The Feast of Dedication--Hanukkah

Did you know Jesus celebrated Hanukkah? I didn't know that before this past few months. It got me thinking.

 In fact there has been a whole strain of events that have gotten me thinking about our relationship to Judaism, the Jews, God's people, and the paths He had them travel in order to both preserve them, sanctify them, relate to them, and ultimately save them. How does this relate to us as believers? Does it relate to us as believers? Is Hanukkah even something we should consider celebrating or is it a tradition of old that doesn't apply to us as Gentile believers?

I'm finding, we are very misinformed or have greatly misunderstood the OT as Modern Christians, and we have lost so many of the beautiful feasts and festivals God put into place to create pictures of His greatness and His ultimate provision of Salvation.

 As a Gentile believer I have been grafted into the Salvation intended and planned for the Jews. God has adopted me into His Chosen People. How beautiful. And, if that is so, why then would I put to rest the traditions and celebrations God laid out in scripture for His People? Rather, I contend we should have adopted them and incorporated them into our worship.

 Although we are no longer under the Law, because Jesus came to fulfill it, we can practice the law along with the feasts and festivals in order to Worship the still, unchanged, Magnificent God. The same God who pursued and preserved the Jews, displaying for them His great Love through feasts, festivals, traditions, and practices.

So, we come to Hanukkah. It is just one of the first of the Judaic celebrations we've sought to know more about.

It is the Feast of Dedication, put into place about 160 years before Jesus. Fulfilling prophecy laid out in Daniel.   It is a festival of lighting candles for eight days to remember the dedication of the temple and the relighting of the lampstand which God commanded should never go out (Exodus 27:20-21).

Judah the Hammer set out with an Army (the Freedom Fighters) to defeat Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiochus Epiphanies ruled over Israel and commanded all Jews to renounce their way of life, practice pagan observances, and live like the Greeks. He erected the "abomination of desolation" in the temple. Thus defiling the temple God had built and persecuting the rights of the Jews to obey God's law.

Many Jews turned their back on their God to avoid persecution from Antiochus, but some stood firm, facing death, death of their children, and their families in order to stand against Antiochus. Judah the Hammer, a priest, and his family led the war against Antiochus Epiphanies defeating them only through God's perfect strength and will.

We don't face being killed for our faith today. But, we do face subtle indoctrination to succumb to the Satan's plans and give in to humanist, progressive ideology. Will we be those who give in or will we have courage, individually and as families. to stand for God, even if no one else is standing?

Once Judah the Hammer defeated Antiochus, they went to restore and rebuild the Temple, set into place the altars God had designed, and found 1 cruse of oil.  Traditionally 1 cruse of oil would only last 1 day, but in this case God provided yet another miracle and the light lasted 8 days while they rebuilt and rededicated the temple to their One True God.

As the Jews move through the 8 days of Hanukkah they remember God's ever faithfulness and the dedication of the Temple, the significance of the Light, and the Temple.

As we (Christians) move through the 8 days, lighting the candles, placing the light in the window, and remembering Gods preservation and salvation of the Jews and the dedication of His people, we can see a completeness to the picture through Christ.

We can see Jesus as the Light, the resurrected Temple, our own bodies as the Temple of the Spirit and the fulfillment of this picture by Jesus the Messiah and His death on the Cross.  We can see the need and desire to rededicate ourselves to Him each day, each season, and the value of the practices laid out by God as a beautifully painted picture of His Grace, Mercy, Love, and Atonement.  We see evidence of God through the Jewish People.  Through the preservation of the promise, the Covenant, and we, as Christians, get to partake in this Covenant with His people.

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A great little snippet from Above Rubies:
Jesus Christ, the Son of God was never reticent to speak the truth, even in the face of death. When he came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Dedication, he was walking in Solomon's Porch (on the eastern side of the temple) and people gathered around him. 

Jesus knew the Jews would be remembering more than the rededication of the temple and the lighting of the

 Menorah again. They were remembering the great victory over Antiochus Epiphanes, but also how he lifted himself to be god over them. It was Antiochus himself who added "Epiphanes" to his name, which means "God manifest" which was utter blasphemy to the Jews.

In the midst of this thinking Jesus boldly and publically declared, "I and my Father are one (John 10:30). In other words, He confessed that He was God, which of course, He was! This was too much for the Jews who, remembering Antiochus Epiphanes the evil blasphemer, took up stones to stone him (John 10:22-33).

It was no coincidence that Jesus chose this timing to speak these words. Everything about Hanukah speaks of standing up for truth even in the face of danger.

God no longer lives in the Holy of Holies in the temple, but in our bodies, which are the temple of His Holy Spirit. In fact, we are not just the temple of the Holy Spirit, but the "naos" which is the Holy of Holies (1 Corinthians 6:19 and 2 Corinthians 6:16). What an indescribable truth! 

