Joseph's Love

Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

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What is love? We read a lot in the Bible of God's love as our Heavenly Father. We don't know very much about Joseph, Mary's husband. Surely he, too, was chosen by God to come along side Mary and help shepherd Jesus in His young years. I truly believe he loved Mary and Jesus.

As I have read the Christmas story again this year, I have been impressed with Joseph. In Matthew 1 we can tell that he was a righteous man. He cared about doing the right thing in people's eyes, but he also did not want to bring any disgrace upon Mary.

Songwriter, Michael Card, has written a song called "Joseph's Song."

How could it be this baby in my arms

Sleeping now, so peacefully

The Son of God, the angel said

How could it be

Lord I know He's not my own

Not of my flesh, not of my bone

Still Father let this baby be

The son of my love

You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARVAg0gl6w

Ps 103: 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

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Photo of my husband and his son in October, on a walk.

A Mother's Love

Isaiah 49:15"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"

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Seeing a first time mother with a new baby makes me smile. She radiates joy, love, and a new sense of purpose. That baby is treated as special cargo.

Recently I noticed a mother cat and her kitten. She let her kitten eat first, even though she was hungry. She didn't want anyone to take it away either. See her scowl in the picture?

So even in the animal kingdom, it is natural for a mother to have compassion on her offspring.

I would have loved to see Mary's face the first day she held Jesus in her arms. Imagine the compassion swelling in her heart. God, too, was looking down on His one and only Son. Amazing love.

God loves us with that same intensity. Maybe even more. In Isaiah He implies it's absurd that a mother would not have compassion for her child. But even if some mother in a moment of craziness might, He will never, EVER forget us or stop loving us. Bask in that love right now.
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Above photo taken at a volunteer event I attended in November. The cats photo was taken near our home.

God's Love for the World

John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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My husband and I love to travel and explore this world. No matter where we have lived, we branch out and learn about history, cultures and the people who live there. Whether we go for a weekend to Scotland, or New Orleans, we prefer not to eat at McDonalds or some other chain restaurant, but to find some Mom and Pop hole in the wall restaurant and people watch while we wait for our meal.

Our vocations have given us many opportunities to touch people of other cultures to draw them to know Jesus. We pray as a family for the world. God sent His Son into the world for me, to save me from my sins. But He did that for every human being, of every culture and language group, too.

Joy to the world

Joy to the world! The Lord is come:

Let earth receive her King.

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and heaven and nature sing.

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Photo taken a November morning as our cruise ship came into Venice.

How God Showed His Love

1John 4:9 This is how God showed his LOVE among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

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There are many allegorical stories about Jesus being sent from heaven to live among men. Paul Harvey tells the story, "The Birds" about an athiest trying to help birds find shelter from a snowstorm in a barn; then saying, "if only I were a bird, I could tell them..." http://www.tyny.com/christmasstory.html

I saw a movie once about a man who saw some ants in trouble and wanted to send his son to help them, as an ant.

A hymn that captures this theme has the chorus like this:

Ivory Palaces

Out of the ivory palaces,

Into a world of woe,

Only His great eternal love

Made my Savior go.

This is love.

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Photo taken outside our house the other day. Frost outlining roses.

A Throne Established in Love

Isaiah 16:5 In LOVE a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

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Living in Europe for a time we've seen a lot of castles. It is fascinating to explore the world of ancient kings and queens.

How do all great kings come into the world? As a baby, of course. And God sent His son into the world, destined to be a ruler bringing justice and righteousness. Only this King wasn't born in a mansion or a castle to someone known to be a king already. He was born in a lowly manger.

So the drama plays out throughout His life... exactly what kind of blessed ruler is this Messiah? It didn't look like what the Jews expected.

But He was and is a King established out of LOVE.

Love: An everlasting covenant

Isaiah 55:3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful LOVE promised to David.

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Our son, Bob, works at a bowling center. He also loves to bowl. However he has a form of autism that results in super sensitive hearing. So he happily prefers to wear muffs on his ears to protect them from the sound of crashing bowling pins.

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We play a little game at our house. We have a dinner bell. My husband likes to jingle it as softly as he can to see if our son can hear it. Often he does! While he can clearly hear the bell no matter how soft, part of it may be the expectation of dinner that he is tuned for.

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This verse in Isaiah wants me to tune in to what God is saying. The promise is that listening to God is life to my soul. Living for Him draws us into an everlasting covenant with the Christ Child. That is because the Christ Child is the Messiah promised to David.

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Isaiah 16:5 In LOVE a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Second Sunday: Bethlehem Candle

Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

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Luke 2:4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
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Bethlehem was a small town. Like many elements in the Christmas story, it was ordinary, unimpressive and small. In the birth of Christ we can extract many lessons. A reoccurring theme throughout the Bible is that God can do great things through ordinary, even flawed people, or through paltry resources. God loves to take the something unassuming and make something wondrous out of it.

Why does He do this? The answer is found over and over in Scriptures. But perhaps the best explanation is His Glory. When it is obvious that man is not the powerful, wonderful element, God shines through in His Glory.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

So for me, when I feel small and insignificant, I must realize that God can use me just as I am.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight

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The following Sundays in Advent follow different traditions with different churches. Sometimes the sequence is Bethlehem, Shepherds, Angels. Or Love, Joy, Peace. I have decided for the Sunday candles to follow Bethlehem, Shepherds and Angels and Love, Joy Peace during the week.

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The above photo was taken in November in Rhodes, Greece, in the old city. It reminds me of what the streets of Bethlehem looked like when I visited there in the late 90s.