Christmas Feelings!

Excitement!  Joy!  Uncertainty.  Weariness. Frustration.  Worry.  FEAR.

It's likely that all of these feelings may invade your heart at some time in the weeks before Christmas this year.  And I also expect that many of them were evident in the hearts of the people involved when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 

Let’s imagine what Mary and Joseph may have felt.  I wonder if, as  …. 

                  They walked down the highway to the city of kings 
wondering what trials
this journey would hold.
They were weary.  They were worried, for she carried God’s Son.
Was there rest at the end of the road? 

As the night cooled the hillside,
and the turning of time
pulled the curtain of dusk on the day,
they rested a moment as they pondered their plight,
for they needed a warm place to stay. 

Moving again
down that highway
crowds of people passed by,
people rushing to the city we’re told.
People weary,
people worried,
people burdened with care,
wanted rest at the end of the road.

Then the stars in their glory
shown from heaven’s black sky.
Mary felt God's voice clear and pure,

“Fear not – I am with you, for you carry my child.
There’ll be rest when your journey is o'er."

Loved ones, are you weary?

Are you tired of the searching for this earthly life’s silver and gold?
Are you burdened with worries?
Have you been disappointed by people you’ve loved,
or burdened by what you’ve been sold? 

Just know that God loves you.
He’ll be there on your journey.
If you hand Him your burdens, and tell Him your troubles
he’ll give you rest at the end of the road.

Christmas 2021 He is Truth

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord  Luke 2:11 (KJV)

In this world of broken promises, and "truths" that are not real,

in this world of broken people, and pains that have not healed,

seeking folks can find the Truth, God promised and fulfilled.

The Truth was born an infant child, 

The Christ, The Truth revealed.

God gave a promise long ago,

repeated oft so we could know.

The Savior would be born one day

to live, and love and be The Way.

  

The one God’s prophets said we’d find,

Jesus, the Savior of mankind. 

To this world of broken promises, and "truths" that were not real

and broken people, hurting people, pains that would not heal,

God sent the only one who could

 provide for us the way

to the life of healing, joy and peace

God planned for us today

Jesus,

The Life

The Truth

The Way.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  John 14:6 (NIV)

Jesus doesn't say, I'm providing a way or I'm telling you the truth, He Said, He is the way, and the truth.  

Our world tells us that we can make our own truth, or we can find our own way.  But if we depend on ourselves alone, it's not enough.  

God has given us the answer to all our needs.  The answer is the fact that He has promised to be with us.  He was called Immanuel, Jesus, God with us.  He came and He IS!

God bless you on this December day.

Christmas 2021 Was there peace?

Was there peace in Bethlehem 2000 years ago?

When the Christ, the Holy Son of God, was born, did stillness flow? 

Were the streets of Bethlehem peaceful and serene, with quiet steps and whispered words - a special Christmas scene?

People will say there was no  peace in the city there -

with soldiers marching,

merchants selling,

beggars pleading,

voices yelling – no peace found anywhere.

 But deep in my heart, 

I picture instead, peace for the Child

in his rough manger bed. 

I believe that 

In the stable God harbored our Savior with peace.
He protected and watched Him that night

And in the sheepfold, He proclaimed to the shepherds His peace, as Bethlehem’s sky burned with light.

In her heart, I believe, God gave Mary his peace, though trials surrounded Christ’s birth.

And I believe that He came to bless us with The Peace that transcends what we see here on earth.

Do you think that possibly we’re looking in the wrong places? Do you think that possibly we’re expecting the wrong type of peace?

Christ talked of HIS peace in John 14:27 when He said “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

God's peace is supernatural.  It's not always what we expect.  But, I believe it's the  confidence that God has our world in His hands - and our every-days in His heart.  

It would sometimes be so nice to shut out the world, to be unable to hear the clamor and the noise. Sometimes we can do that for a time, but the world continues to intrude. Where can we go to get away from the feelings of unrest – only to God.

In Luke 24, the writer tells us about the time when Jesus was sleeping in the boat when the storm came up. The disciples were frightened – they thought they were going to drown. They woke him and He calmed the storm. God was in charge of the storm. He’s in charge of the storms in your life, too. Go to Him , ask for His help. He’ll calm your heart if you accept his peace.

John 16:33 “ I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.”

From "These my Christmas Dreams,"

by Diane Gruchow Published 2008

Xulon Press

Christmas 2021 Why? His Love!

 

We asked a question yesterday - Why?  Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus?  Maybe it's because God loves us so much.

God loves us with the love of a perfect Father.  

Picture the pain that you and I have brought into the lives and hearts of those people who love us.  (Because pain is always worse when it's brought on by people you love.)  And when I think about that, knowing how much the holiness of God overshadows what love human relationships portray, I'm so amazed and humbled at His love and forgiveness for me.  And what He was willing to do to mend that bond between us.

Could we ever know the Father's heart,
His love,
His grief,
His pride,

as Jesus left His heavenly home, to live here at man’s side?

 

He wouldn’t be gone in heavens vast time, 

more than the wink of an eye.

But God Knew what would happen during that time,

and He and His Son both knew why.

 

The void left in heaven when the Son came to earth

was felt by the angels on high.

But the Father and Son knew what had to be done.

He would be born,

live and love,

and then die.

 

But with grief comes great joy when the cause is divine,

just as birth is preceded by pain.

Christ would leave for a time

and be born as a child,

to bring back God’s children again.

 

There was work to be done,

a price to be paid.

Our sin took us far from God’s way.

God knew there was one way to bring mankind back

And God knew the price,

Jesus

would pay.

