Happy New Years!

I realize that isn't till tomorrow, but there's no chance of me being up past midnight two nights in a row. 

Just wanted to throw my resolutions out there so it's all official, andMAYBE someone will call me out on them when I am breaking them! They may sound lofty, but it's all things I have done in my motherhood life already, so, not impossible by any means. 

1) do personal devotions 4-5 days a week.(may sound small, but it's a realistic goal and a large step forward for me)

2) work out 3 times a week (for as long as baby lets me of course)

3) schedule my days (sit down each morning and physically write out my day's plans. I have set an iPhone alarm for this)

4) budget (keep track for a few months of all spending, then create a budget, then continue recording spending, and adjust once baby 2 comes along)

5) cut out junk food (all-encompassing) and all packaged meals (like mr noodles, kd, Canned soups, frozen meals)

6) no daytime tv/iPhone time-killing/Facebook till after Curtis is home from work (post-supper on weekends)

7) go to bed before 11 every night, preferably between 9:30-10:00 if possible.  

These are sort of in order of importantce and do-ability. Ie: the latter ones are more likely to be dropped first if it's too much, rather than the former. 

That is all! Just wanted to get all that out there!

Christmas Day Advent

Well, this is it! Today is Christmas day! It’s what all these devotions have been leading up to, and why we celebrate all month long! How exciting!! 

Except...

Well, has Christmas ever been anti-climactic for you? As a kid, it NEVER was, because we got presents! Then as an older teen, when I began really digging into my own relationship with Christ, it took on new meaning.  I held great value to both Christmas and Easter day for spiritual reasons, and for the closeness with Christ’s experiences I suddenly felt. Now in my adult life, I have had great years spiritually, and also very anti-climactic years... Last year was anti-climactic for several reasons... number one, we didn’t have a home (that’ll do it!). But the number two reason (and probably the more important reason) is that I did nothing to prepare my heart for Christmas. Instead I just counted on the "magic of the season" to sweep me off my feet! And...
It didn’t...

It was still a nice time of year with family and friends, but I left the season...empty... somehow... And it was because I didn’t take time to invest in Christ.  I didn't take time to worship him, and to truly be in relationship with my savior at this time of year that ought to be ONLY about him!

I have a friend who just recently bought a house. She is single, but her family has in-laws now and they share Christmas day, much the way our family does (alternating who gets Christmas day each year). She was sharing with me (slightly down-heartedly) that “I guess this year I’ll just have a missionary Christmas (A.K.A poor person Christmas), and worship God, read the bible and stuff like that”...we both immediately laughed at her comment, because we BOTH knew in our hearts that this was the absolute BEST way to spend Christmas day!! With the guy whose  birthday we are celebrating in the first place! How lucky for her!
But really, how lucky for all of us...

We are all without excuse! It doesn’t matter where you are today. Alone, with family, out in public, you are allowed to open the bible today. If people object, you can actually make THEM feel bad about it (don't try too hard though), since this is such an obviously religious holiday. Pull out your bible. READ the story. Pray. Spend time with your creator (who made a way for you to even SPEND time with him.) That is what today is all about! It’s about God on earth to be close to the people he created. So lets spend time with Him!


Wow! Now I am getting more excited! What a thrill that we get a whole day off work to spend time with our God, together in community!! I think you can probably catch the uniqueness of this once-a-year opportunity that I am talking about. Easter is far more somber as we celebrate both a death and a life, and all the tremendous theology that goes along with that holiday... It is special and very significant in it's own right, but at Christmas, we simply celebrate Christ, and being with God. It’s really that simple, and so we ought to take advantage of that today!

I am a firm believer that on certain days of the year, it is just...EASIER to talk to God... I think it has a lot to do with how close and present the holy spirit is. Who knows! Your neighbors might be having a prayer party, or maybe the house down the street! But the reality is, families dust off their bibles today, and pray for the first time this year. People really usher in the holy spirit today. So please, take advantage of the fact that God is in the area these days, and spend some good quality time with him. That Is what Christmas is all about.... God with us... So lets be with him today...

