Category Archives: God’s Plan

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March 27, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Miracles, Obedience

A MATTER OF CHOICE (Part 2)

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:38 (ESV)]

When writing about the Annunciation of our Lord, I came upon some articles by women who take offense at the story of Jesus’ conception. Interpreting Mary’s response as involuntary, they picture the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary as some weird sort of supernatural rape. This is inconsistent both with Scripture and God as we know Him. The Archangel didn’t say, “Surprise, you’re pregnant!” and leave nor did he physically impregnate her. Read the words as reported by Luke; Gabriel told Mary what would happen, not what had already occurred. It was only after Mary asked how the angel’s words would be fulfilled and Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would make it possible that she accepted God’s invitation to motherhood. It was then that the miraculous power of God—the “Most High”—came upon her.

The God we know from Scripture is one of choice: it was He who gave us free will. Although God pursues, seeks, and invites us, it remains our choice to accept or reject Him. Jesus called the people to follow Him, but not everyone who heard His invitation did. When the people of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave, that’s exactly what He did. In Jesus’ parables about banquets to which the invited guests refused to come, the host accepted their refusals and simply invited others to the feast. God gave us free will and He will not violate this gift. No one, not even the virgin Mary, was ever forced to partake of God’s grace.

Although some would have us think that Mary was powerless in Gabriel’s presence, she was the one with the power. It was Mary who decided if she would accept God’s call. Calling God a “sovereign gentleman,” writer Mark Ballenger makes the point that, like a true gentleman, God waited for Mary’s verbal consent before the Holy Spirit came upon her!

When people object to Mary calling herself the “Lord’s servant”, they are confusing being servile (mindlessly doing what is ordered) with consciously choosing to serve. There is nothing demeaning or weak about being a servant. After all, Jesus was God but He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” [Philippians 2:7] The One who calls us to be servants, is the same One who served us! He laid aside His majesty to wash His disciple’s filthy feet and He laid aside His divinity to suffer and die for all of mankind. If God can selflessly serve us, there is nothing demeaning about our serving Him!

Mary was far more than an incubator for God. We remember her not because she had the womb in which Jesus grew; we remember her because she freely chose to be a faithful and obedient servant to God. God could not have carried out His plan of salvation without Mary’s consent and cooperation. Let us remember that God cannot continue to carry out the plans for His Kingdom without our consent and cooperation. Like Mary, we are called to be God’s servants. Whether we accept His invitation, however, is entirely up to us.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. [Mark 10:43-45 (ESV)]

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March 24, 2025

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Church & Worship, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Miracles, Thanks & Praise

ON MARCH 25 (Part 1)

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. [John 1:14 (NLT)]

If we were living in England or any of its colonies between 1155 and 1752, today would be New Year’s Eve. Back then, the British Isles used the Julian calendar. Named after Julius Caesar, the calendar year originally began January 1. After the fall of the Roman Empire, however, the new year’s onset gradually changed to the first day of spring. While starting a new year in the dead of winter seemed counter-intuitive, beginning it on March 25, the date of both the spring equinox and the Christian Feast of the Annunciation of Christ’s Birth, seemed a more logical way to start the year.

The Julian calendar, however, miscalculated the adjustments needed for leap years as well as the date of the spring equinox. Wanting Christians to celebrate Easter on the correct date, Pope Gregory instituted a new liturgical calendar with a better way of calculating leap years in 1582. Called the Gregorian calendar, January 1 was set as the beginning of the year. While March 25 no longer marked the equinox, it remained the date of the Annunciation. Although much of Roman Catholic Europe adopted Gregory’s calendar, Protestant England resisted and continued to follow the Julian calendar until finally adopting the Gregorian one in 1752.

While no longer New Year’s Day, for those in liturgical churches, tomorrow (March 25) is known as the Annunciation of our Lord. Commemorating the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary, it is a celebration as much Protestant as it is Roman Catholic. The Annunciation was celebrated as far back as the fourth or fifth century and its March date was set in the seventh.

