Hear the word of the Lord:
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Showing posts with label angel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angel. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Magnify the Lord with me ...
Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 34:
I will bless the LORD at all times;
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
Every day is the right day,
every time is the right time to praise God.
Those who are humble, and not totally tangled up
in their own lives will hear, and gladly add
their voices to the song.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
Our worship does not protect us from fear,
But faithfully practiced, it will deliver us from fear.
Though we may be troubled, let us never be ashamed.
May our hope in our God change the look on our face
And the way that we walk.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those
who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Not all messengers are visible, not all angelic hosts are seen;
remember the servant of Elisha and the hills
around their camp that great day.
Even beyond that, remember the name Emmanuel –
God is with us – because God is really with us.
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift his countenance upon you –
and give you peace.
Ron
Psalm 34:1-8; 2 Kings 6:17; Number 6:24-27
I will bless the LORD at all times;
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
Every day is the right day,
every time is the right time to praise God.
Those who are humble, and not totally tangled up
in their own lives will hear, and gladly add
their voices to the song.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
Our worship does not protect us from fear,
But faithfully practiced, it will deliver us from fear.
Though we may be troubled, let us never be ashamed.
May our hope in our God change the look on our face
And the way that we walk.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those
who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Not all messengers are visible, not all angelic hosts are seen;
remember the servant of Elisha and the hills
around their camp that great day.
Even beyond that, remember the name Emmanuel –
God is with us – because God is really with us.
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift his countenance upon you –
and give you peace.
Ron
Psalm 34:1-8; 2 Kings 6:17; Number 6:24-27
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Angels we have heard on low ...
It has been a while, as far as we know, since any of the “sent out” have been sent out. Angels haven’t appeared to much of anybody for quite a while, and then all of a sudden they are popping up everywhere. Not just any angels; the legendary ones. The angel of the Lord appears to Zechariah in the temple in Jerusalem. Gabriel shows up at Nazareth to see Mary. And then the angel of the Lord makes another appearance to Joseph.
These angelic visitors have amazing credentials, impressive resumes, and direct access to God, and yet God sends them to unknown people, living insignificant lives in insignificant towns with insignificant assets and insignificant political power. Although they come from families with interesting histories, nothing in any of their stories sets them apart. They are unknowns. Nobodies. Nearly invisible.
Hear the word of God describe one of these visits:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."
Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
With this knowledge, can we imagine how Mary took care of herself during this pregnancy? Do we understand the care with which these humble people delivered these God-promised children, John and Jesus, into this world? Have we ever thought about how these called-out parents measured every word that they used to comfort, nurture, direct, and discipline these babies with such huge destinies? If it were our calling, how would we raise the prophet and herald of the King, and the King himself?
That is a sobering question, isn’t it? And yet it is not as irrelevant as it might seem at first. No, in fact, we have not been called to raise John or Jesus in our homes. Yet, despite the fact that we may be nobodies, too, might God have placed a child with an extraordinary calling in our care? Who knows? We might have a Sarah or a Samuel, a Mary or a Micaiah, an Elizabeth or an Elijah, an Abigail or an Amos, a Joanna or a Josiah or a Joshua … mightn’t we?
Remember the words of Jesus? “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Because of the amount of time that God may choose for our children to be in this world, they have, according to Jesus, the potential to lay at the feet of Jesus a larger body of work than that which Jesus had time to do. More significant? Certainly not. Important in the eyes of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Through the power of Jesus? That’s what he said.
Every one of the children born to our care, and every one of the young men placed in our care, has this kind of potential. If God made a good creation when he made humanity, if Jesus spoke the truth, if we can trust his promises, then that potential belongs to all of these children. We can take the “if” out of all of those phrases, can’t we, because they’re all true. Now the “Ifs” are all in our court: if we will teach our children when we rise up and lie down, if we will show a child the way that is right when they are young, if we will not provoke a child to wrath, then we will have the possibilities that go with those practices. Will we take the “if” out of those? Will we try?
If we’re raising our children differently than we would Jesus, why?
Blessings,
Ron
Luke 1:26-38; John 14:12-14 – NRSV
These angelic visitors have amazing credentials, impressive resumes, and direct access to God, and yet God sends them to unknown people, living insignificant lives in insignificant towns with insignificant assets and insignificant political power. Although they come from families with interesting histories, nothing in any of their stories sets them apart. They are unknowns. Nobodies. Nearly invisible.
Hear the word of God describe one of these visits:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."
Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
With this knowledge, can we imagine how Mary took care of herself during this pregnancy? Do we understand the care with which these humble people delivered these God-promised children, John and Jesus, into this world? Have we ever thought about how these called-out parents measured every word that they used to comfort, nurture, direct, and discipline these babies with such huge destinies? If it were our calling, how would we raise the prophet and herald of the King, and the King himself?
That is a sobering question, isn’t it? And yet it is not as irrelevant as it might seem at first. No, in fact, we have not been called to raise John or Jesus in our homes. Yet, despite the fact that we may be nobodies, too, might God have placed a child with an extraordinary calling in our care? Who knows? We might have a Sarah or a Samuel, a Mary or a Micaiah, an Elizabeth or an Elijah, an Abigail or an Amos, a Joanna or a Josiah or a Joshua … mightn’t we?
Remember the words of Jesus? “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Because of the amount of time that God may choose for our children to be in this world, they have, according to Jesus, the potential to lay at the feet of Jesus a larger body of work than that which Jesus had time to do. More significant? Certainly not. Important in the eyes of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Through the power of Jesus? That’s what he said.
Every one of the children born to our care, and every one of the young men placed in our care, has this kind of potential. If God made a good creation when he made humanity, if Jesus spoke the truth, if we can trust his promises, then that potential belongs to all of these children. We can take the “if” out of all of those phrases, can’t we, because they’re all true. Now the “Ifs” are all in our court: if we will teach our children when we rise up and lie down, if we will show a child the way that is right when they are young, if we will not provoke a child to wrath, then we will have the possibilities that go with those practices. Will we take the “if” out of those? Will we try?
If we’re raising our children differently than we would Jesus, why?
Blessings,
Ron
Luke 1:26-38; John 14:12-14 – NRSV
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The glory of the Lord shone around them ...
As is our custom, a scripture for Saturday:
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:1-20 – NRSV
Blessings,
Ron
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:1-20 – NRSV
Blessings,
Ron
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