Today I am not going to post the Christmas story. I am not even gonna throw bible verses at you... That is up to you to do today actually. You need to open up your bible and take a look for yourself! If you decide to read Luke 2, do me a favor and read luke 1 as well! I just love that it gives us a glimpse of old-testament ways, and the laws we were free’d from, in John the baptist’s dad’s experience. It's a great way to bring back the significance of all the "God with us" moments in Luke 2!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Y-Px39cm4

here is a song for you if you need it. Mercy Me—God with us.... This is what Immanuel means! This is NOT a Christmas song, but it is a worship song, and I believe it contains a very holistic picture of what Christmas is about, right down to Christ’s death and our freedom from sin. If you need one, let this be a starting point to your worshiping God today.

Dear God, here we are! It's your day. God I know this isn't ACTUALLY the day you were born on, but I still thank you that the world stops for a moment to acknowledge the day you came to the earth.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTOYekVnDsg  (Future of Forestry --The earth Stood Still). God thank you that the earth stopped for a moment that night as it's creator dwelled on it's dust once more... SO long God...you hadn't walked on your earth since adam and eve's days, during perfection! Yet here you came, once again...to be with us! Even though we are so covered in sin! Thank you God.... There are no words to say right now...You came. You really came for us... Thank you for the hope that Christmas represents, yet to come at Easter. Thank You! Thank you that just as the Israelite waited for you, and some had faith to truly see you, we are also waiting for you! Thank you that you are coming back! Lord, may we be ready to see you just like Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the Magi, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the prophets... please Lord, open our eyes. Strengthen our faith and our boldness in you. Lord you came to earth to be with us... help us to grow discipline to give you our time, just as you gave us yours. Help us learn to hear your voice. Help us learn how to walk in your ways, and feel your heart for people. Help us to grow in the courage necessary to act in faith on the things you put on our heart Lord... Please... We offer up our spirits to you today and ask that you make us clean once again, and bring us to a holy place today Lord... Your will...Amen...

December 24 Advent

Well, it’s Christmas eve! Tonight’s the night most of us will attend a church service, participate in family gatherings, and for many, thrash through heaps of wrapping paper to open gifts! Personally, we wait till Christmas day for gifts...why the hurry!? Somehow I think this would make the real Christmas day so much more anti-climactic for me, and why would I want to do that? Our church has five services this year! Two last night, and three today! Crazy eh? It’s called “unfrozen” (with a logo that looks very much like the Disney movie “frozen”). So I am very curious what the message is going  to be about!

In any case, today we are going through our last little piece of scripture! Don't worry, I’ll still have something for you tomorrow! 




¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:19-23)

...Yup! That’s it! Pretty anti-climactic for Christmas eve, eh? There are still a few really interesting points to pull out of the story today. For one thing, we see twice in this short passage that Joseph received prophetic dreams and immediately acted on his faith by obeying them.  Another really nifty point to bring out, is how God knew all the prophetic things in the whole story, that seemed impossible to man, yet totally were possible with God. Matthew explains how the prophesies are all true about where the Christ is going to be from! Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth! The truth is, as we read the story, its not like Mary and Joseph CHOSE to move to any of these places out of a desire to fulfill prophecies spoken over their son, but instead, they simply worshiped god and obeyed his leading, in how to keep their son safe. As a tesult, ALL the prophecies were fulfilled. This continues throughout Christ's life, right up to his death. Things like "a sword shall pierce his side" or "not a bone will be broken" or "he was pierced for our transgressions", etc... (i'm not 100% confident on that last one, but you get the idea. Old testament prophecies about Jesus came true because they were legit! Not because someone MADE them happen!)

So often, we pray for something, and don't have the faith to trust God to answer. We so-very-often, try to fulfill our own prophesies, and answer our own prayers! Like... For example, if you are praying for God to provide, and instead of praying and doing your duties, you decide to drop out of ministries, stop attending church and get three part time jobs to try and answer your own prayers... you were likely praying more to your own ego than to God... because your end result is by your own effort and has left you farther from God than before.