Our "naos" may not be desolate, but it is very easy for us to allow things to come into our lives which grieve the Holy Spirit and spoil and dirty our temple.

It is a lovely idea to have a rededication of our temples one night during Hanukah. Choose which morning or evening you would like to do together as a family. Explain to your children about it, and then ask each one of them to confess to the Lord anything in their lives that grieves the Holy Spirit and to rededicate their body temple to the Lord. This includes mom and dad too, of course. When we have all dedicated ourselves individually, then the father can rededicate the whole family to be living sacrifice to the Lord and to be set apart for His purposes (Romans 12:1-2). I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily as you experience this dedication service in your home. 

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Scriptures for Hanukkah
Day 1
God is the Source of Light
Genesis 1:3-5
Exodus 27:20-21, cf. Leviticus 24:1-4
Psalm 36:9
John 10:22-33
Matthew 6:22-23

Day 2Jesus is the Light of the World
John 1:4-9
John 3:19-21
John 8:12
John 12:44-46

Day 3
Shine your Light
Proverbs 4:18
Isaiah 58:6-8, 10
Isaiah 60:1-2
Matthew 5:14-16
Philippians 2:14-15

Day 4
The Word of God is our Light
Psalm 19:7-11
Psalm 119:105, 130
Proverbs 6:20-24
Ephesians 1:17-18

Day 5
Walk in the Light
Isaiah 2:5
1 John 1:6-9
1 John 2:8-11
Romans 13:12-14
Ephesians 5:8-20

Day 6
We are to be a Great Light
Psalm 18:28
Isaiah 9:2, cf. Matthew 4:12-17
2 Corinthians 4:6-7
1 Peter 2:9

Day 7
God is my Light
Psalm 27:1
Psalm 37:3-6
Psalm 89:15-16
Psalm 112:4
Micah 7:8
Acts 26:18

Day 8
God is the Light of Heaven
Isaiah 24:23
Isaiah 60:19-20
Revelation 21:22-25
Revelation 22:3-5

