God’s Promise to Simeon

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Simeon perhaps? God promised that he would see Messiah before he died. And he did!
The Old Man by Annu from trekearth.com. Simeon perhaps? God promised that he would see Messiah before he died. And he did!

Throughout Advent, let’s look at the people of the story of Christ’s birth. This week: Simeon. Here is my take on a possible first person narrative from Luke 2.

I have tried to live a devout life. My parents were good Jews. They brought me up in the traditions of the Temple.  We lived along the Coast of the Great Sea. Three times each year, my parents brought the whole family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feasts.

I married and had my own family and repeated the same traditions. We also came up to Jerusalem three times each year.  We celebrated Pesach, the Passover, in the Spring… Shavuot, Pentecost, in the summer… and Yom Kippur and Sukkoth each fall. These are special times for all of Israel, but especially for us devout Jews. It’s a time to remember how Jehovah delivered His people from the bondage of Egypt, how He gave us His Law and how He cared for us during our wanderings, before we entered the Promised Land.

Since my wife died I’ve decided just to stay here in Jerusalem.  It’s easier on this old body of mine. I spend my days near the Temple. God is present in my life every moment.  I pray. I sing. I do odd jobs for the priests. I pray for people who come by. I enjoy Jehovah’s presence in my life. I can sense His Spirit. It is real. He has blessed me more than I’ll ever begin to be able to tell you.

But there was this one time, it was about 25 years ago… during the Feast of Tabernacles when we all come up to remember the roamings of our ancestors through the dessert… we set up small tents called Sukkah’s to live in for the week. And we gather for a festive time of remembering.  It was during the worship celebration at the Temple; the high priest had just returned back from the Kidron Brook with a vessel of water from Siloam’s Pool to pour out on the altar. In the frenzy of the crowd shouting “Hosanna!” I heard the voice of Jehovah.  He spoke to me as I am I speaking to you now.  All the noise of the crowd went silent And He said: “Simeon. You will not die before you see my Chosen One, the Messiah, in Whom I will deliver all of Israel. From Him will come streams of Living Water, not just a pitcher of water. And He will be poured out for the redemption of all of Israel.” In the midst of this great worship service, I was stunned! Living water?  Poured out? The Messiah? Yes, we know He will come some day. But in my lifetime? How wonderful that day will be!  Will it be as Joel has promised? Will the prophesies come true?  Will Elijah truly come again before Messiah?

I am an old man now and I have dreamed dreams of His coming again. I’ve spent the rest of my life watching, waiting, wondering… who could it be? I look deep into the eyes of every man who passes by. Will he be like Moses or more like Joshua? He must be a young adult, at least, and Jehovah is shaping Him into our powerful King and Messiah. Every time I see Herod speak before the crowds I look around and ask myself: could he be a Jewish officer in Herod’s castle waiting to be revealed? What mighty legion of soldiers does he lead?  Or maybe he is a governor, or a synagogue ruler by this point in his life?

Some have said he will come from the Galilee. Ha! There’s nothing but farmers and fishermen up there!

Whoever he is, I know I will recognize him in the blink of an eye. He will be as strong as David when he routed the Philistines! He will be as wise as David’s son Solomon.  He will rule our people with power in one hand and grace and love in the other. He will deliver us from the oppressors, be it Rome or Egypt, once and for all. Isaiah says he will come to heal the brokenhearted. And those who mourn in Zion? They will rejoice!

Ah, look. There is a peasant couple with a young baby. They always want a blessing, these new parents. I must go into the Temple.  Funny, the priest is quite capable. But he always asks me. “Simeon. Come bless this new child,” he says.  “They rather have the old man bless the child than the priest.”

So, I will go.  And I will keep looking.

I wonder if they are of the tribe of Judah?  Maybe the father is someone special?

(c) 2103. Rich Ronald.

Thankful for Grace and Forgiveness

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Jesus in the Garden prays for you and me, asking that we may live in unity.
Jesus, in the Garden, prays for you and me, asking that we may live in unity. (John 17:21-23)

I have a friend who is a gym teacher at an all boys elementary school. He loves to tell a great story about watching kids line up for gym class.  You can see them, can’t you? All dressed identical in little navy gym shorts and grey t-shirts. Timmy pokes Jason in the side. Jason pokes him back. Timmy slaps Jason. Jason slaps him back. Soon, it escalates to shoving, and before you know it, one of them is on the ground looking up at the gym lights and rafters.