Let’s not forget that the story of Jesus didn’t begin in Bethlehem; it began in Nazareth nine months prior to that night. It was when Mary became pregnant that God became incarnate—a human being made of flesh and blood. Granted, He was only two cells fused together at first. Nevertheless, that zygote had everything in it to become the man Jesus. It divided again and again, the embryo grew, the cells began to differentiate, and the fetus developed everything needed to live outside His mother. Since sin-filled man was incapable of going to God, on that day, our perfect God came to us. Fully God and fully man—that baby boy forming in Mary’s womb was the promised Messiah and savior of mankind!

While Jesus’ incarnation is the core of our Christianity, it is difficult to understand and, for some people, impossible to believe. Nevertheless, the God who spoke the world into creation, created night and day, scattered the stars through the sky, filled the oceans with water, and populated the earth with living plants and animals could certainly manage to plant a fetus in a womb without going through the ordinary steps. When Mary assented to God’s will, Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Of course, since we really don’t know when Jesus’ birth took place, we don’t know the date of His conception. Nevertheless, having grown up in a liturgical church, I find a richness and strength in remembering and celebrating events in the life of Christ (even if the dates are wrong). Luke’s gospel account of Gabriel’s visit to Mary seems more appropriate in this spring season of new beginnings and fresh starts than in winter, a time of dormancy. On what I hope to be a beautiful spring day for you, please take the time to read the account of this blessed miracle found in Luke 1:28-36. Remember to thank God for His entry into the world as a man so that He could save humanity.

Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God that man might stand before Him as He was created to do, the friend and lover of God Himself. [Oswald Chambers]

Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. [1 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)]

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February 27, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, God's Plan, Patience & Perseverance, Today: Make it Count

SETTING THE BAR

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. [Hebrews 12:1-2a (NLT)]

zebra longwing butterfly“How was work today?” asked the wife in the Born Loser comic strip (drawn by Chip Sansom). Her husband answered, “Horrendous!” adding, “It feels so good that it’s over, I’m almost glad it happened!” Having had times when my prayer was simply, “Lord, just get me through this!” I understand. Sometimes, life seems so challenging and exhausting that we’re willing to settle for merely getting through it. That, dear friend, is setting the bar far too low. God has better plans for us than just getting by and none of us are born losers.

Sarah wanted a baby so much that she was willing to settle for surrogate motherhood when, in fact, God promised that she’d give birth to a nation. When he fled to Midian, Moses just wanted to escape persecution for killing an Egyptian. God’s plans were that he would lead the Hebrews to freedom. The orphaned Esther probably just wanted to settle down with a nice Jewish boy. She never imagined that God’s plans included making her a queen who would save her people from genocide. Gideon, hiding in a winepress, just wanted to get the wheat threshed so he could feed his family. God’s plans were that he’d defeat the Midianites and become Israel’s fifth judge. The widowed foreigner Ruth just wanted to feed herself and Naomi with the leavings in Boaz’s field. She never dreamt of being great-grandmother to Israel’s second king and ancestor to the Messiah. The woman at the well just wanted to fill her water jug and go home without incident when she got the living water of Jesus. Zacchaeus, the tax man, would have been happy just to catch a glimpse of the rabbi from Nazareth. He got much more when Jesus came for dinner and brought salvation with Him. What of the fishermen from Galilee who just wanted to catch enough fish to pay their bills and put food on the table? Did they ever imagine they’d break bread with God? Considering all that God can accomplish through us, it would seem that our hopes and dreams often are way too small.

The Apostle Paul doesn’t tell us just to get through the race—to schlep halfheartedly through the course set before us. He tells us to strip every weight that slows us down and run (not walk) with perseverance. Sin can trip us up, but so can our attitude. Just hoping to make it through the day (week, month, or even year) hinders our run by setting the bar too low. We must never be willing to settle for less than the best—less than the best that God has in store for us and less than the best that we have to offer Him!

Why just settle with merely getting through life? If God just met our expectations, He’d never have the opportunity to exceed them and exceed them He will! When we allow God to determine our dreams and obediently follow His plan, the result will surpass our wildest dreams. He didn’t promise a life of just getting by: He promised a life of abundance—not a life of riches—but a rich life.

