In Day three we talked about the prophecy given about Jesus in Isaiah; a prophecy given about 700 years before Jesus stepped onto the world scene. Today we are going to begin our look at Jesus’ entry as we examine Matthew chapter one.
“All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.” Matthew 1:17 (NLT)
Maybe you’re different, but I always skipped over the long genealogy in verses one through sixteen. I mean sixteen verses of hard-to-pronounce names are not in my top reading desires, but they serve a very important role in proving that Jesus was qualified to be the Messiah. He had to be in the line of David, and He was.
Backstory matters. We all want to know how a story really began. Although Matthew doesn’t give me all the details I’d like to know, he does start with some important ones.
“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.” Matthew 1:18-19 NLT
Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married but being engaged in that day was not as casual as our engagements are now. To be engaged or betrothed as a Jew at that time meant that a contract had been signed, agreements had been made, and they were basically married except she remained with her parents, usually for a year, as her betrothed went to His father’s house and built on a room to bring his bride home. Once that was finished, and his father said he was ready, he would go get his bride, and there would be a final ceremony and consummation of the vows. Mary was in the waiting time; a virgin contractually bound to Joseph.
Now she’s pregnant. A true scandal. Adultery was punishable by death at that time. Joseph could have had her stoned, but God had chosen a righteous man for Mary, and he didn’t want to disgrace her publicly. He decided that he would break the engagement quietly. Joseph didn’t know he was going to play a key role in the protection of Mary and the Messiah she carried. God had other plans as we’ll see in tomorrow’s reading.
Today’s truth is God didn’t just choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus; He chose Joseph as well. Mary couldn’t do this alone.
“For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)
“For a child is born to us…” Jesus had to be born if He was going to identify fully as a human. He became a man. Only a man could be qualified to be the Messiah our Savior and High Priest. He was fully man.
“…a Son is given to us.” Jesus is also the eternal Son of God. David Guzik says in his commentary of this verse – Jesus had to be perfect and infinite to offer an infinite atonement for our sins. The humanity of Jesus had a starting point. He is fully God and fully man. The Son was given, and at that moment, human nature was added to His divine nature.
This is a very familiar prophecy about Jesus. The hymn is running through my head. I can hear the Christmas choir singing it right now. Of course, on this side of the timeline looking back, we understand it. We know it’s Jesus he’s talking about. We know He’ll come as a baby in a manger, start His ministry at 30, do many amazing miracles, be shunned by the Jewish leaders, and eventually be condemned to death. He will be crucified and will rise again from the dead. Through all of that, He will try to get His disciples to see and understand that He is ushering in a Kingdom that is not of this world.
I can see how the disciples and all who had been looking forward to their Messiah coming were thinking that He would come and set up His government here on earth, wipe out those pesky Romans and everyone else who were oppressing them. But Jesus was coming for so much more. He was coming, not only to set the Jewish people free but to set all men free, Jew and Gentile. They thought their oppressor was a foreign government. Jesus knew that governments come and go. Nations and kingdoms rise and fall. It was sin, the original sin that had unleashed sin and death into the world to bring darkness and oppression that had to be vanquished. Then and only then could those who believe in Jesus and what He was going to do, and what He has already done for us now, be set free and enter a Kingdom that will never end. A Kingdom and a government that rests on His shoulders.
The last line in verse seven above says, “The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” And He did. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy that was given about Him seven hundred years before He walked the earth, and He also fulfilled over three hundred prophecies about the Messiah. When we see this fulfillment, we can rest assured that everything else written in His Word will come to pass. It may not look like what we were imagining, but it will be even better.
Today’s truth is, God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, can and will fulfill every promise He’s made. His Kingdom will never end. He will rule from the throne of David for eternity.
Thank you Jesus that we can put our full trust in You.
On Day 1 we explored the fact that Jesus existed before time before He was born into the world. While we can see Jesus throughout the Old Testament, we are exploring the touch points of Him as Jesus the man. The next stop we should take is one of the prophecies about His coming.
“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” Isaiah 9:2 (NLT)
Didn’t we just read in Day 1, John 1:4, that His light brought light to everyone? – “…will see a great light. …a light will shine.” Jesus, Himself says in Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.” Jesus is the light that will shine on all men.
Why is Jesus being the light of the world so important? In chapter eight of Isaiah the prophet is warning the people of Israel and Judah of the coming Assyrian invasion that would eventually take them away to Babylon. In verses 20-22, he tells them that if they don’t follow God’s instructions and teachings but contradict them, they are completely in the dark. They are told they will be weary and hungry. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness. Whoa! Is there no hope?
