Dazzled

By Elaine James –

Take a moment and remember a time when you were outside in the pitch black of the night and saw the amazing sky in all of its vastness. Did you lie down and look up and really take in the vastness of the sky? You couldn’t help but say “God you did all this.”

A friend asked a friend to lie down on the ground in Wyoming so they could stargaze. One spoke up with amazement in his voice and asked, “Why did God create so many stars and make the universe so vast?!”

The other replied, “Because God wants to dazzle you.”

Long ago, God, who is the intelligent designer, created the heavens and the earth. He is an amazing artist who has a ginormous love for us. He created the world with such intricacy. Awesome! I am challenged to be still and know that God is God. I use the word challenged because there is such urgency in my mind to be task-orientated that I struggle with time management. I can only imagine that you might struggle with this as well.

In this New Year I want to start out remembering the times where I was overcome viewing His starry sky. After all I just heard the Christmas story and was dazzled by the star that rose after Jesus was born (Matthew 2).

Imagine if everyone decided to start out their New Year with the starry Christmas night still in their heart and images of their last starry gaze in that special place. Slowly take a deep breath in and let it out with a prayer “God, take hold of my hand, here we go into the New Year, I don’t want to do this year without you.”

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:14-18 NIV).

The Bible & Reincarnation

By Warren M Mueller  –

Is there any evidence in the Bible that supports reincarnation? I recently met a person who claims that Matthew 11:14 supports the idea that at least some people are reincarnated. In this verse, Jesus says that John the Baptist is Elijah or Elias and therefore, John is either the resurrected or reincarnated prophet. Since Elijah was taken bodily up to heaven, he presumably never died and so John could not be the resurrected prophet (2 Ki 2:11). His mother was Elizabeth, a relative of Mary (Lk 1: 36, 57-60) and he was special even from birth being filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:15). Jesus said that there was nobody greater than John the Baptist ever born which certainly would put him in an exceptional class with Elijah the prophet (Mt 11:11). Mark and Luke both attribute prophetic verses from the old testament prophets Malachi and Isaiah to John the Baptist as the messenger who prepares the way for the return of the Lord Almighty (Mal 3:1; Is 40:3). So is the literal sense of Mt 11:14 what Jesus meant?

Some of the Jewish priests wondered who John the Baptist was and asked him if he was Elijah. John said he was not Elijah (Jn 1:21) which clearly conflicts with the literal sense of Mt 11:14. During the transfiguration of Jesus, Elijah and Moses appear and talk to Jesus who is changed such that “his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” (Mk 9:3, NIV) Peter is present and offers to set up three shelters for each of them Jesus, Moses and Elijah.(Mk 9:5) This event happened after the death of John the Baptist so if he was Elijah reincarnated, why didn’t Peter and the others recognize him as John? Also, after the transfiguration, the three disciples ask Jesus why the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come before the Lord. In Mk 9:12, Jesus responds to their question and affirms that Elijah does come before the restoration of God’s kingdom. This is fulfilled in the appearance of Elijah before the death and resurrection of Jesus which establishes the kingdom of God on earth inside of believers (Jn 3:3; 1 Cor 6:19). The appearance of Elijah at the transfiguration of Jesus could also fulfill Mal 4:5 which predicted that Elijah would return before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Jesus continues in Mk 9:13 to explain that John the Baptist is the Elijah that has come and suffered. John the Baptist is the last of the Old Testament prophets who were rejected and suffered at the hands of the kings and priests of Israel. Therefore, these verses describe both the return of the Old Testament prophet Elijah (at the time of the transfiguration) and John the Baptist as the last forerunner of the kingdom of God and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Reincarnation is not supported by the Bible which teaches that each person lives once and then is judged by God to determine eternal life in heaven or hell (Heb 9:27; 2Co 5:8; Rev 20:11-21:4). Jesus and Paul taught that every legal matter should be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Mt 18:16; 2Co 13:1). The diety of Jesus was witnessed by both Elijahs at the baptism of Jesus and his transformation. Jesus taught that faith in him leads to perfection and unity with God, not multiple human life experiences (Mt 14:6).

Ave Maria

By Cheri Cowell –

The Ave Maria is one of the oldest and most popular Catholic prayers, and is perhaps one of the most beautiful of Christmas hymns. The Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is of unknown origin; it was not officially incorporated into the liturgy (as part of the Rosary) until the 15th Century. It is composed of two distinct parts, a Scriptural part and an intercessory prayer.

