Glory in the Highest

Today's Reading: Luke 2:8-20

"Glory to God in the Highest,

and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

It began as another ordinary night for the shepherds, bedding down for the night in the fields with their sheep.

"... behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them... 

the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid." vs 9

No wonder they were afraid, imagine the ordinary night transforming to the brilliance from the realm of glory as an angel appeared right there before them. The angel said:

" 'Do not be afraid, for behold,

I bring you good tidings 
of great joy

which will be to all people.

For there is born to YOU this day 

in the city of David

a Savior. who is Christ the Lord...'

And suddenly
there was with the angel

a multitude of the heavenly 

host praising God and saying:

'Glory to God in the Highest,

And on earth peace goodwill toward men!' " 
vs. 10, 11 &14

 Imagine the spectacle of glorious light, majestic splendor and radiant hope for all people.

I wonder if David the Shepherd King was seeing from heaven at that moment the glory of the birth of his promised son. The birth of our Savior is the answer to David's question to God,

"What are people that you should think about them, 

mere mortals that you should care for them?".

We ARE in God's thoughts and He does care enough to send His Son to be born from a human in a stable with animals in it. (Very messy place to be born.)

When the angels departed the shepherds left and found Mary, Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. After seeing them they  

"returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen... " 

"Mary kept all these things 

and pondered them in her heart."

Let us ponder in our hearts God's mercy for sending His Son 

and glorify Him for all that He has done for all of us His people.

Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men

Wednesday: 

"Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men."

Fast forward from the Declaration of Independence, 224 years to this year, December of 2020. 

 

Hate, violence and intense stress mock the hope of peace on earth. Sin has continued as before. As I write this post in December 2020, I have never seen a greater degree of stress and hatred in our country. We've had a worldwide pandemic strike and it continues indefinitely, a stock market crash, lock downs that are destroying businesses, people are out of work. Child abuse and suicide has increased greatly. Many children have not gone to school since last March. The loneliness and lack of socialization is very difficult for them. Churches that could have brought encouragement have been closed or in various stages of lock down as well. If that's not enough stress, then in early July the riots flared up. In Portland Oregon, they were every day for over 100 days. Then in early September, the riots suddenly subsided for a while, then started up again. During this time fires ripped through communities in California and all the way up through Oregon. From Southern Oregon, all the way to Northern Oregon, moving through communities along the I-5 corridor, west of the Cascades, burning down homes. Just in our area 2600 homes were burned to the ground and nearly 2000 businesses were destroyed. So many walked away with nothing but the clothes on their backs. These were not typical forest fires that occur in our area, they were fires burning entire communities of homes. Never happened here like that before. And even now there such deep hatred emanating from the riots, continuing through the election even now as we approach Christmas. Lord, I long for peace on earth and good will toward men.

 

So if we don't have peace on earth right now in our country, then what good is the verse of "Peace on Earth and Good will toward men"? Is it just a slogan... just words in a song? As I typed above “Hate and war mock the hope of peace on earth;” a few lyrics of a Christmas Carol kept playing in my mind.

But I could not remember the name of the carol. In prayer, the words "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" came to mind. So I looked it up, and there those words were. I think this year we can identify with these poignant words.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Further down in the poem it continues:

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

This carol was originally a poem was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “In 1861, two years before writing this poem, Longfellow's personal peace was shaken when his second wife of 18 years, to whom he was very devoted, was fatally burned in an accidental fire. Then in 1862, during the American Civil War, Longfellow's oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, joined the Union Army without his father's blessing.” He survived the war, but came home seriously wounded. Henry took care of his wounded son.

This story involves another war, the Civil War. In this war the North fought to free the slaves. Many of our ancestor’s blood saturated the ground in the numerous battles of citizens against citizens. I had two ancestors in that war, that I know of. One great, great great grandpa survived the war. After the war he married the widow of another great, great, great grandpa who did not live. Both solders fought for the Union to free the slaves.

