Come, Let Us Adore Him

 

I don't know what went through your mind when your read the title.  Maybe you tapped on this article out of curiosity.  Maybe there was a hint of cynicism as you think that sounds musical and like a peaceful scene and your heart feels far from peaceful and to worship sounds excruciating.  Or maybe you chose to read this because, you too, found that adoration and worship isn't limited to the peaceful and good scenes in your life.  Worship and adoration are the wind in our sails, the doorway that opens up to peace, and the anchor to our soul as we hold the realities of hardship, grief, lament along with hope and faith.

It's easy to paint the scene of the nativity with calm and peace. Amidst the peace and calm that was present the night Jesus was born, there was also the reality that there was no room in an inn where comfort would have been for Mary to birth Jesus. Disappointment. There was the reality that the barn stinks, odors of the cattle, smells of the hay and dung. Not perfect or pleasant. The shepherds who came, came from the hillside.  They came from work, as they were.  No curated attire or taking the time to look-just-right.

"A Saviour was born", announced the angel.  The shepherds received the message and said, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.  Let us go see what the Lord has made known to us."  They went.  They went in a hurry, with haste, very likely leaving behind the flock of sheep on the hillside.  They ran to the stable and worshipped.  They worshipped the infant, giving Him the gift of adoration right in the middle of life and all that it held.  The mundane of work, the smells, the treatment of the Romans on their minds were laid down as they worshipped the Saviour, the One who came, the One who was promised to them ages ago.  

Jesus, the One who came, is now here after 400 years of not hearing from any prophet or priest.

The truth of worship and adoration is that hardship, stinky smells, and pain aren't annulled.  Remembering who God is and praising Him and giving thanks to Him, is the air to our lungs and changes the posture of our heart to receive Him. 

The stinky barn smells become the aroma of holy ground.  In the middle of disappointments and pain, peace smiles as we learn to know the Prince of Peace.  

Life holds the both/and.  Jesus' coming did not erase pain and hardship.  In many ways, it intensified it as light collided with darkness.  Jesus' coming contains the promise that the serpent, Satan would be defeated some day and that does not go without a fight, a battle.

We, too, can come to worship and adore Him, just as we are.  We come with our pain, the disappointments, and the realities that are, oh so real and give thanks for Jesus as our Comforter.  He is the Prince of Peace that calms our hearts within the storm or calms the storm.  We camp under His wings and find a refuge. We come because we choose to learn to trust the One who came.  We come and peace pervades.  The Greek word for peace is eirene meaning peace, rest, quietness, set at one again.

Satan was defeated at the resurrection but not destroyed forever.  Today we are still in this battle between light and darkness, pain and hope, control and trust.  Our worship and adoration is the posture for victory and peace.

Jesus came to set us at one with Himself, not the world around us.  We can have a quietness within our hearts, even in the most unpleasant circumstances.  When we worship and adore Jesus because of who He is, it becomes the doorway for peace to envelope our heart and mind.  He is the Door, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Come.  Let us adore Him.

Come, is the continual invitation of Jesus, the One who came.

Come, as you are, with all that you hold within your heart and mind.

Come and worship the One who came. For you.

When Peace on Earth Doesn't Look or Feel Like Peace on Earth

There's a piece of this Christmas, birth story of Jesus that is a bit unsettling and one that the answers lay shrouded. 

We talk of peace on earth, and rightly so. The angels said, "Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace among men." Luke 2:14 

What do we do with the result of Herod's reaction to feeling threatened? When he discovered he was duped by the wise men, he was worried that a young boy would take his throne so he had the little boys three and under killed. 

Little ones lost their lives in the wake of Jesus' earthly arrival. 

Peace on earth? That doesn't sound like peace. 

We too, have things that happen that make no sense and we question the way of Jesus and what He is doing.  We experience the loss of our loved ones.  Rejection, trauma, and disappointments leave their mark.  In the wake of men and women's fears, death and evil happens. 

