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So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us.
John 1:14

Today in the world about 14,708 babies will be born each hour. Now in the early days birth was not quite happening at that rate, but it was happening. Afterall, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiple. He told Jacob aka Israel to be fruitful and multiple. So this is what was supposed to happen, right? Babies were to be born. Procreation was on.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18

The Word became human by being born of a woman. Mary. At first glance it looks so ordinary, doesn’t it? A woman has a baby. Happens every day. But if we really think about it, it is quite fantastic. We all pretty much know this story. It’s the Reason for the Season, right? But do we really understand how extraordinary it is? His mother found out she was pregnant by an angel not a doctor. This pregnancy was not unplanned but a planned pregnancy from the beginning of time. His parents were not married but betrothed. His mother was not a woman but a teenaged girl. His father was not Joseph but the Holy Spirit. He was born in a manger not a hospital. There obviously were some extraordinary happenings surrounding the birth of this baby.

Here’s how Sinclair Ferguson describes it:

Christ came into the womb of a virgin and emerged from it as a new-born infant. He came to share our humanity from its beginning—an embryo cradled in the body of a teenaged virgin.

What a beautiful vision. Cradled from womb to manger. Although important, the most extraordinary part isn’t how He came or the events surrounding the birth, but why He came, that’s the most beautiful vision.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

The ordinary course of life starts with birth. If we do not see the extraordinary in this ordinary, we will have missed Jesus.

Wednesday
Read John 1:1-18. What does The Word mean? Write out your understanding of it.

Thursday
Read John 1:1-18. What do these scriptures say about Jesus being fully human and fully God?

Friday
Read Genesis 1:1. Who was there in the beginning?
Read Genesis 1:26. Who created people? In whose image were they created? Hint – look for the pronouns.

Saturday
Review your answers to the questions posed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Sunday
Spend time in prayer asking God to reveal to you how extraordinary He is.

Monday
Read Luke 4:14-22. What was Jesus sent to do?

Tuesday
Spend time in prayer today praising God for sending the hope of the earth to release us from our sins and fears. Praise God for sending The Word.

Check that out! If you saw this in my yard you’d think nothing of it. I live in the country, that’s an ordinary sight. But, if I told you where this was, you’d freak out. Ok, I’ll tell you – downtown Washington, DC. Yep, I know, it’s crazy. My nephew sent me this picture a few weeks back. It was in his neighbor’s yard. Right downtown! Isn’t that wild? That’s bigger than any buck in our neck of the woods, though my men would protest. But, how extraordinary to see that in the hustle and bustle of a busy urban area.

Well my nephew went on to tell me that there’s actually a herd of deer that live in his neighborhood. They see them from time to time. Of course, with the dense people population and traffic in that area I expect the terrain is probably a little precarious for them. It’s just out of place, right?

And 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 inn.
Luke 2:6-7

Talk about out of the ordinary… Can you count on one hand the number of folks you know that have given birth in a stable, who had no crib for a bed? Think about it. I know none. It’s just out of place, right? But, when in Bethlehem? I mean sure, we’ve all had trouble finding a hotel when traveling – No Vacancy! Travel trouble usually comes when we’ve had an overly long day on those desert highways and we just want to stop, eat, and rest. But, how many of us have had to hole up in a stable with the cows and the donkey we rode in on? How many of us have used a feeding trough as a place to cradle our baby’s head? I know none. Joseph and Mary were following God’s will and the birth of the Messiah in a stable was certainly out of place. Following God took them on an extraordinary journey. But, isn’t that just how God works?

Wednesday
Read Luke 2:1-7.

Thursday
Read Luke 2:1-7 from a different version.

Friday
List all the extraordinary happenings in Luke 2:1-7.

Saturday
Following God took Joseph and Mary on an extraordinary journey. Think about your extraordinary journey of following God. Where has God taken you? Do you feel out of place?

Sunday
Spend time in praise today for the extraordinary, the Son of God born in a stable.

Monday
Read Romans 12:1-2.

Tuesday
During this Christmas season how can we not copy the ordinary behavior of the world? How can we show extraordinary this Christmas season? How can we be out of place?