This poem brought tears to my eyes. It later became a Christmas Carole that most of us are very familiar with. The original poem poured out this man’s broken heart. There are many more verses, so I will conclude with this:

 

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Yes, despite our struggles this year, we press on and press in knowing that “God is not Dead nor doth He sleep.”

We look to Him who loves us and trust His love for us regardless of what happens.

 

Here is the poem in its entirety:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

To Form a More Perfect Union

Tuesday:

I wrote this last year. My hope was that by now things would be better in our nation by now. Sadly not so. If you don't want to read this discouraging look at the state of our country, just skip this. More hope is to come in the following blogs and hopefully more hope to come in 2022. 

Will we as a nation continue to aspire to the quest for A More Perfect Union now? Or let our Constitutional Republic devolve into a totalitarian communist government? It is happening right now, unless we can stop it.

Over the last 100 years thanks to Karl Marx’s false utopia, various nations have fallen into forced government control. It has brought the massacre of millions of people, poverty and untold misery to the populations of these countries. Their liberty was forbidden, horrible violence to force top down control over everything. They set up re-education camps to control the thoughts those who do not believe in their propaganda. This is not the way to peace on earth. We are at the cusp of certain disaster if we cannot turn this around.

 

To find some peace on earth, leaders in our country and across the world, need to come to Christ, to seek His heart to understand the principles of fairness and justice for His created people. From these principles emerge a much greater potential for freedom and peace. Peace through equal fairness and justice. 

 

To Form a More Perfect Union

 

In 1787, a group of devoted men gathered together to form a new government. They were brilliant and highly educated. With much discussion and proposing of ideas and principles on which to draft The Constitution of the United States, these men composed the greatest document for human liberty and peace known to man. In this little book, roughly 4" x 6" and no more than 1/4 of an inch thick lies our system of government and rights as citizens for our entire nation. And now, more than 200 years later our courts continue rely on this document for bringing justice to a nation. It begins with: 

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."

This document did not come about easily. Before this Constitution was written there was a long and bloody Revolutionary War to separate our people from Britain. The American colonists had suffered greatly under British control and tyranny. It came to a crescendo on July 4, 1776. This was the day that The Declaration of Independence was signed.

 

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,.. evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right and duty to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government." 

As the Founders signed the Declaration of Independence; English battle ships were just off the coast as the signers pledged "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor."

Most of us as Americans hold to and treasure these documents as our guarantee of our liberty, religious and civil rights. Now there are violent hateful, extremist forces as well as the silent ones in support of those who are determined to abolish these documents of liberty and "burn the country down." They are tearing down and destroying the statues of the very men who established liberty for all.  In this document the Founders assert,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

 that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable Rights,

 that among these are Life, Liberty

 and the pursuit of Happiness."

 

They agreed upon the obvious truth that every human being is created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights... rights that are "unable to be removed" and "cannot be transferred" to anyone else because these rights come directly from God. To live in peace, we must see our fellow citizens as equal creations of God and honor their rights.

 

However, what do we do when they hate us and continue to commit crimes? What do we do when our closely held values and beliefs are repugnant to them? What do we do when we are so opposite in our beliefs and their beliefs, that no compromise or agreement of any kind that can happen? In the words of Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,

 

"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust." Matt 5:44,45

 

Yikes, that is not easy! However, those words are said by the Prince of Peace, our Prince of Peace. Lord, show me how to pray for our enemies with your great love. In that, we come to You Lord and pray for a break though for our nation that will bring unity, liberty, fairness and justice. In doing that we can aspire to peace.

His Name will be Called the Prince of Peace

Monday:

“For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

His name will be called… Prince of Peace. Isa 9:6

 

Over 2,000 years after the birth of this child, the Prince of Peace, there is still no peace on earth. Why not? Because this verse speaks of both the First Coming of Christ and His Second Coming. With His First Coming as a child, He was born to rescue humanity from the eternal penalty of sin.