This is just one example, but we do this all the time; where we have somehow gotten it in our heads that God only answers prayers by way of the right-now-popular phrase; “God helps those who help themselves”... Well,  I am sorry, but this ISNT scriptural!! God helps those who love him, who have faith, and who love and serve his children whole heartedly! THAT is scriptural! And God also sometimes answers with a “no”, which ought to be respected too. If we are going to fight his “no”s, then we are up for a pretty defeating battle... The truth is, its not up to us to answer prayers. Thats God’s job.

I had a professor at SBC who liked to say “let God deal with his own reputation”. It’s not our job to fulfill God’s prophecies. Its our job to be obedient to his callings on our lives, to love him, love his children, and to worship Him! That’s it! If we step beyond that, we are not following God’s plans. This last portion of the Christmas story, in light of the rest of Matthew’s version of the story, is such a beautiful affirmation of this principle. Matthew discusses several very impossible prophecies that had been spoken over Christ’s birth, and they all came true! Not because people made it happen, but because God made it happen. We need to allow this moral to affect our prayer lives.

If God can birth a savior from a virgin woman, than he ought to be given the dignity of being in control of your problems too. Remember, he’s done some pretty amazing stuff! Healed the sick and raised the dead, made a way for gentiles to -not only be saved, but- have an intimate personal relationship with him, he parted the red sea, won impossible battles, delivered his people, and even raised himself from the dead... He can handle what you are going through.

And if God has made you a promise, whether you heard it directly from him, or through scripture, or through a prophetic word from a friend...remember that It’s not your job to uphold God’s reputation. That’s HIS job. He does a fine job of showing us his capabilities through the Christmas story in Matthew, and so lets take some time to dwell on that this Christmas eve. 

God came to earth, to deliver his people, to make a way for ALL people to come to know him. This was to fulfill a promise he made way back in genesis, after the fall of mankind where He says “he will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (genesis 3:15). This is believed to be a direct reference to Satan’s influence in the crucifixion of Christ (striking his heel), and Christ rising from the dead (crushing Satan’s head). THOUSANDS and thousands of years before this happened... God made a promise that he kept. Hebrews 11 is also an excellent example of how we ought to have faith in God’s prophetic words. This passage goes through many old testament stories and how the patriarchs were made promises which they had faith in, despite not even seeing the promises fulfilled... Of the men in the stories told, Hebrews says “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (Hebrews 11:39)

And so, we are told over, and over again to have faith, trust in God, and he will do what he has promised. It really is that simple. Anything more complicated on this matter, is not of the Holy Spirit.  And so we ought to pray. 

I want to round off this thought with a passage from James.

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:13-18)

This may have seemed like a not-so-christmas themed devotional for christmas eve, but let me remind you that today is not christmas day. That is tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day we celebrate Christ's birth. Today we are still remeniscing the waiting... And as we wait, we ought to have faith... We ought to pray WITH faith, because tomorrow we celebrate the birth of our savior.

Let us pray...

Jesus, you came to earth in such an impossible way. You touched our lives, each and every one of us! You ALLOWED us to be touched by you! Even though we are so filthy, you cleansed us, just as you promised. God, you crushed Satan’s head just like you promised. God, you came to earth through a virgin, just as you promised. You made your way from Bethlehem, to Egypt, to Nazareth, just like you promised, and you mourned for the thousands and thousands of babies who were murdered by Herod... just like you promised... Lord, you are true to your words. Those you said you would bless in the bible, you blessed! And those whom you promised to humble, were humbled... Lord you do the same today, and we are sorry for our lack of faith.
Jesus, you are our one true king, and we celebrate you today. Please fill our hearts with Joy over your birth and the fulfilled promises that it represents! Lead our hearts into a place of celebration as we worship today! And God, mature our spirits in faith. May we learn from what we have read this month, and may our faith grow ever stronger, to be like those who believed your coming when they saw it. You are true to your words, and we love you.
In Jesus name,
Amen.