“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…” Isaiah 9:1 (NLT)
Deep breath. Sigh of relief. So, when will this end? Well, the prophecy that comes next won’t come to pass for about seven hundred years. But it will come. Those who are plunged into deep darkness will see a great light when Jesus comes; God incarnate, God with us. Only He can bring light back into the world. Only He can save the people from the deep darkness they’ve been plunged into.
It wasn’t just the people in Isaiah’s time. They remained in darkness for seven hundred years looking for a Messiah who would come and save them. On this side of Jesus’ coming, there are still those who are walking in deep darkness without His light even though His light is right there to shine on them.
Today’s truth is that we are all plunged into deep darkness without the light of Jesus. If He did not come, there would be no hope of walking out of deep darkness.
Thank you, Jesus, that You did not leave us helplessly wondering in darkness.
This Christmas season I thought I would take a journey through the Christmas story and make note of the new insights God gives me. I’d like to invite you to join me over the coming days as I look at a story that is so well-known that it’s easy to skip over important truths. I hope you’ll join the journey. Let’s dig in.
“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.” John 1:1 (AMP)
You may be saying, “Wait a minute, where’s the angel talking to Mary or the manger with the wise men and shepherds?” Well, that’s not where this story begins. It starts in the beginning, before time, before creation, before the world was made and there was nothing. Jesus was there, not the man Jesus, but the second person in the Godhead Trinity. Wow! That’s a hard one to wrap my head around, but a spiritual truth I need to know to fully understand the incredible story that unfolds as He enters our world as a man.
Before Mary, before the manger, before the wise men and shepherds, there was the Word, and He was with God in eternity, and as God, equal to the Father. He wasn’t a created being. He wasn’t a lesser god.
“He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.” John 1:2-4 (NLT)
Today’s incredible truth is that before Jesus became God incarnate – the most high God embodied in flesh, in human form – He was. He didn’t just show up on the scene the day He was born or even the day He was conceived. He was there before there was a beginning.
I look forward to tomorrow to see where the Holy Spirit leads us next.
Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel. – Matthew 15:29-31
At first the people were trickling through the village, but now there are swarms of them descending like locusts, eating and buying up all the extra food to be had. They are on their way to see a teacher; a young Rabbi they hope will be able to heal them or someone they love. They come with their mats, carts, and slings upon their backs filled with lame, blind, and mute men, women, and children.
I have never seen so many sick in one place. They are usually hidden away to keep them and their families safe from ridicule and contempt. Everyone believes that being blind or lame comes from sin; either yours or your family’s. I have always wondered how I could have sinned before I was even born. Is that possible? But how could I accuse my parents? What could they have done so terribly wrong that would give them a son with a lame foot? Thankfully they love me, and didn’t throw me out on the street to beg or even die.
At least I can do some work as a shepherd as long as they stay in the fields close to my village. It’s hard on my family when they take the sheep to pasture in the upper hills. The other shepherds don’t want me to come because they say I go too slow and hold them back. I don’t blame them, but we don’t have as much to eat during those times. I know it is my fault. Would this Rabbi heal me too?
All my family and friends think I should go with this group and try to see the Rabbi they call Jesus. They say, “Zechariah, this is your chance. You should go and see him. Maybe you will be healed.” That would be a miracle for sure. Oh what a wonderful miracle that would be! It seems impossible, but I’ve heard story after story this past week about this man. They say he isn’t at all like the other Rabbis or Pharisees. He doesn’t sneer and stay away from the sick; condemning them for their sins. He actually goes to them, touches them, and then they are healed. What kind of man could do this? I’ve heard whispers that he is the promised Messiah.
Maybe I will go and see him. If I am not healed myself, at least I can see his miracles. No one will yell at me for going too slow, this caravan of people are all going slow. I’m glad we are close to where they say he is. I hope this throng of people don’t drive him away with their needs. I don’t know how one man could possibly meet all of these needs.
As we begin to climb the hill, I see thousands of people camped out everywhere. There is singing and praising God all over. A man runs up to me and says, “I can walk, I can walk! I once was paralyzed, but now I can walk!” Another woman is crying and saying that she can now see. There are parents clapping and laughing as their child is running around them with legs that have become straight. It’s true. It’s all true. He can heal the sick.
I start to make my way further up the hill where a crowd is pressing in. I think this is where Jesus is. Yes, there he is. I see him now putting his hand on a young girl’s head and looking up to heaven. He is talking to God and calling him Father. I’ve never heard someone talk so freely and intimately to God. Now the young girl is screaming, and laughing, and hugging the people around her, and they are laughing, too. She can talk! She’s never been able to say a word, but now she can talk.
