Just A Thought

 “I can just see them: spellbound, wide-eyed, mouths gaping and minds whirring.  People of varying occupations, ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds who had one thing in common - they had never heard anything like they were hearing from the unkempt, long-haired mountain man who was leaning back in his chair, gazing into space, describing a remote mountain scene he claimed to have seen with his own eyes.  He told of a place where the mud bubbled, the air smelled like rotten eggs, deep blue-green pools of water nearly boiled and streams of water unpredictably jetted higher than the trees - and all this smack dab in the middle of frozen patches of ice and snow. At first his audience was amazed, even mesmerized, but soon many became skeptical.  Why? Because they had never seen anything of the sort.” (Unexplained, John Hanson, 2017)

It was later proven that John Colter was telling the truth. What he told the world about in 1806 is now seen and enjoyed by millions of people, each year, as they visit Yellowstone National Park. He experienced it as an adventurer. He was on the forefront of the American frontier. If someone like him had never ventured into the unknown, it would still be unknown.

We, too, are pushing into a frontier. The last few years have been challenging - to say the least. Almost everyone in the world has seen and experienced things they didn’t expect. We have survived (and possibly grown) in spite of the difficulties, but not without a toll. It is not uncommon for such demanding life experiences to “take the wind out of our sails.” The arduous, risky, unpredictable mountains and valleys of life are intimidating and thrilling at the same time. It is an adventure, and we must decide how we will live it. We can view the unknown future, with all its potential tragedies and triumphs, as frightening, or we can see it as adventurous. 

The Biblical view of this adventure, that we call life, is that it was meant to be an amazing journey that takes us places no one has been to before. For those who have committed their lives to Christ, it need not be scary, because we do not go into the future alone. In fact, much of what we see unfolding around the world has been predicted and recorded in Scripture. That same Scripture comforts those who trust in God, by assuring them that the new territory that we will encounter in 2022 can be embraced as a foray into the unknown, under the direction of the One who knows all things. 

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Thursday, December 23, 2021

 Because Christmas is such a powerful love story, it has captured the attention of the whole world. Although many have twisted the story to be about getting, it is all about giving. A few have truly understood the full import of the story; they recognize it as the unique event in which the Creator became the Savior. On occasion the world will see evidence that someone has taken cues from the Christmas story cast and followed their examples, so that their lives can also be magical and world changing. They do what everyone has been invited to do: join in the most wonderful story of all time. They love God back with their whole lives.

Christmas is a love story, firstly, because God loved us. It is hard to fathom that He would love His willful and rebellious creation to the extent that he would humble himself, take on him the form of a servant and live as a man. He was born a poor nobody, knowing that his own people would eventually lynch him as a mob. But that was the price he was willing to pay to make a doorway through which mankind could walk, should they want to live free, and forever.

Secondly Christmas is a love story because there were a handful of people who were willing to  love God enough to enter into His story. God could not love without having someone who would receive His love and let His love flow through them to others, because God forces himself on no one. He loves lavishly, waiting for someone to open their arms and receive that love. In the Christmas story, it was Mary and Joseph that modeled loving back most dramatically.

Joseph loved God enough to marry a woman who many thought had been unfaithful. He loved God enough to change his plans, by having a child just a few months after taking his bride. He loved God enough to move his new bride and infant to the foreign country of Egypt. And he did all of this because of a few divinely inspired dreams. Many people dream. Some dream dreams from God. Few change their lifestyle to live God’s dream.

Mary loved God enough to say yes to an angel who showed up suddenly and announced the favor of God. She embraced God’s plan, which meant enduring the glares of people who put no stock in her claim to being a pregnant virgin. Her tale defied science and, as many of us have discovered, most people have more confidence in what they know, than in a God who is too amazing for them to quantify and tame. Mary was willing to give birth in a barn, raise children as a poor mother in an insignificant town. It appears that she spent a good number of years as a single mother. Then, she followed Jesus from place to place as He did good and was hated for it. She was one of the few at the cross, the grave and the outpouring of the Spirit. 

The Christmas story reminds us that to be a part of His Story:

·      It is not enough to be a good person.

·      It is not enough to be religious.

·      It is not enough to be just “a Believer.”

·      It is only enough when someone responds to God’s love and joins in His story.

A good test to see if you have loved back is to ask yourself if you are giving Jesus a present for Christmas this year. Are you focused on giving or getting? Better yet, are you cooperating with what He is doing in the earth?  Are you letting Him use you to save the world… because you love Him? Without love, eventually something will cull out even the most ardent believers who believe with their intellect or traditions. Since the purpose of setting aside a holy day is to reflect and embrace that which is being celebrated, this would be an ideal time to love God back. It is an honor, and it will make life complete, peaceful, and joyful. Christmas is about loving God back.

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Monday, December 20, 2021