 

Could we ever know the Father’s heart,

His love,

His grief,

His pride,

When Jesus left His heavenly home, to live here at man’s side?

From "These my Christmas Dreams," 

by Diane Gruchow Published 2008

Xulon Press

Christmas 2021 The beginning

Dear Friends, 

This is a special season for all of us.  The season of Advent - Do you wonder why? 

During the few weeks leading up to our celebration of Christmas, of the birth of our Savior, I'd like to spend some time asking myself that question.  

Why?

Why even celebrate the fact that a baby called Jesus was born over 2000 years ago?  

Of course we celebrate that 

Jesus, the Son of God, was born on this earth. 

That angels appeared in the sky to tell of His birth.

We recognize 

The shepherds who came to visit Him.

And wise men who followed a star to find Him.

But we also know that 

there was no room for Him in Bethlehem.

But the question is still hanging out there - Why?  Why do we celebrate?  Let's start at the beginning. 

From a formless void - the words of God
thundered creation in!
 
The universe split,
the stars blinked alive,
and time was about to begin.
 
From a timeless place
the works of God
became constrained by time and by space.
The seasons, the years,
and the minutes and days were then given to us by God’s grace.
 
From the mind of God a world came alive,
designed and controlled by the King.
The land, and the sea, and the bird, and the beast,
are born,
and the world starts to sing.
 
But
from this sinless world, the man, made by God,
who was formed with a touch of God’s hand,
walked away from his God at a moment in time,
and caused sin to enter the land.
 
Then
From His gracious heart
the God of love determined there would be a way
to bring back mankind,
so He set forth a plan,
and He scheduled the hour and the day.
 
And,
“When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, 
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem those that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Gal 4:4-5 (KJV)

From "These my Christmas Dreams," 

by Diane Gruchow Published 2008

Xulon Press

The Wall

 

God walked with the man and woman in the garden.  He knew their stride, the way they moved.  He knew their strengths and limitations and they knew Him.  They felt him there. They heard Him.  He was close. They were His children. They were held in the arms of their Father.  They were family.

But as they grew familiar with life they decided they didn’t need His direction and they didn’t necessarily want Him to know them.  They wanted to walk alone.

They left Him of their own free will.  They weren’t forced away from home.  They built a wall that would stand between them and home – between them and their Father, their Creator so they left Home behind the wall they had erected.

God couldn’t live inside that wall.  It wasn’t His wall, so He wouldn’t climb it or tear it down.  He told His children they were to leave the freedom of the garden.  He would no longer be right there in their sight – because of the wall they had built.  

But He also promised that someday, when “The fullness of time” had come, He would send a carpenter to carry that wall away. 

That carpenter would be the Son of God, and of His own free will, in His humanity, He would be the perfect one to destroy the wall

The carpenter would walk with mankind.  He would feel their humanness.  He would know of their desire to live with the wall.  He would live as a man, but only as God had originally planned for them to live.  The carpenter would live as a clear unblemished, see-through man, and that would remind them of the goodness they had shut out with the wall.  And they would then see the Father, once again.

And it happened!  When the fullness of time had come – it happened.

God sent His Son (fully divine), made of a woman (fully human.) 

He sent His own Son to tear down that wall.  The Son pulled the wall down on himself.  He chose to take that wall on his own shoulders, and it killed Him.  That wall made of the bricks of sin and self we humans want to love, or use, or keep, again and again. 

Those bricks that men love killed the Son - the Rescuer, the perfect One.

But the wall doesn’t need to separate men from God any longer.  Man can stop building because Jesus has already torn that wall down brick by brick. 

If we come back home to our Father, we can walk with Him in the garden again.  And, even though the Son, the carpenter, gave His life to destroy the wall, that was not the end. 

He rose again.  He not only overcame the wall of sin, but He overcame the death that was the result of that sin, the result of man walking away from God’s presence.

Again, God walks with His people, the children who understand His love and His compassion and His willingness to welcome them home – if only they look up and take a step toward his welcoming arms.

Love Diane

Psalms 96 - Praise

 

“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!” Psalm 96:1 (ESV)

Sometimes, at 81 years old I find it hard to sing – yes, my heart can sing, but the voice is not what it was and sometimes the jaw muscles spasm a bit. 

This Psalm says, “Sing to the Lord.“  

As I worship the one who rules and reigns over my world, I wonder if I can sing to Him a song that is NEW, a song that I have never sung before, a song that truly, newly expresses how much I adore Him?

“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth.”

This earth does sing.  Sometimes the song seems to tell of creation’s lament - and even anger, at what mankind has brought into it.  But, created by God’s word, our universe does sing songs of praise, and if we listen with knowledge of the creator, we hear that song, beautiful and clear.

Do you hear that song this beautiful Autumn morning?  I do.  The leaves, dressed in Orange and Red and Yellow, sing “Look up! God is the God who made us, who made each one beautiful.”  Those leaves say, “GOD IS!  Praise to Him”  They sing  . 

Look up!
Lift up your head!
He’s still there.  Our God is not  dead. 

Perceive!
Believe!
He claims!
He sustains! 

He ordains!
He reigns!

In all the earth, we praise His Name. 

It’s comforting and wonderful to know that God made the beauty of the seasons.  He made that beauty for the Fall of the year, the season when creation is getting ready for a winter’s rest. 

God, Father, Creator, Savior, please help us to see!  Help us to see and to hear all creation shouting, singing beautiful praises to you. 

And please hear the song in my heart of praise and gratitude to you.

 Diane 2021