Deliverance (Christmas Carol of the Week)

Christmas is nearing, and my mind has been swarming with thoughts about the Old Testament Law. I recently read Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in a short period of time, and the precision and perfection God demanded of Israel astounds me. I can't fully explain the severity of his law, but I encourage you to try and read through it in just two or three sittings. The law reveals the magnitude of our separation from God's holiness, and by default also reveals how helpless we are to attain holiness.

It is a sobering thought to realize our peril before such an awesome and holy God.

So, this Christmas I have been meditating on the truth that Christ was born to fulfill the law:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17

and that his fulfillment of the law brings us deliverance:

"For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh." Romans 8:2-3

And Christmas is a joyful time because a deliverer has finally come.

This Christmas carol reflects this truth beautifully. Be careful to read all the lyrics, they are profound :).

Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel
Translated: John Neal, 1818-66

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Merry Christmas!

Recovery

This week I have been averaging about 10 hours of sleep a night - and I've almost recovered from the semester. It's been a good week, here are some highlights:

Since Saturday we've (me and those who are doing the study with me) read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. I am still processing it - it's been fantastic to read it like a story.

I am also reading Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. If you are looking for an excellent book to read over Christmas break, I highly recommend it.

Caleb and I bought the first season of Fringe on Monday and have been watching it lots. Good show.

We decorated our apartment for Christmas.

Caleb is teaching me how to play basketball. He has been trying teach me some fancy tricks, but I am just trying to get down switching hands when I dribble. :).

We went to a Christmas party last night at Caleb's boss's house. It was a lot of fun - and there was LOTS of good food.

Right now, I am listening to Bing Crosby and getting ready to bake some peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies. Yum. So far, this break is fantastic. I have a feeling it will only get better :).

The Forty-Four Day Plan

Here is the plan for reading through the whole Bible in 44 days. Enjoy!!

Day 1: Gen. 1-27
Day 2: Gen. 28-Exod. 2
Day 3: Exod. 3-Exod. 28
Day 4: Exod. 29-Lev. 14
Day 5: Lev. 15-Num. 7
Day 6: Num. 8-Num. 31
Day 7: Num. 32-Deut. 20
Day 8: Deut. 21- Josh. 8
Day 9: Josh. 9-Jud. 8
Day 10: Jud. 9-21, 1 Sam. 1-15
Day 11: 1 Sam. 16-2 Sam. 7
Day 12: 2 Sam. 8-1 Kings 4
Day 13: 1 Kings 5-2 Kings 1
Day 14: 2 Kings 2- 25
Day 15: Isaiah 1-29
Day 16: Isaiah 30-55
Day 17: Isaiah 56-Jer. 10
Day 18: Jer. 11-34
Day 19: Jer. 35-52
Day 20: Ezek. 1-27
Day 21: Ezek. 28-48
Day 22: Hosea, Joel, Amos,
             Obadiah
Day 23: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
             Zeph., Haggai, Zech., Malachi
Day 24: Psalm 1-51
Day 25: Psalm 52-96
Day 26: Psalm 97-150
Day 27: Proverbs
Day 28: Job 1-37
Day 29: Job 38-42, Song of Sol.,
            Ruth, Lamentations
Day 30: Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel
Day 31: Ezra, Nehemiah
Day 32: 1 Chronicles
Day 33: 2 Chronicles
Day 34: Matthew 1-23
Day 35: Matthew 24-Mark 14
Day 36: Mark 15-Luke 14
Day 37: Luke 15-Luke 24
Day 38: John
Day 39: Acts 1-22
Day 40: Acts 23-Romans
Day 41: 1&2 Corinthians
Day 42: Gal, Eph., Philipp., Col.,
            1 & 2 Thes., 1 Tim.
Day 43: 2 Tim., Titus, Philemon,
            Heb., James, 1 & 2 Peter
Day 44: 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude,
            Revelation

Forty-Four Days

My friend Anna have I decided we want to read the whole Bible in 44 days. My mom, sister, two of my brothers, and one of my brothers friends are joining us. So, I thought I would put an invitation out there for anyone else who would be interested.

