Claire's Prayer

As I considered December, I could sense that extraordinary moment, as if an orchestral symphony was beginning an incredible crescendo.  The hint that something was about to explode in magnificence and splendor.  The cherry on top of the cake, the final flourish, the knowledge that something epic was about to happen – and it does!  “𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙖 𝙎𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙.”  (Luke 2:11) Christmas, the crowning achievement of a year filled to the brim with miracles.  The Creator becoming the created!

Mary understood the miracle of that very first Christmas. She knew the astonishing significance of this one, grace filled, day. Luke 1:46 tells us, “𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙: “𝙈𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧.”  From the moment the angel appeared to Mary she began to magnify the LORD; she rejoiced in her God and Savior. Words of praise and adoration spilled from her lips, Mary did not magnify the LORD merely in her thoughts but with her voice! Loud and full of rejoicing!

I remember as a child being fascinated with the microscope at my father’s office. My Dad would take a tiny ant and place it under the glass, and I would jam my eye against the eyepiece.  Suddenly I could see every detail, every hair on that little ant’s leg, its alienlike eyes looking back at me. I’d gasp with wonder, it was incredible! 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱!  You see, the more you magnify your Savior the greater He becomes, and the greater He becomes the more you magnify Him! Of course, we cannot make our wonderful, mighty God any greater than He already is or even begin to imagine His actual greatness, but when we magnify our LORD, make known His marvelous deeds, proclaim His abundant goodness then He becomes greater in our eyes. He becomes elevated in the eyes of those around us who hear our proclamation! Faith grows bigger and hope shines brighter.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, proclaim His abundant goodness and shout His great name in an epic crescendo of praise! Let’s bring our gift of worship to the King of Kings, the Savior of the world, and make His deeds known among the people!  Let’s join with the angels in shouting, “𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙣!” (Luke 8:14)

Christmas really has to be my favorite time of the year. It’s a time of miracles, a time when God’s goodness and grace is put on display. Christmas lights illuminate the darkness, and hot chocolate warms us to the tips of our toes! It’s a time to give gifts, give to those less fortunate, and give of our time. Everywhere we look it seems as though the very air itself is electrified with the possibility of a great and glorious miracle.

Albert Einstein said this; “𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲.” Of course, the greatest miracle of all and the very reason for this season is the birth of a Savior; “𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙, 𝙖 𝙎𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙.” Luke 2:11

On that day when the shepherds heard these words, they fell down and worshipped the Savior. When the wise men saw Him after his birth they didn’t coo or make funny faces at the newborn King, they fell down and worshipped Him. Both groups saw the miracle, they discovered their Messiah, one who would rescue them from the great and overwhelming shadow of death. They knew that the appropriate response was to worship at the feet of Jesus.

It’s so easy to lose the wonder of it all, to forget the virgin birth, to forget that a dozen prophecies were fulfilled in a single moment, to rush through this season stressed about finding the perfect gift and throwing the best Christmas party! Instead, let’s spend this season looking for the miracles, looking for God’s goodness, seeing His beauty on display. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭!

There are so many great bumper stickers on cars, and I enjoy reading them, one of my absolute favorites says; “𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝗺!”  Who doesn’t enjoy the sweet story of Jesus’ birth and the wonder of the wise men bringing Him gold, frankincense and myrrh? In Matthew 2 we can read the story of the Magi who saw Jesus’ star and travelled a considerable distance, under difficult conditions, to Jerusalem to seek Him out.  Once there, they enquired of King Herod, the Chief Priests, and the Scribes, scholars who studied the scriptures; “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒔?  𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑯𝒊𝒎.”

These incredible researchers of the Word of God immediately quoted Micah 5:2 telling the Magi; “𝑰𝒏 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒂.” These learned men, academics, including the High Priest himself, chose not to seek out the Christ even though he was born only 5 miles away! They knew the scriptures but were not changed by them. They understood Biblical information but did not apply it to their own lives.

In contrast, the wise men headed off to Bethlehem and verse 10 and 11 tells us, “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒎.”  This verse tells us the star had not been visible during the whole of their travels, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy when they saw it again.  The Magi had heard the Word of God and acted upon it.  In faith, they travelled to Bethlehem.  The wise men stood on the scriptures, sought the Christ, and found Him!

