Matthew 1:23 -  Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Behold the virgin shall conceive, and she shall bear a son, and they shall call his Name Emmanuel, which is translated, 'Our God is with us'“.

   Jesus was a 9 month baby who grew and became a young boy, then a teenager and a young man.  He learned a trade from his earthly father, Joseph, and continued in that trade as a carpenter after Joseph died.

   He learned how to frame a house, work long hours that were physically demanding, and how to choose the right piece of wood for a project.  No doubt He dealt with people who had expectations, and with some who were delinquent in their accounts; who bartered and probably bargained with Him.  He dealt with people who might have been disappointed in His work and others who were pleased.  He had to budget money and pay bills and taxes, and generally care for the family as the oldest Son.

   In other words there is no lofty illusion of identification with Jesus and humanity – He was the real thing!  He was among us as a real person who, for 30 years, went through real experiences and circumstances of life.  He understands us experientially and that was the plan all along.  Emmanuel meant God was with us and not in some special privileged way but in the down and dirty aspects of life that we all face.  People could touch Him, laugh with him, cry with Him.  He had flesh and bones and did everything that humans have to do to stay alive – eat, sleep, wash, etc.

   It’s difficult for us to think of the King of kings and Lord of lords as a person who dealt with life in all the ways that we do, but this is God’s way of saying “I identify with you and I understand you when no one else does.  I will never leave you.  Even if everyone gives up on you – I won’t!”  What a great gift He was and is.  Emmanuel is STILL with us.  His Presence is real - as real as He was thousands of years ago.

   Christmas is a time when people expect presents but the greatest gift we can ever receive is His Presence.  Presents are often place ‘under’ a tree, but the greatest gift was placed ‘on’ a tree.  Since the wages of sin is death, Jesus paid that price for our freedom.  He bought us back from an enemy who trapped and enslaved us.  That in itself is a great gift!  But then He goes even further.  It’s not just a payment He made but an eternal commitment that we would be together now and forever.  “Behold I am with you now and even to the end of the ages!”  (end of Matthew 28)

   Emmanuel was God’s View of having a relationship with us whom He loves so much.  It was His desire to be with us and because of Jesus, our God IS with us!  Merry Christmas!

“The Lord is good and His mercy is everlasting.  His truth endures to every generation.”  Ps 100

People in every generation declared that, we must declare it, and future generations will need to declare this because it’s the TRUTH!  God is good whether we succeed or fail, whether we stand or fall, whether we obey or disobey.  His goodness is not contingent on our behavior or lack of it and too often we equate His goodness with how we are living.  Now, I know, there are effects and results in life.  If you give, it will be given back to you – positively or negatively.  The world calls that ‘what goes around, comes around.’  Jesus told us there would always be responses and consequences in life but the nature of who God is does not depend on us!  He is good and merciful regardless of our action or inaction.

This should actually comfort us because we can depend on His goodness in life and we can call for His mercy in times of need.  He is a Father who has compassion and even pity for His children, David tells us that in Psalm 103.  He remembers that we are fragile and frail and made of dust.  Sometimes we fall short of our own expectations, but not His.  He is looking for people who have a heart for Him and He works with us in spite of ourselves and definitely much better than we work with ourselves, and others for that matter.  Some of us think that if we fail, He will remove His goodness from us as punishment.

Take a look at Scripture and the people who, today, we would consider to be failures, unworthy of God’s goodness or unable to be used by Him!  They were liars, cheats, swindlers, cowards, murderers, adulterers and on the list goes.  We esteem them now but in the midst of life they certainly made some glaring mistakes.  Some suffered consequences but they were still blessed by God, used by Him and His goodness pervaded their lives.  He can’t be other than Who He is and He is good!

Since He is good, we should expect good.  I am challenged by this because Ted and I are going through another new phase in life that will demand great faith on our part: for the second time we have handed a fellowship ‘over’ to the next generation of leaders.  This time it is our oldest son, Jason.  What a privilege to be in a new day such as this.  We are greatly blessed.

