You are the wimp beneath His wings.

Psalm 91 has so much imagery built in.  It's hard to choose which one to go with.  Thousands falling at your side.  Treading on serpents and lions.  Taking refuge in God Almighty.  Arrows, plagues, shields oh my!  So this one got to be a bit of a mess as i tried to fit too many in.  But all in all i like it.  :)

i like even more what it says about Jesus.

a tale of two trades

Show us your work and establish ours.  Our work should be a continuation or your work.  The children with plastic rakes "helping" dad with the leaves.  Or more appropriate as the storm named, "Peace" buries us today: the children with little mini-shovels "helping" dad clear the driveway.

For me it is about contentment.  i don't want to shovel the driveway!  i want to sit inside by the fire and draw stories and write about them.  And i could whine eloquent about how this is work and work that is undervalued by society, whilst the eminently temporary work i do as a carpenter, making people's private Eden's nicer looking is all anyone thinks i'm good for.  But i would sound no more righteous than the Israelites complaining about a lack of water, complaining about the manna, complaining about Moses, complaining about Aaron, complaining about the giants in the land.  The fact is, God is God and i am not and if he chooses to support me through back pain and scarred knuckles and lonely days of mindless drudgery then he has his reasons and the sooner i learn to praise him for his goodness and love of a man he has no reason to care for or about, the better off i'll be.

So Lord, show me your work!  Show me what you do and have done and how It. Is. Finished!
Amen!

Don't wait, worship now!

(i hate sharing the terrible art!  But hey, no sense giving you a false impression of my abilities either.)

A joyful shout.  

You're not hiding that.  That's not just between you and God.  That's public.  Try making a joyful shout without others noticing.  Gonna be pretty difficult unless you're in the klondike.  Maybe my brother Ballisticat could do it in his machine shop when all the machine's are running but i'm guessing someone would still notice.  Worship is public.  Those who are ashamed of Jesus now, Jesus will be ashamed of at the judgment. (Mark 8, Luke 9)  And let's face it.  How can you say you love Jesus and still be embarrassed by him?  He's not your weird uncle.  He's not that awkward brother-in-law or the family black sheep.  How can you be embarrassed by your love of him or his love of you?  Why be embarrassed of love at all?  Only if you totally misunderstand his love, that's how!  Only if you misunderstand your need!  You need a savior!  Not a maid.  Not a therapist.  Not a helper.  You are not treading water here, you are drowning!  Without hope of rescue unless Jesus jumps into your cesspit and pulls you out!

And he does!  He didn't just throw you clear, he died in your cesspit!  For your cesspit!  And God resurrected him into a living spring of fresh, clean water!  He has washed you!  You are clean before God.  You look and smell like Jesus!  Baby fresh and rosy pink!  Or glistening bronze!  Let's not be racist here.  You are beautiful to him, not as you were!  You were drowning in your own filth, remember?  Who's gonna love that?  But as He has made you!  He doesn't save you and leave you in the filth, he saves you and cleanses you and brings you out and starts changing you!  

"Yet now Yahweh, you are our father; we are the clay and you are our potter, and we all are the work of your hand." Is 64

"So I went down to the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter’s wheels. And the vessel that he was making with the clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he made again another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make." Jer 18

  Jesus is not a curio for your corner cabinet in a house you made.  Jesus is the cornerstone which smashes your silly Eeyore pile of sticks stuck in sand and sets himself up as the new rock, the new foundation of a new house which HE is building.  It sounds like you get destroyed and believe me, it feels that way at times too but unless he builds the house, you labor in vain.  And what he is building is not anathema to you, it is the truer you!  What you were meant to be!  What you would choose to be if you only knew to choose it!  He who knitted you together knows what you are better than you do.  What you will not fully be until he comes again and raises us up to be with him.  Glorified in His glory!  Reflecting Him!  Truly, truly i tell you, you will shout for joy then!

Why wait?

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me and every tongue will praise God."