Sometimes, it is that way with grown-ups too, isn’t it? At work. In your family. Even at church. Mr. Smith says something to Mr. Franklin that just happens to push Mr. Franklin’s buttons. Before you know it, Mr. Smith is offended. At Men’s Bible study coffee the next morning, Mr. Smith is telling Mr. Thompson about how horrible a man Mr. Franklin is. Mr. Thompson sees Mr. Franklin the next Sunday morning and decides not to talk with him any longer.  Mrs. Franklin then sees Mrs. Smith at the Ladies Bible Study on Tuesday and gives her an earful and Mrs. Thompson stands off to the side and can’t imagine why her two dear friends are terribly miffed at each other.

Miscommunication.  Being misunderstood. A short email not intended to be mean-spirited turns into hurt feelings and an offended heart.  Holding grudges then turns into bitterness. And it can be like a malignant cancer that spreads not only through one person, but among a whole group of people.  And things get ugly.

And every one of us is susceptible to ugliness, because every one of us is human… and we are sinners.  Relational conflict is a part of a normal life. Solomon suggested it is healthy as it sharpens us. Ugliness and slander and gossip, however, are sin.

The Bible is full of great counsel on how to handle relating to one another.

If you look at the Ten Commandments, they are all about relating. The first four outline our relationship to God; the other six provide rules for our relationship with one another.  There are hundreds of scriptures that deal with relationships and communication. Here are a few:

A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.

Proverbs 15:1 (The Message)

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Ephesians 4:29  (The Message)

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

2 Timothy 2:16  (NIV)

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

Proverbs 18:21

Or as the Living Bible puts it:

“Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing!”

The gospel according to my mom said it this way: “Ask these three questions before opening your mouth: Is it needful? Is it truthful? Is it kind?”

Words are important.

Think about that for a moment. Think about when words have lifted you up and given you life. “It’s a boy!” “Yes, I will marry you!” Or those times when you have been devastated by words, and even brought death… death to a marriage, death to a lifelong friendship, death to a dream. All because someone merely spoke some words.

Jesus takes it a step further by saying in Matthew 18. verse 18: “What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.” Your words are eternal! Once spoken they continue on into the cosmos forever… like a stone that ripples in a borderless pond.

Yet, even with all this warning in the Bible, sometimes we say dumb things, don’t we? Sometimes we don’t think before we speak, do we? And when that happens, there is a “blazing flame of destruction and disaster” (see James 3).

So, if we can control our tongue that’s good. If we think before we speak, that’s good. But when we don’t, we often hurt other people. And then what happens next? There is anger. Bitterness. Friendships are strained. Lifelong relationships are fractured.

But Jesus… the grace of Jesus gives us some very practical tools to bring reconciliation. And that is why during this Thanksgiving season we can be thankful for His grace and His perfect plan of forgiveness. With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we have the ability to walk with joy with one another.

What is His plan for forgiveness? Matthew 18:15-17 and Ephesians 4 are great resources you can explore. Can you commit to walking in a Biblical model of forgiveness? Can you agree to this covenant:

  1. I will not pass along a bad report about anyone.
  2. I will first go to the one who offended me and seek reconciliation.
  3. Only if we cannot be reconciled person-to-person, I will meet with an elder or pastor to discuss the situation, with the goal being a meeting with the person who offended me and an elder or pastor.
  4. I will guard the unity of the Body of Christ.

This is a model that is not convicting, but rather freeing, in how we can walk in personal relationships.  When Jesus prayed for us in the garden in John 17, He asked the Father to give us the grace to walk in unity as the Father and the Son are unified.

Jesus is asking that we, fellow Believers, be one… just as the Father is of one heart and one mind with the Son. We can be united SO THAT the world will believe.  That’s key isn’t it? Yes, of course, we are human. We will have relational and communication issues as sure as the sun shines every day.  And even this week, when you get together with your family for Thanksgiving or next month at Christmas… sometimes those are the hardest times and the most difficult people to offer grace and forgiveness to, right?…  But we don’t have to let our differences, our offenses, destroy that which God has established.

Jesus has made a way for us to be reconciled… eternally with God and right now with each other. And that is something for which we can all be thankful.

