Journey to Bethlehem

Luke 2:4-5

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.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

As I was reading through this account, I started thinking about my last pregnancy.  Around this time, four years ago, I was seven months pregnant with my first born son.  Now not all pregnancies are rough, but mine with my son was horrible and by seven months, I was so huge, I felt like I could hardly move some days. 

Here was Mary, who was clearly very pregnant.  Even with the best of pregnancies, I just cannot imagine what she had to go through, traveling all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Most doctors today would advise you against such travel in your third trimester. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to take simple passages, such as this, and help us to visualize being in the situation.  While not all of you can relate to Mary in her pregnancy, I’m sure you’ve all known women at the end of their pregnancy and just how miserable they get. 

As you get to the very end, they tell you to go walk the mall or something like that.  Mary sure did a lot of walking at the end of her pregnancy!

Now for you guys that have had a pregnant wife or friend and have been around toward the end, I’m sure you can only imagine what Joseph was going through.  He needed to go to register, needed to take Mary with him as she was pledged to be his wife, and here she was probably miserable throughout the trip.  He was probably slowed down because of her pregnancy and probably felt helpless in taking care of her. 

I know that my husband often felt this same way when I couldn’t move very quickly and would complain about something that he really couldn’t fix. 

Today I hope you can simply imagine what that journey would have been like for Mary and Joseph.

Our Journey to Adoption, Part II - Choices

In 2010, Joe went back to school for a master’s in psychology (after financial constrains led to his job loss as a youth pastor). So, I thought maybe God was going to wait to give us children until after Joe finished his masters and got another job. However, we did eventually see a second fertility doctor, who again didn’t find any issues.

Joe graduated in 2012 and got a full-time job at a treatment facility in 2013. No pregnancy ensued, though. We didn’t sense any direction from God regarding adoption, either.

Then, in 2014, we were led to again call the Department of Human Services about attending a foster orientation. They were no longer hosting orientation classes, but contracted with Orchards Children’s Services to conduct in-home orientation classes. So, a lady came out to our home. (We let her in and didn’t lock her out! J) After orientation, we could choose any agency to go through to get our foster license. I didn’t know which agency to pick. Even after prayer, it wasn’t clear. Joe thought we could go with Orchards as they did the orientation, so that’s what we did.

God knew it didn’t matter where we got licensed. He knew the unique circumstances that would connect us with James and Sarah. It only mattered that we got licensed and not who licensed us. I had worried about selecting the “right” licensing agency when God knew it didn’t matter.

Sometimes any of the choices before us are the “right” choice. I often want God to specifically direct me to a certain choice. I don’t want to make a mistake. However, He is Sovereign!! He will accomplish His plans even if I do make a mistake.  

Job 42: 1-2 Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

Have you ever been stuck in a situation where any choice could be the “right” one? Besides prayer, we should also check our options against God’s Word. Do any of the choices violate any of His commands? If not, we don’t need to keep sitting and waiting but can move forward in faith with any choice.    

James 3:13, 17-18            If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom… But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Are you in a situation where many options seem good? After much prayer and checking your options against God’s Word, you can move forward in faith with any of the choices. Then, be open to God’s confirmation or redirection as you take one step of faith after another!

Alice  

Focus And Do

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  James 1:21-25

My youngest daughter is a master of diversion.  When she is in trouble, she will try to quickly acknowledge what has happened and been done wrongly.  However rather than focus on what was the poor behavior, she tries to quickly change the subject.  She realizes that the place of punishment and consequences is not where things end well for her.  So she moves quickly to things like, “Dad, I did really well in school today,” or, “Mom, do you know what happened in cheer?”  Of course, we direct her back to where the focus should be, but nonetheless, she will keep trying.  Her determination and persistence is a great thing.  However as parents, we have to channel it where she focuses on the right things, and then does the right thing.  In thinking of the big picture as a Christian, that is our challenge as well.  It’s a lot more challenging though because we may tend to focus on the stuff that seems important instead of on Christ.  Today, I want to encourage you to focus and do.

If we trust in God, we will walk closer to Him with each step.  In each action where we read His word and act on it, we move closer to God’s plan for our lives.  Here is the interesting part.  If we are truly focused on God, it is not to say that every step will be in the right direction.  In fact, we may very well fall off course.  My life is filled with errors and missteps where I knew the right pathway but made the wrong step because I might have wanted something more than what God wanted for me or got distracted and hastily made a decision without trusting God.  In the end, these were choices I was neither proud of nor happy with.  Yet, they were key moments of learning where God through either His discipline or revealing to me His plan allowed me to move forward.  In the end, the steps still moved me closer to Him and not further.  There’s a reason the Bible is called ‘The Living Word Of God.’  It is not a vacuum that we read and say, “Ok.  That makes sense.”  It asks us to focus on it, reflect, and then act.  It is how it manifests itself from just being words on the paper to as James wrote the living “word God has planted in your heart.”