Well, Mr. Psalmist, as a matter of fact, He does and they will.

i was thinking about death last night and how so often, we the church are left grieving without hope for a loved one who died or words of hope for a grieving brother or sister who has lost someone for we do not know the state of their faith.  Where was their trust?  Unfortunately, if no one knows the state of a person's faith, chances are, we are just not admitting we do know.  Yes, there could have been death bed conversions.  Last minute exchanges between the merciful Savior and finally humbled saved.  But how often do you think that happens?  How many do not die as they lived?  How many at the end are given that much clarity and the time to call upon the one they have never actually called upon before?  i am not trying to be morose.  i am saying, there is but one Way and one Truth and one Life and Jesus said, his family are those who hear the Word of God and do it.  This is how we know what's in the heart.  Not that they are good people, for we know from looking at ourselves, there are no good people.  God doesn't save good people.  The only good person who ever lived does the saving.  God saves sinners.  God saves the helpless and the dead in their sin, He alone chooses and gives the faith to believe, the desire to obey, the humility of Spirit to submit to Him.  To say, Thy will be done.  Anyone whom God has resurrected in this way will show it (1 John 1 and 2).  How can someone born again into new life and regenerated by the Holy Spirit hide that?  Why would they?  And we will see and when they die we will be able to say with some assurance, "this one knew his or her Savior and we will see them in the next resurrection."  Not with one hundred percent certainty, we are fallible and people are exceptional liars, even to themselves.  But for the most part, the Spirit recognizes the Spirit.

Now is the time of God's mercy.  Now is the time of repentance.  Now is the time He has alotted for us to come to Him and trust in the only good person who ever lived, the one who said, "Truly I say to you, the one who hears my word and believes the one who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed from death into life."  Now is the time, in life, to bring the Good News of what Jesus has done for them to your friends and loved ones and total strangers and enemies.  The dead will indeed rise one day and admit God is God and Jesus is Lord.  Every knee will bow and every tongue confess He is Lord and His judgment is just.  Some will just be doing it in anguish.

Thy Kingdom Come!

John saw the city of God coming down out of the heavens.  A new Jerusalem, the city of peace, a perfect cube, like the Holy of Holies, for the dwelling place of God is among men now.  No more temple, no more shadows, no more looking ahead.  God. Is. Here.  And He is everything to us, dwelling, food, light, love, purpose.  The old, the worn out, the partial, the shadow, the imperfect have passed away.  Not just gone, but forgotten.  Replaced by the new, the perfect, the holy, the right.

Jesus told us to learn the parable of the fig tree, that when we see the branch sprouting leaves, we know Summer is near.  We often think of the end times with dread.  The Tribulation.  Persecution.  The Beast.  Fear and trembling, stockpiling weapons and food.  Something to hide from.  But we are the light and salt of the world!  Our savior did not hide from the authorities, our forefathers in the faith did not resist.  They went to their deaths with praise on their lips and testified of the one who came and is coming again.  They went with joy knowing their Winter was over and Summer was coming!  The end is not the end, it is the beginning of the Eternal!  The second resurrection!  We who have died with Christ through baptism and raised with him in faith should anticipate it with joy!

i used to spend a lot of time in day cares.  i was often the last picked up.  The lights are being turned out, the teachers are leaving.  The chairs are being put on top of tables.  The other kids are gone.  The toys are put away.  It was a lonely time.  A winter.  The only thing to do was look for the one coming to get us.  To anxiously await our parent!  To bring us home!  Where we belong.

Jesus is coming!  The greatest party you never imagined is coming!

"And do this because you know the time, that it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep.  For our salvation is nearer now than when we believed.  The night is far gone, the day has drawn near."  Rom 13

Ride, ride my see-saw

i wonder how many of us live our lives on the see-saw of fear?

When we're down, we're afraid.  So we distract ourselves and we're up.  But distraction, busyness, entertainment, avoidance, drugs, denial, alcohol, these things can't last forever, so down we go.

And there are our fears, waiting for us.

You know the funny thing about see-saws.  There's a lot of movement but you never go anywhere.  But the truly scary thing is who's riding the other side....laughing at us.

But as for me and my house...

In Genesis, there is a phrase that gets repeated,

"And here they began to call upon the name of Yahweh."

or...

"It was then they began to call upon the name of Yahweh."

It is often,

interestingly enough,

 long after God has already made a covenant with said person,

chosen said person as his own,

blessed said person ridiculously beyond anything they deserve.

It is grace that turns the heart to love.