What do we do with all this?

What happens to us, may leave us wailing and with more questions than clarity. 

But the greatest truth above any darkness is that in the darkness Jesus came. Peace came and still comes because Peace is a Person.

He wants us to know Him for who He is more than what He does and what happens to us.  He wants to show us more of Himself.  So often we turn away.  The pain can be so great and the questions so tumultuous that in our human way of processing we can't make sense of it.  We have a hard time connecting Jesus to the painfilled situation.

Learning to trust Jesus is a journey and process but it is what He wants us to learn, even in the darkness and when things don't make sense.   He sees perfectly and understands the truest form and way to life. 

Those mothers who wailed those nights long ago - I wonder what they would tell us if we could ask them about the night they lost their sons?  What would they say to a heart holding grief that feels so unbearable?

For me, for you - He is still Immanuel, with us in whatever we walk through - the fire, the waters, with us in the pain and He wants us to know who He is.

Redeemer. Comforter. Counselor. Guide. And so much more. 

Who is He to you, right now, in whatever you are facing and walking through?  Maybe all you can cry out is, " Lord, help my unbelief." That's okay.  That's the cry of faith that God wants to answer - learning to trust Him when it's the hardest to do so. 

John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."

Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God's Presence With Us in the Forging That Happens in the Darkness

 

Psalm 23: 4 - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou are with me; Thy rod and staff they comfort me. 

I hate pain.  I hate pain of any sort, physical, emotional, and mental.  I hate to see you in pain and walking through hardships.  I'll be honest - I want to right it, to fix it for you.  At least, may I give you tools to navigate it all.

But more and more I realize and most of the time I am in its mystery, that the wrestling in hardship and pain works a good that we otherwise don't experience.  As much as I have a dislike for pain, I am learning to trust my Master.

A friend wrote a line that has stuck with me, "Sometimes helping can be hurting."  For her it's in her position as a doula, helping the mother birth a child.  For me, it's in walking with others in their wrestlings and darkness.  For you, well you fill in the blank. 

Let's take a look at the butterfly.  What would you like to do if you gave witness to the emerging of the butterfly?  It's wrestling to come out of the cocoon and develop wings to fly, is so vital for it's ability to live and fly.  If you step in to help the butterfly, it hurts it.  The wrestling builds the strength of the butterfly's wings so it can fly.  If you help it, you stunt its growth and actually cripple it.  They release a chemical as they come out of their chrysalis that strengthens their wings.  The movement of the wrestling pushes and pulses this chemical through their wings, giving them the strength they need to fly.

Okay.  So, I will do my best to let you wrestle, just do it with the pulse of God's truths coursing through your heart and mind.  That is what will give you strength to fly.

In all honesty, I get it.  I have experienced the darkness of wondering what my purpose is, of knowing pain in all its forms, and walking through the darkness of mental unhealth to where my fight to live was little to none.  In my valley of darkness and yes, the shadow of death, God intervened and guided me through His Holy Spirit and I reached for Him in desperation.  I reached for Him through choosing to believe His truths above and over the paradigm that was coursing through my heart and mind.  In the aloneness of my valley, I found Jesus, the Saviour, in ways I wouldn't have if people had stepped in.  Now I am not advocating not caring for people in their pain.  What I am saying, if you find yourself in a position where you feel forsaken and maybe you are all alone; it is an opportunity for you to reach for Jesus, your Saviour.  He is the only One who can truly give you life and in the wrestling and hardship your wings of faith will strengthen as you choose to believe His words.

Sometimes helping is hurting.

Daily.  Sometimes it was minute by minute and moment by moment, choosing to stay with God and believe Him, even when He seemed distant and in a corner.  I felt alone and uncared for.  

In the wrestling to believe God was with me and near; I faced the very thing I feared - abandonment and being left alone in the hardship and darkness.

But I wasn't.

God's staff and rod were guiding and comforting me.  I can trace it and see it now.