10 Reasons We Don't Do Santa

I know this will be a controversial post, I've been feeling the need to write it but avoiding the potential for "haters" to comment. It seems in the current world of Facebook and Social Media, people immediately think you must be talking to them, specifically, when you post something in direct opposition to their personal feelings. It was amusing to see this reaction on a recent post by Above Rubies as she discussed the research showing that women are now ovulating about 400 times in their lives vs. 100 times when birth rates were once higher and nursing was once the only source of feeding an infant. That is for another day, but the implication that women ought to be nursing longer, birthing more often and lowering ovulation (which has shown to reduce many female diseases) seemed to set an uproar among the women who found themselves to be the exception to every possible scenario that would make doing the above "impossible." So, in an effort to post about Santa and the personal convictions myself and my husband have developed for our family, I do not desire to hear every scenario in opposition to our opinion that would exempt readers from feeling convicted about doing the same. My post is in love, in the spirit of sharing, and in an effort to draw us back to the heart of the matter. I am by no means, elevating myself or my family, but rather sharing a piece of our life with you and our heart on the matter. Whew! now that we have that out of the way...let's get to it. 10 Reasons We Don't Do Santa 1. It offers a false responsibility to obey and behave. Talk about manipulation. 2. It provides a false root to the spirit of JOY concerning Christmas. Is Christmas Joyful b/c of Santa or because of our Savior's Birth? 3. It encourages Materialism. When we so desperately attempt to re-focus Christmas on the Christ, we still instill a "gimme" attitude and an essence of asking for gifts. 4. It is deceiving and a lie, yet we teach our children NOT to lie. We become hypocrites making exceptions for the lie. 5. It causes a sense of "stress" concerning kids finding out the truth, by whom and when and keeping up the facade. 6. It distracts from real "imagination" and "exploration" for children in which they learn to understand it isn't real, only fun. 7. It can stir our faith in more than just Santa...if Santa isn't real, is Jesus real? 8. It offers no value to the intended Christmas Experience. My children still get super excited about Christmas, the presents (all 3 they get), the anticipation, the food, the family, and we are able to spend WAYY more time on Jesus. 9. Celebrating it is not Redeeming it. To see what I mean about redeeming it, click here to read Mark Driscoll's take on Redeeming Santa. 10. It can become Pagan, irreligious or religious in it's own right, consuming. We never say it's bad to believe in Santa, in fact they know some people who do and they know not to ruin for them if they can help it. We have told them about St. Nicholas and giving gifts to the children. It's all just fun, but NOT REAL. I wanted to put the 10 points above first in case as a reader you decide you don't want to continue. But, below I offer up a discussion on the real roots of Christmas, and the possibility that no matter how hard we try, because we do try, to make Christmas about Jesus' birth, it really, actually, Just ISN'T. So, if you are interested in learning a little bit more about why creating pagan customs such as Santa (pagan simply meaning not rooted in Christ or the things of the One True God) continue reading below. It's fascinating stuff. I recently read a wonderfully written, well researched, extremely historical yet sensitive article by Tim Hegg titled, "Why I Don't Celebrate Christmas." He is a Christian and began doing research on the true nature of the holiday and what it really is about. Granted, us modern day Christians, myself included, have found great ways to attempt to draw Christmas back to be being about CHRIST. We focus on His Birth, the symbolism we can find within the traditions such as the Star being the star that let the Shepherds by night, the Tree representing Christ Body as the Tree of Life, atoned upon the Tree, you get the picture. We too have incorporated into Christmas wherever possible elements of the true beauty of the season as it is centered upon the Messiah. But, the reality I am finding is that we cannot escape the actual history behind the holiday and it's very real connections with Paganism and the cover-up we've not been exposed to for many decades. I say all this to set up the fact that the aspect of Santa, falls right into this facade that is Christmas. (I love Christmas, I seek to create memories, traditions, to instill JOY into the hearts of my children, to GIVE to those less fortunate, and to connect with the ones I love). But, Christmas is deceivingly not of God. In fact, not once, in the Bible do they mention Christ's actual birthday. It is no where to be found. The earliest believers never once celebrated the BIRTH of the Messiah. It mattered not. Luke only mentions Christ was born in the 15th year of the Reign of Tiberius. No month, no day. The day of Christ's baptism on the other hand...specific. January 6th is known as the Epiphany. Celebrating Christ's birth only became an issue when the church set out in the fourth century (about 400 years after his birth) to establish Dec. 25th as the date of his birth. In fact, there wasn't even a consensus of that Day, rather the day was chosen then the Math was constructed to make it fit. It is much more likely to be in May. What really happened was this: The century was challenging Christ's Humanity and Deity and it was being challenged with many Pagan celebrations. The Virgin Birth became the obvious point that needed to be stressed to combat the Arian Heresy. Also, the expanding Church had become predominately Gentile and the effects of paganism were very heavy within the "community of the faithful". Gentiles, untrained in Scripture, brought many pagan customs and ideas into the church. It is no surprise that Dec. 25th was chosen considering it is also the date of many other pagan festivals. Most significantly the Roman festival of Brumalia (Saturnalia), the celebration of Mithra, and the Soltice as well as Dies Natalis Invicti Solis (A Roman Pagan Holiday). The Church essentially used Christmas to replace Pagan holidays and festivals and is noted in History by Bishop of Constantinople in 398CE. The list grows as we explore the Pagan festivals the Church was attempting to compete with. Many historians believe the Church's plan was to provide a substitute for the pagan holidays. Unfortunately, what happened was that the church began to incorporate many pagan customs within this attempt. Some of those Pagan Customs we see in Christmas are: 1. Decorating with Evergreens 2. the Tree (used to placate the gods) 3. Holly Berries 4. Mistletoe 5. Yule Logs Pope Gregory I wrote in a letter to Augustine permitting and even encouraging harmless, popular, pagans customs as they were capable of Christian interpretation (twisting). We can read though, very specifically in God's word what he has to say about mixing Pagan rituals with our faith. He SET APART the Sabbath, the Jews (his Chosen People), He called things HOLY (set apart), God preserves nations, peoples, forbids mixing, He sanctifies. In the giving of the TORAH, God made is repeatedly clear not to mix differing things, crops, cloth, animals, etc. The language expresses God's utter hatred for mixing . Deuteronomy 18:9, "When you enter the land which ADONAI your God gives you, your shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations."..."In order that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against ADONAI, your God." Deuteronomy 20:18 This is called Syncretism and it means to attempt to union or reconcile divers or opposite tenets or practices, especially in philosophy and religion. In short, mixing things that do not go together Paganism and Christianity. They refurbished symbols, customs and rituals from Godless practices. All this being said, I know as Christians we do not set out to mix pagan rituals with Christian faith. But, we have been deceived if we believe these pagan offerings actually are fit before our King. It may not be our heart to offer such things before Him but we do so unknowingly. Those things born of pagan birth are most likely still considered demonic to the spiritual world. We are in an age when, as the believers of the true Messiah, we ought to shine distinctively, not adopt pagan customs and blend in with materialistic self indulgence and perpetuate lies to children.

Absent....then Easter

I don't even know how longs it's been since I wrote. It seems like forever. No One Thousand Gifts, No poetic writings of my trials as a mother or my joys. I've gone silent over the past few months. Things have been...strange.

I'd like to blame homeschooling. It sent us into a new schedule, placed new demands upon my time, my free "me" time, caused me to cherish a quick nap when I can grab one.

The holidays came and went with a whirlwind...why do I fear this will all happen again too soon. It's already April for goodness sakes. April...

We have a January birthday, twinkies in March, trips to the dunes as a family...sometimes it's a blur. But, a lovely, blessed, crazy, sometimes manic blur...

