Share the Good News


Twelve years ago our family began to travel to a beach town in Northern Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. At the time we lived in Southern Arizona so the town of Puerto Penasco was an easy drive. It was on these vacations that we began the search for Sand Dollars and it was always a race to be the first to find one. Now we have a large collection at home. Three years ago I learned that there is actually a legend about the sand dollar. Now that I know what the sand dollar actually represents I have an even deeper appreciation for them. And, and even bigger desire to find more. We are on vacation right now and the beach is abundant with sand dollars. Our first morning out, we found 12 of them!

The sand dollar is a visible way to see God through His creation. The sand dollar is a flat looking burrowing sea urchin. It lives on the floor of shallow sandy waters along the coasts of the ocean. The urchin is washed up on the beach and bleached by the sun.

On the top part of the shell you can see the center is a star. This star represents the Star of Bethlehem that led the Wise Men to the manger when Jesus was born. Around the star is the outline of the Easter lily, which is a sign of Our Lord’s Resurrection.

At the edges of the star are four holes and in the center another hole. These holes remind us of the wounds the Lord suffered on His hands and feet while on the Cross.

On the back side of the sand dollar you will find an outline of the Poinsettia, the Christmas flower.

Finally, when you break open the sand dollar, five “doves” appear. These doves represent the Peace and Joy of Christmas. There are always five doves inside the sand dollar.

Here is a poem by an unknown author about the legend of the Sand Dollar:

The legend of the Sand dollar
That I would like to tell
Of the birth and death of Jesus Christ
Found in this lowly shell.

If you will examine closely,
You’ll see that you find here
Four nail holes and a fifth one
Made by a Roman’s spear.

On one side the Easter Lily,
It’s center is the star
That appeared unto the shepherds
And led them from afar.

The Christmas Poinsettia
Etched on the other side
Reminds us of His Birthday,
Our joyous Christmas tide.

Now break the center open
And here you will release
The five white doves awaiting
To spread good will and peace.

This simple little symbol,
Christ left for you and me.
To help to spread His Message
Through all eternity.

I love the act of finding Sand Dollars even more now that I can attach a meaning of the Love of God to them. I love that God gives us physical reminders of His presence and practical ways we can share Him and His story with others.

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Close Encounters

Now that we have passed Christmas, our thoughts turn toward the new year.  As always, I make a list of things that I want to accomplish in the next year.  “2019 will be different,” I say.  This is the year, that everything will come together.  This year, I will fulfill my life’s calling. But, it doesn’t really work that way.  At least, it hasn’t happened yet in my 48 years.  You see, if I am going to achieve bigger things, if my efforts are going to yield different results than last year, I will have to make some adjustments.  I am learning that my life is built exactly the way that I have built it.  Which creates in me all kinds of questions.  Primary among them is “Lord, how would you have built my life?”

Of course, that is the most dangerous of all questions because it convicts me. I have not yet become who God created me to be.  How do I know?  Because I have not yet learned to be reliant.  In fact, nearly everything I attempted in 2018 was designed to become independent, powerful and full.  This is not the Jesus way.  Jesus chose to remain hungry when presented with food in the desert, while I looked for more food and complained when I didn’t get it.  Jesus chose to remain poor rather than accept all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  But, I turned to bitterness and resentment when my kingdom didn’t grow. 

There is hope.  In fact, we get to celebrate a new year in just a few days.  New years are a wonder ful thing.  They are a new beginning, a new creation.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away and the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).  This is it.  Right now, today, is our opportunity to be that new creation.  It is given us, all we have to do is acknowledge it.

As I write the words on this page, the voices in my head get louder.  They ask, “how in the world will you ever do that?” “How can you possibility be that strong?”  “After all these years, do you really think that you can just shut it down and be who you were created to be?”  The honest answer to all of those questions is “No.  I cannot.”  It is this realization, this understanding that gets me closest to who I was created to be.  At the end of my rope, with no hope left and no resources to call upon, I get to encounter Christ.  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).  So, if you want to know what my real goal is for 2019, I will tell you.  I will intentionally seek a true encounter with him.  Everyday.

Angels We Have Heard..in Brooklyn??

In July of 2017, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip doing street ministry with Spread Truth. This was something I had never done before and stretched my comfort zone. Our first day was on parks where you are typically approaching people that are seated, and let’s just say the first guy we approached was about as rude and mean as you could be and I thought to myself..”well…it can’t get any worse than that. It can only get better, so let’s move on and go to the next one!” The rest of the day resulted in some great conversations where the Holy Spirit was at work. Day 2 was a different assignment standing on the sidewalks in the streets of Brooklyn as people passed. To say we were off to a rough start was an understatement. For nearly an hour we could not get anyone to even stop to talk to us as they busily hurried to wherever they were headed. We were very discouraged to say the least, and then came a conversation with Thomas King, a name and an interaction I will never forget.