It is my fervent wish to someday here my sons

begin to call upon the name of Yahweh.

The forest on the move

i was reading Mark's account of this today and had a few thoughts.  First, it follows...

1.  the feeding of the four thousand

2.  the Pharisees asking for a sign

3.  Jesus' warning about the yeast of the Pharisees

4.  The disciples thinking he's talking about bread

5.  Jesus asking if they were still so dense?

6.  The healing by degrees of a blind man, when he first sees he says, "I see men walking around like trees."

7.  Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ

8.  Peter's rebuke of Jesus

9.  Jesus' rebuke of the disciples, that they have in mind the things of men, not the things of God

10.  Jesus imploring his people to take up their crosses and follow him

My thoughts about this started with an old sermon i heard by Pastor Alan Lee.  Jesus heals the blind man by degrees.  It's like his first attempt doesn't quite take.  Not so.  Jesus was not lacking in power.  He was making a point.  The blind man sees men walking around like trees.  Who would have been around him?  Jesus had taken him out of the village.  So probably only those who follow Jesus, the disciples.  Trees.  Woodenheads.  Stiff.  And surely this may be what he meant.

But when i got to the part about carrying the cross i thought... what if we all did this?  i mean literally.  If we the church were carrying our crosses, and following Jesus into death and sacrifice and obedience, we would look like a forest on the move!  Trees walking!  

Unfortunately i think we've taken this verse and turned the "cross we have to bear" into whatever little inconvenience we cannot seem to do away with.  Whatever discomfort comes into our lives of self indulgence, our personal pursuit of happiness.  i do not think this means what we think it means.

How many of our kisses are Judas?

I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
because he will speak peace
to his people, even his faithful ones,
but let them not return to folly.

Better is one day in your house, better is one day in your courts...

Golly, i can't wait!

Go and tell, not go and kill

i saw Lone Survivor last night.  As often happens when men watch these kinds of movies, the question gets asked in one form or another...

These places are so screwed up.  Should we even be there?

And to that i say, emphatically, easily, without reserve or question,

Yes.

But not as we have been.

Man keeps seeking political and sociological solutions to a theological problem.  It isn't that these men don't have beliefs or freedom or education or prosperity...

They don't have Jesus.

Yeah, i know how that sounds.  White man's burden.  Holy roller.  Pick yer slur.  But the truth is the Truth.  Only God changes lives and hearts.  Only God can make men stop WANTING to kill each other and lord it over each other and steal from each other and hate each other.  Only God can make two disparate tribes unite.  We should instinctively know this, we should be able to see it in our own culture.  As we lose Christ and his Word, our culture divides.  Along party lines, along socio-economic lines, along racial lines, along gender lines, along denominational lines.  God, from the beginning said it was not good for man to be alone and then, he gave Adam... not a buddy.  Not another guy friend.  Not someone just like him.  He gave him Eve.  Someone completely unlike him in every way except one rib!  And he knitted them together!  Only Christ can do this!  Only Christ takes away our sin and therefore our shame and need to justify ourselves!  Only Christ takes away our pride, we are all sinners saved by His grace alone.  None can say to the other, my people are inherently better than yours.  You are a dog.  No, that man was made in the image of God!  God loved him, he is fearfully and wonderfully made and you cannot just put a .223 caliber bullet into his head at 2500 feet per second without grieving Him, without giving it another thought, without knowing you have just killed something, some ONE beautiful.  The world is now poorer for no matter how sinful that man was, nothing is impossible for God and therefore, he was redeemable!

"And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.”" Matt 28

Jesus told us to go.  He knew the risks, he knew the dangers, he warned us ahead of time.  So maybe instead of spending millions of dollars to train and equip mercenaries to be ambassadors of the Way of Death, we should be spending millions to train and equip missionaries to be apostles in the Way of Life.  

"And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground. And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how. By itself the soil produces a crop: first the grass, then the head of grain, then the full grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he sends in the sickle right away, because the harvest has come.”

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.”" Mark 4

How do we sleep while our beds are burning?

It's good to remember that no matter how bad things get, we still haven't seen the wrath of God.  Now is the time of his mercy, that it might bring about the repentance and saving of many.  God pursues those He loves and sometimes that pursuit will look like a raging fire consuming all in its path.  But if it drives us to Zion, to our knees in humility and reliance on Him alone and on the blood of Jesus to save us, then it is a righteous burn.