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. [Michelangelo]

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. [John 10:10 (NLT)]

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Amen. [Ephesians 3:19-20 (NLT)]

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February 20, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, God's Plan, Holy Spirit, Thanks & Praise, Today: Make it Count

HOW DO WE DO IT?

Speak to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. [Ephesians 5:19-20 NTE)]

lotus flowerJoe Btfsplk was a character in Al Capp’s Lil’ Abner comic strip. With a last name that sounds likes what’s known as a “raspberry” or “Bronx cheer,” the poor man had a dark cloud of perpetual bad luck hanging over his head. Btfsplk no longer appears in the comics but I think his dark cloud of misfortune has settled over the head of a dear friend I’ll call JB (in honor of Capp’s luckless character). Since JB’s retirement, if something could go wrong, it has and, as soon as one challenge resolves, another one appears. When I saw the photos from his most recent mishap, JB looked as if he’d been tossed around in a giant rock tumbler filled with broken glass and boulders.

I later learned that one of his wounds became infected (meaning a hospital stay) and, upon his release, JB fell and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon! A modern-day Job, the poor guy can’t catch a break!

JB, like Job, could be described as an honorable and upright person who fears God. Fortunately, JB doesn’t have a group of friends (like Job’s) who blame his misfortunes on his unrepented sins. Nevertheless, like Job, JB probably wants to know the why of his continual trials. But, as a Bible-reading Christ follower who’s read the book of Job, JB understands that only our sovereign God knows why life unfolds as it does.

Paul’s words to the Ephesians were to always give “thanks for everything to God the Father” but, when considering JB’s trials, I wonder how it can be done. Were I under the dark cloud that seems to plague him with an unending downpour of challenges, I wonder if I could give thanks for it all. While giving thanks in some or most things is doable, the Greek word Paul used was pas which meant the entirety—every kind of circumstance. Rather than just the good or even tolerable stuff of life, we are to give thanks for the whole shebang (trials and all)!

It’s not as if Paul said those words flippantly. Like JB, his life was filled with trials and adversity. He suffered through more than his share of floggings, beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, persecution, physical infirmity, and pain. Giving thanks in such ordeals and trouble seems impossible until we look at Paul’s words leading up to today’s verses in which he said to “be filled with the Spirit!” [5:18] He also called on the power of the Spirit with his closing words to the Ephesians: “Just this: be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power.” [6:10] He told Philippians something similar: “I have strength for everything in the one who gives me power.” [4:13]

On our own, we might be able to put on a good front—grit our teeth, “grin and bear it,” or wear a martyr’s face while grumbling inside—but we need the power of the Holy Spirit to have a heart that is thankful to God in all things. It is by the Spirit’s power that we can focus on God, on His love, wisdom, and many blessings so that, knowing that He sees the future while we see only the present, we can submit to His sovereign plan with thanks and even joy.

I don’t think Paul’s words mean we have to be happy every time we end up in the ER, are diagnosed with cancer, or lose a loved one. The many psalms of lament show us that grief, anguish, and pain can coexist with gratitude. Rather than denying our pain, sorrow, or suffering, giving thanks during our trials reminds us that beauty, joy, and good still exist in spite of them. We can move from lament to gratitude because there always is something for which we can be thankful in every situation—even if it’s only that whatever happened wasn’t worse! We know that God is present and that He will strengthen, comfort, protect, and guide us through the dark storms of life and, for that, we can be thankful.

Admittedly, being thankful in all circumstances is not easy. Even famed evangelist Charles Spurgeon struggled. “I have not always found it easy to practice this duty; this I confess to my shame,” said the man known as the ‘Prince of Preachers.’ “When suffering extreme pain some time ago,” continued Spurgeon, “a brother in Christ said to me, ‘Have you thanked God for this?’ I replied that I desired to be patient, and would be thankful to recover. ‘But,’ said he, ‘in everything give thanks, not after it is over, but while you are still in it, and perhaps when you are enabled to give thanks for the severe pain, it will cease.’ I believe that there was much force in that good advice.” Indeed, there is!

