Month: December 2020

Two days have past.  The presents are gone.  Hugs were given and I love you’s exchanged… but those are just a memory.  For one fleeting moment we forgot about the sickness.  We forgot about the worries.  We put the hatred, the financial woes, the stress and the troubles of this world on hold.  All was forgotten, but for a brief moment, to celebrate the birth of a King.  But in that moment.  In that brief second.  Lives changed and the world changed because of a baby.  JESUS!  He is still here.  Doesn’t matter what those worries were.  He is still here!  Doesn’t matter what the sickness is.  He is still here! The financial woes and stress are not important.  He is still here.  Emmanuel – God is with us.  Christmas is not about family… friends… gifts… food… or trees. Those are good but temporary.   Christmas and the glory of it is about a King that came to save us from ourselves. A King that came to give us more love than we could ever comprehend. A King that climbs into our lives to carry our burdens.  He is still here… He still cares… He still saves…  That makes everyday Christmas!

I Love You!

Perry

I remember vividly what it felt like to hold my daughter… then my son… for the first time.  The amazing deep love, like I had never known before, overwhelmed.  As I admired their face… as I counted their fingers… their toes… as I kissed their face and experienced their wonderful smell for the first time.   I remember the emotion.   I remember the capture of my heart and the sense of responsibility I felt in that instant.  All these memories have rushed back in as I thought about what it must have felt like to hold baby Jesus for the first time.  To not only love him, as we all love our children, but to know that he was the son of God!  To feel the pure love that was given to only him!  To know that he came to save every soul… that ever was or ever will be! 

To know that he was as pure, as pure can be, and would stay that way!  To know that he would sacrifice himself, as the lamb of God,  to save his very mother…  his father…  to save you… to save me…  To reconcile the world to God, as all of our sin rested on his tiny shoulders. To simply be in his presence and know that he is God, he is the Savior and he is the Holy Spirit .   I weep as I think of what that must have been like for Mary… for Joseph…     

Happy Birthday Jesus!!! 

Merry Christmas!!

Perry

I thought I got it!  Every Christmas, I look at and read about the nativity scene but the true deep reality of it never fully came clear.  In that time a stable was simply a lien-to and perhaps the most disgusting structure in town.  Under its’ roof the dirtiest place would have been the manger.  Full of animal saliva… worms… and the stench of uneaten moldy food.  God could have chosen anywhere for his son to be born.  A palace.  A suite at the inn.  In the middle of the synagogue.  Why a manger?  He wanted to choose the lowliest, most disgusting, vile place, to show us how his love works.  I have watched churches turn away people because they do not fit in.  I have watched as people shun those they consider disgusting.  We live in a world where it is believed you should act a certain way,  dress a certain way,  and talk a certain way.  The manger says – I came for everyone!  I was born to love the most disgusting, dirty, vile person you can think of.  Sometimes God hides lessons in the most obvious place.  For me, this one brought a multitude of tears and time on my knees.  The manger teaches humility. The manger teaches unconditional love.  Isn’t it time we all practice that each day in our churches and on the street?

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I Love You!

Perry

This season I have pondered… what it felt like for Mary?  What were her thoughts as she watched God’s only son grow, knowing he was the Savior of all mankind?  How did he act when in the synagogue?  Did you see him with a far away look, as if he could hear someone you couldn’t?  Did he ever play with dirt while peering at his own skin… with a look of knowing?  When he saw other kids giggle during worship, how did he respond?  Did he shutter when he saw a lamb brought to slaughter?  Did he have a smile as you taught him about the world he created?  When you had to scold him did you tremble knowing you were correcting God?  As you held his hand did you weep… knowing you were holding the hand of the creator?  Did his hand bring images to your mind, of what it would go through?  Did you kneel at his bed and pray… knowing you were praying to him?  An ordinary girl chosen by God for a holy task.  An ordinary girl willing to do whatever was needed because of her love.  This time of year we marvel at the birth of our king and Savior.  Just as marvelous was the job his mother did of raising him.  Lest we forget that his birth was only the beginning.  

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I Love You!

Perry

The love our God has for us is so immense that words can not explain. He created us in his image and shared with each of us a portion of his spirit.  He wanted nothing more than for us to love him back.  For us to be devoted to him.  Pure love is free choice. He soon saw that our love would falter.  Our love would fail. Because of his intense compassion for the people he created he had to find a way to reconcile our sin with his love.  Enter Mary!!  A simple girl… young… normal… and well thought of by some. Because of her dedication she found favor with God .  Still a normal everyday girl with sin just like yours.  Just like mine.  God knew by placing his son in a normal girl he would create a way to take our sin… her sin… and cancel it once and for all.  Gods son, our Savior, sinless and perfect, had to be made one with a normal sinful soul in order for sin to be defeated.  He had to be born of a sinful human… in a humble nature… in order for the pain of the cross to cancel all sin once and for all.  There was no announcement.  No parade. No headlines.  The birth was not even noticed by many.  However it changed all our lives forever.   Our God… our Savior… did that for us.  They did that for you. They did that for me.  What an amazing God!   Mark 2:17

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

I Love You!

Perry

Father

As I learn… as I grow… you reveal your spirit to me.  As I look into your eyes I have a heart that can not keep.  My greatest of fears is that you will leave me here.  Drowning in this water so deep, when I want nothing more than to walk with you.  I’m just a common man with  common fears.  I don’t like the doubt…  I don’t like the lack of trust, as satan tries to lead me in the wrong direction.  As I pray I want to become one with you.  I want to show the world your love… your heart… your grace.  Father, come into every part of my spirit and use me until you can’t use me anymore.  I give up my very soul, along with all of my heart,  my mind.  Take my life to your service.  Allow me to get out of the way, so the world sees only you.  Give me a faith that is so rock solid that nothing of this world can shake it.  Allow my life to speak of you to others. Father, my whole life is in your hands.  Mold me, as the potter molds the clay.  Turn me into a vessel for your love.

In your great name – AMEN!

Ephesians 1:15 – 19 (MSG)

I Love You!

Perry