praises to You;

they sing praises to Your name."

Come and see what God has done:

He is awesome in His deeds

toward the children of man.

{Psalm 66:1-5}

Giving Thanks: Church

I am grateful for...

*the freedom to worship in public

*the fellowship of believers

*a building to worship in

*opportunities to minister (to be a part of evangelism, to cuddle babies :), to pray for needs...and that was just yesterday alone!)

*our encouraging ladies' Sunday school class

*godly pastors and other leaders.
  ~our church is blessed to have a pastor and associate pastors; I have enjoyed (yes, and been convicted by, as well) their sermon series this year--John, James, and Malachi!

Giving Thanks: Grad School

I had thought about posting Thursday. I had wanted to post on Friday. Here I am, posting on Saturday when I probably should just go to bed instead. Or at least finish my reading assignment... (but after 140 other pages, 4 writing assignments, and 2 lectures to listen to...you know.)

Grad school has been a tough adjustment. I've had to get used to a new school (Northland), a new format (8-week sessions online), and a new schedule (working 30+ hours with no set schedule in addition to either 4 credits one session and 6 credits another). Oh--I almost forgot: and a new grading system. So far, I've decided that I kinda prefer the usual 10-point grading scale over the 6-point grading scale Northland uses. :)

But I've seen God graciously at work. And so even though I've been tempted to be anything but grateful for grad school at times, and as overwhelmed as I've been on occassion, I'm reminded to be grateful.

I don't know for sure where this path will lead, but I'm confident that God goes before me and He knows where the path is going!

So I'm grateful for...

*strength, peace, and the knowledge of His presence
*that God has the answers and sees the future
*that I can't see the future
*that God guides the future
*that this life isn't all. We are being prepared for a glorious place where we will see Jesus face to face!

We Don't Focus on Our Circumstances...

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

{II Corinthians 4:17-18}

We focus on Christ.