Thomas, who we later would learn was age 93, was standing by a bench, and we approached him to hopefully tell him the Gospel and change his life..instead…he changed ours. He encouraged us immediately and told us to look at the faces of every person that walked by. He said they were all filled with stress, anxiety, and worry…he said, “What they all need is Jesus!” If they would just remember and lean on the words of Isaiah 26:3, they would not be so troubled. He then told us the words of this verse from memory..

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Isaiah 26:3

Not only did this emotional pep talk fire us up like a coach before a big game to remind us that people needed what we had and we had to go back out there and push through the rejection, challenges, and disappointments we had experienced and tell them about what they truly needed….which was Jesus, but it was also a great reminder that fear, anxiety, and stress all come from selfish thoughts and concerns about ourselves. 1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” When we are focused on Him and his perfect love for us given on the cross and we know His love shown in this way means we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him and that is all that really matters, we will be in “perfect peace” as Isaiah 26:3 says.

It’s hard to describe our feelings as Thomas captured our hearts and minds with his words of wisdom. Sadly though, Thomas told us than many younger than him, including his church, did not listen. He told us he was recently recognized by his church for his years of membership there, but they would not give him the opportunity to speak when he asked. This saddened me because not only did it disappoint Thomas, but his words had so much impact on us that we did not want him to stop speaking and others would be missing out on his wisdom. Job 12:12 says, “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”  How many times do we miss out on the opportunity to learn from our elders by not asking them or not listening to them and discounting their credibility which should be gained, not lost, with age?

Hebrews 13:2 reads, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” I don’t know if Thomas was an angel, but I do know that his words cut sharp like a knife at exactly the right time when we needed it and reminded us that what we were doing was not about us and we needed to re-direct our fear to focus on Jesus and His perfect love which every person who walked by needed. As we head into 2019, we hope and pray that it will bring us many blessings, but it will undoubtedly also will bring us challenges. Let’s commit to being prepared to face those trials because our minds will be fixed on Him and His perfect love, and we will trust in Him which will give us “perfect peace.” We have faith He will give us exactly what we need when we need it..just like He gave us Thomas King.

The gift that keeps on giving

Chances are, most of us received at least one material gift from a friend or loved one in the last few weeks. We also most likely gave a gift to a friend or loved one. Chances are also high that giving and/or receiving a gift brought us joy. We might have spent considerable time picking out just the perfect gift for someone in hopes of bringing that person great joy. We have reason to be thankful for the gifts we give AND receive.

During the season of Advent, we are given time to reflect on the spiritual gifts of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. These gifts from heaven help us focus and prepare for Christmas. Some of my personal favorites are the following:

Hope: Jeremiah 29: 11 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Love: 1 Corinthians 13 4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. …. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Joy: Luke 2:10 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Peace: John 14:27 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

A few additional gifts during the season we can be thankful for include the gift of family, friends, and time. Time to reconnect. Time to reflect on the year. Time to refresh. Downtime away from the usual daily grind. God gives us time during Advent to help us prepare but also to refocus on the many gifts he gives us. May we use these gifts wisely! (Note to self: use the gift of time over the holidays.)

As we celebrate these days of Christmas, we are all well aware of the greatest gift, the gift that keeps on giving: Jesus’ birth. Luke 2: 6 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn……14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[d]

Faith, hope, love, peace, joy, time….all words to help us reconnect during the Christmas season. Isaiah 9: 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  May this wonderful gift keep on giving to each of you in 2019. Merry Christmas!

The Word Became Flesh

Good morning friends! As my son would say, “It’s Christmas Evening!” Jesus’ birth is upon us today and I’m wondering how you are? Are you surrounded by friends and family this morning or are you welcoming Him in a more quiet and personal way? Whether you are experiencing the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ or experiencing the need for peace, I’m so glad you’re here. Although the primary focus of today will be Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, I’d like to share another scripture with you:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

I wrote down several verses in preparation for my post today. I came up with about 10 different verses that have held me up when I needed them most. But this morning I opened my bible and this one was underlined. Three years ago around this time I was asked by a total stranger to write for Bible Journal. I’m not sure why I said yes! I don’t have any qualifications and certainly didn’t have experience with Christian theology. I had no way of knowing the personal and spiritual challenges that lay just a few short months ahead. I know now that it wasn’t a stranger in the form of BJ Armstrong asking me to study and write. It was God, inviting me to go deeper in His word and develop my relationship with Him. The Word has truly become flesh for me in the hands that have reached out to our family and the feet that have walked the miles with us. As I sit down to write to you for the last time tonight I can testify that I have seen His glory. John says, “The Word became flesh…”in other words it became human. By doing so, Jesus became our perfect teacher. As we celebrate Jesus’ birth today, he truly becomes flesh in our lives. He goes on to become a model of what we are to become. Those who welcome Jesus as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out. Jesus is born today. We don’t have to wait until the new year to reaffirm our faith and put our trust in Him! 