However, at one point I started having feelings of ‘Oh no, now what is going to happen?  I’ve been through this before and it was hard at times.  Here we go again.’   Then I heard two amazing questions from the Lord, “What if it’s something good?  What if it’s something you enjoy?”  What a concept!  I remembered an old song from the Oral Roberts program back in the early sixties that said, “Something good is going to happen to you… this very day… because Jesus of Nazareth is passing your way.”  

Since then I have decided to expect good every day – because God is good!  His goodness is near yet too often I miss it.  I am determined not to miss Him and His goodness regardless of what happens in this phase of my life.  His mercy will be there when I struggle, and His goodness is Who He is all the time, so … I just have to open my eyes.   That’s my God View and that’s the truth!  Won’t you join me?

“Trust in the Lord…”  Psalm 37:3a 

 In David’s writings there are three salient ‘characteristics’ that appear over and over.  One is the sovereignty and rule of God.  David may have been anointed as a king but he was never confused about who God is and who he was.  David was a man under authority and knew the King of all kings!  He deferred to His authority consistently.  One of my favorite lines that appears often and shows this relationship to the sovereign Lord is, “And David inquired of the Lord,” or “David sought the Lord.”  As both a king and a man David sought the Lord and bowed his heart, soul, mind and strength to his King!

Another characteristic of his writings revolves around the praise and worship of the Lord God Almighty!  This we expect since David and his Psalms are synonymous with worship and praise.  The sweet psalmist dedicated much of his time and energy by magnifying who God is, was, and always will be! How many of us are grateful that David wrote his Psalms?  Many of us have lived in them during various seasons of our lives.

But the number one outstanding attribute in all his writings, that appears over and over, is trust.  David trusted God!  He trusted in God’s name, reputation, Word, ways, acts, goodness, faithfulness, unfailing love, mercy, forgiveness, redemption, and plans.  He trusted God in the midst of life-threatening circumstances.  He trusted God in the middle of his own mistakes and failings.  When he sinned he even trusted in God’s discipline.  In humility he said that God was right to discipline him, but he also trusted in God’s mercy to see him through it all the way to redemption.  He trusted in the Omnipotent rule of God in the midst of battle and trusted that God would fight for him.  Hence, “what can man do to me?”  David trusted God to the depths of his soul.

God is still looking for people who will trust Him like David did; people who will not lean on their own understanding but will trust in the One who made them and loves them with an everlasting love!  When it comes down to it, what is there not to trust?  God’s love, goodness, and kindness are manifested in the fact that He sent us His only Son Jesus Christ, as well as in all of life around us.  Take the time to look at the beauty of creation.  Then take time to recount the ways God’s love can be seen and has been seen in your personal life. David always recounted the goodness and faithfulness of God in his life, which encouraged him to continue in his trust as his life progressed. 

We belong to God who is mindful of all that is going on and He is mindful of us, too.  He is not shaken!  He has proven to be trustworthy throughout history as well as in our own lives.  “Our help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth,” David tells us.  He is the One who made it all so He is the One we can trust!  David gives us incredible insight into who God is.  It’s also obvious that God trusted David and gave him that incredible insight into who He is and how He functions.  Trust went both ways!

There is a wealth of wisdom in his writing but the one cry that comes to us loudly and clearly is to trust in the Lord.  Our brother David declared over and over because his View of God was trustworthy.  Do we have his God View?

"So that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places."  Ephesians 3:10

It was obvious from Jesus' life that Satan and his network of powers and principalities didn't understand the mystery of Christ.  Even though the enemy could quote Scripture, the mysteries were hidden.  Even though he recognized the fingerprints of his Master in this Man he was constantly underestimating who Jesus was and what God was about to do through Him.   He certainly was blindsided at the cross and the subsequent resurrection.

So now I wonder if he is more wise concerning the Church, the Body of Christ, the called-out-ones.  At times it appears as if he has thwarted us quite successfully, especially today when our voice has become very faint on the world scene.  Or has it?

According to this Scripture our very being as Christ's Body on this earth (and throughout history) has made known to them the wisdom of God.  Every choice we make for Christ, every time we apply the grace He so freely gives, every time we deny ourselves, every time we lay down our lives, the wisdom of God is being declared to the powers and principalities. 

