Immanuel

I make this post knowing that my cousin's son will die soon.  He has been on a respirator and it will be disconnected in a few hours.  They don't expect him to live but a few minutes unless the Lord has other plans.  This song went through my mind as I spoke with her. 

A sign shall be given
A virgin will conceive
A human baby bearing
Undiminished deity
The glory of the nations
A light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace
His warm reality

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

For all those who live in the shadow of death
A glorious light has dawned
For all those who stumble in the darkness
Behold your light has come

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us

Immanuel
So what will be your answer?
Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His Son
But gave Him for us all
On earth there is no power
There is no depth or height
That could ever separate us
From the love of God in Christ

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

Michael Card

My First 1K

I've been blogging now since early October.  Today I reached 1,000 visitors to my blog.  Thank you to all who have stopped by.  For those of you who care, here are a few statistics:

To Entries
The Way    37 hits
Family History:  David Phillips  26  hits
My Heart is Stone   25 hits
Something I have to Work Through  25 hits
Remember Those in Prison  22 hits

Visitors by country
United States  888
Colombia  23
France  20
Costa Rica  12
India  11
Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Venezuela  1 each


Again, thank you to everyone who has visited.  If you like what I write, please consider sharing my blog.  Also, I welcome feedback.  God bless.  

The Grinch

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  

~Dr. Seuss

All is Well

All is well, all is well

Angels and men rejoice

For tonight darkness fell

into the dawn of love's light

Sing Alle, sing Alleluia

All is well, all is well

let there be peace on earth

Christ has come, go and tell

that He is in the manger

Sing Alle, sing Alleluia

All is well, all is well

lift up your voice and sing

born is now Emmanuel

born is our Lord and Savior

Sing Alle, sing Alleluia

sing Alleluia

All is well

MWS ©

Everything that we have is God.  Everything we don't have makes us need Him more

A Child at Heart

Kids are silly.  They like to be silly.  I like to be silly.  Therefore, I am a kid, right?.  One of the best things about having children is experiencing life again.  You get the opportunity to see things with wonder again.  Because of my children, I was reminded of how I once was.  Little ones don’t want to go to sleep.  There is so much in the world to see, to hold, to take in and they want to do it all right now.  Sleep?  No, sleep can wait.  There are important things they want right now.  They want to go, go, go.  Their little motors run until the tank goes empty.  Then they simply collapse.  Is there anything like watching a baby sleep?  How precious!  When they do sleep, they get to wake when their little bodies say they have had all they need. 

In contrast, the older we get the more we just want to relax.  Life is a treadmill and we just want to jump off.  When can I get a nap?  I just want to get my stuff done so I can go to sleep or relax.  The alarm interrupts our rest and we are jolted back into reality.  Adults have responsibilities.  We have things we have to do in order to maintain the lifestyle we want.  However, it is not all negative.  There are a lot of good things in the adult life too.  I have autonomy.  I can come and go as I please.  I can pursue happiness.  However, in doing so I have to take on the difficulties life has.   

Maybe this is why I want to be childlike.  I don’t believe it is an avoidance thing.  I’m not dodging responsibilities or hard times in life.  In contrast, I want to embrace the wonder that life once held for me.  There is still so much in the world to have and to hold.  There is so much beauty.  There is much to cherish.  Adult life makes it hard to notice any of this.  A child’s life lends itself to taking it all in.  Being a kid at heart gives me the best of both worlds. 

Do Not Arouse or Awaken Love Until it so Desires

Here is one thought about reading through the bible I forgot to mention yesterday.

In Song of Solomon, there is a phrase that is repeated at least 3 times in the 8 chapters of the book.  The phrase is this: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

I have heard this before and never really thought much about it.  However, I did wonder if it was a command or suggestion or just something people said.  When reading Song of Solomon not too long ago, I was struck that the phrase is a command meant for protection. 

We are not to arouse or awaken sexual desire until we are able to handle it.  When I realized this, I couldn’t help but think about our society.  Sex is used to sell products.  Sex scenes are constantly on TV and in movies.  Kids nowadays are continually bombarded with sex.  To me, they are awakened and aroused before they are ready.  I don’t know how we can combat this other than, as parents, we are vigilant in what we allow our children to watch and be exposed to. 

Even as adults, we should not expose ourselves to things that are not healthy or promote sex in a healthy, godly manner.

The Bible in one Year

I completed a goal of mine for this year.  I read through the whole bible.  I have read the New Testament several times but never the Old Testament.  Some of the OT books were unfamiliar to me.  I would like to share a few thoughts.  Please know that these are my thoughts based on who I am and where I live. 

1.  I sometimes feel that people ignore the Old Testament because we live in the New Testament age.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever going forward.  Yes, He instituted some changes and now we can be justified through the sacrificial blood of Jesus, but there is still much to learn about the person God is by reading the Old Testament. 

2.  God takes a very serious view on sin.  The penalty for sin is death.  Sometimes, I think very little of what my sin costs.  In the Old Testament, animals had to die to pay for the cost of sin.  The person was making a sin offering had to place their hands on the animal to identify with it.  How much more would we realize the price of our misdeeds when we had to watch something die as a result of them?  Recently, I was in Talamanca Costa Rica and I watched a pig get slaughtered.  It was the first time I have watched something die.  Well, something other than bug.  I realize pigs are not something Jews would sacrifice but for me, it carried significance.  This animal died so people could eat.  My sin means someone had to die.  It is a steep penalty.

3.  I marvel at the specifics of rituals God established to appease His wrath.  So many sacrifices had to be performed in certain ways.  I can’t help but wonder at some details.  Certain parts of animals could be eaten, others could not.  When the sacrificial animal was a bird, the ritual was quite different. The bird was slaughtered by a thumb being pushed into its neck, and the head being wrung off. A second bird would then be burnt on the altar as a whole sacrifice.  Some things seem very random to me. 

4.  When I read through Kings and Chronicles, I couldn’t help but notice most of the Kings of Israel and Judah did “what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”  While reading this, I kept wondering why God kept allowing it all to happen.  I suppose that is the way many of us feel now. 

5.  When I read the Prophets, I got the answer.  God was being patient.  2 Peter 3:9 says that God waits for all to come to repentance.  Still, I believe God’s patience is also a way for Him to be blameless when His wrath does come.  If you forgive someone 7 x 70 times, can you not be justified for doing something about it after that? 

6.  When I read about God’s judgment and punishment of Israel and Judah, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of tenderness mixed with regret for it all.  It was as if God was saying, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”  I don’t mean God made a mistake.  Simply that God’s people had every opportunity and chance to be His people and He would be their God.  Nevertheless, they preferred to prostitute themselves to other gods.  If God has some human emotions, maybe I felt the hurt God felt due to their rejection.

7.  God’s punishment would go to the fullest extent, He would not hold back, and Israel and Judah were severely punished.  Also, when God poured out His wrath on His Son on the cross, I believe Jesus carried that penalty to the fullest extent. God doesn't do thing half way. 

8.  God used Babylon and other countries to do His dirty work to punish His people.  Still, God judged them when all was said and done.  They were punished for how they treated His people.  God is sovereign. 

9.  I am reminded again that we need to give God the honor and praise He deserves.  I don’t always do it but I must.  He is the God who created the universe.  He knows each of us better than we know ourselves. 

10.  God sent His Son to die for our sins.  He did not do it simply so His creation could be with Him for eternity.  If we think that, we are being short sighted and arrogant.  Ultimately, He wants the praise He deserves.  We are His people.  He is our God.  He was God before He chose us.  Therefore, it is all about Him and not us.  To His honor and glory!