12.24.13

Zechariah 3:1-2 Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan was there at the angel's right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. And the Lord said to Satan, "I, the Lord reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire."

My Thoughts

As I read this, this morning, I thought of how all the things that Jeshua had done wrong were prompted by Satan, himself .... then Satan, himself stood and accused Jeshua! Satan does that to us all the time, He tells us to do something, that it is okay. Then the very minute we give in Satan tells us what a horrible person we are. Even after we have gone to God for forgiveness, Satan brings our sins up again and again and again. God does not do that He throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness! God does not remember them to bring them up again!! God also tells us the truth from the beginning... God tells us right from wrong. God tells us that when we do good "this" will happen and if we do bad "this" will happen. With God we know the truth from the beginning.

The wonderful thing about God is how much He loves us... the verses just after this, just after God saves Jeshua from the fire, He has the angels take Jeshua's filthy clothing and He has Jeshua dressed in white, all clean like he had never even been near the fire much less snatched from it. That, my friend, is love.

As I wrote this morning, I thought too of how we as humans, bring up the past, we accuse others when our feelings are hurt. To be like God we need to throw the past into the sea of forgetfulness and move forward with people without accusing them of the past again and again. We need to give people new beginnings in our hearts. We need to remember when that feels impossible to do, God will send down His grace to help us. Our hearts don't need to be screaming, "look what you did!" Our hearts need to be saying, "I forgive."



12.28.12

Zechariah 12:1 This message concerning the fate of Israel came for the Lord: "This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit."

 

My Thoughts

I love this part. "... and formed the human spirit." If we look around us at all the disasters that have happened in the last few months, the last few years... over lifetimes of history, the human spirit always triumphs.  Look at how the human spirit has moved so many people to do so many sweet things in the wake of the New Town school shooting.  First the spirit of the heroes...then of the community...then of the country.  Strangers showing up from miles away to show support for these families.  The human spirit survives in such tragedies because it is God made!! 

 

The human spirit shows in men who go off to work day after day after day to hard jobs to feed their families.  In mom's who get out of their sick bed to make sure their children are fed, and clothed and dressed for school.  It shows in servicemen who, most often at very young ages defend the freedom of people they don't even know.  It shows in the acts of hero's each and every day, in stories we never hear.  The human spirit shows in a mother giving birth. It shows when a big sister takes the hand of a little brother to help him.  It shows in grown man runs down the stairs to hug his sister goodbye.  It shows in the loving wrinkles of a couple that has been together for 40 years that walk down the hall holding hands. The human spirit shows in the heart of a dieing person that waits against all odds until the last family member is there to say good-bye.

 

The human spirit triumphs only because it is God made!!

 

12.23.12

Zechariah 4:10 Do no despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand"

My Thoughts

I love this verse.  Let me set it up for you.  The verses just before said that God planned for Zerubbabel to rebuild the His temple.  God was not going to let anything to get in Zerubbabel's way not even mighty mountains. God said it would not be by force of strength by by God's spirit that the temple would be rebuilt. The importance the words in verse 4:10 is that once Zerubbabel picked up the plumb line he was accepting what God ask him to do. It says that he knew that God was asking him to do something for God. He knew that God would make him able to finish what he was willing to start.

 

What does this say to us in our world today?  It says that when God ask us to do something, God will make us able!!  It is up to us to start the task to show our willingness, then God helps us with the rest... we don't need force or strength... we just need the Spirit of God. 

 

I remember the first time I prayed with a complete stranger. I was terrified! I was in Hobby Lobby and got to talking to this lady.  Her mom was dieing...she had said something to her daughter the day before about being ready to go home.  We talked for a few minutes and I felt inside that I needed to say a prayer not for this lady but with her.  My heart was pounding, what if my prayer did not have the right words in it? Would I say something wrong?  My prayers are not elegant, they are pretty basic and rough around the edges.  But I ask anyway... the lady said, "Please do!" I took her hands and in the isle of Hobby Lobby I sent up a very simple, but elegant prayer.  I was surprised at the words!!  You see I had to be willing but the Spirit took over.. it wasn't my words it was the Spirit of God who spoke through me that day, because I was willing.  When I finished the lady had tears in her eyes and we hugged. She said to me, "You have no idea how much I needed that today, God sent  you to me."

 

When I read this verse... "...for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." I realize that God rejoiced that day I was in Hobby Lobby the minute I said, "Can I say a prayer for you?"  Then God took over my words.   Each time we are willing to do what God prompts us to do He rejoices, then He makes us able.

