Monday, December 9, 2024

Be it Unto Me According to Your Word

I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” – Luke 1:38


Mary was a young teen engaged to Joseph

Mary was a virgin saving herself for Joseph

Mary was around 15 or 16 when she gave birth to Jesus


Before she was married


The angel of the Lord came and broke the news to Mary

She will bear a child

The long-awaited Messiah


The Holy Spirit will

Come upon Mary

Overshadow her


And she will give birth to 

The Son of God


This impregnation is not done by

Man

Human means


Nor by human desires or schemes


It is and

It must be

Accomplished


Only 

By

God the Father

Through the Holy Spirit

The arrival of the Son of God


The Triune God at work together



Mary is the vessel

Through which God’s plan will be carried out


Mary has to be willing

Mary has to be trusting

Mary has to have the fortitude


To endure the questioning of her

Chastity

Integrity

Character


To submit herself to others’

Distain

Scrutiny

Mockery

Suspicion


The fact that this teen was chosen by God to bear the Christ Child

Indicated that Mary was of a

Holy

Pure

Godly

Upright


Character


Known by others to be such as well


Her reputation will now be in question


The privileges and honor of being a godly teen

Is now in question



Imagine you being a teenager

With an impeccable reputation

A spiritual prodigy of sorts

Known and admired by others


At this high and lofty place


God asks of you 

To step down from the pedestal

And abase yourself into the muck and mire


Willingness to be debased

To be ridiculed

To be defamed

To be wronged


Maybe your rivals 

Mock

Snicker 

Rejoice

At your downfall


Yet


Because of whom Mary was at the core

Because her faith was real

Because her spirituality was bona fide


Mary was willing


Like her Son was willing


To step down from heaven

Leaving behind His lofty station

Forgoing all His rights and honor

Willingly took on the form of a man

Became weak and humble for our sakes

And died for our sins on the cross


To take on this station

To become the means

Through which 

God’s salvation plan

Come to fruition

Through the Fruit of her womb


Be it unto me

According to Your word


Total trust

Total sacrifice

Total surrender

Total debasement


For the sake of God

That

His Kingdom can come

His will be done

On earth

In Mary’s life

Through Mary’s willingness

As 

It 

Is 

In 

Heaven


That the Name of God be

Lifted up

Glorified

Magnified


Through this lowly and humble teen


Through Mary’s willingness 


God the Creator

Holy Spirit the Accomplisher

Jesus the Messiah is born into the world


Praise be to God

When we are willing to be

Trusting

Humbled

Debased

Submitted 

Surrendered


To God’s plan 


Us lowly human become

Vessels

Witnesses

Ambassadors

The Bible others read

Conduits through whom God is known


Us


God’s plan becomes accomplished

Through our

Willingness

Obedience

Surrender

Fortitude


May we be like Mary


Be it unto me

According to Your word

May Your will be done

In and through me

Today



"Your Will be Done" - Song by CityAlight


Monday, November 18, 2024

God’s Plan in Exile

“…I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jeremiah 24: 5b-7).


