After Christmas in the Temple

Keep the Spirit of Christmas alive by looking into the event eight days after Christmas.
Following the custom of the law, obedient Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to present him to the Priest (see Leviticus 12:8 with Exodus 13:2,13). My favorite Ron DiCianni painting, "Simeon's Moment," portrays what happened during their temple visit beautifully.


(To see the painting go to:http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/dicianni/simeons-moment.htm)

According to Luke 2:25-35 the story goes like this:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

For me, this is the absolute best part of the Christmas story. Ron Di Cianni must agree with me. About his painting he wrote:"Imagine that moment! It has to rank at the top of any Christian's list of dreams —to hold the very Son of God in your arms with the understanding of His purpose for coming. This is what Simeon had been promised, and here He is. It was the final exclamation point to fulfill his heart's desire."Because of what his eyes saw and his hands felt, Simeon was content, ready to leave and go be with his God. We can only guess (I like to do that at times) what must have raced through Simeon's mind at that moment. He didn't have long to hold him, but long enough to realize that Messiah had come."In this painting I tried to let Simeon's face tell the story. Ecstasy. I have a feeling Simeon clutched that baby like no other. He knew that he held the 'light' of the world, which I symbolized by the star emanating from the Baby. Intertwined through them both, I put a map of the world with its obvious symbolism that Christ came to impact the whole world, and not just the Jews, as most of the people would have concluded. Those lands, like North and South America, as well as others, were not even known to Simeon's world, but God knew all along that you and I would need a Saviour. Simeon's tear was put in to reflect deep joy. But the more I contemplated it, the more I realized it could symbolize that Simeon also might have known that this Baby was born to be crucified. That was why He came."

We can rejoice with Simeon! Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we can clearly see God's salvation, just like Simeon did. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Picture of Woven Christmas Hearts by NotYetTheDodo, courtesy of Flickr.com

Are You Worried?

I hate that right along with the Christmas season comes worry and stress, but it does. I guess it’s just a little taste of the chaos God stirred up by sending Jesus, the ultimate Christmas gift, to earth. While he was here, satanic activity peaked. Regarding the things about which we become anxious:

• 40 percent never happen


• 30 percent regard unchangeable deeds of the past


• 12 percent focus on the opinions of others that cannot be controlled


• 10 percent center on personal health, which only worsens when we worry about it


• 8 percent concern real problems that we can influence. *

This means ninety two percent of our worries are needless! Max Lucado wrote: "Two words summarize God's opinion of worry: irrelevant and irreverent.

Let's get rid of the irrelevancies in our life by casting our anxieties on him for he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and praise our worthy God. We don't ever want to be irreverent.

One way I cast my heartache and trouble on him is to pray Philippians 4:4-7, while trusting God to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Share with me some of ways you throw your cares on the Lord.

Always listen,

*Bob Russell with Rusty Russell, Jesus, Lord of Your Personality: Four Powerful Principles for Change (West Monroe: LA: Howard Publishing, 2002), 41.

Photo--"Don't Worry . . ." by Arny Johanns courtesy of flickr.com

Please share the ways you L.I.S.T.E.N. to God

Hello everyone,

I am beginning to write Bible study #3 in the the 4 Part "Listening Heart" Bible series. Book number three is "Hearts Who Listen for the Master Physician's Voice: Experiencing the Healing Power of Jesus. I would love for you to share with me the ways you listen to God. Listening to the God's magnificent voice brings healing. I would love to use your stories in my recent study. Thank you very much.

Always Listen,

Susan

To Listen Means You . . .

When thinking about what listening to God means to me, an acrostic came to mind. To listen to God means that I:



L ive loved
I ncrease Knowledge of God
S tay Surrendered to God
T rust God
E radicate Sin
N urture Balance
Living loved is one of the most important things we do as Christians and always includes accepting Jesus' work on the cross. If we don't receive the great love he has for us daily we are unable to obey the two greatest commandments--to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29-31). Jesus followed these commands with the statement, "All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commands." In others words, if we live loved and allow our love for God and others to permeate all that we do, things will work out for our ultimate good (see Romans 8:28 for this promise).
Increasing our knowledge does not mean we have a goal to expand our head knowledge. By increasing our knowledge, I mean to stay in the Bible continually. When we regularly spend time alone with God in his word, our listening skills are honed naturally. Book smarts are but a by-product of our time spent alone with God. The real benefit comes from the fact that the more we know about God, the more our faith grows.
Staying surrendered to God takes the most effort on our part. The sin nature that lives in us demands to be in charge. In turn, complete surrender requires a conscious decision (sometimes moment by moment) to believe God's promises and take him at his word.
Trusting God. Those two little words are a loaded statement. Talk about things that make you go, "Hmmmm." Every difficulty I face I hear God whispering in my ear, "Trust me." Will I trust God with my problems? With my life? Or will I stubbornly march on attempting to fix my kids, my alcoholic brother, my health, and so forth in my own power? Oh Lord, save me from myself. Trusting you is the only way to make it through life challenges sane.