Look at that poor little thing. She’s darn near down to her birthday suit, which is not good for a chicken in winter. What’s wrong with her, you ask? She’s molting. Molting is when a chicken loses it’s feathers, ordinarily in early fall, in order to grow new feathers for winter. During molting they usually stop laying eggs (they’re currently not earning their keep) in order to store up nutrients for the winter. So it is December 4, and some of my gals are almost naked as a jaybird. They really are pathetic looking. It’s hard to watch them shivering and bracing against the December winds. We can usually see reason behind nature’s happenings. Some things we understand. A chicken loosing it’s feathers when they need them the most is not something I can comprehend. But of course, there are many things I cannot comprehend, believe it or not. Wink. Wink.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

Well there you have it. His ways are not our ways. Plain and simple. Completely understandable. Afterall, He is God. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Afterall, He is God. The God whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours invited the exiles to “come” and partake in the Lord’s salvation.

“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:34-35

The God whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours invites us exiles to “come” and partake in the Lord’s salvation in extraordinary ways we cannot comprehend, through the virgin birth of His Son. How can this be? After all, He is God.

Wednesday
Read Isaiah 55.

Thursday
What is the “everlasting covenant” found in Isaiah 55:3?

Friday
List the promises that God makes in Isaiah 55:10-13?

Saturday
Read Luke 1:26-38.

Sunday
List the promises that God makes in Luke 1:26-38.

Monday
Spend time in prayer praising and thanking God for His promises made in Isaiah 55 and Luke 1. Those promises resulted in our salvation.

Tuesday
Ponder – Knowing His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, would we trust God if He called us to be Mary, if He called us to something we did not quite understand?

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving only on Thanksgiving Day? I mean I know why the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated Thanksgiving, but why do we? Sure, I know it is to commemorate the first Thanksgiving, but when we’re sitting around this stuffed bird on the table gorging ourselves (I’ll speak for myself), are we thinking about the true meaning of Thanksgiving? I can honestly say I’m not thinking of the lean times when God provided. I’m not thinking about the insecure times God provided. I’m not thinking about the times of sickness God provided. Frankly, I’m thinking about more mashed potatoes with sauerkraut in the middle and who’s going to take the body shot so I can have that last piece of pie? Wrong, I know.

So, this year, I want to be different You too? This year I want to celebrate the real meaning of Thanksgiving — God’s provisions for me, for you. Is it too much to ask (I ask myself) to set aside one day for thanksgiving to a God who provides year round? Better yet, what if I carried that thanksgiving a little bit past Thursday, maybe even a little into Friday? I don’t think it would hurt me. You in? Let’s get started.

Wednesday
During your time with the Lord today, read aloud Psalm 100.

Thursday
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One! Today, praise the Holy One. During your Thanksgiving Celebration, look around the table and whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for each.

Friday
Write down two blessings from your Thanksgiving Day celebration.

Saturday
Write out Psalm 100.

Sunday
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son. Today, praise the Holy One who gave His Son.

Monday
Memorize Psalm 100:4

Tuesday
And now let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us. Praise the Holy One today for His strength and glorious riches. All good things come from Him.

I am so excited!!!! We’re switching things up a bit for November and December.  It’s the season for rolling out new things and we’re rolling out a new blog format for the next five weeks.  It’s a crazy busy time for folks and we want everyone to connect to the Reason for the Season. So…(drum roll, please) posts will be rolled out only on Wednesdays through December (and the crowd went wild, right?)!!!!  The whole goal is to emerge in January less frazzled, less harried, more like Jesus. Who doesn’t want that?

So, I will see you Wednesday with a week’s worth of ideas on how to stay connected to our Savior during our chaos!

God is not working to make me happy but to fulfill His purpose.

Whack! That statement certainly stands alone, doesn’t it? Just say it a few times out loud, you’ll feel the whack too. We people tend to think that God exists for us, that everything He does is for us or about us, don’t we? We may think that God exists to make us happy. Sorry, not so. But, have our actions ever reflected that? Maybe. God exists for His purposes, not ours. Even we as Christians tend to view circumstances in the light of what God will do for us – send funds, send healing, send protection. Here’s a Biblical truth, God exists for His purposes only.

