The Innocent Perish

Verses:  Matthew 2:16-18

My thoughts about the verses:

This is a very difficult verse to read.  You have a King who gets mad and retaliates by killing the innocent children that lived in or near Bethlehem.  You can almost hear the screams as children are pulled out of their mother’s arms and killed.  You can see the scene women and men running to hide their children.  Yet, the solders find all of the children under two and kill them.

Yet, because of a dream Jesus was no longer in Bethlehem.  He had travelled to Egypt with his parents.  He was the only innocent that lived.  Can you only imagine how it must have felt for Joseph and Mary?  They had followed the dream, but they must have ached because they knew it was the Messiah that there were searching for.  They had to feel sadness unimaginable to know that their son was who the King wanted to kill.  Can you imagine what you would have done?  Would you have tried to hide your child forever?  Afraid of what was to come.  Knowing that even as a babe he had a price on his head.

It has been a week since a young man walked into a place of safety and killed innocents.  He didn’t care who the people were he had an agenda and these people looked like that they would make the perfect sacrifices for his plan.  He attempted to strike at the very heart of the community.  He felt that if he killed this group of people that a race war would start.

Yet, what he did not take in consideration that he was walking into a church.  A Church filled with faith and the Holy Spirit.  He did not crush the church or begin what he considered his greatest achievement.  Instead he united Religious individuals around the world.  It didn’t matter what Religion, Denomination or Race people united.  People did not go to the streets protesting the treatment of this small group that was studying the Bible.  Instead they went to the streets praying for peace.  They went to the streets memorializing these individuals.

Just like Herod had no satisfaction this young man didn’t gain his satisfaction.  The biggest difference is that Herod would never know that Jesus had gotten out of the country before he passed the decree.  This young man had to witness the outpouring of love and support.  Just imagine what would have happened if Herod had learned that his plan had failed.

How does this apply to our life?  People are going to strike against the innocent.  It really doesn’t matter their reason there will always be individuals that will attempt to cause chaos.  Yet, we need to follow the stance of the members of these two communities.  They didn’t try to kill in payback.  Instead they went into a time of mourning.  They found that they had inner strength and faith that helped them overcomes the situation. 

We have to understand that they are differences between protests and riots.  Protests are voices uniting to demand a change to the injustices of the world.  The goal isn’t to destroy their community.  The goal is to allow the government to understand that they will not stand

Back and allow the government to take actions that hurt people in the community.  Riots on the other hand are attacks on the community that occur in a time of anger and fear.  We have to learn that riots lead to more violence and distrust.  Whereas protests can change things as long as they do not lead to violence.

We as Christians have to ensure that we do not stand by and let injustices happen.  Yet at the same time we have to remember that people are watching us for guidance on how to handle situations.  If we act with violence others will follow.  Yet, if we peacefully protest situations we can keep people calm and lead to changes. 

We may never fully understand or accept the death of innocents.  Yet, what we have to understand that we are the peacemakers that Christ has destined us to be.  With that in mind we need to make sure that our actions demonstrate the love of God.  Be the people that speak out against injustice.  Yet, at the same time do it in a peaceful manner.  Christ demonstrated to us that we needed to stop the hate and injustice that happened in the world.  Yet, we are to do it with a peaceful heart.  More things are won through peace than ever will be achieved through violence.

THIS BLOG IS DEDCATED TO ALL THE INNOCENTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WHO HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE OR LOOK DIFFERENTLY THAN THEY DO.  MAY YOU ALL REST IN PEACE.

Prayer:

We lift out hearts up to you today.  We love you for who you are.  We love you for accepting us.  Help us to live a life of peace.  Walk with us each day so that we can break down the barriers that hold us back.  In the name of the PeaceMaker we pray. Amen

Questions:

Have you treated people equally?  Are you following the example of Christ?  What do you need to do today to show the world that you as a Christian sand united with all religious individuals?  Challenge yourself today to bring peace wherever you go.

Accepting that You may have to Wait to Fulfill your Calling

Verses:  Matthew 2:13-15

My thoughts about the verses:

We all believe that we are to immediately follow the calling that is placed on our heart.  Yet, there are times in our life that we have to stop and listen to God.  Our mission may be laying on our heart yet, it might not be the time to do what God wants us to accomplish.

Many times we are not at the place that we need to be to accomplish the ministry that God wants.  God will lead us to where we need to do our ministry.  It is hard for all of us to accept this in our life.  Yet, listen to the words that are written in this scripture.  Jesus was sent to Egypt so that he could come back to start his ministry.  If God can lead Jesus to a safe place to serve the Holy One we have to accept that this may be what God is doing for us.

I can remember that when I was younger I had this deep feeling in my soul that God wanted me to share the Gospel.  I had a very limited group of people that I could reach because of where I was at that time and place.  I couldn’t share the ministry God had for me because of the restrictions placed on me by the church I was going to. 

I was in my mid-teens when I started working with young people.  I believed that God was utilizing my calling by me sharing the word of God with children that had not had the word.  Creating a safe and healthy environment was what I felt that is what God wanted.  God did bless the ministry and there were so many young life’s that learned to have hope even when they were facing a very poor life at home.