December 23 Advent

I forgot to mention a nifty little part of yesterday’s passage to you guys!! (if you haven’t been reading EVERY DAY)

¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:12)

Here’s what I missed: God spoke to the Magi, who weren’t even Jewish, (so in no way “clean”) likely not even of the same faith! Yet we see they had faith enough to follow the star, and worship a toddler when they arrived at the home. That’s a lot of faith! And so God speaks to them as well, because even before Christ’s death, things were changing. Just with his BIRTH people could somehow connect with God on an individual basis. Wow! (I just had to point that out before moving on, since I kind-of glossed over that verse yesterday)

Today we are looking at the family’s flight to Egypt.

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[a]
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:13-18)

So here we see, Joseph has yet another dream! This time, it is also prophetic and from an angel. We see that the dream and travel took place PRIOR to Herod’s thinking of his grand scheme. It’s not like there were rumors that this may happen to children in the area, being spread. The story is presented in such a way that we must assume that Joseph acted on his faith, prior to this scheme being fully thought through.

So we also see once again, that Joseph wakes up, and immediately acts on his faith in the angel. Not only did they move, Joseph would have been giving up his livelihood at home, no one said goodbye to family, they just fled in the middle of the night after Joseph’s dream. Wow! Talk about faith. I doubt they packed much other than some cloths for diapers, and maybe some food... leaving home and possessions, traveling to a far off land... (this is where my speculation about how the Magi’s gifts were used, comes into play from yesterday).

After they leave, we learn about Herod’s plans... It is sad, that his response to the Magi’s lack-of-return is death. We have to wonder if he simply had anger issues and wanted to demonstrate his power/make the magi feel guilty for the deaths of all those infants. But of course it likely was strategic, yet not really thought-through. Did he think himself as powerful as pharaoh in Egypt, that he could just kill a whole generation of infants? Why didn’t he try a little harder to just find the one child?  Whatever the case, we know, sadly that this too was prophesied over the time of Christ’s birth, As Matthew throws it in there as well from Jeremiah 31:15.

What a grief-filled time for God’s people... But we see that God too, mourned the loss of these little babes... he began mourning their loss back in the days of Jeremiah, until the time of Christ, when it came to fruition... Our God truly does sympathize with our tragedies.  This is kind-of a side point, but for some people this Christmas, it is probably a main focus, and so I really do want to emphasize this. We see that God planned for his son to be safe, yet for the other infants to fall victim to the fate of Herod’s wrath. We cannot know why this was... Only God knows why, but we do know that they would have gone to be with God in paradise. As sad as it is for the thousands of parents left mourning their children, these babes were now perfect, lacking nothing, and at peace in their father’s arms... 

This part of the story doesn’t get nearly enough attention really, considering how terrible the event was. This was worse than a plague. Beautiful healthy boys were slaughtered. Think of how that would have affected that generation! Think of how many single female followers Jesus had in his ministry. Do you ever wonder why? Families grew up without sons! Their sons were murdered. There WERE NO men for the young women to marry of that age group... I am sure many of them made due, marrying older or younger men, but the truth is, heirs were lost. Family businesses would have ended with no heirs. Family lines ceased. And souls mourned for a lifetime that was lost... This deserves a somber moment of our time.  If God mourned this event from the time of Jeremiah until the time of Christ, then we too can pay the event a little more respect than we generally do at Christmas. 

The truth is, Christmas was a very sad time for many many people that year, even if they didn’t know it as Christmas yet... and today, Christmas is also a very sad time for many people. If this is you, take comfort in knowing your God and your savior grieves with you, and is very close and present, to comfort you. Instead of running from God, run to him, and ask him to hold you with comfort during this season... Its okay to cry and be full of grief, because that is exactly what God feels for your situation. He loves you dearly and wishes to be your comfort and healing.