I am grateful to each one of you for reading our posts but more importantly, I am grateful to you for helping me to grow. If it wasn’t for you andthe Monday morning deadline, I wouldn’t have come to know God as I do now! To the rest of the Bible Journal team, I am forever humbled by your wisdom and grace. I wish you all a very blessed Christmas season. I look forward to reading with you each day and promise to guest post a time or two for my beloved Mr. McGriff. 

The love of Christ be with you-

Jillian

A Thrill of Hope

This time of year, between the Christmas parties and school programs, the traditions and time with family and friends, there’s also a lot of real life stuff. And it’s not always tinsel and twinkling lights. The most wonderful time of year can amplify the hurts of some and leave people feeling less than jolly, especially in comparison to others with all the cheer and mistletoe. 

To the momma that buried her son this year – God sees you. 

To the dad dividing holiday time with his kids after the divorce this year – God sees you. 

To the woman in the middle of cancer treatments – God sees you. 

To the man that lost his job and can’t pay the mortgage this month – God sees you. 

We are all surrounded by people with hurts – some much more visible than others. Or you may be someone with an extraordinary hurt this season, ready for the new year to come and to get back into a routine.  

This line from O Holy Night keeps coming to my mind, convicting me and challenging me.

Am I truly thrilled and celebrating the birth of Jesus?  Or do I allow the challenges of the day dim the Light of the world in my life? Do I look at my hurts, worries, stress, and allow them to be overcome with a thrill of hope? Am I rejoicing along with the weary world? Am I helping others rejoice amidst their weariness?  

1 Peter 3:15 tells us:

In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. 

Is it evident to others that I have the hope of Christ in my life? Do I have my testimony ready to share when asked about the hope I have? 

I don’t have the answers or solutions to all of the real life situations right now – but I do know that we can put our hope in the Lord. Because of Jesus, we have eternal life. And that truly IS thrilling! Jesus’ arrival thrilled a weary Mary and Joseph, it thrilled the weary shepherds, and it thrills a weary world! This Christmas, let the thrill of Jesus and the hope He brings, allow us to rejoice through the weariness and hurts.  Not because those things aren’t real and don’t hurt – they are real and the pain is real… but we can rejoice because God sent us Jesus – and He has overcome the world!

Freedom from Worry

Worrying is a choice. 

Worry is a prison that we voluntarily commit our hearts and minds to the bondage of sin and all of its ugly related consequences.

One of the worst feelings in the world is worry. It eats at us. It distracts us.

Worrying is bad for us physically and can literally make us ill. Worry impacts us mentally as it brings feelings of depression, despair and hopelessness. Worry can be contagious so as a result, we can adversely impact others through our own worry.

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Matthew 6:27

Spiritually, as we worry we send several messages to our creator such as:

  • I don’t trust you.
  • I trust myself more than I trust you.
  • I have forgotten your promises.
  • I have forgotten what you have done for me.
  • I choose to disregard your commands.

Worrying is a choice. We know it is bad, so why do we do it? Notice that at the beginning of each of the aforementioned messages to our creator is “I”. Worry, like most sins is something that puts “self” before God.

Transformation

Transformation from worry is a result of a relationship with Jesus. It comes from trust and obedience. There will always be a temptation to worry, but as our faith strengthens, our worry instead turns into hope, praise, worship and rescue no matter what the Earthly result.

The opposite of worry looks something like this:

  • Putting our trust in the only one who can truly save us.
  • Denial of self. 
  • Reading God’s word and clinging to His promises.
  • Meditating in prayer reflecting on all that he has done, starting with the mercy and grace through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  • Obedience to his commands. Instead of worry: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 25:33)

Let the joy return!

Turning our worry into praise and worship brings joy! It pulls us out of the fire, out of the darkness, out of the prison, and helps enable us to live in the way God intended us to live. 

What are you worrying about today? God is ready to listen. Tell him what he already knows then ask him for forgiveness. Embrace His love and let the light in!

Performance Review

Today’s reading:  Micah 6:8

It’s that time of year again.  Time to reflect on the accomplishments of 2018 (or lack thereof), and time to finalize annual performance ratings for my staff.  I am blessed to work with a great team of leaders.  Their varied background, experiences and styles have allowed our Department to achieve great things in 2018.  Year-end performance ratings, however, are all about differentiating between the performance of each person in order to apportion the biggest compensation awards to the highest performers.  The conversation always centers on how each of them measured up against expectations during the year.  Poor performers often don’t meet expectations, good performers meet and occasionally exceed expectations, but great performers are those that consistently exceed expectations.  These are the folks who deserve the greatest compensation awards. 

