Posted on December 27, 2018
“…the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified…”
If we succumb to a fast paced life that isn’t suited to shelving schedules and opinions to stand and welcome God’s presence, we will miss a marvelous piece of the Christmas story.
Chills run down our spine as we worship together. What did the shepherds feel as angels appeared when Christ was born? What was it like to stand in the very presence of God when they visited baby Jesus? What we read about their indescribable experience is only a glimpse of how it affected them.
Jesus was born, walked the earth, and died so we could stand in awe of our most holy God. It’s to be sought after. It’s in us. To be surrounded by the Lord’s glory doesn’t have to come in the form of heavenly angels, but it did for the shepherds.
glory (doxa) – opinion, judgment, view. – Strong’s
At the first glance of glory defined, we can see why they were terrified. What an immense feeling to be immediately taken from the dark and exposed to the light.
doxa- opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone (in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory)- Strong’s
Always a good opinion.
Being in God’s presence pulls all of the good that we are to the front of our minds …because that’s how He sees us. He sees the image of Him that He created, suffering for the curse of sin. He knows us apart from and beyond our struggles. A plight we can’t even relate to yet on this earth.
“splendour, brightness” (Strong’s)
Past the all-consuming and fascinating brightness of the sun, the moon and the stars, is glory. The Glory that the Shepard’s witnessed was the arrival of God’s glory on earth in Christ.
“God in this place.” Even in worship with our eyes shut we can feel Him brightening us. Even if we’re only removed from our suffering temporarily …it’s enough. Enough to get us through to the other side, with a glimpse of what we’re to do for the Kingdom in the meantime.
Father, Praise You for the Christmas angels that terrified the shepherds. Thank You for coming low so that we can know Your presence. Forgive us for wallowing in the heartache and struggle of this world, and help us to let go and just be in Your presence through worship and service. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Squinting,
Megs
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Category: jammed daily devo Tagged: #greatgrace17, angels, christmas, dark, glory, Light, shepherds
Posted on November 3, 2018
“For you are the fountain of life,
the light by which we see.” Psalm 36:9
Loads and loads and loads of laundry. There are weeks that I choose buy more underwear for everyone instead of facing the state of the laundry room.
Today’s verse can help us find life and light in any task we set out to do, even a room full of sticky, smelly laundry. When flipped to gratitude, each complaint takes on a new personality. The time to do the laundry and the means to afford the machines. The people that throw all of those clothes into the corner behind the bathroom door and all over the floor. The time to be home to get it all done.
“You are the fountain of my life, the light by which I see.”
When I look back and see God’s hand calling me over to this mountain of laundry, laughter starts rising from the depths of my soul. Memories of prayers for little feet and dirty hands, married life and motherhood …answered. We all have our mountains of laundry in life, but looking back reminds us that life is riddled with blessings and answers.
“See” in this verse means to experience, have, enjoy, glimpse, find … (NIV NOTES). God’s hand on and in our lives goes beyond what we can see with our literal eyes. In the deep part of who we are, God meets us with His will for our lives. A conversation starts, and we aren’t always able to translate and see what’s happening in real time. But when we look back to all the times we can remember tackling our mountains of laundry …we can see Him there.
When we seek Him for life, He gives us His Light. ” Ultimately, for sinners, God provides the water of life through Jesus Christ.” NIV Notes. Through Christ, we find our sight. And with Him, we can see over life’s mountains.
Father, Praise You for Christ! Thank You for Light and Love. Forgive us for complaining about our mountains of laundry, and help us to look back and see Your hand on our lives, trusting You are here now and will always be to guide us with Your Light. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Sorting & Folding,
Megs
Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.
Category: Christian Living, jammed daily devo Tagged: #greatgrace17, laundry, Light, mountains
Posted on October 24, 2018
“May all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Judges 5:31
A pink slit in the sky announces the giant ball of fire about to pierce through the clouds. The show of colors that come before the morning sun is sometimes more beautiful that the actual site of it rising. Once it comes up, it’s too bright to look at, but the anticipation of it’s rising is beautiful to behold. The smallest fractions of light bounce into an array of colors that is never the same way twice.