Some reasons we are doing this:

1. The main reason we are doing this is because its difficult to get a "big picture" perspective of Scripture when only reading one or two chapters a day. Scripture connects with itself all over the place. Chances are, however, if you start reading Genesis in January and don't get to Romans until September you won't remember the details in Genesis very well, much less see how portions in Genesis connect with Romans.

2. From beginning to end, the Bible is a story. A really important story. We would never read a classic by Dickens or the like by flipping to random chapters and reading portions when we feel like. The author wrote the story in a specific order for a reason, and we won't understand the story if we don't read it the way he intended. Obviously the Bible can be studied by books and it should be studied slowly and it detail. That's not a wrong approach, and often the content is so deep that we need to read a little at a time. However, we should aim to study the Bible in a variety of ways, and reading through it quickly - almost as though it was a chapter book - is a good way to study it. And I don't think we do that very often (actually, I have never done it).

It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. We'd only be reading about 15-20 pages a day (depending on your Bible). Anna and I have written a plan...we are going to read the Old Testament in the Tanakh order (the original order of the Old Testament, it's a little different from our modern Bible) and follow with the New Testament. We have each day planned so that we will be reading approximately the same amount every day.

Anyways, if you are interested, leave a comment and I will post the reading plan tonight. Anna and I are going to start tomorrow because that's when our Christmas break starts. You can start with us (who knows, myabe I will even make a group if there are enough of us so that we can stay accountable) or you can start on your own time. It's a big task...but think of how exciting it would be to read the whole Bible in such a short amount of time! What a privilege it is to have Scripture!

Yes.

A thought from Bernard of Clairvaux

From On Loving God

"Reason and natural justice alike move me to give up myself wholly to loving Him to whom I owe all that I have and am. But faith shows me that I should love Him far more than I love myself, as I come to realize that He hath given me not my own life only, but even Himself. Yet, before the time of full revelation had come, before the Word was made flesh, died on the Cross, came forth from the grave, and returned to His Father; before God had shown us how much He loved us by all this plenitude of grace, the commandment had been uttered, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might’ (Deut. 6.5), that is, with all thy being, all thy knowledge, all thy powers. And it was not unjust for God to claim this from His own work and gifts. Why should not the creature love his Creator, who gave him the power to love? Why should he not love Him with all his being, since it is by His gift alone that he can do anything that is good?"

Amazing Fact of the Week

Although there are more than 1500 variations of tea, they are all made from a single tea plant, Camellia Sinensis (which happens to be the only tea plant in the world!).

Anselm

"Therefore man, whose nature is rational, was made holy for this end, that he might be happy in enjoying God."
-Anselm

A Prayer I Need to Pray More Often...

Psalm 141:3-5
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!
Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!
Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me - it is oil for my head;
let my head not refuse it...

It's easy to forget how prone to sin I am, and if I am not careful to pray in this way and ask for God's grace and forgiveness daily I could easily end up living in sin and not even know how I got there...for we walk away from God one small step at a time.

The Best Month of the Year

After putting up with the first 10 not-so-cool months of 2009, November (the best month of the year) has finally arrived in all it's wonderful glory.

Happy November!

Bambi vs Godzilla

Mr. Jankovich showed this video short to my class in Junior High...and it still makes me laugh.

Caleb speaks again...:)

Caleb and I were talking about the movie "Old Yeller" on the way to church Sunday evening and I let it slip that I had never read the book.
His immediate response: "That's why you're lame."

ROY G BIV

I have been married to Caleb for over 16 months, and today - for the first time ever - I discovered that he color-coordinates all of his clothes by style (polos, sweatshirts, tshirts, etc.)...and it gave me quite the laugh.

R - red
O - Orange
Y - Yellow
G - Green
B - Blue
I - Indigo (Indigo, really?)
V - Violet

Poor Lady Galadriel

I backed into a mini-trailer today that I couldn't see behind me and put a nice hole and dent in the back of my car, Lady Galadriel.

