Unlike any other

 

Unlike any other

 

          Maybe like me you’ve had some wild not so great days.  What kind of day are you talking about Zac?  Let me borrow a line from the lore of the Avengers.  If you’ve ever read an Avengers comic book you know it always begins with this.  “And there came a day unlike any other……”  See the Shepherds were about to have a night unlike any other. 

Luke 2:8-20

          “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified.  But the angel of the Lord said to them. ‘Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

          So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

          The shepherds were some of the lowliest people on earth.  But God saw fit to involve them.  When we’re having those days unlike any other where things don’t seem to be going right we need to look to God and be thankful for the gift of Jesus coming to live and die to redeem a fallen world.  We need God’s love and compassion from the mighty to the small all of us need it.  I want to direct you to a verse that has been getting me through some bad days. 

Isaiah 49:13

          “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!  For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” 

          The ending of this blog has changed so much since I began working on it earlier this week but I think this is the correct way to end it with lyrics from a song. 

          “When my plans have fallen through
And when my strength is nearly gone
When there's nothing left to do but just depend on You
And the power of Your name

And as we call upon Your name
Your strength through weakness to show
We can know the masters plan extend the masters hand
When we come in the name of the Lord

There is strength in the name of the Lord
There is power in the name of the Lord
There is hope in the name of the Lord
Blessed is He, who comes in the name of the Lord”

 

 

In the Name of the Lord by Sandi Patti

 Joy/ Unspeakable Joy by Chris Tomlin

He who began a good work by Steve Green 

Mighty to Save by Laura Story

Emmanuel by Point of Grace 

Emmanuel by Amy Grant/ Anthem Lights 

O come let us adore him by Passion

 

Get it Stuck

 

Get it stuck

 

There are things that get stuck in your mind.  Song lyrics, wrestling promos, movie quotes, Gettysburg address Commercial Jingles and more.  I have a dog with a bad attitude, and I’ve been known to tell her.  “Ah stick it in your pointy ear” 

            The prophet Isaiah was sent by God to get things said but he needed the hearer to not only hear what was said but to but to have the things he said go from ears, written scrolls but also get stuck in people’s hearts.  When Isaiah was first starting his ministry, this was how things happened. 

Isaiah 6:9-10

            “He said, ‘Go and tell this people: be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing but, never perceiving.  Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’”

            See you can hear what God says, and read it, but God wants it to go past your eyes, ears and mind and get stuck in your heart and change you.  Don’t harden your heart because it’s time for a refresher course about who God is.

Isaiah 8:13-15

            “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear.  He is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.  And for the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.  Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

Isaiah 46:8-13

            “Remember, this fix it in mind, take it to heart you rebels.  Remember the former things those of long ago, I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.  From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far off-land, a man to fulfill my purpose.  What I have said I will bring about; what I have planned I will do.  Listen, to me you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness.  I am bringing my righteousness; it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed.  I will grant salvation to Zion my splendor to Israel.”

 See I mentioned wrestling promos at the beginning and like any promo you have your points you are making and then your Go Home Line, as in what can you the participant take home from all this. It’s simple there’s 3 principles to life we all need to remember.  1.  There is a God! 2.  You are not Him! 3.  There is no vacancy!  Bottom lined the whole blog for you.

 

Cornerstoneby Leon Patillo

You are Godalone by Phillips, Craig and Dean

ConsumingFire by Third Day

God and Godalone by Steve Green

Different Plans

 

Different Plans

 

          As a person I don’t react well to change.  I’ve had some thrust on me lately some big and some small.  Change causes me to fear and at times be angry.  Fear is a little bit of an ironic enemy to me because some of my favorite comic book characters are Green Lanterns who are told “You have the ability to overcome great fear.”  You see fear is a liar it tells you to worry and not trust God.  With as little sense as our lives may be making you probably need these verses as much as I do.  I kept thinking of the song Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrds when reading Ecclesiastes 3 because that’s what the song was based on.  Yes, there is a time and place for every purpose under Heaven But it is verses 9-14 that help us realize God’s purpose and sovereignty. 

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

 

          “What does the worker gain from his toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on men.  He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for men to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.  God does it so men will revere Him.” 

Then we need these next verses to fix our gaze.

Psalm 31:14-16

 

          “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.  Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.”

Philippians 1:6

 

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

 

Changes in our lives won’t always make sense but God’s not done with us and we need to trust Him because His ways are better. 

