I remember an elderly lady in a nursing home named Katie. Katie was a nurse and she liked to talk about being a nurse. One day I asked her if she missed being a nurse. She didn’t.
I know a sweet elderly lady in the same nursing home named Mary. Mary was a technical writer and she likes to talk about being a technical writer. I asked her if she misses being a technical writer. She doesn’t.
It seems Katie and Mary worked so hard in their lives that Katie was and Mary is ready for rest. Matthew 11:28 says, “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 2:10-12, Matthew 5:16, John 3:16
Trucking along on my way to work earlier this month, I saw light playing on the back of a shiny truck such that there was the shadowy shape of The Nativity! The Nativity shows the amazing LOVE of God to give Jesus to help mankind!!!
Isaiah 9:6 6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Luke 2:8-14
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In the above Scripture is the Isaiah prophecy of Jesus being born. In Luke, is the fulfillment of prophecy with Jesus being born. John 3:16 shows Who gave Jesus.
The back of that truck could have been a dusty Nativity shape, but it wasn’t. There was a lot of shine. There was a lot of light. I think that Nativity scene was a reminder of God’s great gift of Jesus and that we are to live for Him.
Matthew 5:16
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62, Revelation 1:7
This morning on the way to church I was thinking about exactly how Jesus returns in the sky. One of my search results was Acts 1:9. During the sermon about testimonies, Acts 1:9 was brought up! I teared up since I felt God was letting me know He knows how hard I’ve been looking for Him.
When Jesus went to Heaven he “disappeared into a cloud,” and when Jesus returns He will return on and with the clouds of Heaven (See below). Even though Jesus is expected to return on and with clouds, I don’t believe Jesus’ return has to be on a cloudy day. The reason I think this is because of the very small cloud-to-clouds Elijah account:
1 Kings 18:1-2, 1 Kings 18:41-46
18 It was three years later that the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and tell King Ahab that I will soon send rain again!”
2 So Elijah went to tell him. Meanwhile the famine had become very severe in Samaria….41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42 So Ahab prepared a feast. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and got down on his knees, with his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
He did, but returned to Elijah and told him, “I didn’t see anything.”
Then Elijah told him, “Go again, and again, and again, seven times!”
44 Finally, the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him to get into his chariot and get down the mountain, or he’ll be stopped by the rain!”
45 And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds, and a heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm. Ahab left hastily for Jezreel, 46 and the Lord gave special strength to Elijah so that he was able to run ahead of Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of the city!
Acts 1:9 (Living Bible) 9 It was not long afterwards that he rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving them staring after him.
Matthew 26:64 (English Standard Version)
64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”Read full chapter
Mark 14:62 (English Standard Version)
62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”Read full chapter
Revelation 1:7 (English Standard Version)
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[a] on account of him. Even so. Amen.
I had a dream about Jesus the other night. The dream probably happened because I really watch for Him. In the dream, I was looking at the sky when a beautiful, glowing, dark pink light eventually outlined the shape of Jesus, and then He appeared! I was SO HAPPY, SO EXUBERANT, and it seemed so real!
When the time is right, Jesus will come just like He said He would.
We read in Revelation 22:20, “20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Some people say things that alert my Christian radar. A fun musical resident was sitting in one of the dining rooms next to another fun resident. I knew one of them regularly went to the worship service. I asked the musical resident what her faith was. “None” was her answer, and she was not interested in going to worship. Not long after that, she was discharged home. But, she came back. When I caught up with her she told me she went to the hospital and came close to death. Evidently, that wasn’t the first time she came close to death. And she had a fall on top of all of that too. Yesterday, I felt like the Holy Spirit wanted me to talk with her. I offered her a word search that she accepted. Then, I told her that whenever I come into her apartment I’m reminded of the Christian man that lived in the apartment before her, before he was discharged. I told her about his energetic personality, and how one of his favorite songs was (and maybe still is), “Let Me Tell You About My Jesus.” I asked her if she’d heard it. She hadn’t. I encouraged her to listen to it, and she pretty much said that’s not what she listens to.
