A writing acquaintance recently shared his thoughts about the one and only time Jesus was recorded as writing. This unique peek at Jesus took place when the adulterous woman was thrown at His feet... the "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" incident. Mike shared his thoughts about Jesus's overall lack of writing, how He let others tell His story. Something in Mike's comments grabbed my imagination. And coupled with the Scripture that I shared with my family as my favorite regarding Jesus as a baby, I felt a zing moment and I want to share it with you.
My favorite Jesus-come-to-earth and one of my all time favorite Scripture passages is John 1:1-14. Condensed through the Kelly filter it is "The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us." Mike shared how the legacy of Jesus was "written" on the hearts of His disciples vs. by His own hand on scrolls. Scripture is God-breathed but not physically written by the hand of God. How awesome that God allows us to be part of His work and His plan. That He uses us to share the truth about His love for humanity.
The thing that fascinates me and grabbed my heart...besides the awesome picture of God writing truth on my heart...is a tiny seed of a picture in this story. Not only am I as guilty as the adulterous woman... that's obvious, we all are. That's why there were no accusers left to hurl stones.
This is the part that jumped out at me.... Jesus bent over and began to write in the dirt. Then her accusers, one by one, began to walk away. He wrote in the DIRT. The God of creation, the one Who created dirt, mind you, and then molded man from that dirt....wrote in the dirt. Can He fix people? Can He pull us out of the muck and help us find a different and better path? Can He clean us up? Can He actually write His words on our hearts so we are changed from the inside out?
Uh yeah... He can. He created every bit of the material needed to do this amazing feat. Wouldn't it be awesome if we all decided to surrender a bit more of the dirt of our lives to Him and see what He can do with it?
Hope you had a fabulous Christmas. We finished up tonight. One last big meal. One more night-of-everything-pizza-type of dreams, no doubt.
But also another night of talking and laughing with family.
24, Rob and I were able to share our favorite Scripture passages about Jesus with each other. I took some of my own advice and wrote notes to everyone near and dear to me.
And other gifts were, for the most part, low-key and meaningful. We gifted some homemade stuff like laundry soap in recycled glass bottles. Toad-Boy, Mrs. Toad-Boy, 24 and Rob and I decided to avoid gifts and to use that money to do a few things together that we normally wouldn't do as our gift to each other. We did get gift certificates for flooring. I will be sure to post a picture when that bad boy is installed with a big thank you to parents and grandma!
We did do stocking stuffers...fun stuff. 24 got Rob a golden hand back scratcher. This trinket is the hit of the moment. It is used for far more than scratching backs for sure. It has been used as a hook to annoy family members, dogs and cats. It has become a pointer to make sure someone gets a very important piece of information. Game pieces have been moved by it, both for convenience and for annoyance. It has been used as a "fake" hand and tucked into sleeves. Overall, it might be the best $5.00 spent for Christmas gifting.
Let the New Year fun and festivities grind into gear.
I've been pondering a series of thoughts all day while I finished up some of my Christmas preparations.
The first thoughts are focused on my failures... I didn't get cards done again. That my house will not be Martha Stewart approved. The foods are going to be basic and comfort foods. I don't have a single perfect relationship that isn't tainted by my failures and the failures of others. Tinsel and bows and shiny paper will never even come close to repairing the broken things in my life.
The second series of thoughts center around my focuses. Why is this random day, which is very likely not the day of Jesus's birth, so meaningful? Why do people go into debt and travel mile upon mile and gorge on antacids? What exactly are we celebrating with our bizarre rituals?
Finally, my thoughts swirled around in my very tiny brain and left me with pictures and concepts and awe. Why would the very Creator of the entire cosmos humble Himself to undergo thirty-three years of humanity? This is the God who created the miracle of birth, and submitted His power, His Spirit and His divine personality to this mind-blowing, painful process.
