I want my Mom

He’s running and playing when his toe catches and he falls flat on his face.  It is just skinned knees and hands, but the child is a mess; a flood of tears, gasping for breath between sobs. "I want my Mom," the words wheeze out in little spasms of physical emotion.  Mom gathers him close with her soothing words, "Mommy's here," spread like a salve, healing the broken heart of that child. In a moment's time, terror gives way to peace - 'cause Mom is there. It's a magical scene! 

We are running through life when – bam! – we find ourselves knocked sideways. Challenges, disappointments, even weariness overwhelm us.  What a blessing for the Christian to be able to close his eyes in prayer with child-like faith praying -  "LORD, I need You!"  The Psalm uses maternal language for God’s comfort. "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. " (Psalm 91:4, NIV) The Holy Spirit embraces us. We listen quietly and the Voice of God says, "it's all right now!"

Sometimes as I sense the Spirit's Presence, I cannot hold back the tears, as the emotions that have been bottled up spill over. Those tears are not weakness, they are a language that God understands. One of the messages of this Holy Season is the nearness of God. He is not standing far off.  In Jesus, He became incarnate – ‘in the flesh.’

The Word calls Him "Emmanuel.”  Yes, He is God with us! The Gospel writers make it abundantly clear that He is not just God for the 'together,' the rich, the beautiful, the brave, or the intelligent. Jesus, the Christ, is the God of the little, the forgotten, the weak, those bruised and broken by life. He chose a young girl from a hill town to birth Him into this world. He chose to be born among us in the animal shelter 'out back,' because the room up front was full. Just maybe the kinsfolk of Joseph in Bethlehem had 'no room' specifically because they knew the whispered scandal of His conception.

The royal family in Judah determined early on to kill Him, and Jesus' family became fugitives for a time until Herod's death. As He began His adult ministry, Mark tells us that His own family thought He was mentally unstable and tried to bring Him home to avoid embarrassment. At the end of His short life, He hung naked, pinned to a rough cross, bleeding to death, while passers-by hurled insults at Him. Pilate mocked Him - "The King of the Jews" read the sign ordered nailed above Him as He died, a cruel joke.  If that all sounds terribly dramatic, remember this – He is able to be touched with our weakness.  He became fully Man and thus understands your weariness, your brokenness, your disappointment, your feelings of worthlessness... He's been there!

He offers more than sympathy. He is the Savior who is also the Lord of Glory. He is the embodiment of the Promise of the Great Reversal - who will make the last, first - who will exalt the humble!
Mary's song captures the joy we can know because of the Christmas promise. Read it thoughtfully today.
Note the triumph in the words, spoken prophetically, and with great hope. It is a poem written from the safety of the Divine Parent's embrace.

This is the word from the Word -
“Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed.
For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me.
His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
to all who fear him. His mighty arm does tremendous things!
How he scatters the proud and haughty ones!
He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
He has satisfied the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
And how he has helped his servant Israel!

He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful.
For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children— to be merciful to them forever.”
(Luke 1:46-55, NLT)

"It's all right now!" God is here!
"He embraced his chosen child, Israel; He remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high."

May your Christmas be marked with Joy, filled with Light, and celebrated with a new awareness of God's Love.
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Thanks for reading along this year.
My prayer is to be used by God in these musings to encourage, to comfort, to provoke and that together we will grow up in Christ, living for the 'praise of His glory.' God bless you richly today.

I'll Stand With the Shepherds

The nativity scene at our church is a beautiful work that captivates me with child-like interest. Lost in thought, standing there looking at it again yesterday, I wondered about coming to that rustic place long ago.  The figures in our Nativity are cleaned up, beautiful people, nearly perfect. Would I fit in?  Yes, and so would you.  The real story is not about perfection or beautiful people. It’s an exhausted woman giving birth among animals. It’s about a baby sleeping in a manger. God included some men at His Birthday that nobody cared much about – shepherds. They smelled bad, living apart from regular society, and made little money. Sheep herding was a menial job. The men were rough, their work hard. Their job kept them from the synagogue and from observing Jewish rituals so the smug Pharisees sniffed that shepherds were all sinners.

But God chose to bring them into the scene. To whom does HE first announce the New moment? Shepherds! "And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." (Luke 2:9-10, NKJV) "So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger." (Luke 2:15-16, NKJV)

Make of it what you will, there were no Pharisees (people admired for their devotion to religious detail) at the manger!  But there were shepherds and they did not take their time going to see Jesus. “They came with haste.” Men who normally avoided society, who were used to rejection, who were obligated to make sure their flocks were safe, took off running to find Jesus! `

Have you been pushed aside, told that you’re not worthy of God or His goodness?
Have you concluded that you are beyond the reach of grace because you are too bad, too sinful, too old, too sick, too poor? 

People have lots of reasons (excuses) for not responding to God’s invitation to come to Jesus.  But, right there at the manger of Bethlehem, He reminds us that we are never too anything to be beyond His love and grace. Jesus Christ is ’ good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’   Jesus found men, ordinary men fishermen, laborers, and said, “Come, follow Me.” They, too, dropped what they were doing. "At once they left their nets and followed him." (Matthew 4:20, NIV) He changed them into spiritual giants who changed the world!

Are you a reluctant disciple (an oxymoron, really)? Are you eager to follow Him?

Are you a captive of fear, believing the lie that God does not care about you?

Are you tangled in the troubles of life, convinced by circumstances that you’re outside of the circle of God’s grace?

Isaiah, moved by the Spirit, wrote an invitation that still stands - “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David." (Isaiah 55:1-3, NIV) "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6, NIV)

Come running!  Don’t stop at the Manger.  Continue to the Cross where love spilled forgiveness, then move to the Empty Tomb that assures us of our final victory over sin, death, and Hell.

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O Come All Ye Faithful

O come all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him

Born the King of angels.

Yea Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning.

Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n.

Word of the Father

Now in flesh appearing.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him,

Christ, the Lord!

C. Frederick Oakeley | John Francis Wade

Public Domain