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose.
Romans 8:28

But wait, doesn’t that verse say for the good of everyone who loves him? Yep, it does. But, look at the last sentence, for his purpose. We like to stop at the first part of the verse. It sounds like cupcakes and unicorns, doesn’t it? God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. Sounds like if we love God and He’s working for our good, it will be a wonderful life, right? Sorry, not so. We can have a wonderful life if we live for God’s purposes. If we stop existing for ourselves and exist for Him. If we stop living for self and start living for Him. In fulfilling His purposes we are then made whole, made complete. Wholeness, completeness, that would be happiness.

Everything that happens in our life has been designed by God to make us more like Christ. Everything. The good things, the bad things. The happy things, the sad things. The trials, the blessings. Everything that happens in our lives is used by God to make us more like Christ. Who wouldn’t want that? To be more like Jesus?

God is not working to make me happy but to fulfill His purpose.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.
2 Timothy 1:8-10

Happiness comes from fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Romans 9:5

When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To Thee, my God above,
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song
Through all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
1828

I love looking around at nature and feeling the effects of the season changes on my senses. Seasons seem to change so slow-quick. The sun has changed its rise position from north of east to south of east and it sets the same west. Because of our latitudinal position, the prevailing west winds usher in those cooler temperatures and try as he may, the sun cannot significantly encourage that temperature up to those we’ve recently enjoyed. There’s a big contrast in the seasons in our neck of the woods.

So the worst-best and I were walking up the road last weekend. It was beautiful. It was chilly (I had my overalls on) but the sun was shining so bright on the mountain. The sunshine warmed the coolness. So while the worst-best stops for a sniff and to try to eat something that makes you not want to kiss her, I look across the field and notice the frost. Frost, dew drops that freeze when they land on a cooler surface, like the ground, or a fence, or your windshield. These glistening, beautiful little ice crystals really look like snowflakes to me. Simply, frozen dew. Anyway, as I was looking out across the field I noticed something. Where the sun shone the frost was melted and the grass was stretching tall. The parts of the field shielded from the sun were still frozen and brittle and crunchy to the foot. Do you see that?

The contrast in one field was striking to me – the grass in the sun and the grass in the shade. Warm and cold. Melted and frozen. Pliable and hard. Tall and beaten. Life and lifeless. Light and shade. Having the two extremes side-by-side required me to look at both at the same time. I could see the light and I could see the dark. It challenged me to think, honestly, where do I want to be – sun or frost, light or shade? And, I had to ask myself, am I where I want to be? Where am I standing right now? I challenge you as well, sun or frost, light or shade? Where are you standing right now?

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
John 12:46

There are decisions to be made. Are we standing in the warmth of His light or frosted in the shade? Are we standing in the shadows or are we standing in the Light? It really is a matter of heart. Do we want hearts radiating the Son or hearts that radiate the cold, brittle, frozen? Have we placed our trust in Him? If so, we will be walking in the Son. If we’re feeling frosted, crunchy to the touch, we may need to rethink where we’re standing.

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
John 12:35-36

The big question is — Are we standing in the Light? Today, let’s evaluate where we’re standing – not where we should be standing we all know that answer, but where we actually are standing. Our words and our actions should give us a good clue as to where we stand – Son or frost. Look at the field. Are you standing in the middle or in the shade, out of reach of the Light?

Today is Veteran’s Day. A day we recognize those who sacrificed for all of our freedoms. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. We are grateful. We tend to just tool through life doing our thing without ever thinking about the ones who cleared the path so that we can do our thing. We honor today those who cleared the path.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

That’s the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Since 1776, and before, scores have been clearing our path so we can do what we do. Cleared the path for independence. Cleared the path of oppression. Cleared the path of tyranny. Cleared the path for safety. Cleared the path for democracy.

