Advent Day 8: Unclean
I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go… And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ~ Luke 2:8 NIV Shepherds. I have one left in my nativity scene (its cast of characters quickly dwindling, victims of little hands), and he looks like a nice enough guy. He holds a little lamb, so how bad could he be? Plus, his face is nice and clean, and his robe looks professionally laundered. So, basically,...
Advent Day 7: Royalty
I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go… and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. ~ Luke 2:7 NIV Of all the things Mary may have imagined for the birth of this Child-who-would-be-King, there are a couple of things that were very doubtfully among them: There would be no place to actually give birth to Him, that had, you know, maybe a bed. Or...
Advent Day 6: Anticipation
I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go… While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born... ~ Luke 2:6 NIV Mary knew that baby would come while they were gone. She had to have known, as large and uncomfortable as she was. As a young woman, she'd very likely witnessed the birth of babies in her village, and seen the signs of labor. But this baby? If you had been approached by Gabriel, himself, and told you were going to carry the very Son of...
Advent Day 5: Scandalous Love
I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go… He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ~ Luke 2:5 NIV Scandal. Very possibly, your first thought upon hearing that word, here in 2015, is Olivia Pope, Fitz, and the Gladiators, cast of the show that I, for one, will never watch again after the lowest of the low, last disgusting episode. Gross. No thank you. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm...
Advent Day 4: After God’s Own Heart
I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go… 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. ~ Luke 2:4 NIV Ah, David. King David, to be precise, ruler of Israel. As it turns out, both Joseph and Mary were from the line of David (her lineage described later in Luke), which, of course, means that Jesus, Himself, was descended from the line of the...