One for Christmas

 bob-maclafferty, christmas  1 Response »
Dec 132010
 

One.

One young girl.

One scared teenaged girl, in the dark of the morning, sees a powerful figure enter her small bedchamber. She shrinks into a corner as a glowing light fills the room. Suddenly, he speaks, his deep voice resonates, vibrating the floor-

Good morning!
   You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
   Beautiful inside and out!
   God be with you.  Luke 1:28 The Message

Somehow, a sense of total goodness fills the room! She feels an incredible peace emanating from the figure, coupled with a piercing sensation of rightness and truth. Her senses are completely overwhelmed and she begins shaking with abject fear. Again he speaks, this time in a calming whisper-

 Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. Luke 1:30-31 The Message

“But, but, but I’m not,

I’ve never,

Joseph hasn’t,

Oh, Joseph!

But why me?

Why now?

But, how?

Who?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, ….nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1  NIV

Minutes pass, or was it years?

“Yes”, she whispers finally. “Yes! I don’t know why, but yes”.

Her voice raising, “I don’t know how, but yes!

“Yes!” she finally shouts, Yes!”

And in the dark of that morning, before the son came up, before the Son came,

In a blinding flash of heat and light,

With a rush of wind,

Lifting, holding, covering,

The voice. That Voice! Was it the pound of ocean waves?  The crash of thunder? The piercing blast of a trumpet? Or all of them rolled into a single quiet voice filled with power, peace, and love-

“I am!” the Voice said.

“He is!” the Voice spoke again.

And heaven came down,

and Glory filled,

filled her soul, her mind, her heart, her all!

And then there were

Two.

The Reason for the Season… really?

 bob-maclafferty, christmas  No Responses »
Dec 132010
 

Since my girls were little, we’ve practiced our version of the twelve days of Christmas. Our version, making a break with tradition, starts twelve days before Christmas. Each day, they find a small gift under the tree. It might be lip gloss, a colorful and cozy pair of socks, a discounted DVD, a scarf. Five bucks or less.

I’m sure we are not alone in feeling the economic pinch that suggests we keep spending to a minimum. fortunately, the season is not, or at least should not, be about the transfer of wealth. Our twelve days of gift giving allow us to experience generosity and joy, unselfishness and sacrifice, anticipation and thankfulness, grace and wonder. All the things that the real Christmas is actually about!

Although I’ve experienced several dozen Christmas seasons, I entered this one as usual, looking forward to the lights and the music and impatient with the commercialism. Many of us mumble positive comments about the babe in the manager, angels, Mary, and the livestock, but is the whole thing really clicking in our minds? Or is it just another mildly supportive holiday with a strange mix of religious tradition and cutesy, secular folklore?

Around the first of December, listing to some music I hadn’t heard for twelve months, I was overwhelmed with the need to make this season real to me in a slightly different way. I am planning to write a new post each day until the 25th to help make that happen for me. I know that God has a journey planned for the next twelve days.

I hope and pray that my experience will be a blessing to you. Please feel free to comment and to share these twelve with anyone.

Isaiah 63 Treasure part 7

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Nov 092010
 

One day a couple of years ago, I got a call from one of my daughters at school saying that she was feeling very sick. I drove quickly to the school and found her laying on a couch in the chaplain’s office, surrounded by concerned friends. I helped her to her feet and she walked unsteadily out into the hallway with my arm around her for support. She soon slumped against me, too dizzy and weak to stand. I swept her into my arms and carried her through the hall and out to the car. Teenager or not, sometimes the right place to be is in daddy’s arms!

A few days ago, something was different in the pattern of my days and I spent most of the time on my feet for part of a week. That and some time spent barefoot at home on hard floors made the soles of my feet sore and tired. I just wanted to be able to keep my feet up.

Do you ever feel like the pressure on your feet is just too much? By the end of the day, do you feel more like melted jello than a mighty oak?

