The Star of Bethlehem - A Poem by Annie Johnson Flint

 

The Star of Bethlehem

Not to the king the Star,

Flaming in light afar;

Not to the king on his throne apart,

With fear and hate in his evil heart,

Speaking smoothly with lying ruse

To find the new-born King of the Jews;

Not to the king the flame,

The light and the glory came.

Not to the seers the Star,

Shedding its beams afar;

Not to the seers with their downbent looks,

Poring over their ancient books,

Searching where and pondering when,

He should be born who is Saviour of men;

Not to the seers the flame,

The light and glory came.

Not to the sword the Star,

Glowing and bright afar;

Not to the sword that sought where He lay,

Callous and cruel and eager to slay;

Never were bearers of swords so led

Where helpless and innocent blood was shed;

Not to the sword the flame,

The light and the glory came.

But to the wise the Star,

Lighting their path afar;

Unto the wise who truly sought

With reverent worship and loving thought

These to the Child the Star could bring,

To lay their gifts at the feet of the King;

Unto the wise the flame,

The light and the glory came.

- Annie Johnson Flint -

Matthew 2:9-10  When they had heard the king, they

departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east,

went before them, till it came and stood over where the

young child was. When they saw the star,

they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Research that was done at the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy showed some interesting things about the activity of the stars and planets in 3 B.C. when Jesus Christ would have been born. The indications from that project were that He was most likely born in September, possibly on the 11th. Here is a link to a post on this subject for further reading: The Christmas Star Research Project.

Evening Song - How Great Thou Art

Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. 

Psalm 48:1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 

Psalm 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 

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The Thousand Word Project - Blooming Fireworks

Short Thoughts - Good All by Himself

All By Himself

A friend once sent me a link to a song. I don't remember what the song was, but something the singer said before she started singing made me think. She said, “God is just good, and He is good all by Himself!” Wow. What a statement. 

Do you realize that God doesn’t need us to “prove” that He is good? He doesn't need to do anything to "be good" like we do.  He IS GOOD – all by Himself. He is good in and of Himself. He doesn’t need anyone or anything to prove it. I think sometimes we get the wrong idea - that we have to somehow prove that He is good or that He is God. Why? He is Good and He is God without proving Himself to us, without our approval, without our proving it to others, to Him or to ourselves. Although He does prove Himself, He does not need to prove Himself in order to be good.

He does not technically need us to tell Him He is good either, though we know from scripture that He wants us to praise Him for who and what He is – including His goodness. It is expected of those who love, fear, and worship Him. But, He was good and wise and creative and mighty “all by Himself” before the foundation of the world. Or I should say, He IS all these thing before the foundation of the world. His goodness is not limited to time as ours is, or as our concept of Him is. John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

I don’t know what the lady was thinking when she said that God “is good all by Himself.” It might have been what Jesus said when He stated, "…there is none good but one, that is, God." Mark 10:18 God “is good all by Himself” in the sense that He alone is good (all others have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Rom. 3:23). He also is good alone, without the need of proof or commendation by anyone. It is a wonderful thought! It takes a lot of false responsibility off of us. It also reveals to us the blessing and privilege of worshipping Him outside of our own specific needs. He is not good and just and wonderful and powerful and mighty and wise because we found Him so, or because He proved Himself to be so to me or to you. He is not all these things because we say He is either. He is all these things without our praise, without our permission, without our being on the receiving end of them. He is "good all by Himself." He is I AM THAT I AM (Ex. 3:14).

And yet, He desires the sacrifice of praise from us in adoration and worship of Him as the good, creative, mighty, awe-inspiring God that He is! What a privilege! What a blessing! And yet, how humbling.

Psalm 104:35 Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD. 

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

Evening Song - God Hath Not Promised

Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 

Deuteronomy 33:25 ...and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. 

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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What God Hath Promised

God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day
Rest for the labor, light for the way;
Grace for the trials, help from above;
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Annie Johnson Flint

Hebrews 13:5b ...he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Texas Memories - Eclipse Shadows

 
Psalm 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

I believe this was in August 2017. I love how the sun shining through the trees makes these shadows that show the eclipse of the sun. 

Hard Questions - What About Vaccines?

 

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow

after the things which make for peace,

and things wherewith one may edify another.

 

A tremendous amount of tension and drama has surrounded the subject of vaccinations for years now, but recently it has reached a fever pitch. It is a very polarizing subject, causing splits in friendships, family relationships, Christian fellowship, and the public arena of life. It is hard to overstate the situation.

Making decisions about this issue is very complicated and not a matter to be taken lightly for many people. I’ve read, heard, and seen enough to know that there are points of legitimate contention on both sides. Yes, I did just take a moderate position. Sadly, there are people who won’t have the mental fortitude to continue reading because they are so polarized on this issue that they can’t even tolerate hearing a slightly different point of view than their own. Yes, I did just call you a wimp if you get all mad and leave without finishing reading this, but I mean it in the nicest possible sense. <smile>

Frankly, I’m more than a little tired and put out with the controversy that some Christians feel is appropriate on this issue - controversy and sinful anger in defiance of God’s word and Christian charity. And, I’m saying that to both sides, so please don’t assume I mean one or the other. I’ve seen the people who support informed choice on this issue get mostly ignored because they were moderate instead of supporting one extreme position or the other. I've also seen people who believed in informed choice take extreme positions on the "right" to choose, to the point of ignoring what the Bible actually teaches. I know that there are people on all sides of this issue who will automatically be disgusted with me before they even hear me out just because I am not “smart enough” to take their own position. This doesn’t remind me much of 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:1-4 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind...

As Christians, what should our position be? This is a tough question and one to which many people think they have an absolute answer. Most of them, however, are basing that answer on what they believe are “the facts” surrounding the issue of vaccinations rather than Biblical principles. Some also believe they are following biblical principles but they are only taking into account what supports their own presuppositions. Worst of all, some people actually base their position on nothing more than a political ideology or the say-so of their favorite "big cheese" (president, politician, doctor, pastor, movie star, sports hero, you name it.)

Let’s consider a couple questions relating to the issue, questions that might not be exactly the ones generally asked.

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