I'm a perfectionist, I think we've talked about this before. My ever demanding need to keep things consistent, updated, and perfected. When too much time goes by without writing or sitting down to share on our family blog (which operates much more like a timeline of events than this particular blog) I tend to then avoid it because I'm uncomfortable with the imperfection.

Isn't is crazy? Blogging doesn't have to be perfect. It's just a simple window to my heart. Something I actually use to leave behind a piece of myself for my children. It's a journal. But I started and restarted journals as a kid when too much time went by. I couldn't stand the lapsing in time. I wanted to be a perfect, neat, tidy, wonderful little journaler (is this a word?). What world is that from?

But, as is to be expected, here I am again picking up after a month of being away and tons of inconsistencies before that. God is refining me through even something as simple as this!

Easter
I've laid low this year about Easter. Much less than the year before have I talked and read about the coming celebration. Maybe I'm tired or maybe it's just a year to be quiet.

Christmas was quiet this year and for that I'm grateful. It simplified God's love for us. Made the whole thing just about God coming to earth. No confusion or too much information (which I think I've done before with the Jesse Tree and readings).

Easter is following this same smoothly, quiet path.

My oldest randomly asked me when were going to do Passover, by marking our doors with red paint and sharing in the model God set in motion long before Jesus was actually nailed to the cross. They get the picture. My sweet, sinful, distract able little children see the picture painted by God in Egypt and then again in Isaac and then again on the cross.

It amazes me. There is no confusion to them. It is as clear as day. Jesus is the blood on the walls, the lamb in Isaac's place, the final payment of our sin at Galgotha.

We began to read this morning to start our school day in Matthew of Jesus being crucified. It is a simple version of the events, not too filled with details in case they get distracted, when they get distracted.

Within minutes the questions are flooding from their mouths. "Who helped Jesus carry the cross?", "Was Jesus' brother there to watch him die?", "Was his mommy sad?", "Where was his daddy?", "Where did he go after he died before he rose from the tomb?", "Does he live in heaven now?", "He loves us so much mom.".

I asked my children if they would be willing to die for the whole world, beyond the people they love and who love them. My oldest who is still 6 (even though I like to treat him like he is already 7), pondered this carefully and then matter of factly said, "No. They don't deserve it."

It was as though God simply handed me the smoothest line of questions and answers in order to perfectly paint for my children the ultimate and love and sacrifice Jesus gave to us on the cross. I couldn't have planned it better. I simply obeyed the tugging from the Lord to read to them from the Bible. Something I don't do enough b/c they tend to get bored.

God is faithful.

We then took a hike up the hill at a nearby church to see the cross and see the tomb, to ponder even more what He did for us that day. What God had planned from the moment Adam took the apple in His desperate desire to draw us back to Him. To bridge the gap between the creator and the created.

I saw the cross today through my children. I put the pieces together again in a renewed way and then reminded us all that it isn't just about eternity. It has to be about today. Living out the gospel today. Loving, sharing, forgiving...

I asked them, "If the cross and the gospel are the most important things in our life, do we share them with others like we should?". Cole, stated, "No, I don't." I asked him why. "Because I get nervous."

Me too buddy. Me too. It's true. We don't want to offend, put off, seem weird...Well, I don't want to do that. But, the gospel is the most living and breathing thing we as Christians have to share.

In what ways has the Gospel moved you today?

When December Comes Toooo Fast

What is left are just the faint remnants of October and November and a few snaps of the camera to catch the fleeting moments. It seems we were just starting the school year, traveling through Egypt, learning about Moses and Noah and contemplating our sinful hearts...

Through the finger paint, coloring, field trips, math lessons, soccer, Karate, gymnastics, and exploring the human body... the days turned to minutes and we suddenly find ourselves into the holiday season.

The sparkling bows, Christmas trees, flashing lights, and joyful music now fills the air...

Promptly I felt badly for not being prepared, ready, equipped with my usual advent activities and ready to implant into their hearts, yet again, the True meaning of Christmas...


But, it was beyond my control, I couldn't back up, slow down, and prepare to be ready, I had to accept the moment...where I was sitting right that second.

I heard God whisper to me, "slow....slow down....the meaning can be found in the quiet."

In years past in my attempts to stir their hearts, build traditions, and impart a passion for Christ, I've noticed their boyish neglect of my efforts. They hear the stories, appreciate the moments together, but could never, at this stage, truly know the depth of my efforts or the cry of my heart.

Their boyish neglect or playful disregard at times affects my spirit...my idol is reveled and my desire to be the "perfect" mother trumps my ability to let the boys foolishness role...

So, this year, with the same intentions to draw them deeper, show them the true Light of Christmas, and stir passion in their hearts, we will SLOW...

Slow to pray...25 days of prayer...simple scriptures to sink deep in their hearts. Simple prayers that follow the Jesse Tree but without all the bustle of the tree itself.

