Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Wednesday in the Word

 


Happy Wednesday, friends. 

I hope that by the time you read this you've spent time with Jesus. I don't always have that time with Him early in the morning, but by seven thirty or eight each morning, I am sitting down to pray and to read the Word of God. I don't tell you this to shame you, I say that to encourage you to do that and never to neglect time with Him every day. We have time to shop or watch tv or talk on the phone or play on social media, but have you spent time with Jesus? Do you spend as much time talking to Him about something as you do talking to others about something? These are good questions to ponder in your heart—and on that note, I am going to share a verse with you that Pastor Chuck read to us in the sermon Sunday, one that won't quite leave me alone.

But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. Luke 2:19

There are so many things going on in so many of our lives right now, and if not in our own lives, then in this world we live in. Do you ever just observe all that goes on around you in any given moment? Do you sit and wonder how people ever get by without the hope of Jesus and the knowledge that His Word is true? I was out doing Christmas things with Dad yesterday and I had that thought. People were hurrying in and out of stores quickly and so few were taking the time to see the others near them. There was a sense of being frantic and as much fun as Dad and I had together, it made me sad to see that reaction in people. 

On the flip side of that, are you ever just completely overwhelmed with something that you know was a move from the hand of God in a certain situation? I witnessed such a thing just Monday night. I have a friend whose sister has cancer and had to go to Mayo Clinic for surgery and the outcome was far more than we had ever dared hope for or could even imagine. God provided a miracle to my friend's sister and to her family and I, along with many others, had the privilege of being a tiny part of it as someone who prayed for her the day of her surgery. We had the faith to believe that God could give her a miracle, but we didn't know if He would. When we don't understand why or why not God does something, I refer to that as His sovereignty. We don't have to understand, but we can know and trust that He is sovereign and we know from Isaiah 55:8-9 that His ways are far better than our own.

Do you ever wonder what Mary must have felt, the night she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God that we read about in Luke 2? You can read the whole story in Luke 2:1-20. I love the verse above: she treasured up all those things in her heart and meditated on them. That word used for treasuring is from a Greek word that means to preserve or to keep close or safe. Why do we preserve things? We do that to keep them safe or to be forever preserved in time. Maybe Mary wanted to keep these things safe in her heart where she knew it would be forever preserved in time.

This makes me think of where we are right now in the time we live in. There are so many things going on around us in the dark world we live in and I have so many thoughts about all of it, but I keep the thoughts hidden in my heart and only those I am closest to know them. I talk to Jesus about them, because He knows what is in my heart and because sometimes I imagine Him sitting with me at my kitchen table while I have coffee and pray. I imagine my prayer as our conversation, much like I would have with my best friend. 

When I have this time with Him and pray these prayers and thoughts, I am keeping them safe in my heart for that moment, because I am waiting on Him to act and to make a move. I know and trust that He will at any given moment and I don't know what His move will be, but I have the faith to know and believe that He will help us through whatever happens in the future.

When my friend whose sister got that unexpected good report from the doctors there at Mayo Clinic, I know her heart was overwhelmed. Don't you know that Mary was overwhelmed with what was happening that holy night in Bethlehem? Don't you think she had many questions about what was to come? Maybe she had questions, maybe she didn't—but she believed and trusted in the Lord.

Don't so many of us have questions right now, in this present day?

I don't talk about my thoughts much, because they're reserved for Jesus. I can do that and leave my concerns and burdens at His feet and I trust Him with the outcome. When I pour out my heart to Him, He brings me peace that surpasses all understand (Philippians 4:7). When I talk to others about them, I find myself flustered and anxious.

Mary knew what had happened to her and she trusted the Lord because He sent to her an angel to tell her what would take place. She believed in her heart. She didn't have to talk to others, because she knew that what she had heard was true.


Today we have the Bible, which is the Word of God. John 1:1 tells us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

If you have faith that God is who His Word says He is, you have to trust in Him. If you have faith and when you trust Him, don't you long for Heaven? Our world is stained dark with sin and sin is what separates a sinner from God. The only way back to Him is through His Son, Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the world and He is our hope and our salvation. When I look around me, I long for a place I've never seen and I long for Jesus to return for us, our long expected King. 

I am going to leave you with some lyrics to a song I've had on repeat all week and the link to a video on YouTube. Watch the video and pay attention to the lyrics and turn it into your prayer, your praise and confession to God the Father and His Son, Jesus. 

Here is a link to the song and below are part of the lyrics to the song. 

Come, thou long expected Jesus
Born to set thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in thee
Israel's strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart
Born thy people to deliver
Born a child and yet a king
Born to reign in us forever
Now thy gracious kingdom bring
By thine own eternal spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone
By thine own sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne
By thine own sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne

I pray these words, the song and the lyrics to that song are a blessing to you. Don't just listen, turn them into your praise to the Lord. He alone is worthy of all our praise, if you're a believer and follower of Him. Speaking of that, do you know Him? If not, don't wait! Reach out to someone today, none of us are promised tomorrow. 


Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all. 



Jen.

2 comments:

Bri Runde said...

I do wonder what Mary felt like. I can't even imagine! Last night I was in tears listening and watching the video for "Here With Us" remembering what Jesus did for us and seeing Mary in anguish as she had to see her son being nailed to the cross.

Jennifer Goodwin said...

I haven't heard that song, I'm going to listen to it now! Another song that gets to me is one from Joseph's perspective. It's by either Big Daddy Weave or Mercy Me. Just reading what you wrote brings me to tears. ❤️

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