Jesus Made the Spiders

On the twelfth, Daniel turned two and a half, and he's all boy.  He loves garbage trucks and fire engines.  He loves excavators and steam trains.  He even knows the difference between a steam engine and a diesel electric locomotive.  He loves to wrestle, and he loves jumping into a pillow on my lap while I'm sitting on the couch.  He also loves bugs and spiders.

Three or four mornings a week I have Daniel while Annie serves coffee at Starbucks to sleepy-eyed Gig Harborites on their way to work.  I drive over to the Dannells and enjoy some quiet time with the Lord, waiting for him to wake up.  Once he is awake I take him into the back bathroom where his potty chair awaits him.  For the past couple of weeks, there has been a spider living in the corner above the bathroom door.  Daniel has been checking every morning to see if the spider is still there.  (I think it is dead, because it never moved.)  This morning, it was gone.  His eyes got real wide.  I asked him where he thought the spider went.  He said, "Grandma's."  (Oh, I  hope not.)  I got him dressed and into his car seat for the ten minute ride back to "Grandma's."  In those ten minutes, I sing to him - we look for big trucks, and we talk about all kinds of things.  We talk about school buses.  He loves school buses and we see a lot of school buses picking up children for school.  We talk about the moon.  It is still dark sometimes and I tell him that Jesus made the moon.  I point out the beautiful evergreen trees that Jesus made.  We talk about the misty fog that Jesus made, and the pink clouds that Jesus made, and the noisy crows that greet us - we talk about all the birds that Jesus made.  I tell him that Jesus loves him and the Bible tells us that and the Bible is all about Jesus.  As I was pulling him out of his car seat this morning, I decided to just say the word "Jesus," to see what his response would be.  He said, "Jesus made the spiders."  He still had that spider on his mind...

***
Jesus is the Creator.  He spoke and effortlessly, there was light.  He spoke again and effortlessly, there were the heavens.  He spoke again, and the waters gathered to their places, the oceans and the seas.  He spoke again and effortlessly, the dry land appeared.  The earth sprouted plants and flowers and fruit trees, all different kinds of vegetation.  Jesus spoke again and effortlessly, the sun and the moon and the twinkling stars appeared.  Then the sea creatures appeared, and the birds, and all the animals and creeping things, including spiders.  Then God spoke and said, "Let Us make man in Our image," and Jesus made man from the dust of the earth - finishing off His beautiful creation, effortlessly, in six days.

But soon man fell by not listening to the counsel of the Creator, and Jesus' good creation was plunged into sin.  Mankind needed a Savior.

Somewhere during creation week, Jesus spoke, and the angels were created.  And He created the angel that two thousand years ago spoke these words to a group of frightened shepherds,

"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."


The One Who created the heavens and the earth and all the good things in them had just joined the human race as an infant.  The One Who thought up oxygen would now breathe it in through a pair of tiny lungs after spending nine months being wonderfully knit in the womb of one of His creations.

Amazing.

The Creator, came to be our Savior.  The Creator came, to redeem lost and sinful mankind.  And He would thirty-some years later, go to a cross on behalf of a sinful world, made from the wood He'd created, and pay for the penalty for sin.

Truly, amazing.

***
"Yes, Daniel, Jesus made the spiders.  He made you and He made me.  Jesus is God, He loves you, and He is amazing."

Wishing all my friends a blessed Christmas, and take every opportunity you get to pour Jesus into the little ones in your life.  We can't save them.  That is up to the Creator.  But we can point them to the Savior - it's our calling, and a lot of fun...

Looking in His Face...

Every Sunday my pastor has something written in the bulletin, introducing his message.  I especially liked this last Sunday's and wanted to share it with you...