Slow to self...25 days of praying for others...lifting up holiday needs for the ones we love.

Slow to truly follow Jesus...25 days of discussing Christs attributes.

True the slowing doesn't call for glitter, glue, scissors, or fancy trees, but rather quiet hearts. The training of the hearts of my man children to find the meaning in the quiet.

I pray as the countdown begins today that I too might find the moments to be still...to slow down...and be quiet...

To see again the True meaning to Christmas.

Identifying Discontent

The lights are low and the night has fallen. My children wait anxiously for our final prayer of the night and the Amen that sends us to peaceful rest.

True understand of Christ's path to the Cross is yet to sink deep in them but they Do Know He Died for them. To save them from Sin and give them Heaven.  Their understanding while simple is pure.  They LOVE Him because they must.  Their nature longs to worship Him.  He died for them. He must be important. He must be Love.

I stand in awe of their unfaltering love. As they emphatically exchange with the neighbor about the truth of God and Jesus' love.  His avoidance says much.

They are unashamed. Content in His love.

Am I the same?

Devotions for Lent sits in my lap and I ponder whether they will understand what I read to them and I quickly pray for the Lord to speak to their hearts while the mind might falter behind.

We read...

"The tradition of Lent--a forty-day sacrifice--is one way of mourning the death that sin has caused in our lives.  As we see Jesus perfectly withstand Satan's temptation in the wilderness, we admit our own shortcomings, our own inadequate sacrifices.  This period of "giving up" has a profound way of recalling our desperate need for Jesus Christ."

 I peer up from the pages.  Their sweet faces peering back at me from their bunk bed railings.  Two bodies per bed, stuffed between the sheets...they want to be together...whatever the cost.

Do I feel this way for Jesus....whatever the cost?

I tell them more of Jesus' temptation in the desert and explain the "giving up" to remember Him.
He trialled against Satan in those 40 days. Completely gave himself over, denied flesh, relied on God, and held tight to the Hope of the Resurrection.

My oldest, only five short years old, heading into his sixth year in only months ahead, immediately tells me he can give up Movies..."hmmm,  for five days".

I am Humbled...

He, the man child, grasped the "giving up" and was willing.  More discussion and remembering the littlest ones, we decided candy would be the thing to go for five days.  They agreed, not at first, but with time and encouragement.

Friday's dawn began their Lent and their hearts were soft with no begging or discussion.  1 simple reminder and they relented the desire. No talk of it since. The freely gave to Him what they held so dear (sadly Candy is dear).

Even the small can remind us to press on and live loudly the Love of Jesus.

Again from the book...

"The season of Lent is puzzling to many. Denying ourselves our favorite treats or habits--even for a short time--seems archaic in our I-want-it-now culture.  ...It's a season marked by deliberateness and intentionality.  The practice of Lent can be a valuable discipline.  It's difficult to grasp what our sense of entitlement does to our bodies and souls.  Our culture worships at the feet of pleasure. As we "shovel it in", we can become desensitized to our needs--the real hungers in our lives."

"People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."  ~Deuteronomy 8:3

"It invites us to jump off the hamster wheel of consumption and experience the pinch of abstaining from thoughtless indulgence. " ~Eileen Button (Devotions for Lent)

She compares the glorious, hollow, chocolate, Easter Cross to our own lives.  Sweet and pretty on the outside, but "tragically empty".


We prayed

Great and holy God
awe and reverence
fear and trembling
do not come easily to us
for we are not
Old Testament Jews
or Moses
or mystics
or sensitive enough.
Forgive us
for slouching into Your presence
with little expectation
and less awe
than we would eagerly give a visiting dignitary.
We need
neither Jehovah nor a buddy--
neither "the Great and Powerful Oz" nor "the man upstairs."
Help us
to want what we need...
You
God
and may the altar of our hearts
tremble with delight
at
Your visitation
amen.

~Frederick Ohler

"Occasionally, the reality of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and the power of his love break through our hardened hearts.  The realization causes us to gasp. The hollow parts of our souls can be filled." ~Eileen Button







The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit; You will not reject a broken and repentant heart; O God. ~Psalm 51:17

Walking the Road to the Cross

 

I close my eyes and I try to imagine what those final days were like for Christ as He entered into Jerusalem hailed as a King on a lowly, humble Donkey, knowing deep the wounds that would soon pierce his skin and the nails that would purge sin from the world.



I can easily feel the emotions Mary must have felt as her Son, The Son (an experience I couldn't even begin to imagine), the one birthed pink from her womb that night in the stable while she was but a girl, is being led to the Cross scourged and stained with red.



Breathe...
Breathe...

My throat swells and I swallow hard as I consider her pain, as her pain reflected his pain and oh how we even wince when our little ones fall or scrape a knee and yet her son, The Son, bled freely and poured fourth grace and mercy with each drip that ran His skin.

 

I can taste the dust, hear the hails of hatred poured out towards Him while He carried His cross on broken, bleeding, barely hanging skin.

