On The Threshold

As we end this year, I find it to be bittersweet. There have been great things, good things, struggles and tragedies... An ordinary year, I suppose.

I don't wish to be exempt from heartache or my own burdens. That wouldn't be fair at all. But I do have one tiny request.

We never know what the coming year will bring. We paint it with hopes and dreams at the very beginning and lift it up into your hands... as it should be. But life has its way with you, no matter the potential. I know it's for our own good most times that you allow the hurts. It keeps us humble and right-size. It makes us understand what is important and what can better be left to you to handle.

But no matter where we turn we can see pain and suffering, All we have to really do is turn on the TV. The 'news' is almost always bad. If you're not afraid or paranoid when you turn it on, it doesn't take long to get that way. Oh sure, now and then we hear of the Good Samaritan extending kindnesses, even saving lives. Or maybe there's a cute story about Little Johnny and his view of free enterprise as he sets up his lemonade stand.

I guess what I'm saying is that I need more Good News. It can't get any better than knowing I am Your Child. But you know how I am in my humanness... I forget and need to be reminded. It isn't that I don't seek the Good News. It's just so hard to find in a world filled with hate and wars and famine and.... well, you know.

So as I cross the threshold into 2010, let me not only see the goodness of life, let me show it to others too. Don't let me get wound up in all the negativity that seems to surround me. Let me be a beacon of light so others will know how Good and Kind YOU are.

Once again, God... Thanks for listening... And by the way... Happy New Year to YOU too.

The Christmas Story

The Christmas Story

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

--Matthew 1:18 - 2:23 New International Version

Living Water

I thank you God for the quenching, but mostly... I thank you for the thirst.

No Missing Person Here

And if there is one... it isn't Him.

The Keys to the Kingdom

Necklace design by Kellie Bock

http://thekeysofthekingdom.com/index.php

God stepped forth from the shadows and Light filled the universe. He walked toward her with a small box in His hands. Without a word he handed her the box and Lo, given unto her were the keys to the kingdom.

"What shall I do with these?" she asked. "Indeed, for what good are they intended?"

And he replied, "Do you not see their value? Do you not know what treasures they unlock? Come. Let me show you."

She followed Him to the edge of the precipice. As they looked out over the great landscape bustling with life He asked, "What do you see?"

She answered Him timidly, "I see cities and empires, forests and seas, animals and mountains, I see all of these. I see your Kingdom."

"And yet..." He paused to think, "This is but a small portion of the Kingdom. This is the end result of what you hold in your hand. You cannot get there until you unlock the most vast and sprawling land there is first."

She stood puzzled and bewildered. The land before her was the largest kingdom she had ever seen. What could possibly be larger than this?

As if hearing her question, He continued. "Take these keys and insert them into the lining of your heart. Here you will find a territory whose breadth, height and width cannot be measured. It is in the valley of the heart where all wisdom and knowledge lies. It is there that you will find how to use the keys given to you this day.

"Be patient with yourself (and others). Be kind. Know that inside you lies the greatest measure of good and value there is in the whole universe. Access this holy ground and the rest of the universe is yours. Marvel at its existence. Take in its beauty. Know that it is there just for you.

"And then, as in all good things, share unselfishly what you have found with others that they too may know the beauty of Heaven on Earth. Be brave and relentless in your adventure. Tell every person you meet of your discovery. Beware though. Some will not believe you. It is the way of some humans. Despair not.

"In the end, you will have spread the joy you found this day: That the Authority of Jesus is the One True Authority. That the Power of the Holy Spirit is within each and every individual. And that you have Dominion over the All the Earth and everything in it. It is then you will know your true legacy... You are a Child of the Living God, and as such, you can neither be destroyed nor diminished.

"Now go claim your Kingdom. I created it just for you."

In an instant, He was gone and she was left standing there surveying the great expanse with the keys in her hand. And yet she knew that her life had been forever changed. She would never again be the same.

She took the first key and inserted it into the lining of her heart...

Mastercard

Because there's some things that money just can't buy.