Monday, December 24, 2012

this baby...

God approaches when we don't expect.  He slips in in the tiniest of forms and yet is explosive, life transforming and amazing.  Indescribable is our King.

A Baby who came in, while Mothers cried for their sons, and Fathers grasped to understand.  A baby who came in while selfishness, greed, and hatred raged.  Love comes down and while its been said a million times, it will forever be said again and again.

No one knows how much He weighed but He would carry the weight of our sins on His shoulders.  It was finished before it started.

This baby who smelt like birth, fresh and new.  Mary breathed Him in as He was wrapped in cloth in the stink of her surroundings.  A new plan that was never new, it was decided upon before the first pages of the Bible said "In the beginning."   This baby,  who would raise with the scent of spikenard because before His hands would be pierced, His Spirit pierced the heart of a woman, and pierced the heart of all those so furious enough to have Him be nailed to a cross.

He touched every single person He came in contact with.  This King, came in the most humble way,  laid in a trough that was made of the very stones or branches He created, nursed by a woman He molded with His hands.

This King.  My Jesus.

Only He could consume the entire Universe with His presence, create billions of galaxies.  The mountains tremble and the oaks twist, and yet He became a cell and consumed a womb and burst forth for salvation for many.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Who I am...

My goal as this year is nearing an end I am spending it not in the Christmas story but in Ephesians Colossians and John.  I am in this space right now where Christ is so huge and so massive that I cannot just fit Him in a manger this year.  His glory is contained there yet He spills out.  I look at our nativity scene and that baby laying there is so big to me.
I started out in Ephesians and just started reading and not only am I reading about how amazing Jesus is, but the promises I have as His child.  I thought this was pretty cool.  Sometimes I feel I go through these phases where I don't quite understand it all but Ephesians makes it pretty clear to me what Christ has promised His children and even though I am not really blogging right now I wanted to post it because it is pretty amazing.  

Who we are in Christ

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, predestined to adoption as a daughter (or son) by Jesus to Himself.  His Grace is what makes us accepted in the Beloved.  We are redeemed by His blood, forgiven by His Grace.  We have obtained an inheritance, predestined according to His purpose.  We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise because we trusted Jesus who is the guarantee of our inheritance.  We are made alive in Him.  We can do NOTHING (emphasis added because I struggle with this one) to be saved it is a GIFT He has given.  We are His masterpiece created in Christ to do the good things God prepared beforehand for us to do.  We have Christ as our peace and we are united with Him.  The blood of Christ has brought us near.  Because of what Christ did we can come to the Father.  We are citizens along with all Gods people in Gods family.  We are a part of His house and Jesus Christ is the cornerstone.  We are carefully joined together in Him becoming a holy temple for the Lord.  We can come boldly and confidently into Gods presence.  Our roots with grow down deeper into Gods love and will continue to grow strong. We can experience the love of Christ even though it is too great to understand fully.  We are made complete with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  We are part of a body and we each have our own special work.  We are His dear children.  We can come against evil because as one of Gods children we have access to His armor.