Today’s verse is a prayer at the end of a song written by Deborah to commemorate a national victory. It celebrates before the nations the righteous acts of the Lord and of his warriors. -NIV Study Bible Notes
Deborah declared our love for the Lord to be as powerful and unique as the mark each sunrise leaves on our hearts. She speaks as someone who had witnessed a lot of amazing sunrises in her lifetime. As someone who rushes out to meet the sky each day, I recognize the same marvel of power that so quietly comes up over the horizon.
Our faith doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. When we walk with Christ, the light is visible. In fact, sometimes it’s little too much for some people. It’s strong and radiant and it reaches into the cracks of darkness all around and lights it up.
The people that we were meant to shine on in this life, and those meant to shine on us, are all unique. Like the sunrise each morning, each one of us comes alive on this earth in our own way …in our own time …with our own purpose. We follow the Son’s steps home to heaven, and in the time in between, love shines bright.
Father, Praise You for the sunrise! Thank You for each day being different than the last, from beginning to end. We confess our passing by of days without effort to notice and be blessed by the brushstrokes of Your love. Bless us to shine, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Shining,
Megs
Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.
Category: Christian Living, jammed daily devo Tagged: #greatgrace17, Faith, Light, sunrise
Posted on February 21, 2018
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3 ESV
King David wrote Psalm 56 when the Philistines captured him in Gath (Lucado Life Lessons).
The strength to live authentically comes from God, alone. King David’s encouragement is centered on the confidence source of our courage. Living our full truth out loud comes from bravely walking within our God-placed purpose. Comparing our lives to those around us, and the mold of societal acceptance, chokes our ability to live uninhibited. But life exposed to the Light sets us free.
When I first earned the freedom to drive, I began to exit the highway early on the way to my family’s favorite summer hangout. Windows down and Alanis turned up, I dreamt of what it would be like to swap the suburban hustle for a sleepy lake-town life. Little did I know at 16, that roughly fifteen years later God would move our family onto a piece of land that my ’86 Nova passed by hundreds of times.
We unwrapped and repacked Christmas the year that we moved from our beloved starter home. The tree was reassembled and each ornamental reminder was placed back on it’s branches, and everyone in that sleepy little lake town noticed. Â Suddenly the plethora of windows we choose to fit our house with, along the only busy road in town, seemed like a questionable idea.
“When I’m afraid …”
Charles F. Stanely points out that “the psalmist does not say, ‘if I am afraid,’ he says, ‘when I am afraid.'”
David was afraid of Saul. He was on the run, and hoping to be considered insane, so he could continue to run further away from who he was. “He pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.” 1 Samuel 21:12-13 (NIV)
Is this seriously the King David that killed Goliath? Fear is a slippery slope. They bought his act, and he continued to run.
“Look at the man! He is insane!” 2 Samuel 21:14 (NIV)
We all face something in life that makes us want to close all the blinds and hide from the world. God promises never to leave us, and forgive our sins when we confess them. Fear causes us to assume we are alone and unforgivable, re-confessing and running from sin that He has already forgiven.
In an attempt to stretch farther than I could reach, a vase teetered and came crashing to the ground in pieces. I picked up the pieces, but the tiny shards were too small to be glued back together.
“I put my trust in you.”
The MacArthur Study Bible states that “Confidence in the Lord is a purposeful decision, replacing an emotional reaction to one’s circumstances.”
David was definitely having an emotional reaction as he ran from King Saul, but he eventually remembered what the Lord had said. God’s Truth can snap us out of temporary insanity. Hiding with his men in the back of a cave, King Saul entered to ‘relieve himself.’ David snuck up and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, and then has an attack of conscience. (2 Samuel 24: 1-5)
Labels can be leveling, especially the ones that we are hesitant to claim. There are certain thing we don’t post on social media, or bring in up in casual conversation, because it’s hard to believe they belong to us. We’d rather close the blinds.