I sit down on a rock not far from Jesus, and I watch as person after person comes before him, and he heals them; young, old, rich, poor. So many of them have much greater needs than I do, and there are so many. How can I ask him to take time to heal my foot? He is so busy, and there are so many more waiting for his touch.
His disciples are worried about him. They keep coming and urging him to stop and eat something, and rest. The crowd has been amazingly good; no fighting or pushing trying to get to Jesus. There seems to be such a peace about this man, that you have that same sense of peace when you are near him. It’s a feeling that everything will be okay. If he walked away to get something to eat or to rest, would that peace go away and the crowd begin to get upset?
The disciple they call Peter is insisting that he come away for a little while, and the other disciples are pushing the crowd back. Jesus smiles and says something to the crowd I can’t hear, and then they move away. Jesus turns and begins to walk a little way off, but then he stops. He’s looking straight at me. His eyes feel like they are looking deep into my soul. He’s walking my way. Did I do something wrong? Why is he coming over to me? Will he tell me he can’t help me because of my sin or my parents’ sin? He hasn’t said that to anyone else.
He walks right up to me. I nervously look at the ground at his feet. “Zechariah, why have you been sitting here all day, do you need something?” he says smiling. “Yes, Rabbi, but it is such a small thing, just a turned in foot. Surely you only have time for much greater needs than mine.” He begins to laugh, but not a mocking laugh like I hear so often from some of the men in my village. No, it’s a wonderful laugh; a kind of infectious laugh that makes me want to laugh, too, even though I don’t know what I’m laughing at.
I look up into the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen. Their warmth keeps me from looking back down. Then I ask, “Wait, how do you know my name?” He smiles and says, “I know all about you, Zechariah. You are worried that your problem is too small for me to care about, and so many others are worried that their problem is too big for me to fix. With God, all things are possible. What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
Can that be true? Am I really valuable to God? Jesus makes me believe that I am. Jesus puts his hand on my shoulder and asks me, “What would you have me do for you, Zechariah?” I take a deep breath and say quickly while I still have the courage, “Oh Lord, I really want you to heal my foot. I want to walk normally. I want to be able to work and help my family so my parents won’t have to work so hard.” I’ve said it finally; the deepest desire of my heart, the desire I haven’t allowed my thoughts to articulate because I’ve never had any hope that it could be possible. Now, looking into Jesus’ eyes, I believe it is.
Jesus kneels down in front of me, takes my foot in his hands, looks up to heaven just like he did before, but this time he’s talking to the Father about me. Right before my eyes, my foot begins to straighten out, and my leg begins to grow and even out with my other leg. Jesus looks up at me smiling, and says, “Why don’t you try it out?” I leap to my feet and start running up the hill. I can’t believe how fast I’m running, but wait, I haven’t thanked him. I turn and run as fast as I can back to Jesus’ side, I fall on the ground in front of him and cry out, “Thank you Lord!” He has me stand up before him. There are so many questions I want to ask, but before I can, his disciples come and urge him to come over under a tree where they’ve prepared some food for him. He walks away with them leaving me with a smile.
It’s really happened; I’m whole, not just because my foot is now healed, but because Jesus has done something in my heart. I’m as changed on the inside as I am on the outside. I believe he really is the Messiah. I can’t wait to tell my family about him. Even though I’ve been here for two days, and I should be tired, I feel like I can run like the wind all the way home. I pick up my pack and begin to make my way through the crowd, headed back to my village. I am stopped along the way by different people I traveled here with asking me what happened to my foot. Each time I tell them, the pain from all my years of being lame, all the teasing and taunts from others, all the struggle, it all slips away. It’s like I’m brand new on the inside, the old me is dead, and a new me is born.
As I walk home, I look up to heaven and thank the Father for sending Jesus to make me whole. I walk a little faster until I am running. I start laughing. That’s it, Jesus’ laugh, he knew all along.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ~ Philippians 4:6
The cell phone rang beside the bed waking us both up. I looked at the clock; 5:15 am. Van answered with a strange voice. I could tell he knew the caller but was cautious, then a strained, “Where are you?”
It was our seventeen year old son who has autism. This past year we’ve had problems with him sneaking out in the middle of the night to go to the school down the street to touch doors. Apparently the beeping that alerts us to a door or window didn’t wake us up. How did he escape this time; a door left unlocked or through a window? Windows are his new escape route. We knew it wouldn’t be long before he figured out all he had to do was open the window and push out the screen.
