Let the choir go first!

Last night we read one of my favorite Bible stories: Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, with a bunch of enemy forces coming against his country.  I'm sure God had it included in the Bible (II Chronicles 20) because it's such a superb lesson for us, and an almost intimidating example for us to follow.  He did everything right...and God did EVERYTHING!

What was his first action when he was told of the armies about to attack?  No, he didn't call the joint chiefs of staff or pull out his maps and strategies. "Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord." (vs. 3)  He proclaimed a nation-wide fast, and the people of Judah came together from all over to seek their God. (And it always amazes me that men, women and children stood there for so long.  We can hardly sit still in a church service for a couple of hours!)                                                                                                           

He finished up his public prayer saying, "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." (vs.120)  And God did something He doesn't do all that often. He told the people that HE would fight the enemy...they wouldn't have to.  Many times they had gone to do battle, fought fiercely, mourned their dead...learning lesson after lesson about trusting the Lord.  This time He would teach them in a different way.

It fascinates me that, in spite of the fact that the people of Judah were not going to do the actual fighting, God STILL told them to get ready. "Tomorrow march down against them...take up your positions and see the deliverance the Lord will give you." (vs.16,17) They still had to put on their armor, pick up their swords and shields, and march. Just because God was going to do the fighting didn't mean they could just sit around waiting for Him to get it over with.  No, they needed to be more than just spectators.They had to get ready and be present, be a part of the battle scene, and be witnesses to God's power. "Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." (vs. 17)  God was going to do the actual fighting, but they had to face the enemy.
                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                       

So they marched...but not in the normal order.  Jehoshaphat appointed men to go at the head of the army and sing.     Let the choir go first! They didn't wait to see what God did and then praise Him.  They started singing before the battle even started. They didn't even praise Him because He was going to fight for them!  The king's order was to "sing to the Lord and praise Him for the splendor of his holiness". (vs.21)  God should be praised because He is a holy, incredibly marvelous God, not just because He does things for us!

"As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the {enemy}...and they were defeated." (vs.22)  They actually started killing each other!  So by the time the singing army of Judah got to the battlefield, all they found were slain enemy soldiers.  "No one had escaped", says vs. 24.
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Fascinating story!  It seems to me like "we don't know what to do" is often the LAST thing we say to God, not the first! Once we've thought about and tried different ways, once we're stumped and can't figure it out...THEN we go to Him. Sort of like telling Him, "I've tried and worked at it, but I can't seem to do it, so... maybe You can help me with this?"  Turning it into a last resort.

God is delighted to fight with us and for us!  I think that usually He lets us do the fighting, with His armor to protect us and His power to help us defeat the enemy.  That's how we learn and are strengthened and grow. Sometimes, like for Jehoshaphat and his people (who turned to Him immediately), He decides to do the whole thing Himself.  But He always wants us to keep our spiritual wits about us.  He wants us to face our enemy, to put on our armor, to be prepared, to march...and then have the thrill of watching Him work!  (And when HE fights, He always wins!)

Whether we do the fighting or He does it, I believe His delight is increased exponentially when we begin to praise Him even before the battle begins! Don't wait to see how it ends!  No matter what He does, what he allows, He deserves our praise!  Besides, praising, itself, can be a vital factor in being prepared for spiritual war.
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We're starting a new year.  There will be lots of things ahead of us, good and bad.  So let's decide now to do what God told the people of Judah to do. "Take up your positions, stand firm...Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." (II Chronicles. 20:17)  What a New Year's resolution! What a New Year's promise!

                                                                   

 

                                                  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

"And then...I saw Him!" A Lamb's Story

 

 
                                        A LAMB WENT TO BETHLEHEM

          As soon as the shepherd set him on the ground, the little lamb bounded
          over to his mother, his excitement a visible aura around him.
          "Momma!  I saw Him!  I saw Him!"
          "Here," said the ewe, "come lay down and tell me all about it."