There’s been a whole lot of path clearing going on and we’ve all played a part in some way. However, the most important paths aren’t the ones that were cleared “for,” “of,” or “from.” The most important path cleared was “to.” The path “to” the cross. Jesus cleared the way for us for eternal life. It seems odd to say that the ultimate freedom was when Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, doesn’t it? But, isn’t that what Veteran’s do? Sacrifice themselves for others? Earthly Veterans have sacrificed their lives to give us freedom here on earth. Jesus sacrificed His life to give us eternal freedom.

Veteran’s cleared the path from a king who “plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jesus cleared the path from the one who plunders, ravages, burns, and destroys the lives of people here on earth.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7-8

So, maybe today is the day we should think about the One who walked the path “to” the cross so that we would know The Way for eternity.

Do you see those water drops on the fence? That’s morning dew. You know, when you walk out in an early morning and everything is wet, completely saturated. Heavy dew is usually seen in the warm, moist summer. Those days have moved on. These little drops of water appear on surfaces and in the grass in a morning or evening as a surface cools down. When the surface cools down, the moisture in the atmosphere cools faster than it can evaporate creating dew drops. The best-worst and I are not seeing many dew drops on our walks these days as the weather has turned and our dew drops are now frost flakes. When I see these dew drops, I’m reminded of Gideon. You know, the dew-drop deliverer.

Once again the people of Israel sinned against the LORD, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills…so Israel was reduced to starvation.
Judges 6:1-6

Israel had once again gotten themselves into a pickle. They were on the down of the obey-disobey teeter-totter and had hit the ground with a thud. It was their modus operandi. It is ours too, isn’t it? Who is ruling us as a people? As a country? We get sideways because of disobedience and then what do we do? Exactly what the Israelites did…

Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help against the Midianites, and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the LORD, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land. I told you that I am the LORD your God and that you should not worship the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are now living in. But you have not listened to me.”
Judges 6:7-10

And what does the Lord do? He sends the most unlikely person to put His plan in motion. He doesn’t call the greatest, the most experienced, the most faithful, the got-it-all-together person, He surprisingly uses the weak – sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, sometimes spiritually. Why is that? Because it’s unexpected, it is unusual. If He used the greatest, most experienced, most faithful, the person who has got-it-all-together, that would be expected and the glory would be misplaced. He uses unexpected people to do unexpected things so that His glory shines through.

Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
The LORD said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Judges 6:14-16

Just like the rest of us, Gideon made excuses. Why? Because Gideon was looking through the self lens and not the God lens. Looking through the self lens reveals all our weaknesses our hidings beneath the threshing floor. Gideon just couldn’t see how God would use him. So…

Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
***
“Oh, Sovereign LORD, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
Judges 6:18, 22

Gideon sought confirmation from the Lord. We can all look at the story and say that Gideon should not have tested the Lord. But, don’t we do the same thing? What I love about this exchange between Gideon and the Lord is just that – the exchange. Gideon was weak in faith, like me, like you, and he voiced that to the Lord – Lord, don’t go away. When Gideon received confirmation from the Lord, he did what the Lord asked of him. Gideon destroyed the altar of the idols that Israel was worshiping. Gideon acknowledged God and then got rid of all other gods. Isn’t that what we’re asked to do too? Recognize the Lord, forsake other idols, get ready to enact God’s plan?

Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power.
Judges 6:33-34

You’ve just got to love Gideon! He was made ready for the task at hand, he was clothed with the Spirit of power from the Lord! But…Gideon needed more proof. He was vacillating between that self lens and the God lens, again. See, he is just like me, you! The self lens said, Gideon this is outrageous you can’t do this. The God lens said, you are weak but I Am strong. So, Gideon called on God to do the dew, and God did the dew, not once but TWICE!

“If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.
Judges 6:36-40

Now I’m not saying that the fleece-test is the best-test, it definitely is not. But there are some amazing lessons and reassurances from God in the story of Gideon. Our strength can only come from God, no other idols can replace the power of God, despite what we think, including self. Gideon conversed with God. He shared his fears. He asked questions. He sought guidance. Gideon called – God answered. He always does. God always does the dew!