“Pearson Ranch,” Van said incredulously. My mind screamed, but that’s a mile away! Our son was in his pajamas a mile away headed to a major highway. Van told him to wait and he’d be right there to get him, and then ran to get dressed and leave. I looked around to see how our son had gotten out. It was the garage door, the deadbolt was unlocked. One of us had gone through that door and left it unlocked. In anyone else’s house it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Before this past year it never was a big deal in our house either. That door was never locked. Now with its keyed deadbolt and locking key keeper beside the door, it’s supposed to remain locked at all times. The hard part is that most of the time it really doesn’t matter if it’s locked because Carson is fine and doesn’t want to leave the house, but when it matters, it matters so we can’t take the risk. We left it unlocked, and now our sweet innocent boy who doesn’t understand danger is standing on the side of the road a mile away in the dark.
My husband left and I slipped onto my knees beside the bed. “Oh Lord, keep my baby safe. Thank you that he took his phone with him, and thank you that he knows where he is and called us.” I prayed as anxious thoughts bombarded me with what ifs. I prayed out of need for comfort from my Heavenly Father, but I also prayed out of obedience. I could stand there wringing my hands with worry letting my anxious thoughts race or I could take every thought captive and bring it back to God’s truth. His word tells me not to be anxious, but to bring my petitions to Him with thanksgiving. Not thanksgiving for this calamity at the moment, but thanksgiving that He is the one who can do exceedingly abundantly more than I could think or ask. Then, when I’ve been obedient to come to Him in my distress, He will give me the peace I long for. My heart calmed and I sat on the side of the bed listening for the car.
Lord, I don’t understand why this is happening with our son. I don’t know what to do to make him safer, but You do. I will keep coming to you daily taking it step by step as you lead us through this valley. Amen.
2 Corinthians 10:5, Ephesians 3:20
Luke 6:27a ~ “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
I was just walking toward the kitchen as my husband walked past me and quickly said, “Don’t worry, I have already asked her to clean it all up.” Then he promptly left the house for work.
I hesitantly walked around the corner and came face to face with my teenage daughter using her feet on two dish towels swiping away at the floor. When she saw the look on my face she said, “Mom, you should be glad that I already cleaned up a lot of it. It was really messy earlier. Great! I thought as I surveyed the flour and powdered sugar dusted counters, the sink and counter full of dishes, and the little drifts of powdered sugar clinging to two of the cabinet doors.
I was already frustratedirritated, okay let’s be really honest, I was angry with her over two other incidents in the last couple of days. So last night when she just had to bake these cookies for the school project – at 10:30 p.m. – I went to bed.
After cleaning the kitchen (grudgingly because the bus doesn’t wait, and let’s face it, her cleaning methods were just making a bigger mess at the moment), but having her make her own lunch because I was taking care of her mess, I sat down to have a little quiet time with the Lord hoping for a new perspective on things. He never disappoints.
I was reading the verse that practically screamed off the page at me, “But to you who are willing to listen…” Well, of course, I listen. Those who don’t would be the unbelievers or those who pick and choose what they want out of the Bible, right? I felt the Holy Spirit nudge at my heart and ask, “Are you sure it isn’t talking about you?”
Okay, Lord, show me what you want me to see. He said, “Well, now that you are willing to LISTEN, I’d be happy to show you. Just keep reading.” As I read about how I am to love, be good to, bless, and pray for my enemies, I realized I wasn’t even doing that for my family so how could I possibly do it for my enemies. Oh no! I was a selective listener.
Of course I love my family, I do good for them, I bless them, and I certainly pray for them. I justified the situation; after all, I was just a little mad at the moment. But wait, this passage doesn’t stop at those. Oh goodness, there is more! What about turning the other cheek, offering my shirt when my coat has been demanded of me, and giving freely without asking for anything in return? Surely this isn’t talking about my situation because I’m dealing with my child, not enemies.
Hmmm, let’s see. The end of verse 35 says that if I do all of these things I will truly be acting as a child of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. Then in verse 36 Jesus says, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”
I know sometimes I have to chastise and discipline my children, and it is clear in God’s word that He does that to us, His children, because He loves us. But, He is also compassionate toward us, and sometimes just makes sure we are listening and then teaches us the right things to do.
The mountain waits for me to begin my climb. The road leads in, but I can’t see where it goes. Does it end somewhere in there among the trees and boulders that block my view? How treacherous is it?
The mountain is beautiful from here. Untouched by my presence. I can imagine all kinds of things from ground level.
Only taking a step onto that unknown ground will give me an accurate understanding of the road that lies before me. I can’t see my next step until I take this one.
Here I go.
One hesitant step at a time.