Look what we are capable of?

The atrocity of it all...us, His dearly beloved, capable of such hate, anger, and evil.  Oh how He must weep...


So it begins today...remembering

I remember

I draw it in

I close my eyes and listen

I remember His sacrifice

I remember His Love

I remember Him

Walking the path towards the cross with Him as Lent begins today...

“Lent isn’t about forfeiting as much as it’s about formation. We renounce to be reborn; we let go to become ‘little Christs’. It’s about this: We break away to become.”

~Ann  

Spending the next forty days sinking deep into my depravity and lingering long with His love.

“Worse… at times… I don’t even want to keep the law. Lent’s revealing my depravity, my impotence. The utter death of my flesh. I can do nothing. My Lent convicts: I am a lawbreaker. ” 

"I am one of the disciples grieving – a life grieving His absence, a life grieving the black before the light, a life grieving death that will hungrily seize resurrection. Lent gives me this gift: the deeper I know the pit of my sin, the deeper I’ll drink from the draughts of joy."

~Ann  

One Thousand Gifts-An Easter Prepared Heart

I read the most amazing line this morning from Ann and wanted to share it with you and that is also might set the tone for the blessings we ponder this week.

"The donkey carried her swollen frame into the house of bread, to birth The Bread our souls were starved for, and again, a donkey carried His willing body triumphant into the house of God, to bleed the perfect Lamb that all our sin stain ached for. The backs of the humble carry God."

 

The pictures her words paint in my heart and my mind are vivid and real.  Only an image our True God could create in the minds of those He created in His image.  For so long ago, so many years before my mind could even fathom what Mary would look like riding upon the donkey in that time, in that place, in that glorious humble moment yet still somehow, God allows my heart and my mind's eye to see Christ, so beautiful and radiant.

She reminds us in her Monday's blessings that the wine comes from the compression.  That the sweetest victory came from Christ's crushing, that our most glorious reunion with God came from His most valuable sacrifice.  Meditating over what this means and how to teach my children about the God that gave it all for them that they would live with Him...


 The Path to the Cross
81. How rugged was and is the path to the Cross
82. Reunion with our maker and our heavenly Father
83. To bear fruit for Him that shed drops from His veins
84. To drink of the cup and remember
85. To break the bread to remember the Bread that was given to us in our desperation
86. To pray the prayer our hearts long to bellow to Him
87. Feeling to deeply the thorns in his head
88. Aching yet rejoicing as his Side was pierced as prophesied so many years before
89. An unchanging and unfallable God
90. Jesus

An Excerpt Concerning Passover

Jesus in the Passover Cup and Bread

The power and meaning of communion has its roots in the Passover feast. When Jesus met with His disciples for His last Passover meal, He took the Passover cup and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant.” When Jesus took the Passover bread he said, “This is my body broken for you.”

The redemptive work of Jesus is seen in the Passover Cup.

1. The first cup is the cup of Sanctification. Jesus is our sanctification.

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—“ 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NKJV)

2. The second cup is the cup of Freedom. Jesus has set us free from our bondage and slavery to sin.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 (NKJV)

3. The third cup is the cup of Redemption. Jesus has obtained our redemption.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11-12 (NKJV)

4. The fourth cup is the cup of Praise. Jesus is worthy of all honor and praise.

“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne
, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Rev. 5:13 (NKJV)


When Jesus partook of the cup at Passover, He made this application regarding His death…

“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 (NKJV)

The redemptive work of Jesus is seen in the Unleavened Bread.

1. The unleavened Matzah is striped. Jesus body received many stripes. “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)

2. The unleavened Matzah was pierced. Jesus body was pierced by a
Roman soldier’s spear after His death upon the cross.

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately
blood and water came out.” John 19:34 (NKJV)

3. The prophet Isaiah makes these stirring statements about the coming
Messiah’s broken body…

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we
esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are
healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

4. The Afikomen is a picture of Jesus’ redemptive work. The three pieces of Matzah speak to us of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Passover service, the Afikomen (the middle piece of matzah) is taken, wrapped, buried, brought forth, broken, distributed and received. Jesus, the Son of God, came from heaven, died upon the cross, was buried, rose from the dead and received by all who believe.


5. The meaning of the word Afikomen is “He who has come.” Jesus, God’s Son and the promised Messiah, left His home in heaven and came to earth. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death upon the cross. Three days later He rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. One day, He will come again and reign and rule in righteousness.


6. The bread was unleavened. Leaven, in the bible, is a type of sin. Jesus
was without sin.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21 (NKJV)


“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and
those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philip. 2:6-11 (NKJV)

When Jesus partook of the unleavened bread at the Passover, He made this application regarding His body…

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Matthew 26:26 (NKJV)

Note: This is taken from my book "I Am Passover/Communion Collection" which brings together the meaning of Passover and the significance of communion. The book is available from DaySpring.com

Preparing for Easter

As I've been reading and encouraged by so many women as they scribe about their Easter traditions and family longings to know Christ more, I've asked myself over and over how can I achieve making Easter more significant and important than even Christmas. Christmas is a marked holiday of cheer and celebration in which I feel my husband and I have done well to point towards Jesus' birth, in the glowing and overwhelming pressure to make it about ourselves.

