December 23, 2012

  A Miraculous Sign  

Luke 11: 29 - 32

Luke

As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, "These are evil times, and this evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign.  But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him.  What happens to me will be a sign that God has sent me, the Son of Man, to these people.

"The queen of Sheba will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  And now someone greater than Solomon is here - and you refuse to listen to him.  The people of Nineveh, too, will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.  And now someone greater than Jonah is here - and you refuse to repent.  

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Thoughts.....

Oh happy day!  As a Christian, I am counting down the days until I celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, my Savior....THE Messiah, Savior for the world.  On Christmas Day, December 25th, the day in America set aside to honor The Newborn King, will you worship His Majesty?  I hope you will join me heart to heart wherever you are in the world.  But shouldn't we do this every day?!  Yes.

As we read todays Scriptures, we learn that a crowd 'pressed in on'....surrounded....Jesus.  That's a good sign....it means they wanted to hear what Jesus had to say.  They asked for a miraculous sign.  It's interesting to note that Jesus had been giving them miraculous signs as he healed others, raised folks from the dead, forgave sins and yet, folks wanted more, something tangible, something they could hold in their hand perhaps.  What he had showed them was not enough???  But maybe these were new arrivals who were seeking.

He responded by saying, "But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him."  Let's visit Jonah and Nineveh for a moment.  Please feel free to read all of Jonah when you find time today.  It's brief. 

Jonah was a prophet from Gath Hepher who was called to preach for God.  He ministered under Jeroboam II Israel's most powerful King in 793-753 B.C. (See 2 Kings 14:23-25.)   Nineveh was a world of sin and hurt.  God said, "Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well."  Note God's concern for the cattle even.

Jonah freaked out when God told him to go to Nineveh and preach against it.  He apparently did not want to expose himself to such wickedness that reigned in that town.  Or maybe he didn't trust God and feel worthy for the task.  So he ran in the opposite direction.

Now, I know I am human, and think with a human brain, but I'm pretty sure no one can hide from God.  In Psalm 139, David tells us, "I can never escape from your spirit! (Note exclamation point.)  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.  I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night - but even in darkness I cannot hide from you."  So, Jonah running away was kinda silly. 

Then Jonah got on a ship.  When the seas started rolling from great winds and storms and the ship threatened to break up, the sailors cried out to God.  And Jonah went below deck to sleep.  How many of us when there is a storm in life, hide out, stay under the covers hoping life will pass by? 

As the story goes, the sailors tried to figure out who among them caused all this action.  They figured it was Jonah.  They asked him many questions, knowing he was running from God.  The who, what, where, of his story.  Then they asked him "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"  This is interesting.  They believed everything was happening because of him and then asked him how to fix it.  He believed it was happening because of him.  It was.  So he tells them to throw him into the sea, that it would make the sea calm again.  This is all mind boggling to me....who tells someone to throw them into the sea, and, in arrogance (?) (prophetic knowledge from God(?)) knows their body will calm the storm?   And yet, as I write this, I recall....Jesus calmed a storm with his hand. 

So the sailors threw him into the sea after praying for protection.  And the sea became calm....just as Jonah said it would.  The sailors feared the Lord and offered a sacrifice to him and made vows to him.  Back to my humanness, I think Jesus' ways of getting people to believe was a whole lot easier.  It still is.  Do you believe?  Have you vowed to worship Jesus as your Savior?

Then the story gets even more interesting....Jonah is swallowed by a 'great fish' compliments of the Lord's arrangement. Jonah cried out to the Lord, deeply concerned, (I'd be hysterical) that he had been driven from the presence of the Lord and that he would never be able again to see his holy Temple.  When was the last time you were deeply concerned you wouldn't be able to be in the presence of the Lord or go to church?  Hmmmmmmm???????  

Then Jonah, having lost all hope, turned his thoughts once more to the Lord with earnest prayer.  He said to him, "Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies.  But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows.  For my salvation comes from the Lord alone."  Don't we all turn our backs on God?  Do we thank him and praise him with song for his mercies?  You know....for those little things....like a roof over our heads, climate control, food in our stomachs?  Do we offer sacrifices like spending time with him instead of shopping?  Talking to him instead of guffawing over TV with the guys?  Have we even heard God's voice to know what he is asking of us, so we can vow to proceed for and with him? 

Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did.  Great!

The Lord spoke to Jonah a second time, "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you."  This time Jonah obeyed the Lord's command.  Do you think it is important for you to obey God in the future to circumvent chastisement or wrath from the Lord in your future?  Jonah was blessed to have a second chance.  How many are you on.....four thousand one hundred forty.......millions?  I am.  Shame on us both.  "Thank you God that you are a forgiving God."  We must do better.   

In obeying God's command the second time, Jonah told the city "Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!"  The king and his nobles sent a decree throughout the city that "No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God.  Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.  Who can tell?  Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us."  When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened.  Through and with miraculous signs, God had surely sent Jonah.

Have you put a stop to your evil ways?  Keep trying....God loves you.  He really does not want to punish you with destruction.  But he will.  All fall short of the glory of God....trust me.....you are not alone....I am subject to him, too.  Don't think you do not sin.  Little selfish are you?  See Galatians 5:16-26.  Just remember, 'try' is not an action verb....'do' is. 

The story goes on to tell us about Jonah's anger in his prediction of destruction not coming through.  Well, praise God and pass the peanuts....a whole city survived God's wrath!  And Jonah is pouting.  Go figure.

Back to todays scriptures, do you see all the miracles in Jonah's life, and yet Jesus only pointed to one....the city of Nineveh turning from their evil ways and not being destroyed.  Jesus is, in a sense, pouting, too, because the folks around him are not 'getting' his miracles. Nor are they understanding he is the miracle worker.  He goes on to say, "What happens to me will be a sign that God has sent me, the Son of Man, to these people."  Like Jonah, or a child pouting, he taunts, while he in essence says, "I'll show you".  He's trying to bring people to a deeper faith.  He's calling you to a deeper faith today.  How will you answer him?

Jesus goes on to say that the queen of Sheba will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  The miracle here that I see....I wonder if they got it....will you (?).....is that she can rise up on judgment day because Jesus arose from the dead, was resurrected, and now sits at the right hand of God.  He made a way for her to rise again and live....have eternal life.  Just like he did for you....and me.

The queen of Sheba sought the wisdom of Solomon, traveling far to reach him.  Jesus was trying to tell the people that they had wisdom in him right in front of them.  Close your eyes for a moment to imagine how it will be like on judgment day when the queen of Sheba is chastising people for not seeing what was right in front of them....the saving grace, the loving power....Jesus.  How far will you go to seek him?  You only have to open your heart.   

"And now", Jesus says, "someone greater than Solomon is here - and you refuse to repent."  He's calling out to you today....will you repent?  Will you listen to Jesus?  Repenting allows you to be forgiven of your sins, cleansed.  Being forgiven and cleansed allows you to be healed.  How many of the people that Jesus healed physically just needed their sins forgiven?  Are you sick? 

The people of Nineveh too, will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.  Get the miracle again.....they CAN rise up because Jesus arose first.  Will you rise up?  Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and live for him?  He'd love for you to receive the gift of eternal life.  We're in the season for gift giving....will you receive his gift of love? 

Jesus said, "Someone greater than Jonah is here - and you refuse to repent."  Do you refuse to repent?  Will you worship the Prince of Peace, The Newborn King on the anniversary of his birth?  Every day?

His birth?  Yes.  Another miraculous sign.  Isaiah foretold/prophesied/predicted the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, 700 years before he was even conceived.  He knew that the people of Galilee who walked in darkness would see a great light - a light that would shine on all, and that he would rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David.  The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty would guarantee this.

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us,  And the government will rest on his shoulders.  These will be his royal titles:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Isaiah 9:1-7 

Here is the story of the prophetic fulfillment:  Some shepherds were in the fields guarding flocks of sheep outside the village of Bethlehem where Joseph, a descendant of David from Nazareth in Galilee, and Mary, his fiance, who was due to bear his child, had traveled.

While they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.  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 room for them in the village in. 

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.  They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them.  "Don't be afraid!" he said.  "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!  The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And this is how you will recognize him:  You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!"

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others - the armies of heaven - praising God: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors."

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Come on, let's go to Bethlehem!  Let's see this wonderful thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about."