If you are more-so full of life this Christmas, I encourage you, when you see this part of the Christmas story, to acknowledge it dearly, by praying for those around you who may also be grieving during this season. Pray for the people who dread the coming of Christmas every year, because of what life has thrown their way. Genuinely and sincerely lift them up in prayer. And if God places it on your heart, then do something for them during this season that will bring them a thread of hope or a smile. Do not “sing songs to a heavy heart” because proverbs 25:20 says “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.”. And this is VERY true if you ask anyone in grief who has been told to “buck up” or “it’s time to move on”... So be sensitive and if the Lord leads you, act on your convictions. Act on what you are drawn to do, with FAITH. Maybe it is something that doesn’t make sense to you (like giving someone a pair of socks or something random) but maybe it’s exactly what God knows they need right now.

...This was not at all where I planned to go with this passage! But clearly this is what someone needs to hear today. So I will leave it at that. I think you can draw from the situation the moments of faith on Joseph’s part, and I feel this is a point that has been driven home several times during this advent season. So today, l want us to just spend time reflecting on the heavier side of this season for us or others. We ought not to over-look this part, since it was a reality back then, and tragedy continues to be a reality today.  Spend time in prayer today for those around you, or for yourself. If you are in grief,  praying over yourself is in NO WAY selfish... you need time with God too.

Dear God, we thank you for sending your son this season, so that we can be close to you and approach you today. God we want to approach you for those around us who are hurting and grieving this season. There are so many un-answered questions, that we often try to blame you for...God we pray that these questions would soften this time of year, and that instead you would be pulling peoples hearts close to your wide-open arms and tear-stained face. Lord, bring the grieving comfort. Bring the hurting some healing-of-heart. Lord, we pray overwhelming peace over these people this season. If their situation can allow for it lord, we also pray for some Joy in their hearts over even something small. But mostly lord, we just want to pray for comfort and that the grieving will see you are near to them during this season. Lord we pray for miracles. We ask  that those who are angry and running from you, would pause and turn around to see your face as you pursue them. Lord, be near to the broken-hearted whether they have asked you to be near or not. Lord we ask for your incredible grace that you showed that first Christmas to flood the lives of the hurting during this season. We leave them in your hands God.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.

December 22 Advent

We move on to chapter two today, the visit of the Magi. I'm gonna have a little bit of fun today pointing out mis-conceptions. This is actually a passage that is very full of them in today's views of the manger scene!  Give this a read, and we’ll go from there!

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)

Lets stop here, and just point out a few mis-conceptions in the nativity story we know and love. The VERY FIRST line says after Jesus was born. This would specify that the magi came not to the stable, but later on to Jesus’s home. This is also specified in verse 11 when it says “on coming to the HOUSE”. Some people have guessed that the magi actually arrived roughly two years after Jesus’s birth, based on Herod’s later decision to kill all Jewish infants aged two and under.

There are two other mis-conceptions I would like to touch on.

1)      They were kings (nope! The truth is no one knows. All we can assume is that they were distinguished foreigners, distinguished enough to casually appear before King Herod. We cannot know if they were scholars, wise men or kings really)

2)      There were three of them. (nope! There were three gifts! Some eastern varieties of the nativity story include up to twelve magi in their telling of the story.)

As fun as it is to point out those little details, ,that is not my focus for today. Lets move on in the story. So the Magi  (an un-known number of distinguished foreigners, after the time of Christ’s birth) show up at the palace of King Herod and ask him where the king of the Jews was. God had obviously birthed a star, when Christ was born, and this is what they had followed thus-far. (if they WERE kings, then it’s pretty astounding that several kingdoms were unified by a single star. And if they were wise men or scholars, it is ALSO astounding, that they were able to agree on this one conclusion that this star meant that the king of the Jews had been born! This would also go to show that somehow, far-off nations were aware that the Jews were expecting a savior...)

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”(Matthew 2:3-6)

It is interesting how even King Herod consults the scriptures for an answer in this situation. The quoted passage is Micah 5:2,4. Yet we later learn, he thinks he can stop this king from coming, by sheer force..

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” (Matthew 2:7-8)

This was, of course, a lie...