Always celebrate, never stop praying; in everything be thankful (this is God’s will for you in the Messiah Jesus). [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NTE)]

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February 10, 2025

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Bible Stories, God's Plan, God's Promises, God's Word: The Bible, Wisdom & Guidance

DIFFERENT LISTS

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name 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 father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [Luke 1:31-33 (ESV)]

doris longwing butterflyMost of us breeze through (or skip altogether) the Bible’s genealogies. Nevertheless, when genealogy and all those “begats” seem so important in Scripture, what explanation is there for the difference between the genealogies of Jesus found in Luke and Matthew? Because Jews were meticulous about recording genealogies, it’s inconceivable to have two conflicting yet correct lists of Jesus’ lineage.

The two gospels agree on one important point—neither Luke nor Matthew call Joseph Jesus’ “father”. Matthew refers to him as the “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” and Luke simply says that Jesus was enomizeto (considered, thought to be, or assumed) to be Joseph’s son. While the two genealogies agree from Abraham to David, they differ from then on. Matthew says David’s son Solomon was Jesus’ ancestor and Luke says it was David’s son Nathan. While there are a variety of convoluted explanations, most biblical scholars believe these are two different, but equally correct, genealogies—Matthew’s through Jesus’ legal father, Joseph, and Luke’s through His birth mother, Mary.

With his frequent references to the Hebrew Scriptures and emphasis on Jesus’ fulfillment of Messianic prophecies, Matthew’s gospel has a distinctly Jewish viewpoint and it is believed that he directed his gospel to Jews and Jewish believers. Reflecting the importance of the Messiah’s lineage to the Jewish people, Matthew’s gospel begins by calling Jesus “the Messiah, a descendant of David and Abraham” and follows the traditional Hebrew format of going from the past to the present where he again identifies Jesus as the Messiah. Although Joseph was Jesus’ father in name only, he was the Lord’s legal father and scholars believe Matthew provided Jesus’ official (paternal) genealogy from Abraham to David to David’s son Solomon and eventually to Joseph. His list emphasized both Jesus’s legal right to be the king of the Jews as well as His fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

On the other hand, Luke addressed his gospel to the “most honorable Theophilus” and his primary audience is thought to have been mostly Gentile Greeks. Luke lists Jesus’ ancestry the Greek way and goes from the present to ancient past. Unlike Matthew, he doesn’t stop with Abraham but continues all the way back to Adam. Scholars believe Luke’s to be Jesus’ actual physical lineage through His mother Mary and her father Heli. While giving a mother’s lineage was unusual, so was a virgin birth! To a Gentile, if Jesus weren’t the physical son of Joseph, there would be no need to know the man’s genealogy. Rather than Solomon, Jesus’ royal lineage comes through a blood relationship with Mary’s ancestor Nathan, another of David’s sons with Bathsheba.

Luke placed Jesus’ genealogy after His baptism when the Holy Spirit descended on Him and a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” That heavenly voice established Jesus’ divinity—that He was the son of God. By tracing Jesus’ line all the way back to the first man, Adam, Luke established the dual nature of Jesus—that He was fully human as well as divine. It also emphasized Jesus’ relevance, not just to Jews, but to the entire human race.

We’re left with the problem of Joseph’s father—Matthew says it was Jacob while Luke says Joseph was ”of” Heli. It is believed that Heli was Mary’s father and, with no Greek word for “son-in-law,” scholars posit that Joseph became Heli’s “son” through his marriage to Mary.

Rather than contradicting one another, these two genealogies complement each other by giving us both Jesus’ official and actual lineage. They agree that Mary was Jesus’ mother, that her husband Joseph was not Jesus’ father, and that Jesus descended from the family of Judah as well as the house of David both legally (through Joseph) and by bloodline (through Mary). They show that Jesus fulfilled God’s promise of offspring to Abraham as well as his promise to David that His offspring would sit on his throne forever.

Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. [Blaise Pascal]

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. [Genesis 22:17-18 (ESV)]

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. [Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV)]

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February 3, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Plan, Nature, Peace of God, Today: Make it Count

GARDEN OR SWAMP?

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. [Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (NLT)]

We enjoy walking in the local Botanical Garden as well as the nearby Corkscrew Swamp. Although both offer plenty of photo ops and pleasant strolls in God’s creation, the Garden offers more color and variety than a swamp any day. Nevertheless, as much as I enjoy the Garden’s beauty and serenity, I feel more at home in the swamp.

While the Botanical Garden always has an abundance of showy colorful orchids, the swamp’s “super ghost orchid” has blossoms for only a few weeks each year. Even then, you need binoculars or a spotting scope to view its delicate (and not very impressive) flowers. At various times of the year, the swamp has wildflowers like blue flag iris, morning glories, and string lilies but they pale in comparison to the variety of exotic flora found in the Garden all year long. If the swamp’s flowers were in a beauty contest with the Garden’s flamboyant blooms like the passion flower or flaming glory bower, they’d easily lose.

Carefully designed by world-famous landscape architects and impeccably maintained by staff and volunteers, the Botanical Garden speaks of order, design, and perfection; nothing ever seems amiss. The Garden’s plants are beautifully pruned, fertilized, and fussed over. Weeds are quickly pulled and, should a plant wither or die, a lovely new one quickly replaces it.

In contrast, the swamp, with no apparent plan to its layout or plants, is a hodgepodge of flora, fauna, and water that changes almost daily. Completely dependent on rain for its existence, its animals and plants are left to the whims of the weather and Mother Nature. No one pulls the weeds, deadheads the flowers, shapes the trees, or brushes away dead leaves. Lightening and hurricanes take a heavy toll on the swamp’s plant life and, when conditions aren’t favorable, plants wither and die while animals move elsewhere. Dead trees eventually fall and, unless they’re blocking the trail, wherever they land is where they remain.

Try as I might, my life will never have the exquisite perfection of a Botanical Garden. In truth, it resembles the unpredictable and disordered swamp more than any garden. Perhaps, that’s why I enjoy it so much. The swamp is imperfect, changeable, and full of surprises. I never know what flowers will be in bloom, what birds will appear, or if I’ll see alligators, snakes, raccoons, or deer. The only thing I know for sure is that the swamp never disappoints; it always is wonderful and wild in its own unique way!

Life, like the swamp, is chaotic, disorganized, and a little dangerous; nevertheless, it is magnificent! As much as we might prefer it to be as ordered, serene, and pristine as a botanical garden, it isn’t! We’re sure to encounter life’s versions of thistles, mosquitoes, fungus, poison ivy, and animal scat. Nevertheless, along the way, there will be blessings like the swamp’s Roseate Spoonbills, sunflowers, deer, Scarlet Hibiscus, butterflies, and tiny green tree frogs! Like the swamp, we’ll have seasons of abundance and scarcity, downpours and drought, growth and dormancy, health and affliction, blessings and misfortune, beginnings and endings, and even occasional hurricanes. Life comes with its share of muck, weeds, pests, predators, storms, and vulnerability to circumstances beyond our control. The only sure thing is that God is with us during it all!

It’s ironic that our local Botanical Garden is in what used to be a swamp. The 250,000 yards of fill created after two lakes were dug in 2008 sculpted the property into the splendid showplace it is today. Someday, we will trade in our earthly swamp for God’s heavenly garden—a garden far more magnificent than any earthly garden—one with no disease, death, sorrow, pain, or weeds. Until then, we must be satisfied living in the crazy and wonderful swamp we call life. As we walk through it, we brush off the spider webs, avoid the scat on the trail, stay clear of the alligators, and look for the swamp’s gifts. Confident in the swamp’s creator, we find joy and contentment in the unique beauty of our somewhat confusing and chaotic journey. Thank you, God, for this amazing holy mess we call life!

They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. … He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. [Revelation 7:16-17, 21:4 (NLT)]

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