As I was pulling into the parking lot at work last Thursday morning, Casting Crowns’ song Courageous came on the radio.  I’ve heard the song many times, but this day God used it to speak to my heart.  It wasn’t the primary lyrics of the song, rather the quiet words of the background vocals that have been on my mind for the past week.  They were a very timely reminder of God’s expectations for those of us that are committed to following his ways –

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

Here’s what this passage means to me – 

  • Do justice – Choose to do the right thing for the right reason.
  • Love mercy – Because sin came into the world and ruined God’s perfect plan, none of us are capable of doing the right thing for the right reason all the time.  Thus, we need to love mercy – showing compassion and forgiveness to others who wrong us; seeking compassion and mercy from God for the sins we’ve committed.
  • Walk humbly with your God – Although redemption has been secured for us by Christ’s death, it is not granted to us unless we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.

As you reflect on your individual performance in 2018 against God’s expectations, how do you measure up?  If you’re anything like me, I suspect you feel you could do better than you did.  Take heart my friend, tomorrow is a new day.  

The steadfast love of theLord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).


One Way

I’ve been blessed with so many great friends throughout my life…many of whom would have/will do anything for anyone.  One of them was such a good person, when some friends and I were speaking of him…one of them said:  “He was such a good person, he has to be in heaven.”  When I heard the person say that, my first thought was:  “Just let it go for now and not take the chance of offending someone.”  Then I rethought it:  “I agree, he was one of the best people I’ve ever known…but that’s no why he’s in heaven.  He’s in heaven, because of what it says in John 14:6:  ‘I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.’  I know that he did believe in Jesus because he was my best friend and I needed to know that he did believe.”  There was some head nodding and some small talk…then moved on with the evening.

Over the last few years I’ve gotten to know quite a few “super nice” people through coaching and work, but they don’t have a church home and are not sure about this “Jesus thing”.  While I still have so much to improve upon in my life, is there anything more important than helping lost sheep find their Shepherd.  There are so many ways we can do that:  praying for those lost sheep, being an example for those lost sheep, be encouraging to those lost sheep….  We are not going to convict them, that’s the Holy Spirit…but we can do these other things.  May you have a blessed day and may you be presented with the privilege of sharing the Gospel.

MT

Wounded Healer

During the last couple weeks I have changed what I have wanted to write about today almost daily.  Each day all of our writers have selected such great verses to reflect on.   Similar to hearing an amazing Sunday message that seems to been written for your current circumstance.  I once again felt this after Stephanie’s testimony on Saturday.

Today, I came upon that in a message called, “Wounded Healer” which was a reminder how we make a difference in others.  The statement that struck me was, ” Our deepest wounds can often be your greatest opportunity for ministry.” As we go about this day we don’t have to hide the current hardships we are going through,  or even the ones we try to hide from the past. 1 John 1:9  I understand that as adults, teens, parents, employees, leaders, and colleagues we are suppose to have it all together according to earthly norms.  But, lets put down our guard, fears, and  worries remembering God told us that in our weakness he is strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Remember the Samaritan women who talked with Jesus at Jacob’s well in John 4, she was afraid to share her story with him, until she realized it was Jesus and He already knew everything about her. She left that well and went back to her hometown and was able to share the story of a conversation with Jesus. Her testimony changed lives.  Your testimony will too!

John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

It’s very hard to share our pains, regrets, and failures. We can be afraid that others may truly get to know us.  That we may not be as close to perfect as we try to pretend to be, or that our family goes through struggles, or maybe you were raised in a difficult environment, and that even in adult years you don’t actually have it all together even after you landed your first job. It’s Ok, I know no one is perfect, actually not even close, but we don’t have to hide.  I’ve been the master at this growing up at a young age with many things going on in our lives as a child.  (Check my ACES score). My youthful insecurities that can still appear every now and then allowed me to keep others away so they couldn’t get to know the real me.  Romans12:2 The truth is, the more I searched for God, the more I was able to see that He has always been with me.  Knowing me completely the whole time. He knows you as well! Seek the Lord always. 1 Chronicles 16:11  When we know the Lord our insecurities can come down when facing the world and we have a platform to share how God has been faithful then, and how he will be faithful now.  So this Christmas season, share the amazing story of the birth of Immanuel.  We can also share our own story without fear, and through that story you can change lives through your love and faith in our Lord. Who knows us more than anyone! He has great plans for you and your story. 

Jeremiah 29:11-13

Tauren Wells – Known

Merry Christmas Bible Journal brothers and sisters.  – Keep sharing God’s love.

Listen to the sermon on Wounded Healer by JT English from the Village Church.