 

I didn't build a temple that day...what I did was so tiny in comparison but it was what God ask me to do.  Anything that God ask us to do is important. We may never know how important it is...but it matters. And we we act on what God says He rejoices!

 

 

12.28.11

Zechariah 12:1 This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: "This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit.

My Thoughts

I loved this..."who formed the human spirit!!" We can look at the vastness of the earth...and of the creations...all the splendor and beauty... and it can just take our breath away. The grand canyon, the Smokey Mountains, the ocean, beautiful falls of rushing water... flowers in the spring time.... We understand that God made all of that! When we stop to think about it we are amazed.  The heavens... the stars, the moon and sun... other planets... so much out there that we don't understand ....but when we look up on a clear night... or are lucky enough to see a meteor shower.. we are amazed at all that God created!  It can be mind boggling.

I have stopped in my lifetime and been amazed at the outstretched heavens...and the beautiful wonders of the earth... but, I have never stopped to be amazed at the human spirit that belongs to me. Yet when I stop and really think about it... I know that it is amazing! I love how in this verse God, himself, tells us that he formed the human spirit. I imagine Him taking our spirit first and holding it in His hands and molding it as He spoke strength and resilience into it... He spoke love and compassion into it.... our spirit is small enough to fit inside of us yet large enough to hold so much ... our spirit not our minds holds the information that God exist...that God loves us... that God is peace and love and joy.... our spirit can hold all that God will give us and yet fit inside our earthly bodies. That is truly amazing. I imagine that God said... you spirit, Jeannie's spirit you are meant to be loved by Me... you are made to love Me back.... and you are meant to take that love and spread it out into the world... You spirit are strong enough to bounce back when the devil finds his way in... you, spirit are meant to always seek after me and when you do you will experience love, joy, happiness, peace beyond the ability for the mind that is attached to you, to understand. I imagine that God held our spirit in His hands and formed it... talked over it.... blessed it....loved it as he placed it into our human bodies. That spirit is why we can endure so much on this earth and keep going.

That spirit inside each and every one of us... our spirit...where God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell.... is amazingly, wonderfully made... formed by God, himself. Our spirit is more special than the most exotic flower... or the biggest water fall... it is more amazing than the planets we have yet to discover. We need to cherish our spirits enough to fill them with the things they were made for.... treat them like the wonderful wonder that they are. We need to take the time to feed our spirits with all that God wants us to know... after all God took the time to form our spirit before He placed it in our bodies... and it serves us well, it gets us through, it urges us on... our spirit is where our strength and love comes from... our spirit, after all, is who we are...this body and mind that we carry around on this earth is just the vessel to house it. What will you do to nourish your spirit today? That spirit that God, Himself took the time to form. I know that I will forever see my spirit differently after today.

12.23.11

Zechariah 4:6 The he said to me, "This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by the Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies."

My Thoughts

God was saying that Zerubbable could do what God wanted because God was giving him the Spirit. He wouldn't win because he was strong or because he was smart...he would accomplish what he was told to do by God because God was putting the Holy Spirit inside him to make it possible!

When we ask Jesus into our heart, God sends the Holy Spirit to live inside of us... giving us the ability, because of the Holy Spirit to do what God ask us to do!!  There is always a right answer to any problem.... and answer that God wants us to choose.... and answer that God gives us when we ask.  If we choose God's way, God makes it possible to accomplish what he tells us to do.  Even if the right answer is the hard answer God will get us through it because he has given us the strength of the Holy Spirit. When we choose God's way it is always easiest...if not in the moment, it is in the long run. God protects us when we choose to do what is right. God gave us the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to get us through, to make us able, to help us stand against our enemy satin... God makes it possible for us to win when we depend on The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We should never believe the devil when he tells us something is just too hard...we should always believe what God says "All things are possible through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:12) All things...!!!

12.27.10

Zechariah 10:2b So my people are wandering like lost sheep; thy are attacked because they have no shepherd.

My Thoughts

The Lord is our shepherd... he will take us to the wonderful places....but we have to say behind him following him doing what he ask... God can't protect us if we wander off... because he give us free will... but when we stay beside him... listening to him... going where he leads us he will keep us safe... will storms come? Yes...but God will keep us safe in the midst of those storms... and he will take us to wonderful, beautiful streams where we can have all we could ever need... our part is not to get lost along the way ...and if we listen to God he has wonderful things in store for us!...I want to stay next to the shepherd, I choose to stay protected, and loved and card for.

12.25.10

Zechariah 8:6 "This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God''s people.  But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven's Armies."