Isn’t this Christmas season wonderful? A time when we can celebrate our love of Jesus the King, a time when we can freely talk about our wonderful Savior, and our testimony can ring out in symphony with the greatest of Christmas carols.  𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.  𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘺.   𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Celebrating the birth of our Savior with you,

The Truth.  In this day it seems as though truth is elusive, subject to change, different from one person to the next.  We hear talk of personal truth, “𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩!”  As if truth can fluctuate and alter, dependent on who is speaking it.  One news channel will say it this way and another that.  How do we find truth with absolute certainty?

There is a verse in scripture that we quote so often, and it is one we should not take out of context – I’ve heard it phrased this way, “𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦.”   But let’s take a second and look at it in context; “𝙏𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙅𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, “𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚.”   John 8:31-32.  Did you see the difference?  Did you notice the word Then?

“𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜!”  The New King James says, “𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙.”  I love the Greek Word used here for hold, it’s ‘𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼’ and means to abide, endure, remain and stay, to tarry and live in The Word, to remain in the same place or position over a period of time.  Literally to make yourself at home in God’s Word! 

Jesus told us this because He knew that truth would be hard to find, and He knew the only place it could be found – in His Word.  When we make ourselves at home in the scriptures, abide in them, tarry a while and consume them, THEN we shall know the truth which will set us free.

Free from condemnation, free from slavery to sin, free from the enemies lies, free from deception, free from the fear of death, free to live a life of joy, free from chaos and walking in peace, free to come boldly before the Father and live in relationship with Him.  Oh, what freedom, what truth, the truth of Jesus Christ.  𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙!

During the time of Christ leprosy was common, so serious was this disease that those suffering from it had to live outside the town, they weren’t allowed to come within 6 feet of anyone and cried “𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻!”to alert others of the danger.  A horrible disease, debilitating, painful, and humiliating.  Leviticus gave very strict instructions on how to treat this disease and considered it 2^nd only in seriousness to touching a dead body!

A fascinating articled by Arnold Fruchtenbaum tells us something absolutely enthralling about the healing of leprosy.  There were two kinds of miracles, one that could be performed by anyone under the Spirit of God and another that only the Messiah could perform.  You see, from the time the Mosaic Law was given until the day that Jesus came not one Jewish person had ever been healed of leprosy.  Even though there were detailed instructions on how the priest was to deal with someone healed of leprosy, not one time had those instructions ever been used!  Therefore, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿.

Enter Jesus and the ten lepers, not one but ten!  “𝑨𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆, “𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒔!”  𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝑮𝒐, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔.” 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒅.” (Luke 17:12-14)

“𝗚𝗼, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀,” Jesus said, fully knowing that the chief priest was Caiaphas who had just pronounced a sentence of death against him!  Oh, the irony, the delicious irony.  Caiaphas had to then take the next seven days investigating, not one, but ten healings, and then declaring that Jesus had performed this miracle.  Ten times over they had to declare that a Messianic miracle had occurred, one that had never happened before!

I love that our LORD has a sense of humor, I love that there was no disputing the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and I love that this Pharisee, this enemy of our Savior, had to decree that a Messianic miracle had been performed by Jesus.  How it must have stuck in his throat!  Proof yet again that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. 

Sprinkled through God’s Word, time and time again, is evidence of the Messiah, something worth digging for as these treasures are so deep and so great and so very undeniable!

In Psalm 90:12 we read this verse; “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔.” A seemingly impossible request, how many of us know the number of our days? Only our Abba Father who has appointed every single one of them for us.

Hidden in this verse is a sparkling treasure, a truth that will change us if we let it. In the Hebrew, this verse says; “𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐡’ 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬,” to not just number our days but to prepare and appoint them. Our instructions are to look upon every day as important, and to plan for that day ahead of time. To prepare for the things we need to do, even to appoint moments in our day.

Perhaps make an appointment with a friend for coffee and set aside a particular day. Elect a time when you will meet with your Savior and keep the date. Set aside time for your children, your spouse, your parents. Appoint a day to write a blog or journal, study a book or meditate on God’s Word. Plan and prepare your days instead of watching them fly by in what seems like a flash and a blur.

If we ‘manah’ our days then, “𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔.” The wisdom that we all want, desire, and need. We will be like the five wise virgins who had oil in their lamps, they knew there was an appointed time for the bridegroom to come and get them. In this same way, we are asked to appoint, prepare, and number all the days of our lives. 🦋💕