Don't laugh, in Him is Life and Love.

We were meant for so much more.

We are still blessed with so much.

Why do we squander it on that which does not last?  Why do we work so hard for that which is not life?  Why do we plead with God to give us stuff...

...when all He has is ours and we are always with Him and in Him are a thousand delights?

Bob and weave

Going along with yesterday's theme.  If you do endeavor to live a holy life of faithful obedience and you do use your words to tell of the hope you have.  The Word is clear.  You should not just expect the rocks to come at your head, you should pre-emptively duck.  But duck with good cheer, for He has overcome the world!

Use words.

i think Peter and Paul would have had a problem with the saying attributed to Frances of Assissi, "Preach always and sometimes use words."  Both of them in Acts are described as "and using many other words...".  They seemed to think this Jesus guy was pretty important.  Paul would hold all day exhortation parties.  Anyone could come at anytime and he would tell them why Jesus was the hope of all nations.  Why he was our only hope.  Why he was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.  Why he was the most important person and the most important thing that ever happened and until he came again was going to be the most important person and the most important thing that ever happened.

The fact is, everyone is always preaching.  Always.  We are always broadcasting our belief system through everything we do and say.  All our fears point to our beliefs.  The things we value.  The things we become offended over.  The work we do.  The people we choose to hang with.  They all say what we believe.  They all tell the world who's in charge.  Who we answer to.  Those who speak the name of Jesus into every situation are often accused of being "preachy" and hypocrites.  The popular definition of hypocrisy, according to this article i read yesterday, is to act in a way out of character with your feelings.  So if you're grumpy, you have to stay and say and be grumpy to be authentic.  At least until you magically feel something else.  Which as you and i both know, doesn't happen until either the circumstances change or you DECIDE to ungrump.  At which time, you are now a "hypocrite".  Cuz you still feel grumpy but you're choosing to not BE grumpy.  Which is the point of the article.  A true hypocrite is someone who acts out of character with their BELIEFS!  If i am grumpy but believe and know i have no right to be, then it would be hypocritical of me to continue in my grumpiness despite my feelings.  If i believe there is a hope of a savior and a better life to come and yet act as if this life is all there is, even though it often feels as if this life is all there is, i am a hypocrite.  If i believe the God of the Universe loves me so much he died in my place to make me his perfect son and heir to the kingdom of God and yet act like an unloved orphan because things aren't going so well right now, i am a hypocrite.  If i know the world is dying and going to hell upon its chosen path and i know the way of salvation and say nothing, i am the chief of sinners!  If i know there is a king in charge of everything and yet remain silent...

Well, all authority in earth and heaven were given to one guy.  The very same guy who made them.  Seems to me, we probably ought to pay that guy a little lip service... but what do i know?

Whatchu facing, sparrow?

There is nothing you are facing today,
nothing,
noth-ing
that escapes the notice and interest of your Father in heaven.  He is not sitting idly by.  As when Stephen looked to heaven and saw Jesus standing, he is active.  Because you may not trace his hand only shows a lack of perception on your part, not a lack of love on his.
It is not too small.
It is not too big.
It has not gone on for too long.
It is not impossible.
They are not impossible.
Yes, you are not worthy but that didn't stop Jesus before and it won't stop him now.
No, you cannot make yourself worthy.
Stop trying.
Stop that!
Be grateful for he has already orchestrated the end from the beginning.
Call the saints to pray and fast, only pride stops you from doing that.  And your pride does not come from God.
Release control.
Release the illusion of control.
You cannot dictate the ending.  That's God's work.
Trust him.  He is good.  Much better than you think.
The answer is never, "No."  It is, "I have something better in mind."
Pray.
Pray.
Pray.

Getcha some

John 6

Seek the treasure!

i'm never sure in this parable, who's the treasure and who's the seeker?  Do we find the kingdom of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and give up everything to possess it?  Or did Jesus want us, "find" us and give up everything he had to possess us.  As with many things in the Word, it's probably both.  

We have to be found to find.  Jesus did give up everything for us.  And that's the Treasure we find!  That when were hopeless, God gave up everything for us!  How good is that!?    

