Friday, December 28, 2018
God Lives through Us
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Today’s Reflection
– Mary Lou Redding
While We Wait |
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Expecting the Unexpecte
Today’s Reflection
– Blair Gilmer Meeks
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
No Room in the Inn
Today’s Reflection
SCHOLARS HAVE BEEN PUZZLED about why Joseph and Mary were supposedly turned away from all homes and even an inn in Bethlehem when hospitality was a nonnegotiable requirement in the Middle East at that time. Joseph would have had many relatives in Bethlehem to welcome them, and even nonrelatives would have welcomed him as Davidic royalty because he was a Bethlehmite.
Here’s an explanation: “For more than a hundred years scholars resident in the Middle East have understood Luke 2:7 as referring to a family room with mangers cut into the floor at one end.” Simple village homes in Palestine had two rooms. One was exclusively for guests (the upper room or “prophet’s chamber”). The other room was the main room where the entire family cooked, ate, slept, and lived.
At the end of that room by the door was a small area that was lower and cordoned off by timber. Into that area each night were brought the family cow, donkey, and a few sheep. (Animals kept the house warm and they were kept safe inside.) Every morning the animals were taken out and the stall cleaned. Scholars surmise the “inn” (katalyma) was probably that guest room. …
This would mean that Joseph and Mary were graciously accepted into the main room with the family because the “inn” or guest room was full. In that main room would have been a manger for the animals that stayed there at night.
– Jan Johnson
No Room in the Inn
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Today’s ReflectionHere’s an explanation: “For more than a hundred years scholars resident in the Middle East have understood Luke 2:7 as referring to a family room with mangers cut into the floor at one end.” Simple village homes in Palestine had two rooms. One was exclusively for guests (the upper room or “prophet’s chamber”). The other room was the main room where the entire family cooked, ate, slept, and lived. At the end of that room by the door was a small area that was lower and cordoned off by timber. Into that area each night were brought the family cow, donkey, and a few sheep. (Animals kept the house warm and they were kept safe inside.) Every morning the animals were taken out and the stall cleaned. Scholars surmise the “inn” (katalyma) was probably that guest room. … This would mean that Joseph and Mary were graciously accepted into the main room with the family because the “inn” or guest room was full. In that main room would have been a manger for the animals that stayed there at night.
– Jan Johnson
Taste and See |
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Monday, December 24, 2018
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Adeste Fideles!
i learned this in public school, when God still reigned, it has never left me, glory to God Most High.. be Blessed
What Jesus Did!: 'By the Familiar Sea' — John 21:1
What Jesus Did!: 'By the Familiar Sea' — John 21:1
Holy and righteous God, my heavenly Father, stir in me a holy passion to serve and honor you. I cannot manufacture that passion on my own, but I need the power of your Spirit and a deeper sense of your abiding presence in my life. Give me spiritual discernment so I can see the direction you are calling me to serve you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Holy and righteous God, my heavenly Father, stir in me a holy passion to serve and honor you. I cannot manufacture that passion on my own, but I need the power of your Spirit and a deeper sense of your abiding presence in my life. Give me spiritual discernment so I can see the direction you are calling me to serve you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
I'm watching The Story of Christmas on @YouVersion.
I'm watching The Story of Christmas on @YouVersion.: The Lumo Project is the chronologic filming of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The films are produced by Big Book Media and in partnership with Toy Gun Films....
Friday, December 21, 2018
�� Hallmark Christmas Movies 2018 Full Length �� A Wish for Christmas 2016
taking a break from housework, only 8 days out of hospital, so i am watching this cute movie, eating chips and drinking cola, i am content, bye bye blessings, thanks for prayers
God’s Presence with Us
Today’s Reflection
Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, Holy One, Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace is born! By any name, we welcome the greatest gift of all: God’s presence with us. From the moment of Creation, God’s image has been embedded in each and every human being. Even so, God realized that we needed a more tangible way of understanding what it means to live into the fullness of God’s image within us. We needed a Light among us to follow. God sent Jesus to light our path, to show us what it means to live fully, and to encourage us to love God, ourselves, and one another.
– Sharon Seyfarth Garner
Mandalas, Candles, and Prayer
Mandalas, Candles, and Prayer
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Let Christ Be Born in You
Today’s Reflection
Let hope be born,
Let love be born.
Let newness of heart be born in you!
Let gentleness be born,
Let truth be born.
Let concern for the poor be born in you!
Let generosity be born,
Let compassion be born.
Let close communion with God be born in you!
Let prayer be born,
Let action be born.
Let the faith to take up your cross and follow be born in you!
And let it lead you in the ways of our Lord,
For the sake of our Lord. Now and always. Amen
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
The Upper Room
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Today’s Reflection It speaks deliverance to those in poverty as well. Jesus lives among us to bring the hope of freedom to everyone who seeks deliverance from oppression and bondage, to those who have much and those who have nothing. The Advent hymn “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” states, “Jesus Christ was born for this!” This Christmas will not be the same for anyone
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Friday, December 14, 2018
I Am with you
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Today’s Reflection
Promise by promise, the Advent story stretches out, like bands of cloth across a waiting manger. “I am with you,” God promises, through the words of prophets; in the songs of psalmists; from the lips of angels; by a fresh, tiny birth cry in the night.
And intersecting each strand of promise made by God, another promise is placed: from the yes of a girl, by the trust of a man, through the hope of a people, in the flesh of humanity. From the beginning to the end, Jesus Christ embodies God’s promise to the world, for you and for me: “I am with you.”
– Behold!
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Incarnation
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Today’s Reflection
We imagine the birth of Jesus, the smells and sounds of the stable, the brightness of the star, the vulnerability of the baby, and the wonder of the shepherds. The temptation is to stop there and move on, to turn the Nativity into a sentimental tableau that has little meaning for the rest of our lives.
But if we study this idea of incarnation – of Jesus being fully human and fully divine – we must consider that this event comes about because God is trying to tell us something, show us something about God’s nature and our nature, about divinity and humanity and the intersection of those two realms.
– Melissa Tidwell
Embodied Light
Embodied Light
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Create Space for God
Today’s Reflection These next few weeks can be unwrapped as pure gifts from God, who invites you to prepare carefully for the coming of Christ, the birth of God’s most precious gift to the world. The scripture texts … have, for centuries, brought light to the dark places of human hearts and night skies. The practice of prayer has, through the ages, brought breath and calm to a laboring world groaning for newness to be born among us. And a single Word, made flesh, has brought God to us, God-With-Us, Immanuel.
– Pamela C. Hawkins
Simply Wait |
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Redemption Is Coming Near
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Today’s Reflection
Prayer:
God, may we watch and wait in joy for the coming of our redemption. Eagerly we pray:Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
– The Upper Room Disciplines 2015
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