Over 2000 years ago, God intervened.  He split the dark night sky with the glorious light of an angel announcing to the hillside of sheep and shepherds with the news that Jesus came.  A Saviour. Immanuel.

That night broke the silence of 400 years.  400 years of waiting, wondering and doing it over and over.  Will the Messiah come?  Where is He?  This Roman rule is so cruel.  Oh, how long?

The way of Jesus is a mystery.  A king coming as a baby, vulnerable and dependent on someone else.  Arriving in a stable where life was stinky and messy and noisy.  There was a stigma to being a shepherd, lowly.  

But friend, oh how beautiful is this.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd and what better people to announce His arrival than to shepherds.

God's ways are best even though many times I wrestle to understand them.  He is with us.  He intervenes in the darkness, in our darkness.  And though it often doesn't look like we think it should, it is His way to our life, peace, and wings of redemption that we us to fly.  But we must choose Him.

So, in this season where we celebrate and are reminded of His coming as a baby.  Let's not miss Him because it didn't look the way we thought it should, as a King would come.  

You can trust Him.  Your faith is your wings to fly, whether the storm rages or the sun shines.

So, I will pray that you have courage to have faith.  That you will choose to stay with Jesus in your weakness, doubts, fears believing His words of truth that can set you free.  Jesus is still in the business of setting captives free with His amazing manna grace and faithful love that so often happens in the dark of the night. 

John 8:38 - And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

Good Shepherd.  Immanuel - God with us.  Saviour.  Comforter.  The One who Intervenes.

The Miracle of Wonder

 

Luke 2:13-14 such extravagant wonder - the multitude of angels piercing the darkness with the glorious refrain of "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

The night was split open with the light of the angel and the glorious light of the promise of truth and hope.  The night was first broken by the angel telling the Shepherds that the promise, that had been passed down through the ages, came tonight.  Jesus, your Saviour was born and He is wrapped.  He is wrapped in cloths and laying in a manger.

After the multitude of angels left, the Shepherds looked at each other and said, "Let us go and see."  "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15

Wonder.

This Christmas season, your hillside may be dark; fraught with loss and pain, and you may be waiting... waiting for light.  The Light has come - it split the darkness that night many years ago and the hope of Jesus, the promises He gives to us today - still split open our darkness with truth and light; giving us the gift of life; eternal life.

May that truth and hope fill you with the wonder of it all and like Mary, treasure it in your heart.

The Way Came to Show Us the Way

 

Jesus came.

Why? Why did He come?  He could have spoken words, created something, or did something else to make a way back to Him.  After all, He created the world out of nothing and with the spoken word.  He formed man with His hands out of dust.  He could have stayed in heaven and spoken words, used His hands to form something, but no, instead He came.

He came to show us the way back to Him and the way of His upside-down kingdom.  He came and used His hands to touch the leper. the blind, the lame with healing.  He touched, He cared, He lived the way.  He told us that we are to love, to care for those around us like He does, giving it because He loved us, unhinged on the behaviour of another. (Note, this is not condoning abuse or saying boundaries are not in order.  This is from the perspective of insult, our people not coming through for us like we'd like or they should.  We all fall short.  There is a difference between damaging relationships and simply human-fault ones.)

Jesus was ridiculed, slandered, rejected, denied, and betrayed.  Yet, He still loved, stretching out His arms and giving His life.  This sacrifice is for all and is open-ended on His part, because He is love. He gives love in the sunsets and sunrises.  He gives love in the grace extended and the invitation that is always open for  us to come to Him.  He stays with us even when we at times stray from Him in our disappointments, etc.  His love is not given considering my behaviour, His love is given because He is love.

He came because actions speak louder than words.  He came for you and me. 

This Christmas season, let that settle in your heart.  Let His love go deep and take it for what it is, His unconditional love.  Let it ground your doubts, settle the unrest of your soul, and whisper it's truth deep within. 

It will be the way through because He is the Way.

