John the Baptist - Do A Little Dance. . .

Luke 1:39-44 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Never has a verse been used more by anti-abortionists to support the fact that life begins at conception. That John could hear and feel Jesus - a fetus - in Mary's voice through his own mothers ear canal. The way we are biologically formed to live as an undeveloped baby fully relying on our mothers for literal survival, is a miracle.

I could list statistics on people who were almost aborted and now have great testimonies. I could tell stories from mother's who live a life of grief because they chose to kill their child and still struggle to get through life. However, there is something different I'd like to pull from these verses.

John knew that he was in the presence of his Savior and he let his mother know by doing the only thing he could - wiggle. Elizabeth didn't pass off John's actions by saying it was indigestion or the baby was just moving around. John let her know she was in the presence of God and she acknowledged it! If we seek God and come into His presence - we need to let people know He's there. Whether it's wiggling or stating that the only way you got through your struggle was because God gave you peace and patience to get through it - we need to let others know God is here. And if it's someone else doing the wiggling - don't excuse it away. Realize that God is in our presence and it's something to be jumping about, just like John did over 2000 years ago.

Job - Are You A Risk-Taker?

Job 2:7-10 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

A boil usually appears suddenly as a painful pink or red bump. The surrounding skin also may be red and swollen. Within a few days, the bump fills with pus. It grows larger and more painful, sometimes reaching golf ball size before it develops a yellow-white tip that finally ruptures and drains. Boils generally clear completely in a couple weeks, though it can take a month or more. Boils can occur anywhere on your skin, but appear mainly on your face, neck, armpits, buttocks or thighs, hair-bearing areas where you're most likely to sweat or experience friction - www.mayoclinic.com

OUCH. Assuming that these were the types of boils Job had, we're looking at a good two weeks of this pain. First of all, he's removed himself from his house and everyone else and is sitting in the ashes (it's contagious). Job is not feeling sorry for himself, he's getting away from everyone so as not to infect them as well.

Don't you love the people who complain about everything. My gout is killing me. My knee can't bend anymore. My arthritis is acting up. BOILS have infected the whole of Job's body and he removes himself from physical contact with people. Then, to make matters worse, his wife comes out to him to tell him to die. Can you imagine? You are in pain, all alone, scraping yourself with broken pottery and then off in the distance you see your wife coming to you. And when she arrives, she tells you to curse God and die.

What a man Job was. Through his suffering (the kind where you just want to give in to whatever anyone tells you to do) he stood up for his God and basically told his wife she was a moron (again, Dorothy interpretation). I am in no way endorsing this type of conversation with your spouse, but it certainly does give us some insight. There are people all around us who need to hear the gospel. In my last post, I was rather adamant in what our goal is as Christians - showing Christ to others. Sometimes those 'others' might be the aborigine in Australia - but sometimes, it might just be our spouse or our child or our boss or our parent. Are you willing to risk being mocked and stand up for God by sharing His Word with someone close to you that needs to hear it?

Job - Why Are You Even Here?

Job 2:4-6 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

I had a hang nail. I pulled it out. It throbbed. It seemed like my whole hand would fall off. Isn't that how we are? One small thing causes us pain and we have trouble focusing on anything else. I have never had to go through any serious illness, so I can't imagine the stress and pain of living a day with this type of situation.

Satan has come up with yet another reason why Job didn't curse God. "If Job was unhealthy, if his body was in pain - then he would curse You". It would make sense. That would be the next step. People all over the world do it today - curse God for their cancer or their AIDS or their heart condition. What would make Job any different? God said 'okay'. He allowed it to happen.

Here is the thing that I noticed. He wants Job's life spared. Satan is allowed to cripple him, give him disease, cause him to be blind, mute or deaf - but not kill him. God doesn't want Job dead because God still needs for him to serve His purpose on earth. To let others see God in Job. If you haven't figured it out yet, we, as Christians, have one purpose on this earth. To tell others about Christ. That's it! That's the bottom line. Children, spouses, jobs, education, homes: these are all just perks along the way - but none of these things matter if we are not striving for that one goal of sharing Christ with others.

So if disease takes over our bodies - if we are crippled - if mental anguish has taken its hold - until we are with Christ in heaven we must strive for our goal. If God has you here on earth - in whatever capacity - He needs you. He needs you to continue toward the goal until He calls you homeward.

Samson begins - We Need a Hero!

Judges 13:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Throughout Bible history, we see God accomplishing victory after victory for those that choose to follow Him. David against Goliath; Joshua at Jericho; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego facing King Nebuchadnezzar; situations that were - at best - entirely impossible to come out victorious: yet, with God's intervention, each situation resulted in glorifying Him.

We can look at the founding of America the same way. The men who fought for our country in those early days were Christians. The American Revolution was won, even when all signs pointed towards Britain claiming America as their own. This was not a coincidence - it was God's hand providing for the men who had asked for It. The Battle of Trenton was a true example of a Christian man (Washington) leading his troops into a battle that could only be victorious with God at the helm.

It's not surprising that America has suffered terrorist attacks. The bombing of U.S. Embassy's, the threats from the Libyans, American hostages and hijackings: we, as a country, are forgetting about God. This same country that relied on God for saving grace in 1776, now doesn't even want God with our children in the school systems. We no longer consider His promise of the rainbow anything more than an emblem for living a lifestyle that God said was against His will. We kill innocent babies because they may be an inconvenience and recognize the flowers and earth as an 'accident' from a cosmic explosion. We've slapped God in the face and wonder why our government is in the shape it's in.

This is what is going on right before the time when Samson was to be born. A people who had once been faithful and focused on serving God had turned from His ways. Now God decided to remove His hand of protection from them and in turn, the Philistines would have their time. How scary for the Israelites who did not know what was to come next - where would their saving grace come from?

America has a Savior - we've just forgotten who He is. We are scared and worried about the outcome of the leaders in our country - but know this: God is in control. Not McCain and not Obama (thank God). One day every knee will bow and everyone will say, "Jesus is the Son of God" and then all this talk of abortion and homosexuality will be finalized and God will have the last say. Until then, let's pray for our country and its members that we will remember God so that He will remember us.