I hear an emergency vehicle siren, and I’m thinking about her urgent spiritual situation. I pray she accepts Jesus before it’s too late.
In Luke 10:16, Jesus instructed, “16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.””
If you listen to Christian music you may have heard, “Left it in the River,” a song about baptism. Have you been baptized too?
Matthew 3 says, “3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[a] 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare[b] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him,[c] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,[d] with whom I am well pleased.””
There was a rusty rattling truck traveling on a major road. The back of the truck revealed in large letters, “Jesus Saves.” If you or someone you know spiritually feels like a rusty rattling truck, Jesus saves! Just call out to Jesus!
John 14:6: 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Philippians 2:10: 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
I work in a memory care unit at a nursing home. In the unit, besides the rooms, are several recliners, a large tv, dining room, games on the activity tables, plants, comfortable chairs with pillows, a keyboard, and a patio. A lot of times when I come in, I need to put some things back in place, like the pillows. One of the pillows says, “Home Sweet Home” on the front, and it’s just white material on the back, or so I thought. The last time I returned it to its place I noticed something through the white material-a large picture of Santa’s smiling face! Had someone tried to save money looking at fabric scraps and decided to flip Santa Claus’ face to not be easily seen so as to be a year round pillow? Anyway, I guess how a pic of Santa Claus’ face ended up on the inside of the pillow doesn’t really matter. What is interesting to me is that a picture of Santa Claus was part of the pillow that reads, “Home Sweet Home.” We can’t go to Santa Claus’ home, a fictitious place.
We can’t go to Santa Claus’ home, but we can go to Jesus’ home sweet home. Romans 10:9 says, “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And John 14:2 promises, “2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[a]“
The Salvation Army Church downtown gave information about Donut Lassies earlier this year. The printout says, “In 1917, The Salvation Army responded to a call for help from U.S. soldiers fighting in France during World War I. At the request of Gen. John J. Pershing, around 250 Salvation Army officers and volunteers traveled overseas to set up small huts near the front lines, providing soldiers with supplies, clothing, and, most importantly, sweet treats…The women who served the donuts became known as the “Donut Lassies” and are often credited with introducing the donut to the American public when soldiers returned home from the war. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, The Salvation Army continued to make and distribute donuts, offering a sense of hope during the Great Depression.”
In the Salvation Army church’s service today it was mentioned that since some donuts have holes in them, that hole could represent a hole in a person’s life. They then offered donut holes to represent Jesus filling the hole in people’s lives.
It’s all about Jesus. In John 14:6 we read, “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
You may have heard the song, “Joy in the Morning” by Tauren Wells. Here are the lyrics from azlyrics.com:
“Joy In The Morning”
Everything happens for a reason
But you don’t know what you don’t know
And you’ll never have peace if you don’t let go of tomorrow
‘Cause it ain’t even faith ’til your plan falls apart
But you still choose to follow
If it doesn’t make sense right now
It will when it’s over
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
Giving in to your feelings
Is like drowning in the shallows
Oh you got to keep believing
Even in the middle of the unknown
‘Cause grace will be there when you come to the end of your rope
And you let go
It may feel like you’re going down now
But the story isn’t over
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet
(Hold on ’til the morning)
There will be joy in the morning
Hey, yeah
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet, no (Hold on ’til the morning)
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet, no, no, no (Hold on ’til the morning)
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet (Hold on ’til the morning)
Hey, if it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet
There will be joy in the morning
(Hold on, hold on ’til the morning)
There will be joy in the morning
(Hold on, hold on ’til the morning)
If it’s not good, then He’s not done
No, He’s not done with it yet
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
There will be joy in the morning
Though the song itself doesn’t say where in the Bible “Joy in the Morning” comes from, a quick search in biblegateway.com shows where the song title might have come from:
Psalm 30:5 says, “5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.[a]
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.”
Big Bible Fan 