We live in a world that is built to ensure that we are disconnected from God.  The thing is that it can be so subtle, we often lose sight of it.  Hebrews 12 states, “(L)et us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”  That is why it is important that we focus on Jesus Christ for if we do, our actions (or walk) will be on God’s right side and our faith found ‘perfect.’  What is stopping you from converting God’s word into action?  How can we be better doers than readers?  My prayer is that we not only pause to adjust but also focus and do.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Checkup

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (NASB)

Hello,

Have you ever stepped back and evaluated your thought process leading up to a decision of where to spend your time, or how much effort you are about to (or about not to) put into prayer or reading your Bible? While I am not advocating talking to yourself ( J ) I would recommend slowing down some and forcing yourself to think on a step-by-step level as you approach your walk with God when you have big personal moments coming in the near future, and evaluate your decision making process.

Are you letting the big personal moment impact how you approach God and your choices through the day?

Now, I am all for letting things have a positive impact on our walk with God – but we need to be aware of how we view our relationship with God. If we get caught up in changing our behavior based on something big coming up – how are we really treating God? Do we still view Him as our Savior – deserving of our unconditional love and commitment as He has secured our eternal future? Or, are we looking to superficially and temporarily look good while we have something on the line that is visible and temporary?

Again, I am all for improving our walk with God and doing better on a daily basis – I just think it is worth an introspective look by all of us as to our motives for decision making. When we catch the motive starting to slide, just pause for a moment and adjust. Thank God for who He is and what He has done for you, reminding yourself of what your true motivation should be.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Tues Devo: Be encouraged

Psalm 27:1-3 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.” (NASB)

Hello,

This past week had me thinking about times of turmoil. Times in our lives where it feels that we are being pressed by different things at the same time. Times where we feel there is little breathing room. But when we feel like there is no breathing room, we need to look at our source of oxygen. Sure, earthly things and our enemies may be pressing in – but that should not be where we draw our life breaths. We need to remember that we are getting our life from Christ all along – in the good times and the challenging times. Just because challenges come does not mean that we need to change where we are drawing our life from and where our hope truly resides.

I hope that if you are facing some challenges right now, these section from Psalms is an encouragement to you.

Will Hill

Trust in the Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I feel lead today to dovetail off of what Alice wrote the other day.  She talked about God closing doors, sometimes very literally.  I personally can relate to this very well.  You see, I am a planner.  I often try to map out where my life is going.  What new opportunities I have and to feel in control of my life. 

God however often has different plans for me.  Plans I may not understand at a given time.  That door shutting on you when you really want something, really hurts in the moment.  This however is a time when we need to trust in the Lord with ALL of our hearts and trust that he is making our path straight. 

I know that I for one am living this right now.  I pray that in your life, you can also feel the challenge to trust in the Lord to lead you.  We might feel like we know what is best for ourselves, however the Lord truly does.

Our Journey to Adoption, Part I

For a while, we thought it wasn’t God’s timing for us to have children. Then, in 2009, we were studying the book of Isaiah and I was challenged by God’s command to take care of widows and orphans.

Isaiah 1:17   Learn to do right; seek justice.

   Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

   plead the case of the widow.

James 1:27         Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

As we researched “orphans” in the United States, we realized there are very few orphanages anymore and few of them actually adopt out the children. However, there are thousands of children in the foster system. So, we prayed about whether God was directing us to take care of orphans by pursuing foster-to-adopt.

In God’s timing, several months later there was an “Orphan” conference in Grand Rapids. It was all about fostering-to-adopt. We attended the conference and then signed up for an official orientation class in our area through the Department of Human Services. However, we had bad traffic, were 2 minutes late and the doors were locked when we arrived. We knocked on doors and called numbers we had, but to no avail. We took that as literally a closed door, at least for a time.

God knew we didn’t need to be licensed yet. James wasn’t going to be born for over 2 years. I think God planted the idea early so He could prepare our hearts and test our willingness.

Has God planted a desire or goal or purpose in your heart that hasn’t gone anywhere or worked out, at least not yet? Will you seek and then trust His perfect timing?  

