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Psalm 118 teaches that human authority may be honored, but it must never be leaned on because refuge belongs to God alone.

The Second Temple didn’t start off as much. Soloman’s Temple that set the gold standard (literally) of Temples would never be matched… Or would it?

Fear doesn’t mean you are failing—it means you are human under pressure. Today, practice faith by choosing formation over self-judgment— Power, Love, and Self-control.

Fear thrives when unnamed and unchallenged. Today, confront it directly by confessing who God is before measuring what you face. Fear is a silent killer, and its only true remedy is God.

When fear whispers that you are a burden,
may you remember that God rejoices over you.

Think about roots for a minute. When the weather is bad or unseasonable what do roots do? They go deeper. If you are not in a good place right now, what does this tell you to do?? Further, the tree can’t move from its trouble, it can only dig deeper!

When fear rises with uncertainty, resist the urge to measure God by outcomes. Practice faith today by choosing trust even when nothing looks resolved— and do it gusto!

We don’t need to wait until we are about to die to “wake Him up” .

…Jesus is always in the boat.

This story reminds us that fear often arrives after great faithfulness, not instead of it.

Compassion, not punishment, has the final word. Hope emerges not from denial of suffering, but from clarity about who God truly is.

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Magi don’t simply go straight to Jesus; they arrive to the place any foreigner looking for where a king would be. That was Herod’s palace. The star got them close, but it didn’t give them an address, so they went to the big palace on the hill…

After the birth of Christ, we have some precise information on what happened next.  If you take my word (and that of most scholars) that Luke used Mother Mary as a source, we can be pretty confident of the sequence of events.

Mary and Joseph, after travelling to Bethlehem, find themselves imminently about to be joined by a new family member, Jesus. Having come this far, it turns out that there is no provision for the family and are forced into a stable somewhere near town.  

Bethlehem means “The House of Bread”.  It also happens to be the former City of David which both Joseph and Mary are descendants of.  Old Testament prophecy says the line of David would produce the Messiah.

The title of this one is “Who am I?”.  Let’s answer that by finding out who Mary was.  In doing so let’ remember that God doesn’t tell us to come back to him when we are clearer.  He says, “I’m all ears.”

According to Luke 1:48, Mary’s Song came before the birth of Jesus.  It comes before the danger is resolved, before Joseph comes around, before Rome is challenged.  It’s a pre-fulfillment worship ahead of any evidence.

Mary decides to go to her cousin, Elizabeth.  Zechariah, the husband of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, had also received a message from the Angel Gabriel.  Elizabeth, Zechariah’s elderly and formally barren wife would become pregnant and conceive of a son who was to be named John.

Later, perhaps that night, Joseph was visited in his dreams by an angel convincing him to carry this weight alongside Mary.  There was no argument, no delay, or recorded words.  Only action on Joseph’s part— protect Mary and the baby Jesus.

I think it can be easily said that before the event that launched Mary into eternal celebrity, Mary knew obscurity, routine, and submission without spotlight.

“Living Sacrifice” is not a dramatic martyrdom, it is a daily surrender.  Find your gift, we all have different gifts (I can wiggle my ears! Really!).  Use your gifts for good, for righteousness.

Psalm 4:8 is a reminder to put the phone away.  Stop scrolling through the memories of the day behind you.  Rest now— be renewed so you may be “prayed up” for what is to come tomorrow.