He is the Truth, and the Way and this reality brings us Life, because we have Him.

In The Darkness, Light Pierces

 

Dark. Night. 

Not many of us are comfortable in the dark. In fact, from little up we fight the dark, being scared, having night lights, etc.  

Children are naturally scared of the dark. That seems to be a phase all children go through or at least mine did.

I remember one of my sons 'seeing' the shadows as terrifying animals out to get him, that he wouldn't even get up at night to go the bathroom, in the safety of his home. Night after night. 

Most adults aren't comfortable with dark. I am more than I used to be, but I still have times when I wonder what's lurking in the shadows waiting to take me down. Waiting to pounce on me as I walk past. Images appear and in the dark they become distorted. We're not in control because we can't see very far into the distance. 

In the same way, in our minds, the darkness of pain, loneliness, fears can overtake us. We walk through our days wondering when they'll pounce on us, and even feeling like they've overtaken us. We can't 'see' far into the future, not even around the next bend.  Images appear, those thoughts taking shape in our minds. 

Darkness.

The night Jesus came, 400 years of silence preceded. Silence. 

Ongoing quiet. No word from God through prophets to the people. 

Quiet. Silence. Hard Roman rule. 

Longings. Wanting someone bigger to overtake the Roman rule. Deliverance. 

The night Jesus was born, light pierced the physical darkness. 

Shepherds were tending their flocks on a hillside at night, when an angel appeared, piercing the dark night with the glory of the Lord, and the shepherds were afraid. 

The angel told them to not fear because I have good news, a Saviour is born!

The angel gave them more details on where to find this Saviour and then suddenly! There was a multitude of angels, praising God with these words, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, God will toward men."

Peace. Goodwill. Light. Really?? After the years of silence and crushing Roman rule??

The shepherds looked at one another and said, "Let us go... and see...."

They went with haste. 

Light always brings hope. Light brings anticipation. Light reveals. Light reveals what is really true. 

But Light doesn't always look like we think it should. 

In a stable.

To shepherds on a hillside in the dark of night. 

After 400 years of silence. 

The promise of a Saviour. 

Miracles.

Where were you,  Jesus?

Healings.

But Jesus ...

Death on a cross, seeming death to all they thought would happen and what saving them looked like in their minds. 

The living and walking out of that hope and promise was often disappointing and led to disillusionment. 

Many turned away, walked away. And in the end, not even His disciples stayed with Him.

Why? I think if we look deep into our hearts, we can answer that. 

How many times has there been silence in our stories? The darkness overwhelmed us and we felt all alone on our hillside, waiting another night for Light to penetrate. 

And we turn away.

Darkness leaves us vulnerable. We can't see far ahead. We panic because we can't control very much around us. Darkness asks us to trust, to take steps in faith. 

It's easier to walk away, to turn our backs on Jesus, and turn to what we can see or our own methods of what we think is best. 

I am so glad we have the stories after the resurrection. The disciples and many didn't stay away from God. Jesus appeared to all of the disciples as they huddled in a room.

Sometimes we're huddling, trying to grasp or understand what is or has happened, and waiting for Jesus to appear and speak to us. It's the staying, the waiting, that is brutal at times. It's the believing and hanging on to faith when darkness screams many false beliefs and our mind wrestles to believe the words of Jesus when all is quiet, that is crushing at times. But it's in the room of waiting and staying, on the hillside, that light comes. The angel of the Lord, announcing good news to us, Jesus has come. He is here!

Yes, He is here. 

Darkness is when light is most visible. Jesus pierced the darkness 2000+ years and that is still His mission, to pierce the dark parts of our stories. He wants to set us free from what imprisons us, our fears, our pain, the rejections, etc. 

He wants us to turn to His light of truth and trust Him in the darkness. 

Trust. Faith. 

Without faith it's impossible to please God and I begin to see why. There is so many times that God's ways make so little sense to my human mind frame, that to stay with Him requires me to believe in spite of what I see.  To believe Him in spite of what my heart and feelings scream to be true. 