This God of the universe created miles of blood vessels and arteries and the automatic, constant circulation within them that keeps us alive. This God subjected Himself to this marvelous spider web, and then He allowed Himself to be crucified so that the life-giving, life-saving, life-altering blood that He dressed Himself with was shed for you and for me. The God who gave sight to the blind, and still does, was Himself blind for months while inside His human mother's womb. Jesus, who opened ears, and still does, was Himself in a muffled "universe" until He was forced into a cold, startling world. The God who raised the dead was powerful enough to submit to His own death and powerful enough to crush it beneath His heel when He stood on that Sunday morning.
And He did this for me. Knowing who I am. Who I should be. What I did last week, the unkind thoughts I entertain, the selfishness that pumps through my life....He knows. And He did this for me. I haven't fooled God into thinking I'm better than what I am. He sees right through me. And praise His Holy Name...He wanted a relationship with me anyway. I am a ridiculous sheep. And He knows all about sheep and He knows how to help them, and how to heal them, and how to talk to them.
This "Day" we celebrate isn't about a date. Or the time of year. Or even the warm, fuzzy memories we make. This DAY is about Jesus becoming flesh and living perfectly because we can't. And it's about Him taking on that flesh and blood so He could use every bit of it to pay for my sins and yours. It's about Him being the author and creator, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It's all about Him. Thank you, Jesus. Inadequate words from a very full heart.
Merry CHRISTmas to you all.
1. Forgive someone. Is there something you are hanging onto that just isn't worth hanging onto? Someone has said or done something that has hurt you. Is that hurt more important than the person? If it is, forgive it and let go of the relationship. If it isn't, do what you need to do to move beyond it and have peace about the fact that you are maybe going to see things differently and that it is okay to agree to disagree.
2. Look around you. Do you have difficult relationships because you have made a habit of assuming and reading into the behaviors of others? Sometimes people are just surviving. We can't know the burden that others carry. We can't read minds. Wouldn't it be awesome to decide to be honest in your communication? I could let my yes be yes and my no be no. I could ask someone what they mean when I don't understand what they are saying. I could ask someone who seems too busy for me or distant what's going on.
3. Write a note to important people in your life and tell them why they are important to you. Text, e-mail, Facebook it, whatever works for you.
4. Drop your expectations. It would be amazing if everyone processed information the way you do. Better yet, it would be amazing if you all thought the way I did. We'd all get along so well!!!!! : ). Expectations can be dishonest, manipulative and relationship killers. Expecting someone to read my mind, expecting someone to do things my way are controlling and manipulative. And expectations that I have for others to be better or more mature, or more able, or more like me are not loving. Those lead to frustration because we are all on learning curves. Our own unique learning curves where most of us need to learn things the hard way or over and over again. These expectations hurt our relationships because we generally don't actually tell people what our expectations are, or if we do, they are cloudy. Make this season, and this new year, a year of honesty where you tell people if you need or want something from them. And then give grace and mercy to them and be aware that what you hope and dream for that person, or what you want to see happen may hit a brick wall. Then go back to gift idea number 1 and reassess.
Relational peace is an amazing gift. Unconditional love is even better And forgiveness beats the heck out of a gift card.
Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Clouds Roll Away by giving away a KINDLE prize pack worth over $150.00!
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
- Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi
- $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
To enter simply click on one of the icons below! Then tell your friends! Winner will be announced January 3, 2011 on Sibella's blog: http://sibellagiorello.blogspot.com/. About The Clouds Roll Away - "Beautifully written with exquisite descriptions, Giorello's mystery also features well-developed characters..."
—Booklist, starred review Find out more here!
Too. Too cute. Takes awhile, and very likely a poor use of time. But. Penguin charades...doesn't get much cuter...And. 24 and I actually got some things accomplished. The house is minimally decorated. Excuse for minimal decor? Rob is going to be working, a door and drywall mud moved in last night. And since he will be moving things from point A to point B and making lots of dust, minimal it is. And we are slightly ready for visitors from New Mexico on Monday.
