December 10, 2011 Greetings my Friend, Soon it will be Christmas. For me it is a time to ponder the gift of salvation, the gift of Jesus. The wonderful gift of God in the flesh and how he came as a baby is a mystery to me. It is a marvelous mystery. As I ponder this mystery I find myself going to the very beginning. My thoughts tend to start with conception. As the statement of faith goes it says, “I believe, that our Lord was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” I stop at this point and ponder in wonder. Our lord was conceived, not like we are conceived but conceived none the less. Then I ponder that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus came from a woman as we came from a woman. He was a seed inside her growing as we grow and at the right time he was born. That means he was all bloody like we are. That means he needed to be nursed and diapered, just like us. From the very beginning Jesus experienced life as we did and do. I remember one time as a young person thinking that God does not know because He is in heaven and we are down here living life. At this point I start to feel foolish, first of all God created us so He knows. As I watched my children grow up I had a good idea of what life like was as a child, I was a child. I also knew my child like a lot of people could not know my child. I was their mother. Second of all God sent His only Son. Our lord lived life. He ate, he drank, he cried, he laughed and he lived right alongside of us. At this point in my thinking I marvel. I am so amazed that our lord Jesus came to this sin filled world. He hung out with the lowest of the low type of people. That is another marvel to me. Jesus hung out with the lowest of the low. At times I feel like I am amongst the lowest of the low. Jesus came to save all people. He said something like the healthy did not need a doctor, the sick did. He came to give hope to those who needed hope and did not have hope. In recent years many in my family have voiced their disdain for me. It hurts beyond words. At this point I look to Jesus and he reminds me that he came to give hope to the unwanted in society. That means I am a wanted child of God. As I ponder this I begin to realize that I am a child of the king. That is an awesome moment as well. As I continue on in my thoughts I focus on the fact that Jesus walked with us, ate with us, drank, laughed, cried and did everything we do. I marvel at this thought. Jesus was upset when he went to take a fig off a tree and there wasn’t one. He even cursed the tree and it died. He was hungry and wanted to eat, like right now. How many times have I been that hungry? He even knows that simple act of hunger. As I take my thoughts further I begin to marvel at the teaching we received from him. We learn of God’s great love for us, his desire for us to know him and walk with him. About now I start to see Jesus reaching out to people. He saved lives literally. He offered hope to the woman at the well. Jesus touched our lives in profound ways. Jesus turned 5 loaves of bread into enough to feed 5,000. He turned water into wine. The poor woman caught in adultery was saved. So now I start to think our lord would die a horrible death, just for us. At this point as I look at the cross I begin to see what hell is like. As I ponder Jesus’ last hours and all that he endured, there is pain I can’t even begin to imagine, as hard as I try. The Bible says that hell is a gnashing of the teeth. I grind my teeth and I wake up with a sore jaw from the grinding. It hurts. This is about the time I think….eternity….that is a very long time. If we do not accept the gift of salvation then that is what we have to look forward to. As I see the pain from being scourged, whipped and then glass and bone tied to the whip, mocked, a crown of thorns roughly placed on his head, his face beaten till it is swollen, nails in his flesh and then all the emotional and spiritual pain, I again begin to comprehend what hell is about. Up on the cross our lord had compassion. That is a marvel to me. To me….all that pain….I’d be a little self-focused. Jesus had compassion. He prayed for God to forgive them, he gave his mother Mary to john and he told the thief he would be in heaven. That always brings amazement to me. Then Jesus dies. At this point I can imagine the disciple’s confusion. They watched Jesus walk on water, calm the sea, heal the sick and drive out demons. They knew he was special, beyond special. Then Jesus dies. The hope we have is Jesus rose from the dead. At that point we now have the gift of salvation. In the Bible it states, ‘For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’ The way I see it is we need to accept this gift. The operative phrase is “that whoever shall believe in him.’ So Jesus starts as the cuddly little baby. We all love the story of him in the manger. If our faith goes beyond Christmas though then we need to see the cross, the horror of it, and the wonder of Jesus’ resurrection. For me, this is the hope I have. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius pilot and was crucified died and was buried. On the third he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Won’t you ponder, accept the free gift we all have been given and accept this gift/ May God bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you. Love Janet