Another Christmas has come and gone. What a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth. Surrounded by family and friends the holiday is a time of thankfulness for what blessing God has given to us and to think of those who do without. Christ's gift reminds us that children are at the crux of God's great plan for humanity. No other group is more sweet, loving, innocent, and hopeful. No other group is more fragile and easily harmed.
Tonight our son prayed a simple prayer from the purity of his 6 year old heart. "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon." He has no concept of time or space, money or process. He simply knows that His God can the power to answer his precious prayer.
As Jesus taught his disciples, we must become like little children. What if we prayed and believed as Micah Pat does. What if we simply said what we desired and expected our God to do it. No worry about the details Lord, they are in Your hands.
So in the inspiring words of your brother, "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon.
Love Daddy
Our Family
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Simplicity of Christmas
Before I write my blog for the day, I want to give a quick update on our process. We had our first homestudy interview last night. All went well. We should be able ro complete this by the New Year. It is very exciting to have this process started. As we move toward the in home interview, we need to raise and additional $1,000. Please pray with us. God has provided all that we have needed so far. I know He will contniue to do so.
Please enjoy reading!
For so many Christmas is a time of stress. Having to find the right gift for every person on your list, trying to get the house decorated, cleaned for company, meals made, and all the other details we feel have to be done. Tonight I want us to take a step back and focus on the simplicity of Christmas. God did not intend for us to get so stressed out that we lose sight of His greatest and most simple message. That message rang out as shepherds ran to a stable and kings bowed at a manger. The message still rings true today. God loves you. The simple act of a baby’s birth told of us God’s great love.
Luke 2:6-7 “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”
It was a simple star that led simple people to a simple stable in a simple town to find the simplicity of God’s love in the form of a simple child. Think of all the things God has ever done for you, all the things He has given you. Of all of this the simplest thing that He has given is Himself. We try to make everything that God does some complex act with multiple meanings. Let us not lose focus this Christmas that love is the crux of all the complexity in the scripture and in our spiritual lives. Love is a simple emotion. We easily feel it toward a hundred things every day. Love is not complex, relationships and learning to deal with this most powerful emotion confuses us into thinking that love is somehow a high reality that we can never attain. Why did God send His son in the form of a baby? Because He loves you.
Why did that baby teach us all that we needed to know? Because He loves you. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He loves you.
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Christmas emphasizes God’s love toward us and it should also emphasize our love toward others. You want to know how to love? Jesus tells us in Luke 22:25-26 ‘Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant”. Serve someone as an act of love. Go out of your way to do something for someone you would not normally so. As you come to a new realization of God’s love for you this season, show that love to others as well. Have you accepted God’s love? There is no better time than today!
Please enjoy reading!
For so many Christmas is a time of stress. Having to find the right gift for every person on your list, trying to get the house decorated, cleaned for company, meals made, and all the other details we feel have to be done. Tonight I want us to take a step back and focus on the simplicity of Christmas. God did not intend for us to get so stressed out that we lose sight of His greatest and most simple message. That message rang out as shepherds ran to a stable and kings bowed at a manger. The message still rings true today. God loves you. The simple act of a baby’s birth told of us God’s great love.
Luke 2:6-7 “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”
It was a simple star that led simple people to a simple stable in a simple town to find the simplicity of God’s love in the form of a simple child. Think of all the things God has ever done for you, all the things He has given you. Of all of this the simplest thing that He has given is Himself. We try to make everything that God does some complex act with multiple meanings. Let us not lose focus this Christmas that love is the crux of all the complexity in the scripture and in our spiritual lives. Love is a simple emotion. We easily feel it toward a hundred things every day. Love is not complex, relationships and learning to deal with this most powerful emotion confuses us into thinking that love is somehow a high reality that we can never attain. Why did God send His son in the form of a baby? Because He loves you.
Why did that baby teach us all that we needed to know? Because He loves you. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He loves you.
