All in Salvation
God interrupted the commonplace. The glory of God shattered darkness. A message from an angel broke the silence. The Savior, Christ the Lord, had been born! As shepherds in the field beheld the angel, their initial response was fear. But with the announcement of the birth of the awaited One, fear turned to determination. The shepherds said, Let’s go…and see...(Luke 2:15). They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the heralded baby lying in a manger.
With these words a 400-year silence of God was broken. Zechariah received God’s message from the angel, Gabriel, who announced the birth of a son filled with the Holy Spirit. He would be used of God to prepare the way for the Lord. Another message came from Gabriel shortly thereafter. He proclaimed to the virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God.
What a story Paul had. Certainly he had many opportunities to tell it—in prison in Jerusalem (Acts 21-23), in Caesarea (Acts 23-26), in Rome as he writes this letter to Timothy—and he never failed to rise to the occasion.
You cannot preach the Word, proclaim the Message, tell your story with God, unless you are prepared to do so. In fact preparation is the key to living, anyway you look at it. If you are going on a mountain hike you lace up your sturdy shoes, pack some water, grab your hiking stick, put on your sunscreen, check on the weather—you prepare as best you can.
Sensing this is his final letter, Paul sets out with even more than his usual fervor to impress upon Timothy the details of his calling. Not a word is wasted: preach the Word; or as the Message translation says: proclaim the Message with intensity.
I noticed a For Sale sign in a yard yesterday. Written at the bottom of the sign in bold red letters were the words TOO LATE. I remarked to Jerry that life is full of those signs. I think we all experience them.
Judith Viorst wrote a poem called, The Good Daughter. It describes a daughter who follows rules and does her chores. On the other hand, her pesky brother rarely does and usually involves himself in some kind of shenanigan. In the end the sister declares that she really believes her parents always liked her brother better.
How many times have I fallen for the “buy one get one free” sales gimmick? I love getting something for “free.”
Ah, and so the riches of the mystery unfolds ladies: Christ in you, the hope of glory! God can be God, Jesus divine; but if you don’t personally unwrap the clues of the incarnation, a perfect life, brutal suffering, death on the cross, the resurrection, think of what richness you will miss out on.
He insisted on creating a garden beside his new country home, but the iron ore boulders stood in the way! Daddy persevered. He’d already sold off the largest ones for the iron, but he had to heave the mid-sized ones over the fence one-by-one.
Have you ever been wronged or betrayed? Of course you have. It’s a devastating part of being human. One particular betrayal comes to my mind from the workplace, and I remember wondering if I would ever get beyond the hurt.
We collapsed, sweaty and aching. We’d just relocated the entire office and classrooms of a non-profit organization to its new location—a vacant building on the campus of a downtown church. The organization loved their new space but not all the details of the move.
I love a good love story. Most women do! I do not, though, like to work-things-out when there’s been a conflict. That’s a relationship skill I’ve continue to work on. Years have passed, but I’ll never forget the six weeks of long silence from my fiancé.
Broken relationships rank close to the top of painful life experiences. Friendships, marriages and the workplace offer opportunities for relationships to rip apart.
We were on a walk when my dog suddenly slowed, and my attention was drawn to the street. There before me was a huge snake. Three things happened simultaneously: I jumped, I screamed, and I pulled my dog away—only to realize afterward that the snake was dead. I recovered quickly, and we resumed our walk. The next morning as we walked, my thoughts were elsewhere—not upon that snake. When we came to the same spot, the exact same thing happened: I jumped, I screamed, and I pulled my dog away. This time a car was passing. I scared the driver so badly she slammed on her brakes. That snake was dead, but I forgot. Twice a snake that wasn’t life threatening interrupted my walk.
As I write, the 2018 winter Olympics are in progress and I am being drawn in—must be a little of the Canadian winter in me still. Besides, I may know the sports better than you southerners. For instance, have any of you ever “curled”? Do you know what “icing” is?
“Are you sure that you’re sure?” My oldest daughter had been to her first city-wide Youth Revival. After hearing the preacher ask several times if they would go to heaven when they died, she came home with questions.
It was an ordinary night. The shepherds were attending their sheep and watching for intruders by the light of the moon. They had grown accustomed to the darkness, accustomed to watching for shadows that might present danger.
A few years ago, we had a most unusual Christmas day lunch. It was the “in-law Christmas,” and so, our girls and their families were coming the day after Christmas. I had been busy preparing food for the week and just didn’t have the energy to prepare another meal for Christmas day. Therefore, we went to eat at one of the few restaurants open.