When the Israelites sinned repeatedly and rebelled against God

God punished them by sending them into captivity


God is not a mean or punishing God

God does not banish us forever

God does not abandon us

God always has a plan


His plan for us is 

Restoration

Reconciliation 

Intimacy with Him


When we don’t learn from

God’s unmerited favor

God’s continued blessing

God cooing us to Himself in sweet fellowship


When we drift from God in the good times

We live with entitlement to God’s blessings

We expect and demand God’s bounty

Forgetting what God has done for us

Taking for granted God’s favor


We become proud and independent from God


God’s heart is grieved


God yearns for our love and relationship

God wants us to be dependent on Him

God wants our constant fellowship


God craves intimacy with us

He desires for us to be part of the circle with the Triune God

God the Father

Jesus the Savior

Holy Spirit the Comforter


God calls for us to join Him in this intimate circle 


Where we become one with our Triune God

And He with us


The intimacy of fellowship between the wings of the cherubim

In the Holy of Holies


Where

All is quiet

Hushed presence of God

Peace-filled

Shalom

Sacred

Holy


Where God is

 Where God wants us to join Him


When we break fellowship with God

Turn our backs on Him

Take Him for granted

Go about our lives without consulting Him

Only seeing what we want to see in the Scriptures

Making God into a genie or our servant

Turning deaf ears to His voice

Hardening our hearts

Ignoring Him


God’s heart is grieved


If blessings don’t bring us close to Him

God gives us over to our sinful desires

God sends difficulties and trials


So we can learn that


Without God we are nothing

Without Him we are destitute


God’s plan amid our self-induced sufferings though

Is to call us back to Him


In our darkest night

God has a plan for us


God’s perpetual plan

God’s unchanging desire is


For us to draw close to Him

For us to depend on Him

For us to turn to Him

With all our heart


While not all our difficulties are self-induced

Sometimes there are trials and testings

God making us holy through difficulties

God molding and forming and refining us

God showing Himself glorious through us


The end desire still is

For us to draw close to God

To be intimate with Him

To rely on Him

and Him only


God’s plan for us is

Always

To bless us

To draw us close to Him

To have us love Him with 

All of our heart

All of our soul

All of our mind

All of our strength


"God is Love" - Song by Kathy Nichole



Monday, November 4, 2024

Think about Such Things

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).