          "Well, you heard the angels...the shepherds must have thought we couldn't
           understand, because they were gonna just leave us all here in the field!  (Thank
           goodness the angels are smarter  One of them picked me up and stuck me in
           Caleb's arms.  He knew one of us had to go along to Bethlehem!)

          "The stable was so nice...and all the humans were gathered around the manger,
          so I guessed the Baby must be in there.  But I couldn't see!  So I rubbed my
          head against Caleb's legs till he finally picked me up so I'd stop annoying him!
          And then...I saw Him!"                                                                    

          The lamb's voice trailed off as his face lit up, remembering his first glimpse of
          God's Son.

          His mother nuzzled him.  "Come on, don't leave me in suspense.  What did He
          look like?  Did He wear a teeny little golden crown?"
          "Oh, no, Momma!  He..."

          "Did He have a teeny little scepter in His hand?" his mother cut in.
          "Momma, listen!  He..."
          "Oh, I bet He was wearing a teeny little purple robe.  Of course.
          How splendid!"  She seemed to have forgotten her own son.
          "Momma?"

          "What a sight!  A small human child...I do hope the robe was well
          wrapped about Him.  Human babies have a deplorable lack of wool to
          keep them warm."
          "Momma," the little lamb cried, "Please listen to me!
          He didn't look like that at all!"

          After a surprised silence, the ewe asked,  "No?  Then...
          what did God's Baby look like?"
          Again her son's face reflected his starry awe.
          "Momma", he said, "He looked just like me!"

                                        

                              *************************


"John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'"  (John 1:29)

This Christmas, may we all be able to say, "And then...I saw Him!"       

"That's my Son!"

                               

My son Dan was in kindergarten, and it was Field Day.  The little boys lined up for a race, a whole lap around the big diamond.  They started off, and a few moments later Dan slipped on the gravel lane and fell.  I held my breath.  He jumped up immediately, and darted off down the track again.  A man beside me said wonderingly,  "Look at that little guy. He got right back up and kept going!"  Then I did something I had sworn I'd never do.  I shouted, "That's my son!"  I couldn't help it; in my excitement, it just slipped out.

My dislike of parents crowing over their children like that in front of others wavered just a bit.  Because of what had just happened, I could see why some parents might have reason to do just that. I hadn't realized.

Dan quickly caught up with the others...passed them all...and came to the finish line in first place!  I managed to not say anything else out loud, but I was so proud of him...because he didn't give up. He got up after he fell, continued running, and then won.  

Although on a much, much more incomprehensible scale, our Heavenly Father also calls out to us, "That's my Son!"  And He doesn't just do it out of pride for His Son's accomplishments.  He does it out of love for us! He wants us to SEE Him! His Son ran the race against the enemy, against death, never giving up, and He won!  Accepting this Gift is the best thing that can ever happen to a human being, and THAT'S why God so graciously calls our attention to Him again and again. 

                            Grace-Note
                                                                                                  

Knowing when He sang the awesome anthem of creation   
that our souls would see-saw into question marks
and break His heart,
our Father prepared His answer.        

                                                                                                              

        As our sin soured His music more and more,
        His hand slipped through the folds of Time   
        to leave us a gift-wrapped Grace-note
        be-riboned with Starlight and swaddling clothes.                  

                       

All over, people say, "Let's go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened." *
Some run to reach out for the Gift,
some press cautiously up to the manger.
Some stroll by for a casual glance,
some take a long look...and turn away.
And some, like jealous Herod,
seek to destroy the only way to rewrite Eternity's Song.


                                  The Father looks each one in the eye,
                                   unfathomable love in His own;
                                   looks each one in the heart
                                   and bids him choose;
                                   pleads with each one, as He points to the Gift,
                                   "Won't you open it?  It's for YOU!"
                                                        
    *********************************         (* Luke 2:15)
                                                                                       (Becky Rhon)


    Thank you, Father, for the unmerited, precious, incomparable Gift that You loved us enough to send.  Once again, we run to Bethlehem to "see this thing that has happened"! 