Eradicate Sin. I like this word eradicate. It means: to tear out by the roots, uproot; to get rid of; wipe out; destroy. After many years of listening, I have learned I must get to the root of sin before I can tear it out. Even though new roots of sin grow and will continue to grow until I get to heaven and receive my new body, I destroy them as they pop up with serious prayer while asking God questions like: "Why do I do the crazy things I do?" "Why do I react to ____ (insert person or thing here) in that way?" "Why do I repeat the same actions when I know it hurts me?" God's answers bring healing as each sin is eradicated.

Nurture Balance. A state of equilibrium, balance is the result of the power and ability to decide. As a woman, I struggle with the ability to decide which causes my spiritual and emotional equilibrium to get out of whack. My most effective way back to the center comes when I meditate on 2 Corinthians 10:9. When I take the time and effort to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ I nurture balance. For instance, when I call myself stupid when I fail, I correct myself by remembering, "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen" (Jude 24-25).


Jude 24-25 says it all, doesn't it? May we continue to L-I-S-T-E-N to God and receive all that he has in store for us. Amen.

Photo by ninakupenda81 courtesy of flickr.com

New Beginnings

I just finished one of the most incredible and memorable weekends ever. My family and friends gathered for the memorial of my father and to celebrate the new life in my niece, Shanna, for a baby shower. A celebration of a life lived and a life yet to be lived stirs a range of emotions from deep sadness to great joy. These last few days held lots of tears and even more laughs as we fellowshipped together and shared life's celebrations.

As I prepared the devotional to dedicate my new grandniece, Olivia, I thought of one of my favorite praying mamas in the Bible, Hannah. She came to mind first because she struggled with infertility, just like Shanna did. They both prayed and prayed for little ones of their own. God answered their prayers. And in Shanna's case, the LORD "remembered her (1 Samuel 1:19)" through the modern marvel of invitro fertilization.

The times in which Hannah lived are much like our own today, when everyone does as they see fit. During the period of the Judges, the Israelites were in dire straits because they lacked leadership. The priesthood was defiled, and in those days the word of the LORD was rare; there was no sustained prophetic message from the Lord (1 Samuel 3:1), and the law of Moses was being ignored throughout the land. (Sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

As he often did in Israel's history, God began to solve the problem by sending a baby. Babies are God's announcement that he knows the need, cares about his people, and is at work on their behalf. (Praise the LORD!) The arrival of a baby ushers in new life and a new beginning. Babies are sign posts to the future, and their conception and birth is a miracle only God can do, even if it's done in a petri dish.

To make the event seem even greater, God sometimes selects barren women to be the mothers, as when he sent Isaac to Sarah, Jacob and Esau to Rebekah, Joseph to Rachel, and Olivia to Shanna. It's an awesome fact that humanly speaking, the future of our nation, rests with the prayers of Godly women. And yet when you think about it, how much in history depends on the prayers of suffering and sacrificing people, especially mothers.

Let's pray together for new beginnings while focusing on our children, in whom our future rests, asking God to intervene and then allow him to work in our lives by surrendering all to him. Our future is secure in His strong hands. Amen!

Losing My Father

I have heard the process of grieving compared to a newborn baby. You start out crying and needing to take naps all of the time, and then you move on to the toddler tantrum stage (this must be when you get angry), then you move on to the immature adolescent (not quite comprehending reality), and onto maturity (acceptance). I have missed blogging, but I have been crying and napping a lot and not focused enough to accomplish much beyond the necessities.

My poor dad had congestive heart failure. He only had a low percentage of his heart function left so when he had a heart attack on Friday, October 2, he never recovered and passed away on Sunday, October 4. He was terribly lonely without my mom and there at the end cried out for rest from dealing with the chaos created by an alcoholic son.

Those of you who have shared my journey with me know I lost my mom last year in February. Because I was only 3 weeks post-op from a hysterectomy, I don't believe I ever made it past the shock to properly grieve over her, but now that I have lost both parents, the grief has come tumbling down on me full force.

I feel overwhelmed and depressed, yet at the same time my mind is going a mile a minute thinking about the many things that have to be done when someone dies and their stuff has to be taken care of. But my Jesus speaks to my heart and reminds me of Lamentations 3:21-26

. . . Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;

It is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

My hope is in him and I am seeking him as feeble as my efforts are lately. I will wait quietly for his salvation from this process of grief and pray to reach the mature stages soon. He is good all of the time. Praise Jesus!

Hidden Treasures

Going through letters and cards my mom kept in a little box, I found some treasures. One in particular, a small, green piece of aged paper with a list of things to do to make the world a little easier to live in. God prompted me to share this list with you:

On this day--

Mend a quarrel.

Search out a forgotten friend (we have an easy way to do that one now with facebook).

Dismiss a suspicion and replace it with trust.

Write a letter (text or e-mail) to someone who misses you.

Encourage a youth who has lost faith.

Keep a promise.

Forget an old grudge.

Examine your demands on others and vow to reduce them.

Fight for a principle.

Express your gratitude.

Overcome an old fear.

Take two minutes to appreciate the beauty of nature.

Tell someone you love him. The him again, and again, and again.

The simplest things change the world in profound ways.

Always Listen.

Photo by: Mark L. Edwards, courtesy of Flickr.com