Alice

Getting Off The Sidelines

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.  If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?  James 2:1-4

Like many of you, I have watched the past election with a lot of emotions.  My wife has watched the toll it took on me, and some of the frustration and anger that at times has overcome me.  We’ve been praying about it, and she has been truly my better half through it.  I once told a friend years ago that peaceful times in my life meant that God was ready to rock my world.  Well, consider that prophecy fulfilled, and I am glad He is still active in my life.  It was helpful that I focused on what was at the heart of my frustration.  It was more than an election and who won and lost.  It was my friends who were at times ‘proud’ of what had happened.  It was as if one major part of the equation had totally been missed out.  There is a reason a choice is called ‘the lesser of two evils.’  The point is it is still ‘evil.’  It was then God made my call clear.  That I could not stand on the sidelines. I needed to voice those feelings and emotions constructively, and articulate what many are now seeing unfold first hand.

As a Christian, we can never accept discrimination of any kind.  Period.  Many have focused on words and rhetoric saying those things do not matter, and those offended need to toughen up.  I have a picture in my head of Jesus hearing that, and saying, “Really?”  There is no debating the events of last week, and for us to continue that discussion is unproductive.   What God would want is for us to focus on Him, and respond forward and accordingly.  This is where I am today.  If you are one of those saying people need to deal with it, I challenge you to ask yourselves are you dealing with it the right way?  Do you ask the question why, and as a friend of God, are you being empathetic toward that person?  And if the result was not to your liking, are you asking yourself what God wants from you?  Do you pray how you can respond both Godly and yet firmly?  Do you trust He is in control?  And no matter who you chose, how can we love our brothers and sisters while encouraging them toward holy reconciliation?  I know there are a lot of questions, but if we ask God the right questions and our hearts are truly His, surely He will guide us toward the right answer!

All because the world won a battle providing us two unacceptable choices does not mean we have lost a war.  To be clear, the overwhelming majority of us understand discrimination is unacceptable, and that is something we should be proud of.  However, we must make this crystal clear as well.  Discrimination is never acceptable.  Not in words.  Not in deeds.  Not ever!  Let’s say to each other, “No.  This will not happen again.”  My prayer is that as God’s children, we stand up to discrimination and get off the sidelines!  Amen.

Tues Devo: Piles of shells

Hello,

Thanks for allowing a late night version this week! I just arrived home with my family from a 1 week vacation. It was great to be away and to focus on family. One of the days we were going to a couple beaches and someone suggested a particular spot for looking for sea shells. When we arrived there it was like nothing I had ever seen. Giant rows of shells that had washed in with the tides and been left behind. Inches deep, and what looked to be miles long. My wife put the following on facebook after that day, and gave me permission to use it here:

“Sea shells...piles of sea shells - tossed around by the ocean and landing with many others. Some broken and tattered and others whole and unscathed from the outside. Each one rummaged through by hands looking for the perfect one to keep.

Same with life...some are visibly broken, cracked and scared; while others are not but hold their scars deep inside where they are less visible. But God, takes all of those broken and tattered pieces and turns them into something more then we could imagine even when others and ourselves see broken, tattered, messed up, not worth it- God sees His children as worth it.”

When I read this it made me think of two things: 1) God created each individual and 2) no matter what we go through, we are loved deeply by the One who gave His only Son for us.

Psalm 139:14 “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.” (NASB)

Romans 5:7-8 “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (NASB)

Will Hill

Love

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Brothers and sisters, I am deeply sadden this week by what I am seeing throughout the country.  It’s all over the news, it’s all over social media.  It’s just plan sickening!  Since the election results, I have seen family’s divided, I’ve seen friendships lost.  Why?  All because you didn’t agree with the other person on who should take office? 

I want to make it very clear that I did not feel either of the candidates were great choices.  That being said, someone was going to win.  If we go back eight years, many people didn’t like Obama either.  Some thought he would ruin the country.  Now I’m not saying that he’s been good or bad, all I’m saying is that here we are eight years later and we have elected someone again that not everyone agrees with.  Some feel Trump is going to ruin the country.  He’s not even in office yet and the country is being divided.  This cannot be blamed on him.  Rather those who choose to attack one another simply because they don’t see eye to eye on something.

We are told that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  If we are doing this, then the second commandment should come easily: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Today, I ask you to be in prayer for our country.  Pray that we can come together once again, be healed and figure out a way to make this world better, regardless of who is elected as the President.  LOVE, it’s that simple.