Easter I have been contemplating, meditating, challenged, and defeated. My children are small, no older than 4 and still struggling to conceptualize Jesus' death. I believe to their ability they do know what it means. They tell me often that they know He died for them, that they love Him for it, and long to be with Him in heaven. It has meaning to them which I can only give gracious gratitude to the Lord for that because it it not my part that has instilled in them a LOVE so deep for the savior. I often feel Satan telling me I do not tell them enough about our Savior, speak of Him often enough, bring enough back to Him when the moments are thick with frustration and noise.

Today I was challenged by Ann to read more often the Word of our Lord to them and my husband was wise long ago to buy them a childrens bible in which they Love. We save those stories for bedtime most often but why? Those stories are far better than any others I could bare to them. So today, unexpectedly I open God's word and shared with them excitedly a new story. Right in line with their God given grain, those boy boys, was Samson and his mighty strength. Part way through the reading my littlest and only daughter (13 mos) began crying loudly and clamoring to be on my lap. I felt Satan telling me once again it was not worth the trouble. It was so distracting. This is only one small example of the times I feel my efforts to draw my children close to Him are interrupted or go without impression on their hearts.

I've decided this year, even with being out of town for Easter, much to my shagrin (I like to be home for holidays making it easier to focus) that this year we will do Resurrection Rolls, Passover Meal and model for our children Communion as I ordered Passover items from Day Spring.

I love to draw my children nearer to Him and feel as though it would be easier to do if they were only a little older. But I don't want them to grow up, I like them little and I want it not to go faster than it already does. Lord help me to know what Path to take that they would seek you, meditate upon you and LOVE you more!

That even I would be a better reflection of your Love, Grace, Hope, Mercy and undying, unconditional Sacrifice.

An Excerpt Concerning Passover

Jesus in the Passover Cup and Bread

The power and meaning of communion has its roots in the Passover feast. When Jesus met with His disciples for His last Passover meal, He took the Passover cup and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant.” When Jesus took the Passover bread he said, “This is my body broken for you.”

The redemptive work of Jesus is seen in the Passover Cup.

1. The first cup is the cup of Sanctification. Jesus is our sanctification.

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—“ 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NKJV)

2. The second cup is the cup of Freedom. Jesus has set us free from our bondage and slavery to sin.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 (NKJV)

3. The third cup is the cup of Redemption. Jesus has obtained our redemption.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11-12 (NKJV)

4. The fourth cup is the cup of Praise. Jesus is worthy of all honor and praise.

“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne
, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Rev. 5:13 (NKJV)


When Jesus partook of the cup at Passover, He made this application regarding His death…

“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 (NKJV)

The redemptive work of Jesus is seen in the Unleavened Bread.

1. The unleavened Matzah is striped. Jesus body received many stripes. “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)

2. The unleavened Matzah was pierced. Jesus body was pierced by a
Roman soldier’s spear after His death upon the cross.

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately
blood and water came out.” John 19:34 (NKJV)

3. The prophet Isaiah makes these stirring statements about the coming
Messiah’s broken body…

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we
esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are
healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

4. The Afikomen is a picture of Jesus’ redemptive work. The three pieces of Matzah speak to us of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Passover service, the Afikomen (the middle piece of matzah) is taken, wrapped, buried, brought forth, broken, distributed and received. Jesus, the Son of God, came from heaven, died upon the cross, was buried, rose from the dead and received by all who believe.


5. The meaning of the word Afikomen is “He who has come.” Jesus, God’s Son and the promised Messiah, left His home in heaven and came to earth. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death upon the cross. Three days later He rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. One day, He will come again and reign and rule in righteousness.


6. The bread was unleavened. Leaven, in the bible, is a type of sin. Jesus
was without sin.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21 (NKJV)


“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and
those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philip. 2:6-11 (NKJV)

When Jesus partook of the unleavened bread at the Passover, He made this application regarding His body…

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Matthew 26:26 (NKJV)

Note: This is taken from my book "I Am Passover/Communion Collection" which brings together the meaning of Passover and the significance of communion. The book is available from DaySpring.com

Holiday Blessings

It is January already and not just January but almost February.  I know, I know, it has been so long since I've posted.  I must say that November and December kept me quite busy and although I don't find that to be much of an excuse at all it is the reality.  I often wanted to sit down and post and found that without the stillness of my home during naptime I couldn't concentrate enough to pour my heart out to God.  What a fallen woman I am that I feel like I need quiet time in order to successfully write to my Lord.  After all that is what this blog is all about, lifting up praise to my Father in Heaven for all His blessings in my life.  Forgive me father for staying away for so long.