If you’d like to hear the full sermon from this message, go here: http://bit.ly/1a4VIJf
(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

The Blessing of Dad is Life Giving.

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The blessing of a father to a son brings life.
The blessing of a father to a son brings life.

“Dad.”

What do you think of when you think about your dad? We all have a father. Some were better than others in how they did “dadding.” If you had a “bad” dad, my heart breaks for you.

To be fair, most of parenting is trial and error. As I look back on how I parented my kids I want to say to them as Tim Kimmel says: “Forgive me for being such an idiot!”

We are in a sweet season of talking about “family” at our church. This past weekend we camped out on a conversation about our earthly fathers and how it makes sense that most of us men learned how to be a dad by watching our own fathers. We learned the good stuff and the bad stuff by being first-hand recipients.

I think it’s ironic that just about every man I know who swore they would never say the things to their children that their dad said to them, have broken that vow. “Turn that music down!” “That friend of yours is no good for you.” “When I was your age, we respected our elders…” And the list goes on and on.

My relationship with my own dad was really pretty good. I knew that he loved me no matter what I did. Yes, he was too busy to come to all of my special events, but now that I’ve been a dad for over 20 years I can understand why. He died way too young and I never really had an adult-to-adult relationship with him.

And while I can’t remember a specific time when he blessed me, I know that he was proud of me and he was happy about the faith and life decisions I had made by the time I was 22, the year he died.

But there are many men I know today that did not have that kind of relationship with their dad. Some dads were downright mean. Some told their sons that they would never amount to anything. Some were ambivalent or absent. To these men who rarely, or never, heard positive words from their earthly father let me speak these words from our heavenly Father:

“I know you.” Psalm 139

“I have great plans for you; plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29

“I will never leave you.” Deuteronomy 31

“I will never reject you.” Psalm 94

“I will never abandon you.”  Hebrews 13

“I will not break my promises to you.” Psalm 89

“I will bless you and your family.” Genesis 12

“I do not condemn you.” Romans 8

“I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” Isaiah 43

“I take great delight in you.” Zephaniah 3

“I love you.” John 3

You know, in the Old Testament culture, and still in the Jewish family today, the father places his hands on his child’s head and speaks a blessing over them every Friday night as part of the celebration of the Sabbath.  No matter what has happened between them during the week, at that moment, the Father and the Son are connected by a blessing.

Our Heavenly Father want to bless you. Receive God’s blessings, men.  He loves you more than you know. Let that sink into your heart and give you life.

And then, pass His blessings on to your children and your children’s children.  And if you don’t know how to pass along the blessings, just honestly say the words above to your children that God has already said to you.

It will touch their heart. It will touch yours as well. It will bring life to you, to your children, to your family.

 (c) 2103. Rich Ronald.

The Madman of the Decapolis

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The view from the Tombs. Sunset on the Sea of Galilee. Photo taken by the author, June 2013.

My name is Kyros. My family is from the Decapolis. My father is a teacher. My brother is a soldier. I was studying to be a teacher as well. Our family is close. We enjoyed good times together. Rome has treated us well. Some of the publicans have asked my father to enter politics. He would be good at that.

My story is simple, really. And, yet, for some reason, many in our region say it is extraordinary. I was a typical kid growing up. Studied hard. Played hard. I guess the turning point in my story starts on a night a few years ago. I was 18 and desired to prove my manliness. One night some of my friends and I hired a slave girl. It was innocent fun at first. But something about it was controlling… even though it was out of control. That first night led to night after night… you know that Rome is known for such wild parties.  It really consumed me… every day I’d make plans for the night….

And then the guilt came… it ripped me up inside, but I tried not to let others see that side of me.  Soon the behavior was controlling me… and the guilt was consuming… something I just could not handle. I would easily fly into fits of rage. My friend Lychas tried to help, but I would tell him to “Shut Up!” and I often followed the verbal abuse with a punch or two.  Then I would feel guilty and ask him to forgive me. Which he would… but then I would engage in more immoral behavior… and feel guilty all over again.