So what do we give up in return?  Not to pay back.  Could never be done.  But to "find" more of him?  "Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap, because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit." Gal 6

There is a distinct tendency these days for us to buy that field and then never visit it again.  Forget we even own the treasure at times.  For believers to stop congregating.  To just add Jesus to their lives and then go about as they would, maybe with a moral bent, but otherwise, indistinguishable from the culture.  To slip out of prayer.  To stop reading the Word.  To find Bible Studies to be too much trouble.  Instead of serving others, to feed our comfort and then wonder why we live sad, busy but unfulfilling lives.  i'm not judging.  i'm warning.  We reap what we sow.

How do stop the process?  Nevermind what Pete says, Seek the treasure!  "If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." John 12

Pumbah?

They call me,
"MIS-TAH PIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGG!  Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

But getting back to the Scripture... why indeed?  i am often tempted when things are going poorly, when i'm feeling persecuted or put upon, to think that either God doesn't love me, God doesn't care or God hates me.  i have no problem believing God's in control so if bad things are happening, God must be making bad things for me.

Usual suspects: sin, poor vision, mis-representation of God.  Satan's oldest lies.  God doesn't love you.  God doesn't know what's best for you.  You did this to yourself.  God can't love you now.  You gotta get cleaned up first.

Truth is, Dad's waiting for us to come home.  He's watching.  If we stop feeding the pigs and turn around we'll see He's right there with a hug, a ring, a robe and a feast.

Where is their God?

Que es veritas?

i hear many people say,
again, i hear christians say,
They do not indoctrinate their children.  They believe it is better for children to find truth on their own without having it shoved down their throats.  This is an obvious extension of people's distaste for proselytizing.

Okay.  Ignoring for now the question of how good must you believe Jesus to be, if you don't even want to tell your children of him?  Of treating him like an ex-spouse we're somewhat embarrassed by...

Children learn what is true from their parents and elders.  They only test that truth when they become teenagers.  When you try very hard to teach no truth to them, what you teach them instead is, they are the final arbiters of truth.  You are teaching them the same thing Satan taught Eve.  You are the best god for you.  And is that someone who's curriculum we really want to follow?

When the Truth comes, what will He do with all these arrogant opinions masquerading as truth?  Sitting on his rightful throne?  Messing up his kingdom?

You have no idea

You are a sinner.
i wish i could show you just how much you suck and deserve to die, how much better the world would be without you.  How far short of holy you are... imagine being an Emo cutter and then times that by a lot.
Because if you understood that, how much more beautiful would the love of God through Jesus' death and resurrection be?  If you started from a full understanding, an ocean quaking to its roots at the righteous feet of a Holy God understanding... and realized that instead of dropping his wrath on you in fire... he gently picks you up and hugs you...
oh nothing would be impossible for us then.

The war to end all wars

Composition is not my forte.

There will only be peace when there is an absence of opposition.

Whoa, there! Steady, steady....

Well, they can't all be works of art.

But the appointed time is coming.  Praise God!

and when it arrives, i'll SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!

Random unrelated thought:  You have heard it said, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive others there sins against us."  And again, "Anyone who forgives his brother, his Father in heaven will forgive him but anyone who does not forgive his brother, neither will his Father in heaven forgive him."

On the surface, to our cause and effect, law driven, karmaic little squirrel brains, these look like if/then statements.  You do this, God does that.

But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that while were were dead in our trespasses, God became a man and died in our place and now sits on the right hand of God, forgiving the sins through his blood of anyone who believes in him.  We were dead.  We were enemies.  God had to rescue us.  That's not if/then.  That's Grace!  So if we don't forget grace how do we read these passages?

Well there's the rub, isn't it.  In order to not forgive someone, i would have to forget the grace which has forgiven me.  That while i was chief among sinners, Christ died for me.  The only way i can refuse to forgive is to refuse the Gospel.  I would have to avoid God and all he's done.  i would have to make up lies about God.  That he is pleased with me, but not with so and so.  Or that God doesn't care about what has been done to me.  These lies smash the sanctuary of Grace, they destroy the image of Christ in our minds, they chop up and smash to bits the Gospel!  When we don't forgive, we lose our peace.  We lose our faith!