Well with distance and absence I've also acquired a large amount of things to talk about here.  With the holiday season there were so many blessings, gifts, favorites and little snippets of life to explore.  The more time went by the harder it began to consider reflecting on them all!  It is a terrible cycle of falling behind and then letting that keep me from catching up!

Christmas this year was wonderful.  Justin and I thoroughly enjoyed the children and the process of teaching them about the meaning of Christmas.  We desire to put Christ at the center of our holiday traditions instead of an afterthought.

We put a few more age appropriate traditions into our Christmas readiness making sure to always turn their hearts back to Jesus.

Children can't help but get excited about the presents of Christmas morning and truly, I think Justin and I are always more excited than they are to give them something we know they will love.  We chose gifts carefully, with much research and we are very specific about giving them things we think they will love, not just giving them thing for the sake of having things!  When possible we made sure to remind them that we get presents b/c it is Jesus birthday and we get 3 presents each because the wise men gave Jesus 3 gifts for his birthday.  To their ability I am assured they understand.

For holiday traditions this year we did the following:

1. Read, "Room for a Little One" nightly leading up to Christmas
2. Read, "A Christmas Nativity"
3. Built a Jesse Tree with Ornaments and coloring pages to support the images
4. Angel Tree Giving
5. Small Christmas Crafts to encourage excitement about the holiday ($5 crafts from Michaels)
6. Opened Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve
7. Watched a NEW Christmas Movie (Chipmunks Christmas)
8. Cole gave each of his siblings a gift to encourage giving
9. Sploozebells with our Cousins
10. A Movie with Dad at the Movie Theatre the week after Christmas (Chipmunks Squeakual)
11. Making a Birthday Cake for Jesus

It was a wonderful holiday and on Christmas each of the kids knew we were celebrating Jesus' birthday.  We put out a baby doll (that we originally intended to place in a manger in the morning but unfortunately never got around to making the manger. Dad gave it an attempt with our friend Zach Shepherd and it didn't quite turn out.) Next year we will be sure to place baby Jesus in a manger in the morning for the kids to see.

As I get older and I take more seriously, through my maturity, that my children have been placed into my care by God, to raise up in Him and given to Him to live lives devoted to Him I see how each holiday or event is an opportunity to guide them further towards the truth.  My duty is to build this truth up in their hearts so that when they are older they will have unshakeable faith in Christ.  Christmas has become one of the most wonderful opportunities to show my children Jesus.  I found this statement at Biblestudents.com concerning Christ's birth.

Salvation Foretold
The faithful of Israel and surrounding lands seemed to be aware of this promise of the Messiah, the perfect child from the lineage of Abraham, that would bring them all salvation. This promise contained the thought that a holy child would be born, and that in some way, not explained in the promise, this child would bring the blessing the world needed. The expectation was based upon the promise God made to Abraham, saying, "In thee and in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Gen. 28:14 From that time forward Abraham began to look for the promised child. He looked first of all to his own children, and was finally informed that it would not be one of his children directly, but that through their children, at some remote date, this child should be born. From that time onward, all the Israelites were waiting for the birth of the child that should bring the blessing. Every mother amongst the Israelites was very solicitous that she might be the mother of a son rather than a daughter, that perchance she might be the mother of this promised child.
But why was Messiah necessary? Why wait at all for the birth of the child? In no other way could mankind be blessed. It would be impossible to bless mankind except by releasing them from sin and death. Hence, the Scriptures tell us of God’s sympathy; that God looked down from His holy habitation, and beheld our sorrow, and heard, figuratively, "the groaning of the prisoner" —humanity— all groaning and travailing under this penalty of death. Psa 102:20 But God’s sympathy was manifested; and we read that, "He looked down and beheld that there was no eye to pity and no arm to save" and with "His own arm He brought salvation." Isa. 59:16 This is what was promised to Abraham — that one should come from his posterity who would be the Savior of the world....it was necessary that Jesus should become the "man Christ Jesus," in order "that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man." Heb. 2:9 

This reminds us all that the truly greatest Gift of the holiday season was the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We pray that our holiday traditions would provide a path towards forming memories with our children but not that those traditions would take priority over the true reason we celebrate Christmas.  We would never want to fall victim to allowing traditions to cause us to lose sight of our Lord.   Only that our traditions and family events during the holiday would draw us nearer to Christ and reveal more of Him to us.

I like it put this way, "Let us resolve then, that this season, we will not allow the frenzy of the world and the traditions of men to darken the great light that our God has graciously given. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light..." Isa. 9:2"

I pray Jesus that you would draw us nearer to your heart, quench the thirst only satisfied by you, call my children by name to serve you Father and in this short time that I might reflect your light into their lives that they may seek you, find you and become a Child of God. Amen--