I moved to the tombs.  I found solace in just being alone… and cutting myself. I thought if I punished myself it would make the guilt go away. But it only made things worse. One day Lychas came to visit and this supernatural power came over me. I threw a large bolder at him and almost killed him. My best friend. He brought ten men with him the next time and they chained me up for my own good.  As soon as they left, again this power came over me and I broke the chains and then engaged in more immoral behavior.  I was a mess. Something was inside of me.  No, many things were inside of me. They controlled my feelings. They controlled my thoughts. Yes, they even controlled my actions. I could never get free. My only freedom was found in continuing to fly into fits of rage and hurting myself.

How did I get like this? It drove me mad. Why I was once a decent citizen of the Decapolis. My family was respectable… I was planning to be a teacher, like my dad.  Now, I was Crazy Kyros, the naked mad man of the tombs.

One day, there was this terrible raging storm on the Sea. I loved it! I shouted to the lightening to strike me and it did! And I was filled with power and rage. But then suddenly, in an instant, it got calm… and I saw this small little fishing boat breaking through the mist of what was left of the storm… it came up on shore. There were maybe 8 or 10 people in it.  A man got out and walked right up the hill to see me at the tombs. He asked me my name and the demons in me told him my name was Legions, not Kyros, for there were many of them living inside of me. With compassion in his eyes I had never seen, he commanded the tormentors living inside me to leave. I spoke, but it was not me, nor my voice. “Can we go into those pigs?” There were 2,000 pigs grazing in the fields around the tombs. The man said “yes” and before I knew it I collapsed to the ground and I heard the pigs stampeding over me and over the cliff and drowning in the sea.

I was physically spent, but not sure why. He sat down next to me. He ran his hand through my hair and touched my shoulder. I still cannot put words together to describe the sudden peace I felt. I had no immoral desires any longer. There was no need to hurt myself. There was no rage. There was only peace. I washed myself for the first time in months. He gave me clothes to put on.

Somehow, word spread to town… I think it was the pig shepherds… people came to see me and were very confused. I just felt peaceful.  As he climbed back into the boat, the man told me his name was Yeshua… Jesus. I begged him to let me go with him. But he told me to return to my family and tell them my story.

I did. My first stop was the home of Lychas. He couldn’t believe it was me. Then we ran to my parents’ home. My father also was full of disbelief.  But when my mother entered the room and her eyes caught mine, she smiled and shouted and cried and jumped up and down all at the same time. I told them all about Jesus.

Together, every day now, we start our day by praising the God of Israel. I cannot fully express my thanksgiving to the one I now call Master.

It’s been a year since that day and we have heard that he’s coming back to our town next week. The people are already preparing for his visit. They want to bring the lame and the deaf and the sick to him. I’m sure he will set them all free… just like he did for me.

My interpretation of the story in Mark 5.
(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Pray for my enemies? Are you kidding me?

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Keep Calm and Love Your Enemies
Keep Calm and Love Your Enemies

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Romans 12.  Look at the very last verse of this chapter:

Verse 21:  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Message says:  Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

This is the summary statement in a chapter full of actions that Paul encourages us to take as part of a life of transformed into Godly discipline.  Some are easy. Verse 13: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” I can do that. Verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice.”  Yep! That’s a piece of cake.  “Mourn with those who mourn.” Yes, I can come along side someone and share their grief.

But what about the verse in between those two? Verse 14: “Bless your enemies. No cursing under your breath.”

Bless those who persecute me? Are you kidding me? I have had some people really treat me badly. We all have. And the text says to bless them? And if that isn’t enough, we can’t even grumble about them under our breath. No, we are to be pure in heart towards them.

Paul is actually mirroring words spoken by our Master. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says: “Love your enemies. Bless those that curse you.” (Matthew 5)

Look at how The Message translates Matthew 5:43-48: “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.”

Then look how Jesus sums up this thought: “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

So, when we pray for our enemies, and those who have messed up our lives, Jesus says it causes us to grow up… to mature in the faith.  I think what it says is this: “I’m gonna let God deal with this person, because if it were up to me and my self-centered spirit, I would want to make their life miserable.”  What happens when your enemy finds out you’re trying to bless them? Many times, they drop their affront, don’t they? It changes their heart. But more importantly, it changes our heart as well.

There have been people in my life who have really offended me and I carried around the angst of that offense for years. It caused bitterness and a cancer-like growth of ugliness to take root in my heart. It would cause the hair on the back of my neck to stand up and my heart to beat faster when anyone mentioned their name. And the thing is, they had moved on. Forgotten about it. Never bothered them in the least.