The redemptive power of Christ pieces every tiny shard back together. He rolls on grace like gorilla glue. We don’t have to stop living life or hide our progress. The journey back to who He says we’ve always been is a testimony to His great love. Don’t draw the blinds on that.
Charles F. Stanley says in his Life Principles Bible Notes, “God does not tell us to ignore our anxieties, but to bring them to Him and realize that He can overcome any terror we ever have to face.”
My husband and I didn’t think about the ramifications of everyone being able to peer into our lives through the windows, because we were attracted to the beauty of natural light. Living in fear of what others might see draws the blinds. We hide from exposure. That’s not the life God gave us to live. That’s not the life Jesus died to grant us. “I came so that you may have life, and have it to the full,” Jesus said in John 10:10
“God, whose word I praise …”
When Saul was finished relieving himself, David followed him out of that cave. “My lord the king!” He bowed as Saul turned around. (1 Samuel 24:8) He stepped out from the dark cave and into the light, exposing his truth, and the pieces were put back into place.
Living our lives exposed to the light grants us freedom. When we turn up the volume on other voices, opinions, worries, shame, and regret, we become self-focused and selfish in protecting what we fear are unforgivable mistakes and missteps.
Authentically living for Christ begins with a real relationship with Him, in prayer and Scripture. David walked out of that cave to face Saul, reaffirmed by remembering who God said he was. Our stories, labels, and lives, exist so that others may experience the love of Christ.
Father, Praise You for this day, and Your purpose for it. Thank You for the blessings we woke up today, and those that will riddle our minutes and we walk throughout it. Forgive us for hiding the parts of our lives that are hard to face. We want to fully trust in You, God. Give us hearts like Jesus’. Help us to live authentically because we trust in You. Make us aware, as we travel through daily conversations, of those that we are meant to encourage by sharing parts of our struggles. Bless all those who hide in the darkness, ashamed and scared. May be a bright light of encouragement to every person You purposely place in our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Happy Brightening,
Megs
Posted on December 27, 2017
“…the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified…”
If we succumb to a fast paced life that isn’t suited to shelving schedules and opinions to stand and welcome God’s presence, we will miss a marvelous piece of the Christmas story.
Chills run down our spine as we worship together. What did the shepherds feel as angels appeared when Christ was born? What was it like to stand in the very presence of God when they visited baby Jesus? What we read about their indescribable experience is only a glimpse of how it affected them.
Jesus was born, walked the earth, and died so we could stand in awe of our most holy God. It’s to be sought after. It’s in us. To be surrounded by the Lord’s glory doesn’t have to come in the form of heavenly angels, but it did for the shepherds.
glory (doxa) – opinion, judgment, view. – Strong’s
At the first glance of glory defined, we can see why they were terrified. What an immense feeling to be immediately taken from the dark and exposed to the light.
doxa- opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone (in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory)- Strong’s
Always a good opinion.
Being in God’s presence pulls all of the good that we are to the front of our minds …because that’s how He sees us. He sees the image of Him that He created, suffering for the curse of sin. He knows us apart from and beyond our struggles. A plight we can’t even relate to yet on this earth.
“splendour, brightness” (Strong’s)
Past the all-consuming and fascinating brightness of the sun, the moon and the stars, is glory. The Glory that the Shepard’s witnessed was the arrival of God’s glory on earth in Christ.
“God in this place.” Even in worship with our eyes shut we can feel Him brightening us. Even if we’re only removed from our suffering temporarily …it’s enough. Enough to get us through to the other side, with a glimpse of what we’re to do for the Kingdom in the meantime.
Father, Praise You for the Christmas angels that terrified the shepherds. Thank You for coming low so that we can know Your presence. Forgive us for wallowing in the heartache and struggle of this world, and help us to let go and just be in Your presence through worship and service. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Squinting,
Megs
Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.
Category: Christian Living, Christmas, jammed daily devo Tagged: #greatgrace17, angels, christmas, dark, glory, jammed daily devo, Light, shepherds