Living Unfiltered for God

While reading one of the Advent devotionals through the YouVersion Bible app this morning, I came across this commentary… Luke 2 says that when the angels told the shepherds the Good News about Jesus’ birth, they “hurried off” to find Him. Instead of waiting around and letting doubt creep in, they responded immediately. This took great faith! Certainly, they wanted to meet Jesus, but they also had earthly concerns. What would they do with their flock? Should they tell their families first? Were they dressed appropriately? Were simple shepherds really worthy of meeting the King of Kings? They didn’t let any of the questions we might have asked in the same situation keep them from quickly responding to God. I immediately thought, what a great example of living unfiltered for God! It is this kind of behavior that I have been trying to practice myself and encourage in this space for a while now. How amazing was it that these shepherds heeded the call, no questions asked? It makes ...

Christmas Eve. Perhaps my favorite day of the year. The culmination of all of the busy preparations for the joyous arrival of Christmas, tomorrow. The excitement of what the morning will bring! As a child, I remember falling asleep on Christmas Eve with thoughts of what might be waiting under the tree. As an adult, I can't wait to watch our kids and grandchildren as they discover what awaits them! (And, of course, I still look forward to what might be awaiting me, as well!)  This morning as I was thinking about these things, sipping my coffee on our back porch before the sun came up, the song Silent Night was looping in my brain, providing the soundtrack for my thoughts. One line kept striking me - one that I've never given much more than a passing thought before, "Sleep in Heavenly Peace." In the context of the song, it's referring to the Baby Jesus, sleeping in heavenly peace, right after His Birth. It made me ask the question... What does it mean for us to ...

Angels play a very important part in the whole Christmas story. It was the angel Gabriel who visited Mary to let her know she would be the mother of Jesus ( Luke 1:26-38 ). It was also an "angel of the Lord" that appeared to Joseph that explained that God was behind his fiance's pregnancy ( Matt. 1:20-21 ).  The concept of angels has always been very interesting to me. The writer of Hebrews says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" ( Heb. 1:14 ) Frankly, this has never been much help to me in understanding who angels are and what their purpose is. I have though, over the years, come up with my own kind of interpretation and understanding of angels and their purpose. I don't know how theologically sound it is, but it helps me. I truly believe that god still sends angels into our world as "ministering spirits". I think sometimes they may appear in a dream (like the angel did with Joseph) ...