My Thoughts

Isn't it wonderful, truly wonderful that we don't have to do things all on our own!!... Isn't it wonderful that nothing is impossible with God...and isn't it wonderful that he uses all the power and strength and love to help us accomplish all that we need to do!

12.24.10

Zechariah 7:4-6 God sent this message: "Say to your people and your priest, 'During that these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and morned n the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren't you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?"

My Thoughts

The people of Bethel had just ask God "Should we continue to morn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction, as we have done so for many years?"... this was God's answer.  If we ask God should we continue to celebrate Christmas would he say the same to us?  Sadly I believe that he would... we have let consumerism define what Christmas is...and it is more, more, more!... It often breaks a family...many people will pay for this Christmas well past next Christmas...we spend so much time shopping and buying that we are exhausted when we finally get together... one time when we were at my Dad's house for Christmas...my step mom raised her voice as she worked hard in the kitchen, she was tired and frustrated... somebody shouted out "Well now it's Christmas!"... because the frustration and exhaustion were so much a part of that day that the outburst was expected.... and I can see this scene playing over in many get together as we try to achieve the "commercial" version of the moment.... in some places here in the United States, where we ran to so we could worship God, people can't even say Merry Christmas... it has become Happy Holidays.... I do believe God would say the same thing to us... he might just say "Is this celebration, of my Son's birthday, really about Him...about my gift to you? Aren't you eating and drinking and giving presents just to please yourselves?".... I am guilty!!... I hope that I get the perfect present for my people... as much as for me, so I will  have done it right and everybody will love me... I get tired and frustrated in the mad rush to do it all...then I am happy it's over!... I have enjoyed seeing people!!...being with my family... I stop and reflect for a while on how much I love everybody and I am happy we are all together...but did I stop, really stop and say "Happy Birthday Jesus!"... I have had the  thought as I watched TV.... or shopped in the madness ... "Don't people remember what Christmas is suppose to be about?"...then I go about my business forgetting and shopping and hoping that I have bought "enough." The truth is no matter how much I spend I can't change any body's life.... but what life can I can we change if we make a true effort to celebrate Jesus at Christmas...if we take more than a moment to remember the season... if we buy less but with more love...if we stop and say "Thank you God" each time we open a present... lets take time this year to stop and remember to truly celebrate the perfect wonderful Gift from God.... and next year...when we start the shopping lets shower the people in the stores and restaurants, at work, at home...lets shower them with love and kindness as we get ready to celebrate... and if we are getting stressed and irritable lets see that as a sign, a reminder to slow down, do less and love more..so that this Celebration of Christmas will make God smile.

12.23.10

Zechariah 4:10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand.

My Thoughts

This is wonderful to know that no effort is too small.... God sees that effort... God understand that big things take small steps... think of this .... this man was building a Temple and God rejoiced to see Zerubbabel pick up the plumb like...that is a long, long way from the finishing of a Temple....but we never finish what we do not start.  We should never, ever see a step we make toward serving God as too small... what if this had been Zerubbabel's only job in building the Temple and no one else could have done the plumb line, the Temple might not have ever gotten built if Zerubbable had not started.... what we do for God is never ever, not matter how small it might seem, insignificant...when God prompts us to start something we never know where it might lead.... we never know where the ripples end... we often tend to see the stones we drop in the water as being dropped in a small puddle.... only God know where what he ask us to do is going to lead... we need to always drop even our tinniest stones of goodness, and kindness and love because we never know when they are landing in the ocean...we never know just how far the ripples of our actions will reach... so never think a good work, no matter how small, doesn't matter because it does!...never miss the opportunity to start because God rejoices to see the work begin!

12.21.10

Zechariah 1:3 Therefore, say to the people, "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says, the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

My Thoughts

I love how God made it known twice in this scripture that it was it came from him that all we have to do is return to God and he will return to us!...No matter what we have done, no matter how far we have wandered... if we return to God he will return to us!!  You might ask where God was when??.... it is important to remember that God does not leave us... we choose to leave God.  We have that choice because God gave us free will.... God gives us the choice to love him and to choose him.... God gives us the choice to stay close or wander away... so when you feel that God is not near ask yourself where you have run to, what you have run to.... never forget that you can always return to God he loves us more than our minds have the capacity to comprehend!.... His is a perfect love and even when we choose to wander far away he loves us and is waiting there for us with his arms open wide.... and  God's arms is an amazing place to be there you will find love, unconditional love, peace, amazing peace, comfort, strength, self worth, kindness and answers to your questions. I am so blessed that God was waiting for me!