Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Morning Hour

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it (John 1:5).

The darkness tried and failed many times and in many ways to smother, discredit and/or discourage the Light of the world:
~ Through King Herod and his horrendous command to slaughter Jewish babies -
~ By cornering Jesus in the wilderness and trying to bribe him into aborting his mission -
~ By using those willing snakes, the Pharisees, to accuse and spread slander about (1)the circumstances of his birth - (2)Jesus' close associations with tax collectors and prostitutes - (3) his claims of divinity and authority, and (4) Jesus' awesome power to heal and cast out demons.
~ By inspiring a crowd to try and force the Lord to be king (the Romans would surely have killed him for such treachery) -
~ By the widespread rejection of the Jewish people -
~ By the disbelieving hometown folks attempting to kill him -
~ By the skepticism of his own mother and brothers -
~ By the shallow requests of some who wanted to be entertained by a sideshow of miracles when they were totally uninterested in his message as God on earth -
~ Through the frustrating denseness of his own disciples -
~ Through the black betrayal of one of his followers -

But ...
He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son (John 1:14) and,
When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven (Hebrews 1:3).

The darkness can never extinguish the Light!!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Did He?

The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him (John 1:1-3).

When Jesus spoke of the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish that swallowed Jonah, he knew each of these wonders as well as he knew the palm of his own hand. I wonder, did he recall the moment when he and his Father designed the graceful curve of the lily blooms, or witnessed a sparrow’s first flight into the sky, or how they equipped the fish to breathe in water?

As he sipped the fruit of the grape, did he remember instructing its vine to climb and encircle anything in its path? In enjoying a cloudless azure sky did he rejoice in remembering how they stretched it in place? If weeds choked his path, was his heart grieved once again at the foolishness of Adam and Eve? When the famished Jesus ate warm bread was he very glad they had thought of yeast?

Gazing in love upon the disciples, was the Lord thrilled that man and woman were on their to-do list that day? Did he think otherwise when the Pharisees stood like tombs to frustrate his purpose?

Did Jesus ever even fleetingly think about trading places with his creation, John the Baptist?

Whenever the Messiah talked with a pregnant women, would she have been blown away to know that this Jesus was responsible for every delicate inner part of the tiny babe within her? And that he had also knit her together in her mother’s womb?

Our Mighty God – how awesome you are!!!

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone … He came into the very world he created. John 1:4, 10