Our living for Him in the big and little ways declares more than we realize.  We often think that if we aren't involved in some life changing cause that we aren't effective.  How many of us benefitted from a grandparent's prayers?  They were making known to the powers and principalities that God's wisdom and ways were greater than sin and captivity!  And many of us are living proof that the last Adam, Jesus, is and always will be greater than the first Adam!  

We sometimes think sin is stronger and that's part of the enemy's success - deception.  However, the wisdom of God says that every time we fall short of the glory He has for us, He is there to forgive and take our hand to lead us in His direction.  We fall IN CHRIST and not outside of Him.  That's what our lives declare to the enemy.  We don't quit, we hope against hope, we believe, we press on - we finish the race because of His power in us.

Paul goes on to say that the reason we can make God's wisdom known to the enemies of our souls is because "in Christ Jesus our Lord we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him!"  Let's encourage one another with this.  Through Christ the Church can make God's wisdom known to the powers and principalities.  At least that's God's View of us...

"I enter Your house by the abundance of Your faithful love."  Psalm 5:7a 
When I read David's words in this Psalm, I immediately saw Jesus.  I make it a habit of looking for Jesus whenever I read the Old Covenant.  He is hidden everywhere in the Scriptures and it's wonderful to see the creative ways the Holy Spirit inspired people to write about Him.

Here is David, under the Old Covenant of not being able to enter into God's Presence without the blood of sheep and goats and yet he 'gets it.'  It's God's love that draws him into His Presence and David sees God's love as lavish, abundant, and never ending.  He also realizes that this love is faithful and never changes or wavers like human love does.  David's understanding of God is phenominal and how God revealed Himself to David is equally amazing.  If these revelations were found under the Old Covenant, how much more can be seen in the New Covenant!?   We just have to seek like David did and we will find.  David truly was after the heart of God and he found it!

Today, in that New Covenant, we also enter into His presence by the abundance of His faithful love which is Jesus Christ.  We can enter the Holy place and commune with our heavenly Father because of Jesus.  We can sit on His lap and call Him "Abba Daddy."  The sceptre of the Most High is forever extended to us because of Jesus and His Holy Spirit who leads us boldly before the Throne of Grace - that's how God's faithful love works!

The sacrifice of God demonstrates to us that His love is NOT stingy: it is abundant, lavish, exorbitant, extravagant and faithful.  Those are just a few adjectives and they still don't adequately describe His great love.  Jesus is God's great and faithful love that enables us to live and move and have our being as well as draw us near so that we are no longer "far off" as Paul says in Ephesians 2.  We are no longer alienated from our Father.  It's still amazing to me how much God wants to be with us and be near us so we can hear Him and know Him as we are known.

In God's View, His Son, Jesus Christ, will always be the abundance of His faithful love that beckons us to come into His Presence.  So let us enter into His Presence every day by the abundance of that faithful love - Jesus!

One of the first people to be called 'highly favored' in the New Testament is Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Did you ever wonder why God would tell the angel Gabriel to greet her in such a manner?  He not only greeted her as highly favored, he said it a second time, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God." I think scripture gives us some clues as to why God felt this way about her and I would like to comment on two of them.

The first one is found in Luke 1:38, which is her response to Gabriel and his incredible, even wild, message about God's Spirit coming upon her, overshadowing her and planting the seed of redemption in her womb.  Even though Hebrew women throughout the ages longed to be the mother of the Messiah, not many would have ever guessed it would happen this way.  This makes Mary's response even more amazing. 

Gabriel tells her that with God NOTHING is impossible.  He spoke faith into her and she responded with "I am the Lord's bondservant, slave, handmaiden;"  whatever word you choose.  She was submitting as servant to Master.  She positioned herself in a way that God could honor her.  Remember, the humble will always be exalted.  Then she went on to say, "Let it be to me according to your word."  In other words, 'I accept everything you have said and I align myself with God's will.'  This is clue number 1. 