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

If you feel like that, you are carrying something you were never meant to carry. What is that something? It’s you! Just like me, ready and willing to lift my daughter when she’s down, God is even more ready to do that for you. He’ll lift you and carry you as long as you let Him.

I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:7-9 NIV

Father, give me the strength to be weak today. Remind me not to try to do by myself what only You can do for me. Pick me up, hold me close, never let me go. You promised. I’m asking. Let others around me  see me floating today and wonder why!

Isaiah 63 Treasure part 6

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Nov 032010
 

Redeem.  What comes to mind when you hear that word? I asked my family abut that this last weekend. My dad reminded us of something that only the more seasoned of you might recall: Green Stamps! Wayhahayyy back when, in the time before cellular, even before faxes and pushbutton phones, certain stores would give out these stamps along with your purchase. They would get carefully saved by licking and sticking them in a book. When the book [or books] were full, they could be redeemed either through the mail or at a redemption center for cool stuff like a portable AM radio or a set of curlers. Wow!

Dictionary definitions for the word redeem include to buy, to buy back, to make up for.

Let’s try a different word. Ransom. What images come to mind? Our family could only think of negative and scary ones. Images involving kidnapping and slavery.  Images of losing precious loved ones.Ransom. In the 1990’s Mel Gibson movie by that title, he is a father driven to go to any length to get his kidnapped son back.  Ransom. Dictionary says the redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person. It’s a noun. It’s a verb. Ransom. Redeem.

What I make is mine. What I create, I own. God created us. He lovingly designed us, breathed His life into us so that we could freely return His love. But, we freely chose to move away from Him, choosing a life of selfishness and following a sinister imposter who enslaved us.

 In his love and mercy he redeemed them;

When someone is kidnapped, stolen from the ones who loved them, a price, the ransom, is extorted from them. They are asked to pay for something that they originally owned! In the Old Testament, law allowed for a family member to redeem, or buy back, property that had been lost through debt in order to keep it in the family.

It wasn’t enough for God that we belonged to Him in the first place. When we strayed from Him, He loved us so much that He bought us back with a price so high, so horrible, so bloody, that it is hard to understand. The price was His Son. The price was willingly and freely paid with no guarantee of getting us back! The price was paid, knowing that some would actually choose to remain enslaved!

I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:7-9 NIV

Oh Father, You loved us first. You loved us best. You love us still. Even when we don’t love you back! How can You do that! Am I that important to You?

Amazing love,
How can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
-Chris Tomlin

Isaiah 63 Treasure Part 4

 bob-maclafferty, Uncategorized  1 Response »
Oct 122010
 

 “I feel your pain.” “I know exactly how you feel!”

Really…. Really?

How often have you heard these words from others around you? Are they occasionally true? Maybe. Are they ever completely true? Probably not. How can another truly know the pain that you are experiencing?

Are these phrases as meaningful as telling a child that “this hurts me as much as it hurts you” just before applying the hand of justice to the seat of understanding?

We, all of us, long for someone to understand just how we feel when faced with  sorrow, grief, pain, anger, and disappointment in our lives. We share these things with those around us only to realize that we can’t quite get others to truly get it. Somehow, because they see things differently, maybe due to background, personality, or a thousand other factors, they just don’t fully understand it.

In all their distress he too was distressed,

 There is One who can. There is One who knows us so well that He can truly understand. There is One who knows exactly how we tick. Why? Because he made us! Because we are part of Him! Jesus the Son who created us, who lived with us, who died with us. And His Father, our Father. And His Spirit.

Just like a human parent agonizing over the pain of a child, aching to take her place, so our God feels our every pain, longing to take it from us.

 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:7-9 NIV

Jesus, You know what’s bothering me this morning. You feel my discouragement, You understand my anger. You share my pain. Thank You for always being right here. Thank You for always being ready for me to unload on You. Thank You for shouldering my burdens, leaving only peace behind in their place.

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