Lord, you’ve promised to be a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. Let me have eyes to see the light you are shining right at my toes.
Help me stop trying to stare into the distance, squinting through the darkness trying to discern the path ahead. Is that a bear or just a rock in the shadows? It’s hard to tell in the darkness of the trees that block my way.
Oh yes, the light, the light I’m supposed to be using is here, here at my feet illuminating the rocks and the dip in the road. I could easily dismiss them as unimportant. These aren’t so big. I could have traversed them all on my own.
But isn’t it the little things that trip us up; cause us to stumble and scrape our hands and knees? It’s the little dips in the road we don’t see that catch our toe and throw us down.
I can’t be looking ahead to the big things – they won’t be missed when I come upon them. I must keep to the road at my feet, letting the light from the lamp of the Lord shine on those things I need to keep my eye on.
As I thought about the coming Advent season this morning, I decided to read the story of Jesus’ birth to begin to prepare my heart. It always amazes me how the Lord can show me new things in a story I’ve read or heard multiple times. Today He amazed me once again.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ~ Luke 1:28
Mary was favored. Why? What was it about her that caught God’s attention? Why did He choose her to be the mother of His son? Did she do something special or did He just pick her out of a group of girls her age who were descendants of David?
I read on. I found some clues to why I think God chose Mary.
The angel of the Lord visited her and told her that she would conceive a son, name him Jesus, he would be great, would be called the Son of the Most High, be given the throne of David, and would reign over Israel forever. Wow, pretty incredible stuff! She didn’t ask about all of that, she just wanted to know how it would happen; not all the great stuff, but how was it physically going to happen to her? She was a virgin. She was saying, “What will I have to do to conceive this baby? How will it happen?”
Once she was told, she agreed, even though the ramifications to her could have been devastating. She would be pregnant and not married. Her fiancé, Joseph, would know it wasn’t his. Would anyone believe her story? She could have been stoned for adultery, but she still said yes. Why?
I think the answer comes in the next few verses.
One thing Elizabeth says to her jumped out at me.
You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” ~ Luke 1:45 NLT
This is happening to her because she believes that the Lord does what He says, but this verse doesn’t say “will” do, it says “would” do. It doesn’t mean that she believes that the Lord will do what the angel said He would do. The next verses in the beautiful Magnificat reveal the deeper belief Mary had.
Luke 1:46 – 55 ~ Mary responded,
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
There it is right there! Mary knew the covenant promises of God and she already believed they would come to pass. She didn’t just know them, she believed them. Her praises are filled with references to the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets.
Mary wasn’t just another Israelite girl who was the right age and of the right lineage. She was a girl who had her heart filled with the Word of God! So when God called on her to be the vessel to bring His son into the world, she was ready and willing.
Another key to how Mary continued in her calling, even through the challenges it would bring, came in another part of the story.
After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. ~ Luke 2:17 – 20
Mary kept her heart and mind on the right things; the things God was doing, the promises He had made. She could see them being fulfilled right before her eyes because she was watching. She was highly favored and chosen because she believed that the Lord would do what He said, and she was willing to put action to her belief.
“I’m not supposed to……,” means my son with autism has done exactly what he is telling me he’s not supposed to do. What he’s really saying is, “Oops, I’ve messed up again. Will you forgive me? Please help me.”
You see, he can’t seem to help himself. He knows the rules, he can say the rules, he’s a stickler for others following the rules, but in the moment, he breaks the rules. We have to help him. We set up boundaries, we put things in place that stop him when he can’t stop himself, and we exact consequences when needed.
The other day when he had come to me for what seemed like the 50th time that day, I exasperatedly called out to the Lord asking why my child can’t obey the rules. I know he isn’t trying to rebel. He really does want to be obedient, but once again he isn’t.
Before I could get all of that out, I got a picture of the Lord in my mind with a twinkle in His eye and a chuckle in His response, “Hmmmm, I don’t know, Debbie, why would a child who knows the rule break it?” Then scriptures about jealously, gossip, and anger danced before me. “Could it be a desire to please self outweighs the desire to be obedient in that moment?”
Ouch! I had the distinct impression we weren’t talking about my son anymore, but about my “I’m not supposed to’s.” How many times have I messed up, done exactly what I know I shouldn’t, but in the moment I just can’t seem to help myself.
Maybe my son knows something I don’t. The minute he realizes he has been disobedient, he doesn’t run away from me, he runs to me; the rule maker, the one who can forgive him and help him find ways to avoid his lack of restraint.
So, I take a cue from my son and turn my heart to the Lord, “Father, I’m not supposed to…., will You forgive me, will you help me?”
Debbie's Perspective 