Posts

Now and Later

Image
  so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28  When I was a kid, we had a candy called Now and Later. They were a taffy candy that advertised their long-lasting flavor. You could enjoy them now, and still be enjoying them later. Turns out they are pretty long lasting because when I searched for them just now they’re still around, quite a few years later! These came to mind when I was reading our verse today about Jesus’ first and second coming.   I discussed last week how Jesus came the first time to pay the cost of our sins through His perfect sacrifice on the cross. This was necessary and important, a finished work in itself, but not everything that God has planned for Jesus to do. Jesus paid the cost for our sins and purchased our redemption on the cross. That’s the Now. Right now, our sins are forgiven when we confess them to Hi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Terrible Price of our Redemption

Image
  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth; he was like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.   Isaiah 53:5-7  Jesus didn’t live an easy life on earth. When He was a baby, His family had to flee to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Once Herod died they returned to Nazareth where His earthly dad, Joseph, presumably resumed his work as a carpenter. This would likely have provided sufficiently for their family, but they would not have any luxuries of this world. The Bible doesn’t explicitly state what happened to Joseph, but all circumstances point to him dying before Jesus began His ministry at about the age o...
Post a Comment
Read more

All Gender What?!?

Image
 Ten years ago, our Homeschool PE co-op that had been operating for decades ended due to the YMCA's new policy about allowing people to use the locker room they most identified with. Our little girls seeing naked men change next to them was only one of our major concerns with this policy and after pursuing every possible means to find a mutually agreeable solution, we ended up having to dissolve our group's long-standing relationship with the Y. It was a tragedy for my kids who had been going to the Y for sixteen years for everything from Toddler Gym to swim team.   So, with this background, seeing the sign above in front of the ALL the bathrooms in the D terminal at the Seattle- Tacoma airport this weekend made me a little anxious. I'd seen lots of all gender side rooms, and that seemed like a good solution to me, but to be fair, I'm not their target audience. The building our Primary Care Physician is in has restrooms that were previously standard (one has a urinal in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Good Friday is the Reason for Christmas*

Image
  In addition to The Savior Who Comes Near that I've been studying this Advent through LGG , I also had the desire to supplement it with a little booklet called, " Joy to the World " comprised of selected readings from John Piper. I just felt the need for some more traditional scripture readings because the LGG study had taken a somewhat non-traditional approach. This morning, however, John Piper came at me sideways with a non-traditional scripture himself! Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. [Heb 2:14-15 NIV]   That's some pretty deep stuff, but my brain is not operating on a deep level this morning (I have a migraine and a pretty high body pain level), so God used it to teach me something very simple: Jesus became human so that He could die.  And ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lamb of God

Image
  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  John 1:29  God knew that sin would be a problem for us before He even created the world, and that’s why He had a plan to take care of it, but He had to bring us along with Him. If God had shown up in the garden of Eden one evening for His walk with Adam and Even and told them, “There’s going to be this issue called sin, but I’ll take care of it,” they never would have understood the weight or importance of it all. Instead, they had to experience personally what the cost of sin would be, most directly their separation from God. I’ve got to figure that throughout all of human history, Adam, Eve and Jesus are the only ones who fully comprehend this as they experienced perfect communion with the Father and then lost it. This is a real problem, but we had to experience it to realize that.   Over the course of time, God has patiently held humanity’s ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Look Who Came to Dinner!

Image
  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!   Philippians 2:5-8  Have you ever stood in line at a soup kitchen and eaten dinner there? If so, was it because you didn’t have the money for a meal, or because you wanted to identify and engage with others who were there? Have you ever even considered it? Pro tip, you’re not taking food away from someone who needs it more. Every time I’ve served in the kitchen there has been more than enough for the people in line, usually allowing them to offer seconds to those who want it. Sometimes they’ve even sent food home with my husband when he serves because there is so much le...
1 comment
Read more

I Can't Wear White Pants

Image
  “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”   Isaiah 1:18  I messed up in my parenting a lot. I tried; really, really hard, but I still messed up a lot. And sometimes I messed up bad. My daughter has been so gracious in recent years. She has been willing to be honest with me about things that hurt her, ways that I didn't meet her needs as a child. She has been willing to converse, and to forgive. While it is not comfortable or fun, it's certainly not the most enjoyable part of our relationship (of which there are many), I think it might be the most important. We were making dinner together last month and I mentioned how much I enjoy cooking with her now. We did not enjoy cooking together when she was younger for a variety of reasons. I don't think I handled those reasons as well as I could have, and that weighs on me. It piles guilt an...
Post a Comment
Read more