So, as a lesson in living a transformed life, I can say with confidence that I have moved on as well. It is not easy. But it is a choice I can make. With God’s Holy Spirit in me and comforting me along the path, and my taking increasingly greater steps of prayer for them, I am “growing up” and maturing in the faith as Jesus encouraged.

May I encourage you to meditate on those who may have offended you, and offer a prayer for them. I know it may not be easy. As God works in His divine ways, it will actually be a blessing to you.

P.S.  And if that person was me, please forgive me.

(C) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Hit a Glass Ceiling in Prayer?

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Unanswered prayer? Only Jesus heals the broken heart.
Unanswered prayer? Only Jesus heals the broken heart.

Do you have an unanswered prayer? Something you have been praying for weeks, months, years or decades? You desire that your voice travels all the way to heaven but it feels like it only gets to a glass ceiling a few inches above your head?

I’m going to venture out and suggest that every single one of us has had one of those prayers at some point in our life. There is the woman whose husband of many years lost his battle with cancer and she lost her life partner. And the businessman who ran his company by faith, and had plans of sharing his wealth, but the company went bankrupt because he couldn’t get sales.  Or the young boy, who with true child-like faith, asked God to prevent his parent’s divorce. But he spends every other weekend with his dad instead.  All of these prayers, and so many more, were prayers of hope and belief and yet were not answered in the way the pray-er desired.

So then, you might say, “See, prayer doesn’t work.”

This is one of the great mysteries of the Christian walk, isn’t it? And we answer the question with a trite “God knows best.” But that is so unsatisfying to the widow as they lower the casket into the ground, isn’t it? It is so perplexing to the businessman who was going to give away 90% of his profits and now is cashing unemployment checks.  It is confusing, at best, to the child who feels responsible for his parent’s split.

How do we reply?

The only way we can… with love, compassion, grace… and continuing to affirm that God is God. And that He loves us.

And you may say, “if this is love, I don’t want it.” And I get that. I do.

I believe that the Bible is true. And the Bible says we are God’s children and we have an incredible inheritance… an eternity with no need, no hurt, no pain.

Can you trust that God is in control? Absolutely!  Can you believe that He knows your pain? Yes! For did it make sense to the disciples to see Jesus die on the cross? Not at all. Did they understand once they saw Him rise again? Yes indeed!

The encouraging word today is that you can trust in the Sonrise of Messiah Jesus as certainly as you can trust that the sun will rise tomorrow.  And if we look close enough, I believe we can make sense of the prayers that appear to go unanswered. We can pray, like Jesus did, that God’s will be done. It’s tough though… especially when there is significant loss.

Hope is found in the promises of God that the lost will be found, the dead will rise, the sick will be healed, the forsaken will be restored, those in prison will be set free, the blind will see and those with a broken heart will find His eternal, unconditional love.

His will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Tasting Pizza for the First Time

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pizza_edit
Pizza Time! Can’t you just taste how good it is?

Have you ever seen that TV show where that guy eats all that weird food from all over the world? Or are you old enough to remember the kid who wouldn’t try the new breakfast cereal until his little brother did?

I put off tasting pizza for my entire childhood. Why? Because its main ingredient was tomato sauce. And because my dad didn’t like tomatoes, I didn’t like tomatoes. Therefore,  I hated pizza. Without ever trying it!

My big sisters were worried that I couldn’t be a normal teenager without liking pizza. So, in the days leading up to my 13th birthday, they encouraged me to give it try.  “Try it. You’ll like it,” was another advertising slogan from my growing-up era.  I gave pizza a taste.  Guess what? I liked it!

Have you ever heard of the scripture from the Bible that says “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).

How do we taste and experience God’s goodness and unfailing love?

Through prayer.

Oak Hills Church Minister Max Lucado is preaching a series of sermons on prayer.  From yesterday’s teaching on the goodness of God and connecting with Him in prayer: “He throws open the pantry of His heart. He has a feast of His kindness at His table. Taste the goodness of the Lord.”

Do we put off praying to God or giving Him a certain problem or situation because we think our problems are too small for God?  Or too big for God? Or perhaps because we are embarrassed by our situation? Or because we think it is ours to deal with, not God’s?