Another clue is found in John 2 at the wedding of Cana.  The discourse between Jesus and His mother is almost comical.  At a Hebrew wedding there were days of festivities and running out of wine before the party was over was an embarrassment.  So Mary takes it upon herself to help the guests save face by bringing it to her Son's attention.

She very cryptically says "They have no wine."  And in essence Jesus says, "So?"  It really wasn't His problem and He wasn't ready to engage in miracles right then. However, she wouldn't let it go and said a statement to the servants that should resound in all our ears -"Whatever He says to you, do it."

If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are already the favored of God.  His blood 'justifies' us and it's just-as-if-I'd-never-sinned.  We are now sons and daughters in His house and we are favored.  However, Mary's example of being HIGHLY favored has to be because of her great responses - 'You are God and I'm not.  I accept Your will.  Therefore, whatever You say I will do.'  In God's View, these are responses that are dear to His heart.  His Son responded in like manner.  So did His mother.  And now as their brothers and sisters, we get to participate in this as well.

Its amazing to me that people today will try anything and everything to get answers to life's complexities except they don't want to try Jesus.  I've been talking with a friend for the past year who has some church background but hasn't attended in years.  We have talked about the Lord and I've even prayed with her during some rough times over and the other day she was all excited about going to see the Dali Lama.  Another lady had a horrible operation and a difficult recovery and I talked with her about Jesus helping her through it and she said, "Oh I just need to find my Zen place."  Really?  There is such a place?

Isaiah 49:23b (CWR) “I am the Lord and that those who put their hope in Me and wait for My help will not be disappointed."

 

Waiting is difficult for us.  We live in such a fast, immediate culture which works against waiting.  We don’t even like waiting in line at a grocery store.  I notice sometimes that the cashiers are often moving at light speed because the atmosphere in the store is one of hurry up and get out of here.  Heaven forbid we get a slow cashier because then you’ll hear sighs, complaints and fidgeting, which bring an added dimension to the atmosphere.

However, in Scripture we find that waiting is just a part of God’s economy or His culture.  Countless people waited for the Lord, 13, 17, 30, 40 years. Think about it.  People like Joseph, David, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Abraham, Moses, Sarah, Hannah, and Jesus (to name only a few) waited and waited for God to come through with His promises to them.

I think we gloss over those years because they appear to us as merely part of the stories but when you think about warriors like Joshua and Caleb waiting 40 years and having good attitudes at the end of that time, it had to be a miracle.  I do realize that they were putting their abilities to good use during that time by training the next generation in combat and all the organizing it took to mobilize hundreds of thousands of fighting men.  Maybe 40 years wasn’t even enough.  But still, as warriors, it is no small feat to keep them from being who they were made to be…for 40 years!

The same could be said about Jesus.  Knowing who He was and the self control it took to keep that hidden for 30 years until his release by the Holy Spirit, is nothing short of phenomenal.

David was crowned king in his teens and spent the next 13 to 15 years running from the old king he was to replace.  It could make one wonder…did God make a mistake?  Well David had his struggles because we read about them in Psalms but he also had a resolve, well actually many resolves.  One of those is that those who hope in the Lord will never be put to shame. Psalm 25:3. We should never be ashamed to hope in the Lord.  He will accomplish ALL that concerns us.  He is faithful even when we aren’t and knows the plans He has for us even when we don’t.  Sometimes it’s a matter of getting in line with what HE is planning and other times it’s a matter of waiting until the ‘fullness of time.’

We’re all waiting for something and waiting doesn’t seem to be a problem for Him.  I sometimes say to Jesus, “I know Father doesn’t live in time. (He’s outside of the time He created which is crazy to think about.) So, since You lived in time and space for 33 years could you let Him know how difficult it is to wait?’  I was marveling the other day while reading Acts 1.  Jesus tells them “in a few days” they would be visited by the Holy Spirit. It was actually 40 days.  I sort of think of a few days as 2 or 3.

Well, God’s View of time is eternity and since time as we know it will end and eternity IS and will forever BE, I guess waiting isn’t so bad.  Like David and countless others, I will wait for the Lord because I know I will never be disappointed both now and in the eternal future!