“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This is the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”


We knew Christ for a little in this world. Will we know him better in heaven?

Matthew 1:18-25 (English Standard Version)

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"

(which means, God with us). ²⁴When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew the first book of the New Testament doesn't start with Mary's story. I always thought it odd that it started with Joseph's story. We don't know a lot about Joseph except that He had his genealogy that could trace back to David as well and this passage her tells us that he was a "just man." Another version puts it as Joseph was "a man of the law." Joseph was honorable in another way that he had decided to divorce Mary quietly. I remember as a child when ever there was someone misbehaving sometimes one of my sisters or I would crow as loud as possible and tattle. At other times we would try and settle the matter quietly among ourselves so that justice was still done, but we weren't disgraced in front of the entire family.

I have always wondered how people visited in a dream would remember what God said to them in the morning, but I don't take into account that our God is all powerful. To me a dream seems so easily ignored in the morning. "Did I really dream that?" Yet here we have a man carried out what God had commanded him to do. Joseph named the baby baby, but I wonder did he fully understand "God with us". Did he understand that now for the first time since the beginning of the world we could have communion with God. Our sin that separated us from God so strongly could be tolerated by this baby called Jesus. He could stand the weight and the sting of our sin while in this world. We could now have communion with God.

Psalm 146 (English Standard Version)

Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

¹ Praise the LORD!Praise the LORD, O my soul! ²I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
⁴When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;

⁸ the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
⁹ The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

I love this psalm. Growing up I used this passage to strengthen me when I felt alone. I still use it today. As a single woman, I receive a lot of questions about "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" I would love to say that it is because I don't place my trust in princes of this world, yet I find myself comforting myself with this passage after the princes of this world have disappointed me.

There is one prince of this world, nay a king who will never disappoint me. His name is Jesus Christ. He has been given full dominion over this world. I have pledged my life to serve Him. I don't serve Him faithfully as I should, but God is teaching me to day by day.

This past week I had a patient, a woman in her 80's and she asked me if I was married. I said no and expected the round of questions of "why not?" Instead she leaned forward and said with a smile, "Good, wait for the right one." This woman's sweetness brought joy to my heart.

Holy Father, may I put my trust, my hope, my faith in You. May I keep Your faith forever. May I be able to execute justice in Your name. May I be able to give to the needy. Please free me from the chains of sin. Please open my eyes to my sin and I be able to turn from my wicked ways. I wish to praise Your name to the nations. I want to praise you so that I might not turn from Thee. Amen

James 1:19-27 (English Standard Version)

Hearing and Doing the Word

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

This first paragraph starts by giving us a list of to do and not to do. I like lists a lot, unless I can't keep them. I am a very angry person. I heard Josiah Bancroft describe the type of anger I have as a "nice-angry." I may never raise my voice, but I will give people the silent treatment, I will behave in a passive-aggressive manner towards them, I will manipulate the situation until it looks like I can do nothing wrong. Yet I find God telling me "the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." My mother says that anger is a check engine light. It is suppose to tell you when something is unjust; however, you are not suppose to set the car on fire because the light comes on. We are suppose to use that light to find a Godly solution to the injustices.
One of my friends from work and I were recently talking. She said,"Now I'm a religious person, but I don't go to church because I don't like certain things about the church." I was able to finish her thought,"The church is full if hypocrites." We have a church full of hearers, but not doers. We go to church on Sunday, we listen, but we take nothing to heart. There is not action involved. I have done this, I do this. We also don't fully look upon the law as we should. We should be starving for the spiritual food that God gives us in His word, yet we look as devotions, church, bible study as things to check off our spiritual list. Don't we know that real repentance produces change. Don't we realize the way God longs for us to reap spiritual blessings, but we can't because we are not doers of the word.

Father, I am angry. I listen with out hearing or understanding Your law. I do not do the good works You have called me to do. Father, You have provided and put Your word in me. May I use it. May put it into practice. May my life reflect the truth of my heart. May You make my heart long after You. May You put a desire for You in my heart. Father, may You help me stay unstained from the world. May I come before You with clean hands and a clean heart.

James 1 (English Standard Version)

James 1

Greeting

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This is the second to last passage in BibleGateways article Top Five Passages From Our Top Ten Cities. I am breaking James 1 into two parts. James is so eloquent and has so much to say it needs to be digested slowly.

James start out by encouraging his audience. They have meet with hard times and James is encouraging them saying this is an opportunity for God to strengthen you. James then transitions into a related idea of ask God for wisdom. If I am in the midst of a hardship wouldn't it make sense to ask God for wisdom; however, the second part of the paragraph get me. The reason is I am a double minded woman with may doubts. I am constantly questions God's work in my life. Sometimes I am scared to ask for things because what if it is not in His plan to give me this and I will be disappointed again. But James reminds us that we have a God who gives generously. I am reminded of Solomon. A man who's heart was after the things of the world, but He had asked God for wisdom and God gave it to him. Cannot God do the same for me? And so James follows this with reminding us that man is like grass. We are very temporary. If we are so temporary, why do we not ask God for good things while we have the opportunity? James teaches us in the next paragraph that not only is God the giver of God things, but He does not give us bad things. God does not give us the temptations that come our way. We do. Our hearts have the sinful desires, not God's. God will give us a "crown of life" when we are done with this earth if we withstand temptation and rely on God during trials. If we follow our sinful desires and cut ourselves off from God, we will die. The things we desire to do are so toxic to us that we die. God brings us good things. God works in us and makes good thing of us. God puts His truth in us. We are to be like the first fruits of His creation. Sweet and pleasing because the winter has been long and the world has forgotten the taste of God.