If our situations and problems trouble us, they trouble God.

May I tell you that God will be there for you and is delighted to hear from you? Part of the very nature of God is that He loves to be our problem solver.  His solution is always the right one.

Everything God does is right —  the trademark on all his works is love.

God’s there, listening for all who pray,  for all who pray and mean it.

He does what’s best for those who fear him — hears them call out, and saves them.

God sticks by all who love him.

Psalm 145:17-20a (The Message)

There’s another Bible verse that says “Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father.” (James 1:17).

So, taste the goodness of the Lord today through prayer. And you will see how much He loves you.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Putting God First in 2013.

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May you be able to put God first in 2013 so that everything will fall into order.
May you be able to put God first in 2013 so that everything will fall into order.

So we are already a week into the New Year and I’m finally putting thought into what 2013 looks like. Can it be the best year to-date? Well, I’ve lived some pretty awesome years, but, yeah, why can’t we start the next turn around the sun with the thought that this will be the best one?

We were challenged this past weekend by visiting Pastor Robert Morris that if you want to live “The Blessed Life” you need to put God first. It’s pretty easy when you are in a full-time ministry to say that putting God first comes naturally. But does it really? Can I make God the top of every single list?

What I read. What I watch.

What I write. What I think.

What I do for exercise – body, mind and spirit.

How I love my wife?  What are my motivations for my children?

How I manage my time?

Can 2013 truly be a year above all the rest?

Robert Morris says “When God is first in your life everything falls in order.”

Order.  That would be nice. No more clutter. No more hunting around for files, phones, keys, shoes or… vision.  Putting God first. Seems simple enough.

And because His Holy Spirit is in me, it IS possible. No, it will not be simple, because my flesh gets in the way, you know?

One of my favorite verses about putting God first is found in John 3:30. From the mouth of John, the Baptizer: “He must increase. I must decrease.” If there be but one prayer for the New Year, I will echo John’s words. “More of Jesus. Less of me.”

Will you join me in putting God first in your life this year? Truly putting Him first? You will be blessed beyond measure when you do.  And then you can truly be a blessing to all the people  God puts in your life.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

“Make my heart Your Bethlehem.”

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Available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle

Advent continues its countdown to Christmas Day.  The great thing about the season, is that it can be just that… a season. Not just a single day.

The prayer for our family this year is “Be Born in Me.”

I’ve written a little book, based on a song, that is helping us focus this year.  The cry of Chapter 4 is “Make my heart Your Bethlehem.”

Here is an exceprt:

Bethlehem. Do you know what the word means? In Hebrew “Bet” means ‘house’ and “Lechem” means ‘bread.’ So Bethlehem is “the House of Bread.”

We can see that Jesus, the bread of life from John 6, must be born in “the House of Bread.”

Jesus came to give us life, true bread and true sustenance.  Jesus is all we really need isn’t He? He satisfies, gratifies and strengthens us spiritually, just as bread does physically. 

And what happens when you don’t eat for awhile?  You become weak, right?

When our prayer is, “Jesus, be born in me. Give me strength! Give me all I need for life!” 

He says, “I have.”

May I encourage you as you enjoy a meal or two or three with your friends and family this Christmas season, to remember that Jesus is the true bread. He is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, who gives us all we have and all we need.

And may you allow your heart to be His Bethlehem… to be born in you.

 
Be Born in Me is divided into five sections and includes discussion questions so you can use in a weekly small group, family devotional or class setting.
Here’s the link to the amazon web site: http://amzn.to/SNOkND.
And here’s the link to the Kindle site: http://amzn.to/RI7ODe.
(c) 2012. Rich Ronald.

Thankful for the power of His words, His touch

Posted on by richlyspeaking
The touch of His words bring healing and salvation

There were ten of us… we were forced to live just outside the gates of the city. One by one our group had grown to its present ten. I think I was the fourth or fifth to join the community.  We spent most of our days begging for scraps of food by the road under the shade of a single tree. At night we huddled together and slept in the dust around its trunk. My family had last seen me three years prior.

I’m not even sure how I got it… my skin began to itch and scratch… my fingers and toes began to look different, blood oozed from the simplest scrape.  I had heard about leprosy… who hadn’t? Believed that those who had it were responsible for it somehow… surely they had sinned or chosen a lifestyle that wasn’t appropriate.  Next thing I knew, I was scolded, yelled at, spit upon, cursed at… told I was “unclean!” And I was forced to the edge of town.

