Not a "Holy" blood line: A Different Christmas Story #1

Ever wish you didn't have to read that one story The Gruffalo over and over to your child? Your child loves it though so you do...unless you are like me and you try to persuade them with a shorter, easier to read or funnier story (think Green Hat, Blue Hat, If you give a Mouse a Cookie, or Goodnight Gorilla).
                   Yet, honestly, there is one story I never tire of reading each year. A story that continues to unravel layers and rich details. The Christmas story that tells of Jesus' birth. I've heard it again and again and there is always something new revealed to my head and heart. There is something so pure, truthful and even comforting to me to say these verses out loud every year, "...You (Mary) will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign...forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:31-33 NIV

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This month, I am writing a short series (to be read like a devotional) to share what God has shown me with you. My hope is that the Lord will use this month to speak to our hearts as he changes our perspectives on the Christmas story. Hope you can join me. 

NOT a Holy Blood Line

(Matthew 1:1-17)

     When I think of kings I think of royalty, riches, honorable and noble qualities. Perhaps, my perspective of them as deserving or born into greatness comes from the fact that one is expected to worship or at least show loyalty and reverence to the king lest they get their head chopped off.

    History has shown how imperfect kings and their ancestry has been, but at the time I am sure that was not for the general public's knowledge. So why does it surprise me that Jesus' earthly blood line was so tainted?

     Maybe, like the Israelites, my version of a king comes from a misunderstood belief that a king would come from a dignified family, raised in a respectable manner and from a noble birth place.

     But, Jesus didn't. His earthly heritage was chalk full of sinners! 

Many of Jesus' great grandfathers were kings that did evil in the eyes of the Lord: Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoram, Ahaz, Mannasseh, and Amon. Three of the four women named in the genealogy in Matthew were quite imperfect. Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law, Rahab worked as a prostitute before her life was spared because she helped and listened to Joshua's spies before Jericho was conquered and Bathsheba committed adultery with King David.

Jesus really did come from humans full of folly, but he still came to forgive and save them and us! His imperfect genealogy shows how humbly he came into the world..."Who being in very nature of 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..." Philippians 2:6-7

There is just something so freeing to know that if God would use a band of misfits to be Jesus' relatives then, he will certainly use us for his plans too.

 

             

A week of Noah (Day 4): Remembered

Answering a thoughtful question from studying Noah in The Women's Devotional Guide to the Bible by Jean E. Syswerda.

The question: "God remembered Noah" (Gen. 8:1)...Do you think God actually forgot Noah, then remembered him? If not, what other meaning could this have? 

No, our all powerful, holy God doesn't forget anyone. But, I wonder if at times Noah was beginning to wonder if the rain would ever stop. I don't know if Noah ever doubted about his situation.

I believe that when the word says, "God remembered Noah" that this was/is all the proof that our Lord keeps his promises! God did not send Noah on a boat and say, "Good luck with that and don't get eaten by any of the animals." Yes, Noah had to be super patient, but eventually the dove came back with signs that the water was receding (an olive branch). The rains did stop.
God remembered...

Just like God didn't ask my family and me to move to our current city and then abandon us. The Lord has held us, walked ahead of us and we have seen his plans unfold day to day and month to month. 

God does not forsake us. In the midst of the greatest suffering I have endured, I have been remembered. So have you. 
I have heard his word, felt his comfort, and seen his mercy. 

When we are His...we are His forever.

A little something to make you smile:

A week of Noah (Day 3): Why Noah didn't worry about voting.

Every four years, someone loses, someone is disappointed and a country is divided between two candidates. Luckily, Noah didn't have to worry about voting.

In his day, it was follow your own laws, yourself, or your own god. Even "fallen angels" chose their own will and married human daughters. It seems like this might be the first example of anarchy. But Noah did none of those things.  While almost everyone disobeyed and disrespected God, Noah and his family did not.

 In a way, Noah "voted" for God.

Let me explain...

Noah was given specific instructions on how to build a huge boat or "Ark"...VERY specific blueprints down to a particular wood to use called, Cypress or some translations say Gopher. The only vessel that would save his family and him.

Noah could have laughed, or decided to ignore God and build it his way, but he didn't. Sure, it would have been foolish for Noah to not believe God since drowning was the consequence, but I believe Noah wasn't just creating flood insurance for himself.

Noah didn't put his faith in humans or himself.
He put his faith in the only living God. And so should we.