     When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after being with God, he covered his face so that when the glory of the Lord that came at his encounters with God on the mountain began to fade, the children of Israel would not notice.  (2 Cor. 3:7)  When instructions for the tabernacle were given so that Israel could worship God in the wilderness, a veil was erected to separate the most holy place from man.  God's holiness demanded that He remain separate from sinful man.
     For the first ten years of my ministry, every time I officiated at a wedding the bride wore a veil.  She would come down the aisle with her face covered.  Then, after the pronouncement of the marriage is given, her husband would lift the veil.  Seeing the sparkle in her eye, he would be the first to see her face in such a condition.  It was a very romantic part of the ceremony that has almost been totally lost.  
     The day that Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.  (Luke 23:45)  Man's sin was paid for and the barrier that had separated God from man since Eden was removed.  This visible reality exposes a spiritual truth.  Those whose sin has been paid for by the faith-applied blood of Christ have intimate access to God that is known by no other.
     Throughout the Old Testament, there are occasions when God appears to men in a preincarnate physical form called a theophany.  God no longer has to appear to men in theophanies, because He has exposed His face to all who wish to look upon Him in saving faith.  When our redemptive hope is placed on Christ as we turn from sin and look to Him for cleansing, our spiritual eyes are opened and we are able to see Him face to face.
     As we look forward to Christmas, we look into the manger in Bethlehem and there we see the face of God.  Looking into His face, we shall see what we ought to look like.  


When we look into the face of Jesus, in His Word, we are looking into the fullness of God and from His glory is where we draw our confidence - to be bold to share Jesus with others.  Jesus came, to save us from our sins and to give us abundant life.  That is the message He wants us to get out.  He will be with us, until He returns, at the end of the age.  Living like we believe that, we will boldly proclaim the good news, and lives will be changed into the image of Christ, for the glory of God.

God With Us - Our Satan and Death Conqueror

"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, 

He Himself likewise also partook of the same,

that through death He might render powerless

him who had the power of death,

that is, the devil.

and might free those who through fear of death

were subject to slavery

all their lives.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus as eternal God only, couldn't die.  In His divine nature alone, His life is indestructible.  If He couldn't die then He couldn't rise from the dead and it was His death and resurrection that conquered Satan and shattered sin and death.

The word "share" is from the Greek word koinonia.  It means to have fellowship, communion, or partnership.  It involves having something in common with others.  All human beings have flesh and blood.  In this we are all alike.  It is our common nature.  "Partook" is from a different Greek word - metecho.  This word has to do with taking hold of something that is not naturally one's own kind.  Jesus was not by nature flesh and blood.  He purposefully took hold of something which did not naturally belong to Him.

In celebrating the birth of Christ, we celebrate the Savior who added to Himself our nature of flesh and blood so that He could die and coming out on the other side in resurrection, He conquered Satan and shattered sin and death and the fear of death.  When we repent of our sin and receive Jesus, death no longer holds any power over us.  It is no longer terrifying.  It simply releases us into the presence of our precious Savior.

Jesus - Immanuel - God with us, putting on human flesh - to be our Satan, Sin, and Death Conqueror.  Our Eternal Life, so we could be with Him, forever.

Cookie Decorating at Grandma's

A Christmas Verse

 "For He was foreknown 

before the foundation of the world, 

but has appeared in these last times 

for the sake of you." 

1 Peter 1:20

That Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world means that the Father planned, before creation, to send the Son to save His chosen ones.  ("...who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..." 1 Peter 1:1c, 2a)  

A couple of truths pulled from this verse: 

The Father did not react at the Fall with a last minute fix.

"He...has appeared...for the sake of you..."  

We are loved...

I've never really thought of this as a Christmas verse, but it jumped out at me as one this morning...

Love His Smile

This picture of Tim was taken just over fourteen years ago.  It is one of my favorites - because it shows off his great smile - and I love his smile.  (No jokes about the glasses...)

Today is his birthday.

This is the man who's love for me has been steady, sure, unwavering, rock-solid, sacrificial, like Jesus love, for the last thirty-two years.  As secure as I am in the love of Jesus, I have been secure in his love.

Thank you, Lord, for Your love, and the love of this man.  I am so blessed, and undeserving.

It really is a great smile, isn't it?

With You Forever

"I will ask the Father, 

and He will give you another Helper, 

that He may be with you forever."

John 14:16

Just wanted to point you to another eternal security verse...

Jesus asked.

The Father gives.

No take aways.

Romans 11:29 -

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."


"Irrevocable" -  UNALTERABLE