The first part, the Scriptural part, is taken from the Gospel of St. Luke and joins together the words of the Angel Gabriel with Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary. The joining of these two passages can be found as early as the fifth and perhaps even the fourth century in the eastern liturgies. The opening word of the greetings translated “Hail,” literally has the meaning “rejoice” or “be glad.” The second half of the prayer (Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.) can be traced back to the 15th century where it first appeared in print after the Council of Trent.

Ave Maria has been set to music many times but its most famous version is that of Franz Schubert, who wrote it at age 27 for Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake. According to Schubert, his friends were surprised at the deeply devotional character of the Ave Maria. Explained Schubert, “I think the reason for this is that I never force myself into devotion or compose hymns of prayers unless I am truly overpowered by the feeling; that alone is true devotion.”

PRAYER: Dear God, as Schubert, Elizabeth, and Mary did, I fall in adoration and am overcome by devotion at the gift You’ve given us in Christ. Today I stand amazed in how You used a frightened little girl to deliver the Christ child, and today You continue to use anyone who, like Mary, will humble themselves to be a vessel of the Most High God. May I be such a person.

“The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” “In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!”” (Luke 1:28, 42 NIV).

Joy to the World

By Cheri Cowell –

Descriptives such as “Genius” and “father of English hymnody” have been showered upon Isaac Watts (1674-1748), the author of “Joy to the World!” Only one other English-language hymn writer, Charles Wesley, is seriously compared to Watts. A nonconformist pastor and author of about 60 books and 700 hymns, Watts is most remembered for the extraordinary hymns, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Our God Our Help in Ages Past,” and the Christmas favorite “Joy to the World!”

First published in Watts’ 1719 work, The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, “Joy” was a paraphrase of the second part of Psalm 98. Originally the opening line read, “Joy to the earth,” but eventually the better term “world” entirely supplanted “earth.” Both words and music joyfully proclaim the birth of Jesus. Of all the sacred carols, “Joy” is perhaps the most positive and uplifting declaration of the message of Christmas. The exclamation point almost universally inserted by carol editors after the initial line, “Joy to the world!” powerfully punctuates the exhilarating effect this carol has had for the past century and a half. As you read the Scripture today that his carol is based upon, may your heart sing with Joy!

PRAYER: Lord, I make room today in my heart to receive The King. Help me remove the busyness and the worry I often focus on this time of year, and instead focus on the wonders of His love.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity” (Psalm 98:4-9 NIV).

Invisible Barriers

By Charlotte Riegel –

When cool autumn winds reminded me summer was over I started seasonal cleanup, gathering and cleaning flowerpots and gardening tools for ready use next spring. Once inside the greenhouse, its warmth offered relief from the cold blustery wind and made this chore more pleasant.

A rustling sound coming from one corner of the greenhouse soon distracted me and I desperately hoped it was not a rattlesnake, a creature common to our community. My fears were quickly alleviated as a little bird flew up, hit a window, and fell to the ground. Apparently it had entered through a partially open window and now desperately sought an exit.

“You poor little creature,” I thought. “You see your world out there but you don’t see the barriers of glass preventing you from being there.” Each time it flew up and hit the glass it tumbled to the ground or work bench, lay there a few moments regaining composure and then flew off again, only to repeat the agonizing crash.

I watched helplessly for a while until it fell into a planting tray near a partially open window. Gently picking up the tray I prayed it would stay still long enough for me to move the tray through the small opening. Once the tray was placed on the window ledge, the bird sat there a moment then hopped onto a nearby woodpile and quickly flew off to its freedom.

While continuing my cleanup duties I kept thinking of that precious little bird and how much like it I sometimes am, getting trapped in some sort of prison and then flying madly about in an attempt to regain freedom. I see the freedom I desire but fail to see the barriers preventing me from attaining it. While becoming increasingly frantic in my endeavors to be free, the situation often worsens rather than improves. As I learn to be still, calm and quiet, trusting God, He leads me through the escape, which exists but in a state of franticness, I have failed to see.

Several days later on my final yard cleanup I discovered yet another bird trapped in our greenhouse. This one was dead.

Oh Lord, I desire to be calm and still so You can lift me to the freedom that allows me to be all You created me to be.

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:4, 7).

“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV).

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