For 12 seasons I had learned to deal with this awful affliction. The touch of my wife? Gone. Holding hands and walking with my daughter? No more. Wrestling with my son? Not a chance. Oh, how I longed for their touch. For anyone’s touch.

I had little in common with the others. They were Jews.  I was from Samaria.  As castoffs, they observed their traditions as best they could. I just wanted to be normal again.

One day the Teacher they called “Yeshua” walked by. We weren’t really sure what He could do for us. After all, what could anyone do for us? It was so unfair. It wasn’t my fault I was unclean! Oh, how I wanted to be clean… but no one ever recovers from the incurable.

We shouted the same words to him as we called out to everyone: “Have mercy! Have pity!” Ironic now, looking back… we did not cry out “Heal us!”

He broke His stride, stopping long enough to show compassion in His eyes and love on His face.  He had nothing to give us. But His look… it was heartfelt, deeply sincere. His followers urged him to move along, but he motioned toward them as if to say “I want to linger here for awhile.”

We kept crying out: “Have mercy! Have pity!” though I, for one, did not know what He could do.

Then He spoke just six words. Six words. “Go. Show yourselves to the priests.”

We were stunned… I was not really sure what that meant. I wanted food. I craved a touch. But all we got from Him were words. Then the murmurings began. The Jews gathered together and moved as one.  Like a sheep, I followed the flock.  As we shuffled down the road I asked one of the Nine what the priests could do? “Don’t you see,” he said, “the priests can declare that we are clean.”

“But…” I stammered… “we are unclean…”

And with a second and third look, one at a time, we each began to realize the lesions had disappeared. One’s face was not blemished. Another’s hands were no longer bloody. The crusty sores up and down my legs were gone. What was happening?

The pace quickened as the whole group began to see a miracle right before our very eyes. We were being healed! We had been healed!

Suddenly I stopped in my tracks. The others ran ahead. I turned and looked back and saw the Master with a grin from ear to ear. Such joy! Such compassion… I looked as the Nine galloped toward the temple.

“I must go back and say thank you!” I said outloud to no one in particular.  “Praise God!” I shouted as I looked and saw my now-healed, outstretched hands.

The thoughts started to swim in my head: Do you know what this means? I can go back and tackle my son. I can squeeze my young daughter’s hand. I can hold and caress my bride again. “Praise God!” I shouted over and over.

I sped with the urgency of a sprinter on the final lap back up to the crest of the hill where He stood. His followers and He… all smiles as I topped the knoll with little breath left. I threw myself at His feet. I couldn’t believe what was happening, what had happened. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I cried. “You don’t know what this means to me!” I said through my tears of joy and relief. And yet, somehow I knew that He indeed knew what it meant to me…

And as He put His hand in my tangled and matted hair He asked, “Were not ten healed? Where are the other nine?” And He looked at His followers and asked with an air of genuine perplexity, “Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”

Not being a Jew, I didn’t fully grasp what he was saying… I was so thankful… I was healed! I was going home!

Then He said the most intense thing anyone has ever said to me.  With an outstretched hand and loving eyes: “Get up. Go. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Me? Faithful? Me? But I’m a Samaritan. I’m a sinner. Yes, I believed. Yes, I had faith… but it was only because my need was so great. I was desperate! Me? Healed? Yes! And saved? Yes, saved…

I had heard both Jews and Gentiles talk about being saved. It is something everyone longs for, I suppose. I’m not really a religious man… but  do I want to spend eternity with Almighty God? Absolutely.

I went on my way as He directed… ran up to the gates of my home, ripping off the ragged bandages with each step.  “I’m healed! I’m clean!” I shouted. “Praise God! The Teacher has healed me!”

My wife could not believe her eyes. My daughter squealed with delight. My son, now a young man whom I hardly recognized, gave me the biggest hug of my entire life. Ah, their touch… so sweet.

That was 25 years ago. I’m still clean… not a trace of the disease ever since.  And I still believe that what the Teacher did that day —  He touched me with His words — is reason to believe He will touch me for all eternity.

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My interpretation of Luke 17:11-19.   May you be one to give thanks today, and every day, for His words, His touch!