So Easy to Forget

It's so easy to forget one of the most encouraging things in the world: Everything in my life (all that I study and hope to know, all my relationships, all that I do) is secondary to my relationship with the Lord.

If

I had to memorize this in junior high and I still think it's a great poem.

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!

A thought from Charles...

"I learned when I was a boy that the chief end of man was to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; but I now hear, according to new theology, that the chief end of God is to glorify man and enjoy him forever. Yet this is the turning of things upside down." - Charles Spurgeon

Caleb's Not So Romantic Sayings

After showing off my new mascara to Caleb he replied,

"Aren't you so glad you have a husband who is so generous with his money?!"

Caleb's Romantic Sayings...

"Wow! You look so cute I am having an existential meltdown!"

Jello

Tonight I was reminded of a time when Caleb, Jeremy, and I theorized about how I could successfully put my entire self in Jello in their garage; we decided that the boiling-the-water part would probably kill me so we didn't try it.

Maple Trees

I think that maple trees are my favorite in the fall.

All Wet

My husband thought it would be funny to put a rubber band around the spray hose attached to our sink, point it straight forward, and then ask me to get him a drink "just from the tap."

(My shirt is all wet.)

Men's Clothes, anyone?

After an evening of relentless searching for men's clothes with Caleb, we have discovered that men in Louisville either a) never buy clothes or b) spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on clothes.

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

It was definitely the place to be this weekend.

Autumn: The Best Season of the Year

Fall is here - and I made a strawberry apple pie (for the first time) to celebrate!

(Click "View Original Post" to see a picture)

Red Rose

My absolutely wonderful and fantastic husband found (after a long, grueling search) Red Rose tea here in Louisville!

BDAG

We got it!

Yes

"The Lord has promised good to me
His Word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures"

A Mother's Influence

"[Origen's] father suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Septimius Severus...Origen, who was still a young lad, wished to offer himself for martyrdom. But his mother hid his clothes and he was forced to remain at home..." The Story of Christianity (pg. 78), by Justo L. Gonzalez

He was willing to be martyred, but not willing to go out in public naked.

Ninth and O

We are so blessed to have found such a WONDERFUL church to worship at!

The Cutest Fishy

Today, Julianna (4 years old) said in one breath as she pointed at a frog swimming in a ditch, "Look! That's the cutest fishy and I want to keep it and I want to pet the cutest fishy but sharks aren't the cutest and I wouldn't pet a shark because it would bite all my fingers off!"

Sweet Potatoes?

I tried sweet potatoes tonight for the first time in my entire life and I discovered something: I love them!

Brilliant

I am convinced that language is one of God's most brilliant creations (and so it deserves serious and faithful study); it comes in thousands of varieties, every person uses it differently, it is constantly changing, without it we would not have the capacity to think, and God has chosen it to convey His perfect and unchanging Word, ordaining it to be the primary tool that gives us an understanding of the Gospel.

How Glorious the Love

i;dete potaph.n avga,phn de,dwken h`mi/n o` path.r( i[na te,kna qeou/ klhqw/men( kai. evsme,nÅ 

"Look how glorious the love the Father has given to you, so that you may be called children of God, and you are." - 1 John 3:1a

I Deserve You

I am still trying to figure out what Will (the 6 year-old I nanny) meant when he spontaneously declared during dinner, "Rebekah, I deserve you!"

*Although it is cute and it did make me smile, I really don't understand it - any ideas?

Sick Day = Rest Day

In some strange way I enjoy being sick because it gives me an excuse to do nothing but sleep and drink hot tea (two of my favorite things).

Rainy Days

A refreshing, spur-of-the-moment walk in the rain today was a beautiful reminder of God's faithfulness to sanctify us and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness!

Every Life Matters

Last night Sir Lancelot (my fish) almost died when our fridge caught fire.