When we are anxious

When we are worried

When we are fearful

When we perseverate

When we fret

When our minds are preoccupied

When we get distracted


Actively engage our mind on Christ

On whatever is

True

Noble

Right

Pure

Lovely

Admirable

Excellent

Praiseworthy


Characteristics and traits of Jesus


When Peter kept his gaze on Jesus while walking on the water

He was perfectly fine

Amid the storm

Walking on water


When our eyes are on Jesus

The Author and Perfector 

The Creator

The Sustainer

Of our life

Of our calling


Our perspectives change

Our mindsets change

Our priorities change

Our focus change


We get to do the divine exchange


We exhale our 

Anxieties

Worries

Fears

Perseverations

Preoccupations


Things we have no control over


We breathe in instead

God’s sovereignty

God’s protection

God’s provision

God’s love

God’s comfort

God’s presence


We give our life’s control 

Over to

God’s control


Because God is

True

Noble

Right

Pure

Lovely

Admirable

Excellent

Praiseworthy


God is trustworthy

He is loving

He is tender

He delights in caretaking of us


God loves to shower us with His

Love

Tender mercies

Unmerited favor


God dances and sings over us

He attends to us

He loves us with a tender loving heart


He embraces us and carries us

In the crook of His arm

Holding us close to His bosom

Cradling us even as He is

Fighting for us

Protecting us as a mother hen for her chicks


This is our God

Our Father

Who is in heaven

Who reigns over the earth

Who is sovereign over our lives

Who sees every detail of our lives

Who attends to all our needs

The God Who cares

The God Who loves

The God Who attends to us


The Trustworthy God

Who adores us


Anxieties be gone

Worries eliminated

Fears vanish


When we keep 

Our gaze

Our focus

Our mind


Steadfastly


On Who God is

in and through Christ



Enjoy song by " God Really Loves Us" by Crowder





Monday, October 21, 2024

New Wineskin

“Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” – Matthew 9:17


When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord

The Holy Spirit resides in us and indwells us

We are a new creation

The old has gone

The new has come

We have been made new


God has done this

Through the shedding of the blood of Christ on the cross

Jesus paid the punishment for our sins in full


When God sees us

He sees only 

The blood of Jesus

Covering our sins


We are now holy 

Like our Heavenly Father is holy

We are now righteous

Like Christ Jesus 


While we live and trod on this side of heaven

Before we are united with Christ on the other side

There are decisions and actions

We would do well to abide


When we want to live

Abundantly

Joyously

Fully

While in our corporal body


The key is to

Get rid of our old wineskin

And take on the new wineskin


We are to take off our old self

Our self-centeredness

Our proclivities to sin

Our fleshly desires

Our selfishness


And to take on Christ


Our body is now the Temple of the Holy Spirit

Where the Holy Spirit dwells


We are now Stewards of Christ’s temple

In our body


It is not just to say no to sin

Muster our self-discipline to do the right thing

Changing our coping mechanisms

Procuring a new perspective

Adopting a new paradigm


No amount of self-help can accomplish this



Rather


It is taking on the 

New wineskin


Be totally rid of the old

Taking on the brand new


Wineskin


Only Christ can accomplish this

For us

In us


Each time we see our old self crop up

We acknowledge its existence

We confess it as sin

We repent from it

We renounce it

We reject it


We replace it with its opposite


Loving God with abandon in place of self-conscious love

Christ-centeredness in place of self-centeredness

Seeking God’s will in place of our own desires

Total trust in God in place of fear and timidity

Caring for others in place of self-gain

Kingdom focus in place of self-focus


It is Christ

Only Christ

Total dependence on Christ

His mercy and grace

His truth and love

His life in us


Will turn

What’s fleshly into 

What’s Godly


Water into wine

Into our new wineskin


Monday, July 8, 2024

Surrender and Take On

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).



Jesus calls us to 

SURRENDER

Our

Weariness

Anxieties

Burdens

Worries

Control

Fears


All things that weigh us down


To go to Him

And to find

Rest

Peace

Shalom


Jesus invites us to

TAKE ON 

His yoke


When we are hitched with Christ

Being yoked with Him

He carries the weight of the load


We get to tag along

Walking where He walks

Going where He goes


We get to learn from 

His gentleness

His humility

His Shalom

His peace


We will find rest for our souls

For Christ is the one carrying the weight


We get to know Him

Who He is

What He does

How He works

How He rests 


At this close up 

Neck to neck view

Being yoked with Him


We see Jesus at work

We see Jesus’ stance toward work

We see Jesus’ view toward rest


We experience the lightness of the burden

Jesus carries the burden

We just get to tag along


Because we are yoked with Him


Take off our burdens

Take on Jesus’ yoke


Surrender our burdens to Jesus

Take on His yoke


We will find 

Rest

Peace

Shalom


For our souls


Rest for Your Soul - Austin French


Monday, June 10, 2024

The Work of God is For Us to Believe

“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’29 Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” – John 6:28-29

