“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
You Have More In Common With Jesus Than You Might Think Continue reading
The Annunciation to the Shepherds, 1663, by Abraham Hondius
Christmas is like an unforeseen kiss.
Because that’s how Jesus came to us.
We didn’t expect him to show up that night he was born in the manger. The shepherds didn’t expect to see angels declaring his glory in the sky above their pastures.
“Fear not,” the angels said to the shepherds, “for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
From Dave Teixeira’s teaching, Love, 12/6/2015
Oxytocin, The Love Hormone
“Oxytocin (sometimes called the love hormone) is released into the mother’s brain when she breast feeds. Continue reading
The photo at the top of this post is of my family and me during one of our past Christmases. Christmas takes different shapes for different people different years. Today we identify five different types of Christmases and what they look like. As you read about them, see if you recognize yours.
1) The Going to Dad and Mom’s Christmas
On the way to Dad and Mom’s, your stream of consciousness sounds something like this: “I’m bored already and we’re not even there yet. The Cavs play the Heat tomorrow, and I won’t see it. I wonder if any bad blood will boil over. I hope Dad doesn’t bug me about my job. Battle of the 5 Armies is out. No chance we’ll see that. I hope he doesn’t tell me why he thinks libertarians are “clueless.” Yeah, “clueless.” That was the word he used last time. I think I have one of the Lord of the Rings movies on my phone–maybe, if I sit at the table and hold my phone low…”
2) The People Coming Over Christmas
Oh those three words, people-coming-over, and what they mean. The People Coming Over Christmas means, do these things, and do them fast: Clean the house. Fix the broken doorknob. Run to the store and buy a new doorknob because you couldn’t fix the broken doorknob. Hide the Continue reading
Surrender by “Ancient History” – Creative Commons
The thermometer said 3 degrees and there was snow and ice on the roads. We were experiencing some unusually low temperatures here in Oregon and it was during that cold snap, I was reluctant to leave the nest to go to church. Inside, my house was warm and cushy. There was food in the fridge and games on TV. The lure of the self-life called strong. I didn’t want to give up that comfort to go worship Jesus corporately.
What Jesus Gave
Have you ever thought about what Jesus gave up, to come to us? He didn’t leave a warm home on a cold day, he left heaven. He left his Father. He left his throne. He left multitudes of angels who supported him at his every turn. He left a place where there’s no pain, a place overflowing with joy. He left a place so magnificent we can’t even imagine it. He gave it all up so he could come to our place, planet earth, to bleed on the cross, because it was the only way to reconcile us with our Father.
Jesus gave up everything for us. He gave it all.
What I Give
That’s what we celebrate on Christmas. I’ve been thinking about that lately, what He gave up and what I gave up. He gave up everything, I gave up–not much. I became a Christian a long time ago but there has always been some something I wanted to hang onto. Oh I wanted to be a Christian to be sure, so I could make it into heaven. But I didn’t want to let go of certain things.
I wanted to remain a Christian but… Continue reading
What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? -Psalm 8:4
The Big
God is Big.
God is Bigger than I am. He’s Bigger than you are.
Much Bigger.
He’s the One who Continue reading
Photo by drproehl
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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.
…no word from God will ever fail.”
Luke 1:30-35, 37
There he sat in the lounge chair, snacking on munchies with his friends while watching one of his favorite movies. They were more than friends really. After working twenty-four hour shifts with these men, after saving lives with these men, after fighting fire with these men, they were his family. It always felt good to be around them. He was completely relaxed, completely at peace, and completely content when the bell went off.
“Beep, beep, beep,” the pre-alert sounded. “Structure fire, flames and smoke seen from an upper floor of a highrise. Address is…” As was often the case, the tone of the female dispatcher’s voice said as much or more about the call than her actual words. This wasn’t a false alarm or burned toast. This was a serious call.
He moved quickly and easily from the lounge chair and made for the apparatus bay where his fire engine waited. Like a mother duck with ducklings, the Captain unconsciously listened for the noises of his crew making their way to the engine. First running, then the sounds of his men donning their protective gear, then the sounds of doors slamming – one door, the driver’s, then another, then another. As he entered the cab himself he heard the engine start, he heard the bay door open as he looked down to zip up his turnout coat, then he heard the siren.
“8102 responding,” he said into the radio as he simultaneously pushed the responding button on his mobile computer.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked the engineer. As usual he did.
The headsets came on and one of his firefighters asked, “What do you think Cap?”
“Sounds like the real deal to me,” the Captain replied. “We could be first in. Be prepared.”
“First in.” First in had special implications. Incidents that start well usually go well. Incidents that don’t start well…
“What are we taking up?” one of the firefighters asked. The crew reviewed the list of equipment that they’d need to take with them: two inch and three quarter hose packs, thermal imaging camera, irons for forcible entry…
It was barely more than five minutes when they heard the dispatcher say, “Units responding to the highrise fire, we have a report of multiple trapped victims on the fire floor and on the floors above.”
“Copy,” the Captain said into the radio. His adrenaline was already pumping but this last bit of information felt like an electric shock.
They turned a corner and there it was: perhaps fifteen or twenty floors up, multiple floors well involved with fire. People hanging out of windows. He took the briefest moment to steel himself for what was to come, then he gave his report, “8102 is on scene at a thirty story apartment building with at least three floors well involved, possibly floors fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. We have victims hanging out of windows. 8102 is going to the lowest fire floor. 8153, it looks like we’ll need at least ten alarms.”
“Central copies, multiple floors well involved. 8102 we just received a report of a floor collapse on the seventeenth floor.”
“Copy, floor collapse on the seventeenth,” the Captain said. Then to his crew he said, “Let’s do it.”
They bailed off the engine, entered the building, and began making their way up the stairwell to the fifteenth floor. On their way up, they shouted and directed people to the way of safety.
“8102,” the dispatcher called.
“8102, go ahead,” the Captain answered.
“8102, we have reports of two more floors collapsing. It appears to be the fifteenth and sixteenth floors. We also have a report of fire showing on the roof.”
“Copy,” the Captain said trying to catch his breath enough to speak as he climbed the staircase.
“Cap?” It was his youngest firefighter, “Cap, are we going to make it?”
“We’ll save as many as we can.”
“OK but will we make it?”
The Captain knew they had to climb as far up into the highrise as possible. He knew he couldn’t save them all. He knew they’d have to save as many as they could.
And he knew they probably weren’t coming back.
“We’ll save as many as we can.” he said. The young firefighter could hear the determination in his voice…
Before Jesus was born into this world to save us, He enjoyed a wonderful and amazing life in heaven with the Father. He enjoyed a life that was filled with glory but He chose to forfeit all of that to come down to earth. (John 17:5) He chose to come in order to save as many as He could. He chose to come even though He knew it meant His own death.
Like the fire Captain in our story, what a devastating choice that was for Jesus.
But what a glorious choice that is for you and for me.
The fire Captain left the comfort of his fire station to go up into the highrise to save as many as he could, knowing that death awaited him. Jesus left His life in heaven with the Father to come down into the earth to save as many as He could.
Praise God in the highest for in spite of the terrible death that awaited Him, Jesus chose to come for you and for me, to save us, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)
Paul, speaking of Jesus, said,
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!Philippians 2:6-8
Thank you Lord for choosing to come down to save us.
Glory to God in the highest!
Merry Christmas!
References:
Photo by drproehl
Too good not to share. Thank you Anastasia for sending this in!
