from nazareth to bethlehem

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.” (Luke 2:4-7)

There’s nothing easy about the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, especially if you are nine months pregnant at the time.  It is a dangerous and grueling four-day (minimum) journey, and that’s if you choose to take the most direct route through Samaria, which a good Jew never would.  Avoiding Samaria altogether turns it into a weeklong journey instead.  So, either way it is going to involve seventy to ninety miles, thirty-five hours of walking or riding spread out over four to seven days.

That’s the journey before each of us as the season of Advent begins.  That is the process we must go through in order for the “new thing” to be born in each of us.  There’s no way around it.  New birth always comes about as the result of a great journey.  A journey that will not be easy.  In fact, it might be more challenging and demanding than you ever imagined.  So, climb aboard your donkey and let’s get started.  Watch and wait and struggle and pray and imagine and hope.  The new thing that is to be born in you will make it all worth it.  It is a birth that is more beautiful and more glorious and more amazing than you could ever imagine, but it won’t be easy to get there.  It will be long and hard but will end in a glorious result—new life!

I am expecting my first granddaughter in June and couldn’t be more excited!  I spend a lot of time praying and imagining and celebrating, but really won’t know the full depths of her beauty and her life and her presence until the day she comes forth and is born into this world.  I cannot wait until that day!  I cannot wait to get my hands on this little miracle and pour out my love on her, the way I have with my two amazing grandsons before her.  That’s what the season of Advent is all about, it’s about that joyful, expectant, hopeful, excited waiting.  Thus, we can endure the hard and the painful and the uncomfortable and the exhausting, because God is doing a new thing, and we can’t wait to see it and hold it and know it and love it.  Thanks be to Him!

O Lord, give me the courage and the strength and the grace to embark on this journey of new life and new birth you are inviting me to.  Don’t let the hard keep me from pressing on to the good and beautiful.

and it begins

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.  In those days and at the right time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 33:17)

The days are coming.  Indeed, they are coming, just as they did for the ones who first received these words of Jeremiah’s prophecy.  Just as they did for those who were waiting and watching for the Holy One, The Lord Our Righteousness, to come to earth.

Once again, that season of hope and expectation is upon us.  The season when we receive the gracious promise once again and look forward to how it will be fulfilled in the days and weeks ahead.  The season when we look forward to God’s arrival, both among us and within us, and make time and space for that arrival to happen.

What is your deepest hope for the season ahead?  How are you longing for the Righteous Branch to sprout in your life and in our world?  How are you longing for the day of hope and life and love and peace and rest to come?

Come, Lord Jesus!

listen to his song

if you are not

still and quiet

you cannot hear

the song of love

he sings over you

thanksgiving 2024

“Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

Most of us are content to be joyful when things are good, prayerful when they are not, and thankful only when we are happy and healthy.  But the Scriptures tell us a much different story.  God’s will for us is much bigger than that.

God’s will for us is to rejoice always.  That’s right, always!  Even when things aren’t going so well.  Even when we are sad or sorrowful or depressed.  The beautiful thing about joy is that it’s a choice.  It is not contingent on everything being rosy in our lives and our world.  Joy can coexist with sorrow and sadness and pain.  It is much deeper than an emotion; it is an attitude, a state of mind.  It is a determination to hold fast to God’s goodness and his love, even when our hearts are breaking.  Because joy is about trust, a deep-seated trust that God is always working for our ultimate and eternal good, and that he will take care of us just the way he promised.

Secondly, it is God’s will that we pray continually.  Not just every now and then.  Not just when we think we should.  Not just when we’re feeling guilty or dutiful.  Not just when we want something.  He wants to hear from us always, and he wants to be with us in continual, intimate union.  He is not just the one we turn to when we are in a jam or need a favor, but the one we are in constant communication with.  That’s what a genuine relationship is all about.  It’s ongoing, it’s give and take, it’s back and forth, it's speaking and listening, it’s being with.  In other words, it’s continual.   

And finally, God’s will is that we live a life of gratitude, constantly giving thanks.  Not just when things are going our way, but in all circumstances, knowing that he is always at work in ways we can’t see or understand.  Knowing that he is doing things in us and through us that can only be accomplished through struggle and strife and dependence.  The hard times are the ones that accomplish his deeper purposes in and through us, and that’s something to be thankful about.

Always, continually, and in all circumstances, that is your will for me.  Forgive me, O Lord, when I offer you so much less than that.  Thank you that your desire for me is so much bigger than that.  Give me the strength and the grace and the courage to accomplish your will.

the secret stairs

They all were looking for a king

To slay their foes and lift them high;

Thou cam'st, a little baby thing

That made a woman cry.

O Son of God, to right my lot

Naught but Thy presence can avail;

Yet on the road Thy wheels are not,

Nor on the sea Thy sail!

My how or when Thou wilt not heed,

But come down Thine own secret stair,

That Thou mayst answer all my need,

Yea, every bygone prayer!

~That Holy Thing by George MacDonald

How do you usually expect God to come to you?  In power and glory, with a show of might and brilliance, or down the secret stairs?

If the Nativity taught us anything, it’s that Jesus, most likely, is not going to show up in quite the way we expect him to.  In fact, He is likely to come as he did that first Christmas Eve/Day, in lowliness, in hiddenness, and in humility.

And since he chose to come to us in that way, it is highly likely that he wants us to show up in the lives of others in that way as well.  Not in a blaze of glory with spotlights shining, but by using the secret stairs.  Thus, how we show up is almost as important as if we show up at all.

God is not looking for a big presence who will take the world by storm, he’s looking for those who are willing to slip in the backdoor unnoticed, those willing to enter by the secret stairs and show up lovingly, humbly, and consistently in the lives of those who are in desperate need of him.

I am forever grateful, O God, not only that you came, but also for how you came.  Help me to do the same.

to the depths

from information to encounter

from intellect to intimacy 

from conversation to communion

from blowing a kiss to kissing

from bystander to bride

from pursuer to pursued

from seeker to sought after

from idea to actuality 

this is the movement of prayer

eyes

give me eyes to see

the true beauty of things

not just the surface

but down to the depths

for if you do not

give me eyes to see

i will not be able

to see beyond my own

fears and insecurities