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Christmas emphasizes God’s love toward us and it should also emphasize our love toward others. You want to know how to love? Jesus tells us in Luke 22:25-26 ‘Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant”. Serve someone as an act of love. Go out of your way to do something for someone you would not normally so. As you come to a new realization of God’s love for you this season, show that love to others as well. Have you accepted God’s love? There is no better time than today!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Mary
December 1, 2010
Have you ever felt that God was calling you to do something, but you did not feel up to the task? Most of us go through this. It is a common response to God. When God calls us we are very quick to remind Him how we are unable to do what He wants us to do. It’s kind of odd how often we feel the need to remind the creator of the universe about our weakness. Mary stands as our example in surrendering to God’s will. Can you imagine how she must have felt when the angel proclaimed to her that she would be the mother of the Savior? No pressure there on a teenage girl about to be married.
• Luke 1:26-38 “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![a]” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[b] forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.[c]” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
There are three things that we can learn from Mary. First, we must trust God that He knows what is best for you. We say we trust God, but most often we only trust Him on our terms. He calls us to speak to someone in a store, or encourage someone we do not know. We say, “Oh there must be someone better at this than me”. Too often we do not have an appropriate understanding of our worth and potential in Christ. I know full well that God has given me the ability to sing, I also know full well that if it were not for the grace of God I could not play piano. I understand my ability and my inability, in the end I have to trust God every service to accomplish through me what He wants.
Second, we must have faith that what God has said will happen, will be accomplished through us. It would have done the world no good if Mary had trusted that God knows best but not believed it would really happen. You may be sitting here tonight knowing that God has called you, but you really don’t believe it can happen. Our adoption is sort of like this. I know and I trust God that He has called us to adopt, but do I really have faith to believe He will provide all that we need to accomplish it. In all honesty I can stand before you tonight and say that I do. Mary had to trust in what God was calling her to do and have faith that it would come about.
Last, we must surrender to God’s will. This is what Mary did. Look at verse 38 again, “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” In these simple words Mary surrenders to God’s will. Why is it so hard for us to do the same? All we need to do is tell God, here I am do with me as you please and may your will be accomplished through my life. What does God want from you? He wants you to surrender to Him. All that you are and all that you have are His. He simply wants to know that you will do as He has asked you. Are you willing to surrender to Him?
Have you ever felt that God was calling you to do something, but you did not feel up to the task? Most of us go through this. It is a common response to God. When God calls us we are very quick to remind Him how we are unable to do what He wants us to do. It’s kind of odd how often we feel the need to remind the creator of the universe about our weakness. Mary stands as our example in surrendering to God’s will. Can you imagine how she must have felt when the angel proclaimed to her that she would be the mother of the Savior? No pressure there on a teenage girl about to be married.
• Luke 1:26-38 “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![a]” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[b] forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.[c]” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
There are three things that we can learn from Mary. First, we must trust God that He knows what is best for you. We say we trust God, but most often we only trust Him on our terms. He calls us to speak to someone in a store, or encourage someone we do not know. We say, “Oh there must be someone better at this than me”. Too often we do not have an appropriate understanding of our worth and potential in Christ. I know full well that God has given me the ability to sing, I also know full well that if it were not for the grace of God I could not play piano. I understand my ability and my inability, in the end I have to trust God every service to accomplish through me what He wants.
Second, we must have faith that what God has said will happen, will be accomplished through us. It would have done the world no good if Mary had trusted that God knows best but not believed it would really happen. You may be sitting here tonight knowing that God has called you, but you really don’t believe it can happen. Our adoption is sort of like this. I know and I trust God that He has called us to adopt, but do I really have faith to believe He will provide all that we need to accomplish it. In all honesty I can stand before you tonight and say that I do. Mary had to trust in what God was calling her to do and have faith that it would come about.
Last, we must surrender to God’s will. This is what Mary did. Look at verse 38 again, “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” In these simple words Mary surrenders to God’s will. Why is it so hard for us to do the same? All we need to do is tell God, here I am do with me as you please and may your will be accomplished through my life. What does God want from you? He wants you to surrender to Him. All that you are and all that you have are His. He simply wants to know that you will do as He has asked you. Are you willing to surrender to Him?
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