 

"For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and 

transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 

who purchased our freedom 

and forgave our sins." 

Colossians 1:13, 14 NLT

“He was pierced for our rebellion, 

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could whole”.

Isa 53:5 NLT

In His first coming, He paid the penalty for the sins of those who come to Him.  After His Ascension, 10 days later, He poured out His Holy Spirit to those willing to receive. By abiding in Christ, in His Holy Spirit, He enables us to transcend evil, as we walk in His Spirit. The fruits of His Spirit are revealed in His true followers. They are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. This promise remains until this day for lovers of God. As His people, we must lean into Him, be continually filled with His Spirit so that we can be seen as lights in a very dark world. The world Jesus was born into was very dark. There was a lot of division as the Romans ruled over the Jewish people. John says of Jesus: 

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 

And the Light shines in the Darkness, 

and the darkness did not comprehend it." 

 John 1:4, 5 NKJ

The darkness did not understand the light, nor was it unwilling to receive the light. However the darkness could not quench nor extinguish the light. Even though they crucified Him; the light of His Spirit moved across the whole world through his followers. So today the darkness seems to be pressing harder than I have ever seen. It is time for us to rise up, lean deeper into His Spirit than ever before. In that we will reveal His Light shining in us across our nation and world.

And the second coming? There will come a day when Jesus Christ will return as the Prince of Peace and there will be true, everlasting peace. 

“His government and it’s peace will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice

from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.”

Isaiah 9:7 NLT

Until that time when Christ returns, sin still reigns upon the earth. The government of people past and present still rests up on the shoulders of various rulers. Yet, through His Spirit and His Scriptures; we can aspire to His government and it’s peace through fairness and justice. We do this by seeking God for a changed heart. If the people in our Country could aspire to live according to even two passages that Jesus spoke in The Sermon on the Mount; the strife in our nation would calm down. 

"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. 

This is the essence of all that is taught in the low and the prophets." 

Matthew 7:12 NLT

"You have heard the law that says, 

'Love you neighbor and hate your enemies!" 

The hatred in our country right now is epic. But gentle loving Jesus says: 

"Love your enemies! 

Pray for those who persecute you! 

In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven." 

Matthew 5:43,44 NLT

I am speaking to myself in this post, as well as you dear readers in the verses above. Don't we all need to be on our knees in prayer for all the people of our nation?

Tomorrow we will explore how the founders of our country aspired to a country of peace, fairness and justice as well as how America became a nation.

The Prince of Peace is Born

The Prince of Peace is Born

Today's Reading: Luke 2:11, Isaiah 9:6,7

 

"For there is born to you this day...
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Glory to God in the Highest
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
Luke 2:11

Birth of Christ - Carl Bloch

 "For unto us a child is born, 
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be 
upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, 
Counselor, Mighty God, 
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and 
peace there will be no end.
Upon the throne of David and 
over His kingdom, to order it 
and establish it 
with judgment and justice.
From that time forward, even forever."
Isaiah 9:6,7

 

In this world for the last 2,000 years since the coming of the Prince of Peace; there has been times of peace and times of war and strife. Right now in 2020, there is very little if any peace in America right now. The division is the strongest I have ever seen it. So when I look at the verse above: "Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men." I think, how can this be? Christ, the Prince of Peace has come. Why is there so much strife in our country and our world? An old familiar Christmas carol keeps coming to mind. Here is one of the many poignant verses:

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

This is the theme for this week. The Prince of Peace is Born. How does this apply in the day and age we live in? Stay tuned and more will come.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Praying you have a Blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends!

I hope in our gathering today to find time to share with one another what we are thankful for. Being thankful is not always easy if one is experiencing difficult times. One thing that never changes is the goodness of God though it may be hidden by clouds of our own despair. Even when our lives go through seasons of change, His goodness, love and compassion for His children who trust Him, never changes.