Thank God he is steadfast and faithful to pursue us!  Help him out, will ya?  Put down the axe.

This world has nothing for me.

Lots words.

Lots good word!

Open my eyes, Lord

Don't ask why, cuz i don't know, but i really like this picture.

More roughage in the diet

"Where are those accusers of yours?"

The Eagle has crashed

"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain and after he sat down, his disciples approached him. And opening his mouth he began to teach them, saying,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the ones who mourn,
    because they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    because they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    because they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
    because they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    because they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    because they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you
    when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me.Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you." Matt 5

This is not a roll call of the righteous.  This is not a who's who of the winners of the world.

"For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human standards, not many were powerful, not many were well born. But the foolish things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the strong, and the insignificant of the world, and the despised, God chose, the things that are not, in order that he might abolish the things that are, so that all flesh may not boast before God. But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “The one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”" 1 Cor

It is good the Eagles lost last night.  It has reminded me again that God does not help those who help themselves.  God saves the helpless.  Jesus came to save the losers.  And it is to the degree that we know our failure and our worthlessness that we will know his love and grace.  The only chest thumping Jesus condones is...

"But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’" Luke 18

No matter the weather, somebody, somewhere likes it.

My eldest son, Happ, is home for winter break.  i made him a sammich for lunch the other day too.  So, extra post-its!  Yeah, Happ wasn't happy about going to work in the rain.

You know how when you have to go back to work or school after a long break or vacation and people say, "Back to reality!"?

That's a lie.

Because some day, when we wake up in Eternity, to those who's sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, this is going to seem like a bad dream.

A bit o' observation

There is nothing angrier nor easier to provoke nor more willing to be distracted than a man waking to yet another day of a futile life.  

And the walls came down.

Full Bum of them???

A Christmas thought.

If someone is just a person you have to buy a gift for... don't.  You aren't actually giving them anything.   Your fulfilling a social contract.  Gifts are about love.  Social contracts are duties you pay so people will think well of you or so you can think well of you.  To justify yourself as a good person.

Jesus did not fulfill a social contract when he lived the life you could never live.  Jesus was not worried about what you would think of him if he didn't die for you.  He was thinking of the Glory of his Father.  He was thinking of how much he and his Father wanted to save his children.  He was thinking of you.  He didn't count the cost.  He didn't worry about what you might get him in return or whether or not you deserved it.  He wasn't trying to buy your affections.  He was thinking you would go to hell if he didn't.  He was thinking he wanted you, right beside him, on his throne, forever.  The Father gave His best.  The Son just gave.  Everything.

And just like any time someone goes all out for you and gets you something you could never repay and they had no business spending the time or resources on, all you can give in return is your humble gratitude.  Merry Christmas!

This little light of mine...

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth— Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness wasover the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Gen 1

"And it happened, as the sun went down, then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him." Gen 15

"And Yahweh was going before them by day in a column of cloud to lead them on the way and by night in a column of fire to give light to them to go by day and night. The column of cloud by day and the column of fire by night did not depart from before the people." Ex 13

"And on the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain and a very loud ram’s horn sound, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And the sound of the ram’s horn became louder and louder, and Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice." Ex 19

"Then the earth shook and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains trembled,

and they staggered because he was angry.

Smoke went forth from his nose,

and fire from his mouth consumed.

Burning coals blazed from him.

So he bowed the heavens and came down

with a thick cloud under his feet.

And he mounted a cherub and flew,

and he swooped down on wings of wind.

He made darkness his hiding place;all about him his covering

was a darkness of waters, thick clouds.

From the brightness before him

his clouds passed overwith hail and coals of fire." Ps 18

"But there will be no gloom for those who were in distress.

In former times he treated the land of Zebulun and Naphtali with contempt, but in the future he will honor the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
    light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness." Is 9

“Arise, shine! For your light has come,
    and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you.
For look! darkness shall cover the earth,
    and thick darkness the peoples,
but Yahweh will rise on you,
    and his glory will appear over you.
And nations shall come to your light,
    and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.
Lift up your eyes all around and see!" Is 60

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This one was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1

"And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds." Rev 16

"And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there), and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And every unclean thing and one who practices detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb." Rev 20

What means this?

AHA!

And i don't think their singing, "Take on me."

help