Humble & Mounted

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

This isn’t really the description found in most fairy tales of a prince arriving, is it?  Where’s the white horse?  And where is the royal entourage? 

Yes, this verse instructs the women to rejoice and shout aloud at the sight of their king’s arrival…on a donkey…humble…yet righteous and having salvation.

I remember one of the things I fell in love with in my husband was his humility, his complete trust in God, and the fact that he was in a wheelchair and never complained, when I first met him.  What a guy, I thought. I had already dated lots of guys who thought they were “all that” and those who were popular, by high school standards. 

Jesus comes to us offering us what he knows we need, not what we dream up in some fantasy from which we will awaken the next morning.

He knows we need a righteous king who offers salvation to us, and he knows that when we recognize him as king, we can’t help but rejoice and be glad.

Are you still waiting for your Prince Charming?  He’s right beside you, just notice Him. And rejoice!

His Name

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

One of our articles this month is taken from this very verse – the Real Stories column on the ENCOURAGEMENT page – read it if you have time!

I love these four names given to Jesus because they encompass his character and the fact that he meets every need we have throughout our lives.  What a great gift we have been given!

When we are confused and need direction, or wisdom for life, he’s our wonderful counselor.

When we need miracles and the ability to slay giants that taunt us, he is our mighty God.

When life on earth is cut short for someone we love, we have hope because he’s everlasting!

When turmoil is all around, and we’re in the middle of the storm, he’s the Prince of Peace!

We need no one and nothing else but Jesus.  And we can call on his name any time, day or night, and he’s there beside us to illuminate our path and lead us out of darkness into his light.

A Sign

Luke 2:12

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

We all know this fact. Jesus didn’t come to earth floating down on a magic carpet, dressed in royal purple, wearing a crown too big for his head, with fanfare and trumpets announcing his coming.

It’s a good reminder each Christmas season to think about this fact.

The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Prince of Peace, didn’t “announce” himself to his lowly subjects.  He came and appeared in the lowliest of places, among those he came to save, to become one of them.

Jesus came as a baby, grew up and matured in the same way we do, and experienced rejection, sorrow, and temptation. 

And why do we care?  Because we have a God who has been touched with all things familiar to us, starting from birth, and therefore we can come boldly to him in our deepest despair. We know that he’s a King who understands and cares, not one who looks “down” on us, but rather a Father who lifts “up” our head and brings us into his loving arms.

That’s the kind of Savior who loves us, this month of December.

The Star

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

These guys were traveling to see Jesus and kept looking to the skies, because they were told they were to follow the star to see the child who was born that night.

Stars don’t appear until the sun sets, and the sky is dark.  In fact, they are not visible at all on cloudy nights, even if the sky is black, because they are obscured by the clouds.  But the stars will arrive at night, because God has named them, calls them out one by one, and sets them in his fantastic array nightly – because that’s who he is – the governor of the universe.

I’m not a stargazer, so to speak, but I love a pretty night sky.  The prettiest one I’ve seen was in Sheridan, Wyoming, on a summer night of July 4, just before we watched it light up with fireworks.  We were in a long line of cars driving out in the middle of nowhere, not a tree to be seen, and the sky was pitch black.

If’ you’re in the dark right now, the sky is cloudy and all light is obscured, keep walking toward the direction you heard God say to you last, and keep looking up.

The clouds will dissipate, the stars will emerge, and you will rejoice when you see them.

What a cool way for God to lead these men to find his son, through one of the most sure things our eyes can see and experience – the emergence of light in the darkest of the night.

The Plan

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Jesus’ birth was planned long ago, and even before he came to submit himself to be a man on this earth, to die on the cross as a common thief for our sins, and to conquer death so that we could live forever with him, he brought us hope.  Even then.

God chose a virgin to conceive and give birth to his son.  And God chose his name, Immanuel, God with us, long before the actual event took place.

God is always about revealing to us the supernatural, the unimaginable, and the impossibility of our ways – so that he can demonstrate his ways – causing a virgin to give birth.

Isn’t that awesome?  Nothing in our present lives is too difficult for him to bring new life!

God  named his son, called him and sent him and ordained him to fulfill His plans and purposes long before it ever happened.

God has a plan for each of us as well, and he planned it long ago. 

Isn’t that awesome, as well?  God’s plans for us were called out long ago, and all we have to do is walk with him and trust that he will enable us to fulfill them in his timing and in his way.

What a beautiful thought to start out the Christmas season…

See & Rejoice

The end of Psalm 107

The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.  Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

We’ve come to the end of Psalm 107, and we’ve seen the ways of the Lord, and his deeds.

God isn’t a genie in a bottle, although we’d like him to appear when we rub our hands together and grant each wish we present to him.

However, he is a good, loving Father who knows just what we need on any given day or in any given year.  Nothing surprises him, and nothing we encounter is too difficult for him to provide a way out, and to set us on secure ground again.

If we are wise, we will give credence to His word and learn to trust in his unfailing goodness and love, obey his word, and “ponder” his loving deeds.

To ponder means to think over for a while, and while thinking we need to recognize that all that He does in our lives, every deed he performs, is love, because God is love.

When we prosper and enjoy all good things, He is love. 

When we suffer and cry out in despair, He is love.

Do you see it? 

He Lifts

Psalm 107 cont’d:

Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

he who pours contempt on nobles and made them wander in a trackless waste.  But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

Remember what we read yesterday about God’s blessings and fruitfulness? 

Today’s verse is the flipside of that picture.  Decrease, humility, calamity and sorrow.  Not something any of us desire to experience, but yet it happens. 

Look at your own children.  When they are on a winning team, they have a posse of best friends, their grades are all A’s, and they think they look like a million dollars, they’re on top of the world! But they are often hard to live with, because they become self-absorbed and obnoxious. 

It’s no different for us. Great blessings are awesome, and trees dripping with fruit are beautiful.  But someone worked hard to plant, cultivate and water that vineyard, right?

The hard times in life include those activities, because it’s in those times that deep roots are growing, pruning is taking place, and weeds are being pulled.

Even our children, though we find it hard to watch, need to experience a lost game or two, a friend who wounds, and a failing grade, as well as a zit on their faces.  They just have to, in order to grow up to be a mature, pleasant adults full of mercy and grace for others.

Don’t grow weary if you’re in a season of decrease.  Remember, He lifts the needy out of their affliction.