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:9-12)

What I have never understood, is that the star actually was moving; as though maybe it were actually a comet, not a star. And then I also wonder, which star is it, in the heavens now, that is Christ’s star? Can we still see Christ's star? I sometimes wonder if it is the planet Mars, given that Mars is the brightest “star” in our sky (and that carbon-dating is so inaccurately false)...but I guess they would have been looking at a very different sky than  mine. And it has been 2000+ years since then...so perhaps it has faded by now... (just some pondering)

In any case, we are told that the star actually moves, and that the Magi follow it until it stops in the sky over Bethlehem.  They eventually stumble upon the house and find Mary and Jesus inside (Joseph is not mentioned, so we can assume this happened during the day  time when Joseph would have been working, or at the temple).

Here comes the beautiful part... FOREGNERS, unclean foreigners, bowed down, worshiped Christ (before anyone else other than the lowly shepherds got to), and even gave him gifts! We can read many studies about how prophetic each of these gifts were for Christ. I have also heard the interpretation that while the symbolic meaning of  the gifts stuck, the actual gifts were likely sold for money that the family needed at the time. After all (as we will see tomorrow), Joseph leaves his livelihood shortly afterward, to protect Jesus and flee to Egypt. Perhaps these gifts were given just in time that they would be sustained in Egypt! Who knows... What we DO know, is that Foreign distinguished men came to Jesus when he was a toddler of sorts, and worshipped him... 

Can you imagine trying to worship a toddler? How well would THAT go over!? We're talking worshiping someone with Josiah's developmental level! Someone like Susie (my neice), or Kairo, Logan, Titus, Aubrey (friends of Josiah)... Sounds like a recipe to have your head bonked with toys (obviously wooden, with a carpenter dad), and having your hair pulled, and your fancy distinguished-man hat pulled off! But what’s even crazier, is that these distinguished men had the faith, to believe that the home of this peasant woman and a little toddler, who’se sole provider was a simple carpenter, was going to be the king of a great nation! And more so than that, that this great king toddler, was worthy of their WORSHIP! Do we think these men just traveled around looking to worship EVERY newborn king, or was Jesus different? We of course know that Jesus was different...

But this leads me to one last question; is there maybe a part of the story not told in this Jewish rendition, that perhaps the Magi recorded for their own people? Perhaps it has been lost... but I wonder if they didn’t see the angel Gabriel as well (total speculation here), or if perhaps the star itself, God knew, would be interpreted as a greater sign to their particular culture. Wouldn't it be neat  to hear the story from their perspective.

What it all boils down to, REGARDLESS of all these speculations and current mis-conceptions of this story, is that God CALLED these men. God beckoned them to come worship his son. God was already drawing gentiles to worship His son, even as he was a funny little toddler. Sometimes, when I am reading the words of Christ in the new testament, I think that the gentiles were a second choice for him since he tries so hard with the jewish people for his whole ministry... but here in the story of the Magi, we see an in-disputable glimpse that that is not the case, and that my worries are un-founded. Here, we see that it was GOD’S plan right from the beginning that the birth of Christ would break down the walls of culture and religion, and open a way for ALL PEOPLE to be with God forever. This is such a beautiful part of Christmas, that it is no wonder we have made an exception for “time” and place these magi in our nativity scenes each year. It has such a POWERFUL meaning for us gentiles today! This clear-cut message from God (that he will call us each in a way we can understand-like he used the star for the Magi) is why we can celebrate Christmas at all! We have been in his plan from the very beginning! We are NOT a back-up kingdom! Christ came not just for the Jews, but also for everyone else! Praise God!

Take some time today to really praise God for doing this for us all! How blessed we are, that God planned on having us in his kingdom, right from the beginning.

Dear God, thank you so much for this blatant example of how we were not second best, as gentiles. Thank you for showing us how perfectly beautiful and planned out our salvation is. Lord we take time today and we worship you! Come and meet us here and fill us with your holy spirit as we do so. 
In Jesus Name
Amen