 

 

 

 

Turn TurnTurn by Adie

Fear is aLiar by Zach Williams

Heaven inthe Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

You Hold menow by Rebecca St James

All I needis you by Adie

Healer byKari Jobe

BeautifulThings by Gungor

 

Closer Look

 

Closer Look

 

          So this week I started taking another look at the first Christmas.  I read Matthew 1-2 and I found some things I never really noticed before.  I saw Joseph, Mary’s husband a little differently.  Joseph is a thinking man He is also a man of action.  Matthew 13:55 says he was a carpenter.  I’ve been around carpenters My mom and dad have both worked as carpenters.  They have even worked with a group of Baptist men and women called Hammer Slammers who build churches.  Being a carpenter means Joseph is a man who knows things.  He can put things together in his head and make them happen.  So when he was told something by God he processed it more than likely to the end result.  But he was also a righteous man.  That’s a title any God-fearing man should aspire to.  He also knew his story was not about him but about Jesus.

 

Matthew 1:18-25

 

          18This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagementh quietly.

20As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,i for he will save his people from their sins.”

22All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!

She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel,j

which means ‘God is with us.’”

24When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Matthew 2:13-23

          13After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”e

16Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18“A cry was heard in Ramah—

weeping and great mourning.

Rachel weeps for her children,

refusing to be comforted,

for they are dead.”f

The Return to Nazareth

19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”

21So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

 

          Joseph was warned in dreams more than once and does what God tells him.  No Hesitation just did it.  He’s very much a man of action.  He also trusts God when it seems like nothing makes sense.  But the star of all this is not Mary or Joseph.  You may hear a lot of people say “Thank you Baby Jesus.” But he’s not a baby anymore. And If you are praying to his mom you are praying to the wrong person. Jesus was the star of the show and always will be.  He came to live and die and come back to life and Save us from our sins. God gives us many chances to turn to Him for salvation which can only be found in one person that is in Jesus Christ.  See Christmas is about a rescue mission it’s about redemption.  Without it we don’t have the sacrifice on the cross. 

 

 

Strange way to save the world by 4 Him

Go tell it on the mountain by FrancescaBattistelli

Hark the herald Angels by Jewel

We are the reason by David Meece

People get ready by Misty Edwards

Creed by Petra

Marching Orders

 

Marching orders

 

          On Saturday I was watching this cartoon called Young Justice on the DC Comics streaming network and on this one episode Miss, Martian, Robin the Boy Wonder, Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad and Artemis all wake up in different places and have no memory of the mission.  As Christians we’re on a mission ourselves and sometimes we lose sight of it.  We need a reminder.  God has called us to reach the lost who don’t follow God.  Our mission parameters also hold us responsible. 

Proverbs 24:11-12

          “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this.’  Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not he who guards your life know it?  Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” 

          Churches are supposed to be on a rescue mission we’re like John Rambo trying to rescue the POW’s in First Blood part 2.  Some of you have bought into the thought that we’re expendable when a lost and dying world need us more than ever!  The band Petra compared the Christian church to a sleeping Giant and they were right it needs a wakeup call.  Are we pointing others to God or are we just playing church?  Get back in the rescue mission!  Our mission orders though we may have forgotten them remain the same. 

2 Peter 3:8-9

          “But do not forget this one thing dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

          “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God For it is written ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him.  God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

Romans 1:16

          “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

 

          I want to conclude with this from a song called Face the Nation by 4 Him

          “We tell the Lord we'll go
Where He would have us serve
But sometimes honest vows
Become just token words
Never fulfilling the call
That's been given
When just outside our door
There waits a world in need
So many breaking hearts
That only He can see
We have the power that's found
In His Word
But we have to reach out
If we're gonna be heard

And Jesus said to them, "Go, therefore
And make disciples of all nations.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father
And the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching
Them to observe all that I commanded
You. And lo, I am with you always, even
To the end of the age." (Matt. 28: 19-20)”

 

 

 

 

Sleeping Giant by Petra

 

Face the Nation by 4Him

 

Until the Whole World hears by Casting Crowns

 

Independence Day by Whiteheart

 

You can see the World by Whiteheart

 

 

 

Gracious

 

Gracious

 

          It’s an often used word.  We use it as an exclamation when saying “Goodness gracious.”  We call people a gracious host or hostess.  Recently I finished reading through Psalms and I saw it a few times.  A few nights ago I read the word again. And it got me thinking so I had to use the google monster to get a better understanding of the word gracious.  Gracious: behaving in a polite, kind and generous way, especially to people of a lower rank.  A gracious act by or gift from God is kind and forgiving.  Also it means being kind, thoughtful and aware of others. 