They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby, lying in the manger.  Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often.  The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.  Luke 2:1-20 

Do you see all the miraculous signs that pointed the way to Jesus?  While you are sitting waiting for a miracle to happen in your life, realize that the greatest miracle of all is waiting to be birthed in your heart.  It is through you, your life, that the Messiah will be a walking miracle today...a miraculous sign....a way for others to see him and accept him....Messiah, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Did you wake up this morning?  Were you breathing?  These are miraculous signs.  You were given life!  Did you breathe in Jesus? 

Will you give honor and praise to God for the reason why you were born and why you live?  Why were you born and why do you live?  To be a Temple for Jesus....a miraculous sign....that he lives and can live in you....and others.  Won't you help birth Jesus into the hearts of others this Christmas?  Invite him into your heart first, and then offer this precious gift to others this Christmas.  It is the greatest gift you can give.

Recommit your heart this Christmas to the one who gave you life, and gives it abundantly! 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a Holy night!                

Mary Did you Know*

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Would save our sons and daughters

Did you know that you baby boy

Has come to make you new

This child that you deliver will soon deliver you....

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Will give sight to the blind man

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Would calm a storm with his hand

Did you know that your baby boy 

has walked where angels trod

and when you kiss your little baby

you've kissed the face of God

Oh Mary did you know....

The blind will see, the deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap the dumb will speak

the praises of the lamb oh....

Mary did you know that your baby boy 

Is Lord of all creation

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Will one day rule the nations

Did you know that your baby boy

Was heaven's perfect lamb

And the sleeping child you're holding

Is the great I Am

Oh Mary  

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As we reach the end of the year, we get closer to the time when we worship His Majesty by sharing in the joy of the anniversary of the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ.  There is no better time than now to let God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit know how grateful you are for them being there for you, Jesus being born, all the Trinity has done for you and will do, and being fed the Word of God.

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May your Christmas be merry and bright! 

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Let Us Pray

Oh, God, you created the heavens and the earth.  You created all the animals and humans, too.  You gave life to me.  And you gave me the Messiah, my Lord, my Savior, my Everything....Prince of Peace, Wonderful, Counselor, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  This day, and everyday, most especially on your birthday, Jesus, I vow to worship and adore you more and more.... follow you more nearly, love you more dearly.  I will continue to make sacrifices to be able to do for and with you, God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, that I may be given the prize of the high calling of God.  I pray that I may be able to hear you, know what steps to take and when.  When to give, when to receive.  The greatest gift I have to give to others is you, Lord.  Straight from my heart....Pure Love....that is who you are.  Protect me as I reach out for you, with you, in your name.  May this Christmas and every day be a joyous celebration of your love, your life.  And may what I do always bring you glory.  Thank you for your love.  I feel it when I breathe, when I hold my family and they embrace me.  I feel it in the solitary moments you and I can be together, when I learn more about who you are, that you are, and how wonderful you are.  I feel your love all times.  I wish I could convey my love as well as you do.  Forgive me for the times I cannot or do not.  Today and everyday, I uplift all those you've given me Lord, all your children, that they may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your glorious name.  I pray they will birth you in their hearts this Christmas, and, embracing you tightly, never let you go.  I praise you and thank you.  All honor and glory is yours, Christ Jesus.  Amen.     

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Lord,LordJesJeJeJJjEJJJ     JJThe LORD is king!  Let the nations tremble!  T***

More love.... 

  Benediction....Blessing

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation. 

It is not how we worship, but that we worship....the Trinity!   

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baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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  Our Current Cause

It is time to reach into the community and the world around you to see wherein lies the greatest need.  As you choose to focus on these areas, do so with a servant's heart.  Whether the need is for children, adults, or animals, or any cause in between that will help those in need, ask God how you can best serve his needs, what path you must take, and how long you should persevere.  Sometimes we are to be in the lives of others merely as stepping stones.  Sometimes we are to touch those lives forever.  Whatever journey you are called to take, whatever team you will be a member, know this:  God is with you always...even til the end of time.  He loves you, is grateful for you, and will help you along life's way, especially if you are helping others along theirs, persevering with a servant's heart.  

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and God's....and may God richly bless you! 

BesidesBesid   

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

   Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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* Mary Did You Know from the Praise Hymn soundtracks.  Mark Lowry/Buddy Green c 1991 Word Music/a div. of Word, Inc/Rufus Music/ASCAP/ARR/UBP

I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided. 

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  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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