To believe Him as my Way, the Truth, and Life to me. And to TRUST.

Let's run with haste to see Him. 

With Us

 

In all the paths that wind and twist around in life and in the times the path is more straight and smooth, I want to know I'm not alone. 

Alone.

Alone is a word that can strike fear.  It can strike terror, panic, anxiety in our hearts if that's what we focus on.

Fear is very present in various forms for we humans as we journey and walk through life.  We fear the unknown.  We fear being left alone in a relationship.  We fear losing a child, a loved one. We fear we won't be enough or we'll be too much. We fear rejection.

It has been said that Fear Not appears 365 times in the Bible.  And with a number of those Fear Nots, Jesus, God our Father, promises to be WITH US.

Ahh. With Us.  Not alone.

Sorrows shared are divided, and joys that are shared are multiplied.

This Christmas season, I'm reminded again of IMMANUEL.  Immanuel is one of my favourite names for Jesus.  It's the name that brings comfort and one to anchor all my fears in.  Grounding the anxiety, panic, and unknowns in the capability of our Saviour who left the glories of heaven to be WITH US.

To show us a way back to Him.  To invite us to a way that is often so not like we think it should be. But one that is so life-giving and freeing. One of redemption. He gives a peace which passes understanding.  He forgave those who hurt Him and asks us to offer the same grace to each other.  He calls us to trust Him and that He has our good in mind.  He came to give His life so I may have everlasting life.

Isaiah 41:10 is one of the verses that speak the words, Do not fear anything, for I AM WITH YOU; do not be afraid for I AM your God.

It continues to say, Do not fear, I will help you.  And He even takes our hand or holds us in His hands.

Isaiah 43:2 tells us when we pass through the waters He will be WITH US.

Isaish 43:5 again says, Do not fear for I am with you.

Alone and yet not. Alone, can be the silence in which Jesus whispers life to our hearts. Alone is when we can hear His heartbeat if we're willing to bring our fears to Him and release them. Alone.

Jesus often went to the mountain alone. Alone to talk with His Father. Alone to hear His Father's words. I really would love to have a window into their conversation. What did Jesus say? Did He have any fears? Heartaches? Disappointments? Did He need to refocus on His mission and purpose?

Even the night He was taken, He went a stone's throw away from His disciples and was alone in agony with His Father. There we know He wrestled with what was laid in front of Him, wrestling to submit to His Father's plan. 

This season, let us let the with-ness of Jesus penetrate our heart and draw us to come. Come into His Presence with our fears, pain, our joys and thrills to worship and adore Him, the One who left all, to give all, so we could have all.

He left glorious perfection to be WITH US so we could be WITH HIM. And my heart rejoices. 

And We Behold His GLORY...

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we BEHELD HIS GLORY, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

Glory as described in Webster's...
~ great honor and admiration won by doing something important or valuable; fame; renown
~ worshipful adoration or praise
~ the condition of highest achievement, splendour,
~ radiant beauty or splendour; magnificence

GLORY.

Lord, You left glory - heaven.

You came with a glory announcement... Glory to God in the highest and on earth, Peace, good will to men.

YOU are GLORY.  GLORIOUS.

And that glory came in the middle of darkness.

On a dark night.

To those who were ready to receive it.

You came to pierce darkness.

Our darkness.

With Yourself.

With glorious light and truth.

Immanuel.  God with us.

Are you ready to receive Him?

Lord, You gave up

So something greater could be given.

You gave up glory and perfect beauty

to enter brokenness and pain and ugly.

You gave life,

So that we may have eternal life.

You entered brokenness

That we may know restoration.

You gave Yourself.

So that we may know You.

Lord, give us eyes to see You this day and every day.

To find You in the middle of pain, rejection, death, and brokenness.

That is why You came.... to pierce darkness and bring the light of glory to us.