We must trust God with our country and not place our hope in the government or a president. I am not saying to not vote nor am I advocating not standing up for your personal beliefs, but one must never rely on humans to make all the right decisions.

One man or Congress will not make everything as it should be...only God can do that.

Noah knew and believed that and was blessed for it.



 

A week of Noah (Day 2): Would I be on the ark?

(This is a week long series of my thoughts after studying Noah in The Women's Devotional Guide to the Bible by Jean E. Syswerda.) Join me this week.

 (Genesis 6:9 NIV)Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

So if I warped back to different parts of my life when I didn't know God and I wasn't following him, would I have been on the ark? Before Jesus' sacrifice would God have told me:
7 ....Dionne, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. (Gen 7 NIV)

 Maybe it depends on who you talk to, but me found righteous?..not entirely sure about that.

Noah didn't have Jesus in his heart, he never possessed the Holy Spirit, no bible to read and no one sharing the good news, but what he did have was righteousness in God's eyes. According to scripture, he walked faithfully with God  ⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. Did ya catch that? 

Faithful and obedient.

Yes, more often then not, even when I was four I had faith in God. Obedience? Um yeah, I am embarrassed to confess that before I accepted Christ, well, it didn't exist. In my defense, I was a child. Then, without saying too much, there have been BRIEF periods of my life where I have decided like an idiot that my way was best. And no, the consequences were not worth my stubbornness.

 Noah didn't have Christ as the one who bore his sin and made him new and he was still found righteous. ONLY his family and him were spared from death by water. Noah's story is a reminder of the blessings of being obedient and faithful. Not just an excuse to escape drowning, but Noah believed and trusted God and now this story is still told after more than 2,000 years later! AND Noah's family were the first humans to see a rainbow. God kept them safe. He kept his promise. They were the only humans left to repopulate the earth.  ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.(Gen. 6:8 NIV)

I am grateful that in Christ, I am found righteous, but also I am thankful that God, thru the Holy Spirit changes me, helps me be obedient and I don't have to stay in a rut. It is a privilege to be a part of God's plans...to be obedient or faithful isn't easy, but it always has a beautiful promise and ending. (like life and rainbows) 

Mosaic depicting Noah sending the dove to find land.

A week of Noah: (Day 1) It wasn't two by two?

This week, I have decided to share what I am learning in a devotional I am doing called, The Women's Devotional Guide to the Bible by Jean E. Syswerda. I acquired some new facts, but the best part is what the Lord showed me. It just isn't fun to keep it to myself.

Did ya know that Noah didn't take animals two by two? What? Yep, I was shocked too. According to the devotional, Noah was told by God to ² Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,... 

Genesis 7:2 NIV

So essentially, there was more than a duo of each animal and the reason for that is found in Genesis 8:20 ²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

If only two had been preserved on the ark, then that animal would have been instantly extinct. Not God's plan at all. -Syswerda

So like me, do you feel hoodwinked? Tricked or duped?

Honestly? At first I did feel this way, but then I realized the problem was me. Not the sweet Sunday School teacher or the Fisher Price's Little People Noah's Ark toy.

Often, it is me that is doing the bamboozling. Where my pride deceives me into thinking there is nothing left to learn from a tired story I have heard a million times. My thinking and pride stinks!

I don't care to admit that I cheat God of quality time. Sometimes, I spend a dutiful 15 minutes and call that "spending time in the word". Okay, no, I am not blogging to shame myself, however, had I read the familiar story more closely, listened more carefully with a thorough, open heart, I might not have missed that very important detail. Believe me when I say, NO detail is just fluff in the Bible. It is THERE for a reason.  

So why explain how many animals? Well, it isn't totally clear accept for what Syswerda said about animals being extinct and because building altars and sacrificing clean animals was required by God for atonement of sins or peace. Yet, in Noah's case, perhaps pure gratitude for God faithfully keeping his promise to protect Noah and his family.

Today, we are not required to build altars and sacrifice animals (thank goodness because I have a queasy stomach) to show gratitude or atone for sins.  Jesus paid that price. It is because of Jesus' sacrifice of himself, God's unselfish act of grace that God doesn't require this tradition.

So, for me, I am going to start showing gratitude in a different way; my eyes, and ears will soak up God's word more carefully so I don't miss a thing! Not out of pride, but out of thankfulness that I can read the Bible and I am loved by the Almighty God who longs to teach me and speak to me.

Linking up today at these awesome blogs:

Jen's at SDG 

Michelle@Hear it On Sunday, use it on Monday