MARY DID YOU KNOW?

                                                   
This is one of my favorite songs, especially as done by Petatonix. I couldn't help but think about this question. Mary did you know? Of course not...and and of course, all at the same time.Inconceivably irrefutable! A young girl, a virgin, in the most unbelievable situation in the history of the world. So how could she possibly know? Inconceivable! But what about the angel? The direct word from God that this was from Him? The fact that she was a virgin, yet about to give birth? Irrefutable!

 Mary did you know that your baby boy will some day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Oh Mary did you know

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am


How can we even imagine what the real gift of Christmas meant to Mary? What went through her mind with every breath that baby took? It was both impossible to believe and impossible not to believe!
 Obviously she knew nothing of what was to come. But with every miracle Jesus would do, she had to remember the angels' words to her.

		Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
		But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
		You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
		He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
		and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
		“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
		The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

(Luke 1:28 to Luke 1:35)

 And the result was Luke 2:19.
"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." It must have been true for all of Jesus life.
But then, the crucifixion. Inconceivable! But then, the resurrection. Irrefutable!

The gift of Christmas can only be understood by the message of Easter. Merry inconceivably irrefutable Christmas!

ABOUT-ISM

                                         ABOUT- ISM?  

 WE CAN OFTEN FIND OURSELVES CAUGHT IN A ROMANS 7:15 KIND OF DILEMMA. “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I DO. FOR WHAT I WANT TO DO, I DO NOT DO. BUT WHAT I HATE, I DO.” ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANT TO DO BUT DO NOT DO, IS TO PRAY IN A MEANINGFUL, CONSISTENT, PASSIONATE WAY.  

 WE CAN KNOW “ABOUT” LOTS OF THINGS. WE CAN KNOW ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, WITHOUT HAVING A DEEP PERSONAL INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. WE CAN KNOW ABOUT PRAYER. WE CAN KNOW ABOUT LOVING PEOPLE. WE CAN KNOW ABOUT LIVING SACRIFICIALLY, BEING UNSELFISH, LIVING A GODLY LIFE, FORGIVING THOSE THAT HURT US, STOPPING LONG ENOUGH TO REALLY LISTEN TO WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO US, AND, AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED, THIS LIST IS ENDLESS. BUT KNOWING ABOUT ISN’T DOING.

THE BOOK OF JAMES IS FILLED WITH THIS THOUGHT OF DOING. HE SPEAKS OF FEEDING THE HUNGRY, CLOTHING THOSE IN NEED, INSTEAD OF SAYING “GO, BE WARMED AND FILLED”. IN FACT, HE GOES SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT HE WHO KNOWS THE GOOD HE OUGHT TO DO AND DOES NOT DO IT, SINS. FAILURE TO DO IT IS NOT JUST TOO BAD, OR A SHAME, OR “MISSED BLESSING”. IT IS SIN. I THINK IT IS SO MUCH MORE COMMON TO SEE ONLY SINS OF COMMISSION AS SIN, AND MISS SEEING THE SINS OF OMISSION.

WE CAN TALK ABOUT PRAYER. READ ABOUT PRAYER. THINK ABOUT THE NEED FOR PRAYER. WE COULD EVEN BE AN EXPERT ABOUT…TEACH ABOUT…SOUND KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT…LEAD A BIBLE STUDY ABOUT…CONVINCE OUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER…AND FAIL MISERABLY TO, PRAY.  OUR BIGGEST FAILURE CAN BE NOT TO PRAY CONSISTENTLY, PASSIONATELY, CONTINUALLY, GUT-WRENCHINGLY, SACRIFICIALLY, HEART AND SOUL, ALL THAT IS WITHIN US, AS IF WE REALLY DO CARE. (OUCH) AS THE SAYING GOES, TALK IS CHEAP. REALLY CHEAP.

I SAMUEL 12:23 SUMS THIS UP PRETTY SUCCINCTLY. “AS FOR ME, FAR BE IT FROM ME TO SIN AGAINST THE LORD BY FAILING TO PRAY FOR YOU.” THERE IS NOT MUCH WIGGLE ROOM IN THAT, IS THERE?

Don't Be A Footnote

                

I was reading this morning in Judges, and was struck by the difference a life can make. As leaders in Israel, there is mention of every man down through the years. For Jephthah, that entailed all of Judges 11, and most of chapter 12. It gives details of his leadership, both in his victories, and in his seemingly foolish vow to the Lord. But in 12:11, we read the account of one of the leaders that followed, Elon.

“After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years.

Then Elon died and was buried.”

Ouch. He lived, led, died and was buried. It isn’t that his life was meaningless, or that God ignored him. But apparently, as far as Scripture is concerned, it would appear that his life didn’t have quite the impact that the life of Jephthah’s did.

It wasn’t because Jephthah sought the “fame and fortune” of leading the nation. Or that he was exactly of royal lineage. His mother was a prostitute, and his brothers hated him for it. He was driven from his home and despised. He only led when they begged him to. That is hardly an auspicious beginning. But he knew that his victory would depend wholly on God, and said so quite publicly to the enemy kings.

So what do I want the footnote of my life to be? The details of a life that God would say is well lived? Or “he lived, died, and was buried”? I have a choice. I can live a life of reliance and faith in God, not seeking my own glory or fame, but His. Or I can just live.

I am reminded of a book by John Piper titled “Don’t Waste Your Life”. It is a great reminder of the brevity of life, and the responsibility that we have to choose the manner in which we live it.

So this is a reminder to myself:

Don’t be a footnote.