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast” – Ephesians 2:8-9


We can get all wrapped up in our desire

To love God

To serve God

To love others

To be Christ’s witnesses


These are all well and good


Nevertheless


Jesus says that if we really want to

Do the work of God


It is to BELIEVE


To believe in the One God sent


To BELIEVE that


Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus is the One sent by God

Jesus is God



Sometimes 

In our desire to do God’s work

We become all wrapped up in ourselves


Sometimes

It becomes all about us

What we have done

What we can do


Us


Us proving we are

Good enough

Godly enough

Worthy enough

Grateful enough


When our salvation is by grace through faith

It is a gift from God

One that we need to have

the faith to receive


God’s grace is for the taking

We need to choose to take the gift


The interplay between

God’s gift for us and

Us accepting His gift through faith



Us choosing to believe that


Jesus has died for us on the cross

Jesus has paid the full price for our sins

Jesus has risen for us from the grave


Jesus was sent by God

To accomplish His salvation plan for us



This belief

This believing


Is good enough for salvation

Is good enough 

Work

We could possibly do for God



We choose to believe

God gives us the faith to believe


And that faith is God’s gift of grace to us



Monday, June 3, 2024

Loving Ourselves God’s Way


Jesus calls us to love others 

As we love ourselves


How do we love others

If we don’t know how to love ourselves


We look to how God loves us

We take His lead

We ask for God’s lens to 

See us the way

God sees us


God loves us 

Fully

Dearly

Fiercely

Tenderly

Attentively


God knows our being 

Godly

Ungodly

Public

Private

Selfless

Selfish

Righteous

Sinful

Strength-filled

Weakness-wrecked


God sees our every moment

Good

Bad

High

Low

Joyous

Anguished


Hopeful

Discouraged

Victorious

Defeated


Bold

Fearful

Confident

Insecure


Peaceful

Anxious

Shalom

Tortured


Optimistic

Pessimistic

Fulfilling

Challenging


Fervent

Apathetic

Exciting

Doldrum


Nothing is hidden from Him


And He still claims us as His

Beloved

Chosen

The Apple of His eyes


In Whom He is well pleased


God rejoices over us

He made us for His pleasure


God takes joy over us

Because each of us 

Uniquely reflect His glory


Only we 

Each of us


Can reflect 


A unique aspect of 

God’s glory


Christ saw us on the other side of the cross

And willingly hung on the cross

To

Gain 

Us


The Triune God was pleased

To pay the biggest price

For us

To 

Gain 

Us


When we struggle with 

Our failings

Our moments

Our own company


Invite the Holy Spirit 

Into the situation

Into the moment


Offer the moment

Unto God


As we live this and each moment

For God

Not for ourselves


Offering ourselves as 

Living Sacrifice


Fully enter the moment

Offer the moment

Live this moment

For Him


Accept the outcome of the moment

As we live 

For and

Unto

God


Choosing to 

See ourselves the way 

God sees us

Love ourselves the way

God loves us


For

Who are we

That we would override

God of

His view toward us

His love for us


Oh how He loves you and me


How God desires that we would

See ourselves the way 

He sees us

Love ourselves the way 

He loves us


Through the blood of Jesus on the cross

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit


God accomplished this

Reality 

For us


It is accomplished

It is finished


It is available 

For the taking


Now


"God Really Loves Us" - Crowder


Monday, May 13, 2024

Interplay of Mercy and Truth

“Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psalm 85:10).



God is

Truth

Holy

Just

Righteous

Uncompromising


Merciful

Tender

Loving

Gracious

Compassionate


The truth is

A Holy God cannot withstand sin

Holiness means “being set apart”

Apart from sin


A Righteous God requires truth and judgment

Righteousness is

Black or

White

No grays

No shadows

No compromises

It is exacting

It is all or nothing

We are either righteous or unrighteous


Justice is the application of righteousness


God is Just


A Just God cannot ignore sin

Sin requires judgment

Sin requires punishment


A Just God has to mete out punishment


“Without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins”

Blood has to be shed


Sacrificing animals met that requirement in the Old Testament times

Sacrifices were to appease the Holy God

The appeasement for sins was temporary

Sins were atoned for 

Until the next sin

The next infraction


Our Uncompromising God is at the same time

Merciful

Not wanting to punish us forever


He is 

Tender toward us

Knowing that we are 

Dust

Flesh

Weak

Feeble

Helpless


Our God is

Loving

He is gracious and full of compassion toward us

His creation

His chosen

His Beloved


The Righteous and Holy God 

Who is Merciful and Loving

Has provided a way 

To meet both

His uncompromising requirement of punishment for sins

And 

To have us to be one with Him 

Exist within Him

Experience Him

Abide with Him

Through His Own Son Jesus


For God so loved the world that He sent His Only Son

As the

Once and For All

Sacrifice


The shedding of God’s sinless blood

The blood of Jesus

As the

FULL PAYMENT

For all our sins

Once and forever

No more punishment


We are made holy

We are made just

We are made righteous


Like our Heavenly Father is

Holy

Just

Righteous


Mercy and Truth have met together

God’s requirements met

Chasm between us and God closed

We have peace with God

Through Jesus’ shed blood

Righteousness and peace have kissed


We are 

At One

With God


At-One-Ment



"Lord Let Us See Your Kindness" - Francesca LaRosa