The First Thanksgiving

The Parable of Two Sons

Tuesday

Matthew 21:28-46



When Jesus came into the temple the day after He drove out the money changers, the chief priest and elders question Him,

"By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave you this authority?" 21:23 Jesus answered them with a question that ultimately would cut to the heart of their own salvation. Let's see how this plays out:

"I will tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question. 

Did John's authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?"

They discussed his question and reasoned that "'If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn't believe John. But if we say it was merely human, we'll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.' So they finally replied, 'We don't know.' And Jesus responded, 'Then I won't tell you by what authority I do these things.'" 21: 24-26

Then Jesus tells them the Parable of the Two Sons. Would they see themselves in this word picture?
What is a parable? Why does Jesus tell them? We will answer these questions.

Passion Week Readings

Saturday

This week is the week of all weeks... the week that changed the destiny of all mankind. It is the week of our Lords Passion as He looks toward His final, most important purpose in coming to this earth. He came to suffer and die as an innocent man, at the hands of sinful men. In paying the penalty of the sin of every human being to ever live; He made a way for all who believe in Him, to once again come to God. God created people to be close to Him, to walk with Him every day and talk to Him, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden. But, when they sinned they were separated from God. Tragically, all their descendants were also separated from God. Now here we are thousands of years later. When Jesus came, He was like a second Adam, to give humanity a whole new fresh start. He came to restore our connection with God through faith in Him and the sacrifice He made for us. As sinners we all deserve to die and be punished for our sins. He paid the price so that when we turn to Him and repent of our sins we are forgiven. Our innocence is restored and we can walk with Him again, in His Spirit.

You can share in His Passion, share His heart by reading in one or all of the gospels. In this last week of His life, He knew that He would soon leave this earth. In this remaining time He told His disciples the things that were most important to Him. Below I have listed His last week in each of the four gospel books.  All of these readings begin with the Triumphal Entry. Then they continue through the end of each book. I pray God will bless you each day as you look into Jesus' last week on this earth.

During this Passion Week, there will one or more posts everyday. They will post on the likely day of the week that they occurred. You will find that day at the top of each post.

Matthew chapters 21- 28: 

You will find in each gospel that the week begins with the Triumphant Entry. And then continues with the following: Parables of the Two Sons, the Wicked Vine Dressers and the Wedding Feast, the Greatest Commandment, Warnings about false religion, End Times, the Parables of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, The Talents, and the Sheep and the Goats. Then you will find the plot to kill Jesus, His betrayal, Passover, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, Betrayal, the Trials and His death on the cross, Jesus is buried, He is Risen and the Great Commission.

Mark 11-16: 

Beginning again with the Triumphant Entry, Parable of the Wicked Vine Dressers, Greatest Commandment, Warnings about false religion, End Times, the plot to kill Jesus, the anointing at Bethany, His betrayal, Passover, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, Betrayal, the Trials and the death on the cross, Jesus is buried, He is Risen and the Great Commission.

Luke 19- 24:  

The Triumphant Entry, Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem, Parable the Wicked Vine Dressers, the destruction of Jerusalem, End Times, Then you will find the plot to kill Jesus, Disciples argue over greatness, Passover, the Last Supper, Gethsemane,  Betrayal, the Trials and the death on the cross, Jesus is buried, He is Risen, Jesus appears to His disciples, Ascension.

John Chapters 12- 21:

The Triumphant Entry, the Grain of Wheat, Walk in the Light, Jesus washes His disciples feet, Jesus is the Way, The Father is revealed, Answered Prayer, Another Helper, the Spirit of Truth, Gift of His Peace, The True Vine, Love and Joy, the coming rejection, the Work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus prays for Himself, His disciples, and all other believers, His betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane,  the Trials and the King on a cross, Jesus is buried, the empty tomb, the apostles commissioned, and breakfast by the Sea.

Crucifixion