Then the day came that I was excluded from where I was serving.  Imagine serving God but because of your love life you no longer can follow your calling.  I was there in my early twenties.  It was out I was a homosexual and I could no longer be “trusted” around the children because the church felt that I would teach them homosexuality was not a sin.

I felt lost and abandoned.  Yet, reading these scriptures I now realize that God had sent me to my own Egypt.  I was in a new place where I could grow stronger.  I had to find peace with what was happening in my life.  I had to go to my Egypt so that I could find a safe place to worship God. 

It was in my late twenties that my life changed again.  God called me out of my Egypt and brought me to a new Denomination where I could teach love.  I spent my thirty and early forties sharing the Good News to a group of people that the “Church” had turned against.  I believe that God called me to this new destiny.  People in my community needed to know that they were loved. 

Yet, again I was called to come back to my Egypt.  It was the hardest thing I had to do to go back to the land that was far away from my ministry.  I realized after a few months that God had called me to a ministry that would reach the world.  It wasn’t that I went to my Egypt to regain my voice.  I was given a short rest to regain my inner peace.  I went to my Egypt so that I could regain the peace that God had always given me in my stillness.

When I returned from my Egypt I realized that my ministry was writing this blog.  Yes, there are days that I am too sick to write.  Yes, there are days that I struggle with the lessons God is trying to teach me.  Yet, this time when I came out of the stillness I felt the peace that I had needed for so long.  Writing this blog has given me a voice that has touched so many.  It has spread my community from a small group of people to individuals around the world. 

Now what lesson can you take from this?  If you are a Christian you have to realize that you may have times of rest.  There may be times that there may be times that you are called to be still to regain peace and strength.  If you listen closely to God you will see that there may be greater things that God is calling you to do.  You may need to be in the stillness of your Egypt to grow and understand the calling that God wants in your life.  Do not be afraid when you feel that your ministry is changing.  You need to know that God is leading you to a new land in which the souls of others need to be touched by the words and deeds of your life.

Prayer:

We praise you God.  We thank you for teaching us to listen to the ministry you have placed in our hearts.  We thank you for the times that you lead us to our Egypt so that we can grow closer to you.  Help us to remember that you will lead us to the fertile ground that people will need to hear your story.  In the name of the Peacemaker we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked God into your life?  Have you accepted the ministry that God has placed in your heart?  Has God led you to your Egypt?  Are you taking the time to grow stronger?  Are you ready to go to a new fertile land when God calls you?

Following the Star of Light

Verses:  Matthew 2:1-12

My thoughts about the verses:

Imagine what it would be like to see a bright star rising out of the sky.  A star brighter than anything you have ever seen.  You then remember that the promise came that a sign would appear to tell you the Messiah had been born.  Now take it one step further you decide that you must follow the star.  You must go and see for yourself the promised shepherd and King.

How many of us would leave everything and follow the star?  How many of us would accept the sign that had appeared in the sky?  How many of us would hesitate and see if there was some other reason for this star to appear?  Would we accept that the Messiah had been born?

It is amazing that these three men came from the east.  They were not in Bethlehem.  They had to travel from far away to see the promised Messiah.  It reminds me of the way the Hebrews were led out of Egypt.  They had to trust that the light that there were following would lead them to the Promised Land. 

We have to remember that God gives us all special directions in our life.  If we look closely we will see the path that God wants us to follow.  God may be calling us to reach out to the poor.  God may be calling us to feed and clothe the homeless.  God may be calling us to bring the word of God to the world so that people can find the peace and love of God. 

How do we know what God is calling us to do?  Is there a bright star that will guide our path?  Let us look at the end of this story.  The wise men were directed in a dream not to go and tell Herod where the Messiah was.  There was no great light guiding them.  Instead God came to them in the stillness to direct them to where they needed to do.

We need to listen not to what are mind is saying that we need to do.  Instead we need to be guided by our heart that is filled with the love of Jesus.  We have to stop and listen to the voice that is telling us what to do.  Sometimes we are shocked with where God wants us to go?

We often feel that we are right where we need because we think we have been directed by God.  Yet if we listen in the stillness we find that there is a different path for us to follow.  A calling that will lead us to a much greater reward.  We often come content where we are and in the process we do not grow.  We believe that we are exactly where God wants us.  Then God does something in our life to make us realize that there is a different calling on our life.

We realize that we have been listening to ourselves instead of God.  Once we accept what God wants out of our life things change forever.  No longer are we struggling with day to day issues.  Instead we start to see that we really were needed somewhere else. 

Is this not what the wise men discovered?  They were to return to the King and tell them where the Newborn King was located.  Yes they listened to the voice of God that came in their dream.  They knew not to go to Herod so they went a different way.  They listened to God and they insured that Jesus would live to become the Savior the world needed.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for your love.  We praise you God for your guidance.  We thank you for the gift of salvation.  Help us listen to you.  Help us to find that place of silence so that we can follow the path that you have in our life.  In the name of the Newborn King we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you listening to God?  Have you accepted the Messiah in your life?  Are you willing to follow the path that God has for your life?  Are you willing to change your path if God calls you to a new path?