Nine months...thirty-three years...all Eternity

Could this be how the Star of Bethlehem came to be?                                     

          

           


                        HEARTBEATS

      For 9 months You were one with your mother,
      listening to her heartbeat
      in the warmth and safety that surrounded You;
      cradled in innocence...
                            then thrust out into the world of Man. 

                              For 33 years You were one with humanity,
                              joining our heartbeat
                              in the half-light and shadow that surrounded You;
                              chained for our freedom...then thrust down to the darkness of death...

                                   then UP to the radiance of Life!                                                        

                where for all Eternity You are One with your Father,
                sharing His heartbeat
                in the infinite Light that streams from You,

 Holy Fire that streaks through our night....EXPLODES!                                         

 and gives birth to Bethlehem's Star.
           **************************
                                          (Becky Rhon)


The Light Who exploded into the world 2000 years ago is visible to all mankind.  Some haven't heard of Him ...others know He's here, but prefer to either ignore or reject Him.  But He CAN be seen!

 "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  (Isaiah 9:2)  

In the temple, Simeon held the tiny Baby and said...

"For my eyes have seen your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."  (Luke 2:31-32)
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If Jesus has our hearts, let's allow His brilliance to stream out to those around us and contribute to the "Light for revelation" that illuminates their path.  May He be visible in us!




                                                      

.

                                                  

The ruins or the Cathedral...which do you prefer?

The coming of Christmas always makes us remember the things that Jesus did in a special way.  Remember where He said, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.  But you are not to be like that.  Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves."  (Luke 22:25-26)  He emphasized that "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  (Matthew 20:28)  He illustrated this by washing His disciples' feet.  Then He died to give us Life.

 But all through history, there have been people whose obsession is to conquer, to be respected and adored as larger-than-life; powerful leaders who aspire to be placed on the pedestal of fame for all Eternity. (They sure go about it the wrong way!)  I'm positive we can all think of several who dominate the international news these days, people and radical groups who bull-doze their way over the lives of fellow men to construct and develop their dreams of greatness and immortality.

Sometimes I wonder what these people will think the moment they die, wake up in Eternity, and realize that all their efforts and all their corrupt arrogance have, in the long run, gained them...absolutely nothing.  (At least, nothing good!) 

 
                                                       CATHEDRAL

                              Man built a temple to himself  to boast of wealth and name
                              to those lured by his siren song like moths drawn to a flame.

                 But though its splendorous halls were meant
                 to prove himself a god,
                 no record in Eternity will show he ever trod
                 that site where ruins disintegrated into lifeless sod.

       For, much as he might strut, surrounded by his entourage,
       his fame was but a fantasy, his money a mirage.
       His music shivered in the rain and shattered in the sun.
       He walked enchanted aisles in vain, true glory never won.

No matter to what heights this folly's buttresses might soar,
the monument to Man was...only that...and nothing more.

                                  ************

  


Bound only by infinity, God's vast cathedral calls
the soul to celebrate the Glory bursting through its halls.

The Arquitect of Heaven 
 more than proves Himself our God.
The records of Eternity will show where He once trod,
the places where His presence turned the earth to holy sod.

            Surrounded by His entourage, by angel, star and saint,
            His Name is on Creation's tongue, His wealth without restraint.
            His Music shimmers in the rain and sparkles in the sun.
            Grace echoes everlastingly, salvation fully won.

                             This splendor unsurpassed reflects the God whom we adore:
                             impassioned, powerful Perfection...that...and so much more!         
                                                                                          
               *********************************************** -- Becky Rhon

 And that unlimited Perfection, that Glory, that Music, that Grace...was all wrapped up in a little Baby...who came to show us the only way to true greatness.  Those of us who believe in Him will one day have the incomparable joy of walking the halls of His Cathedral at His side!