          There’s a specific passage I thought of when I considered the word gracious.  But first a history lesson.  Numbers 6:24-26 is a High Priestly blessing given by God to Moses to give to the High Priest Aaron to speak over the people of Israel.  Being a preacher’s kid, I have heard my dad speak this over the church congregation.  I have heard other preachers use it too.  It has been turned into a song by Misty Edwards called “Light of Your Face” and that song has one of the coolest guitar riffs you’ll ever hear.  Michael W. Smith quotes it at the end of his cover of the Rich Mullins song “I See You” on his cd Worship Again.  He also used it in the Bible reading plan Still day 3 on the Youversion app.

Numbers 6:24-26

 

          “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.  The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

          One of the definitions mentioned being kind towards a person of lower rank.  We as humans are created just a little lower than the angels as mentioned in Hebrews 2:6-8  This next verse I’m going to share should be our prayer because we need God to deal kindly with us.  This was the verse that started this whole blog you’re participating in.  It got me thinking about the word Gracious. 

Isaiah 33:2

 

          “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you.  Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” 

 

          I mentioned before that the verses in Numbers were a song and I want to end with that. 

 

O Lord, bless me
And keep me
Cause Your face
To shine on me
Lord, be gracious
Let the light of Your countenance
Give me peace

[Chorus]
For I live only
To see Your face, so shine on me
For I live only
To see Your face, so shine on me

[Verse]
O Lord, bless me
And keep me
Cause Your face
To shine on me
Lord, be gracious
Let the light of Your countenance
Give me peace

[Chorus]
For I live only
To see Your face, so shine on me
For I live only
To see Your face, so shine on me

 

 

 

Light of your face by MistyEdwards

I see you by Michael W.Smith

My Soul songs for you byMisty Edwards

Like Innocence/ Sometimes byStep by Hillsong

Ever Be by Bethel Music

Repurpose and Refocus

 

Repurpose and Refocus

 

          We live in a very chaotic time.  Life in America is crazy right now.  Things at my job and maybe yours have been probably crazy too.  I’ve felt a bit like I’ve had a loss of focus and purpose for a few days.  If you’re not a writer, it may be hard to grasp.  Let me try to explain.  If you follow the Marvel Avengers movies there’s a scene where Tony Stark uses this round object to prop up a machine to work on his Iron Man armor.  A few movies later the same object gets repainted and becomes the shield of Captain America.  Sometimes we like that shield let our focus and attention in life get on things when we need to get our focus and purposes of our life back on God.  Real life example.  I have to work on benefits for my insurance.  You can ask my wife Marion I very much became upset and angry with the design of the website and the people not answering the phone.  My attention and focus much like that shield must be repurposed. 

          We need a fortress, a refuge, and a fountain.  For those of you paying attention that just gave me the Scooby-Doo confused look just wait it will make more sense momentarily. 

Proverbs 14:26-27

          “Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.  The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life turning a person from the snares of death.” 

          We first need a healthy respect for God and we need to seek him and get our eyes off ourselves.   

Colossians 3:1-4

          “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in Glory.” 

          It’s a battle for our attention that we are fighting.

1 Peter 5:6-9

          “Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.  Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 

          This is part of a song by Kim Hill and it’s so deep we need to remember where our attention and focus should be. 

          “Holy, You are still holy

          Even when the darkness surrounds my life

          Sovereign, you are still sovereign

          Even when confusion has blinded my eyes

          Lord, I don’t deserve your kind affection

          When my unbelief has kept me from your touch

          I want my life to be a pure reflection

Of your love”

 

I want to conclude with two more things from Audio Adrenaline and Degarmo and Key.  This is another reason I always mention there are links to the music in the written portion of the blog because I do quote the songs and give you a chance to listen to them.  It’s like getting a mini church service in a blog because you are also given a chance to praise God.

“I’m a season past springtime

And my life has gone bloom

Keep my eyes on the father

Everything is in bloom.”

 

“I can feel it tuggin'
This world, it tries to slow me down
I won't give up one inch of ground
Headed for the future
I leave behind the past
Walking with my Savior
I know, I know, I know I'm free at last
Right on track
Pressing forward, won't look back
Right on track
With my eyes on Jesus
I'm right on track”

 

 

 

 

You are still holy by Kim Hill

Weak Days by Steven Curtis Chapman

O, Praise the name by Hillsong

Right on Track by Degarmo and Key

Just be Held by Casting Crowns

Memoir by Audio Adrenaline

 O the Blood by Selah

Nothing but the blood by Kelly Park