Daily Reading 27

"You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." -John 16:32

"With Judas were many people carrying swords and clubs who had ben sent from the leading priests. . . Then the people came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him." -Matthew 26:47, 50

Mr. Lucado points out that this same story is told in another book of the bible, John. In John there is a specuific name for the group of people in the original language which means a group of 200 soldiers. Wow! 200 soldiers were sent by the religious leaders to find Jesus and arrest him! 200!
In that group, there was not one who stood up for Jesus. I wonder if any of them had heard him speak in church? Had a family member healed by him? Not a single one stood up for him that night. Even though he came to save them, they turned against him.
Those 200probably didn't know any better. But, what about his followers, the disciples? I can't believe what cowards they all were. "All of Jesus' followers left him and ran away." -Matthew 26:56 They ran away???
Jesus, unlike all of us, was not limited to the circumstances in front of him. He could see the big picture. His view was totally different. He was able to see purpose in this betrayal and pain. God was with him and he knew it.
In the middle of pain I am usually really mad or depressed. A lot of thse feelings are directed at God. I need to be continually reminded that even though crappy things happen, I am not alone.

Daily Reading 26

Sorry I haven't been doing daily posts for the daily reading thing...

"Jesus... kneeled down and prayed, 'Father if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want...' His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." -Luke 22:41-44
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." -John 14:1

Jesus is praying, alone with the exception of God. It is not going to be long before Jesus dies. And he knows it. He is totally showing that he is fully human here. He is afraid. And it is part of the bible, so we are given this story so that we can know that he was really afraid. Most of us, though, don't want anyone to kow we're afraid. He's not pretending to be strong for the benefit of others. He's actually asking FOR strength. He is going to his Heavenly Father. He is trusting Him.
It is amazing to me that Jesus went into the events of his death knowing exactly what was going to happen. He faced them. He was not alone, though.
We don't ahve to go through junk that happens to us alone either. God wants to walk with us, too. He also put us together onthis earth because he wants us to help each other. Don't go through life alone. Let God in. Tell Him your fears and trust Him. I'd love to help, too. Let me knowif I can. emillerk@gmail.com

Daily Reading 24

"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." -Luke 5:16

Jesus gets it when we struggle with doing things that are not the best choices. Don't you think that he had lots of times when he was tempted to be the biggest and best? Most of the people that heard him call himself the Messiah wanted him to become a powerful king, an army general, and lead them to blast the other guys that were in power for so long over the people of Israel.
Jesus was tempted by arrogance, but he walked away to be alone.
Another time was when Peter didn't believe that Jesus needed to die. It would have been tempting for me to walk away from that situation.
Jesus shut down Peter's argument and said, "You have no idea how God works."
Another time Jesus was mocked. A little girl was really sick and the family had called for him. When he got there, she was already dead. The crowd taunted him, but Jesus just dismissed them. He told them to go outside. "The child is not dead but sleeping."

Most of the time, our reactions to temptations have to do with lack of impulse control. I know for me, eating a lot of sugar is one of those temptations. I usually try to talk myself out of it, but then I just give in and find something sweet. If I try to look at what Jesus did, I can see that he guarded his heart. He seemed to easily react in the opposite way that I expected. I wonder if he planned his reaction? Probably if I actually sat down and thought about it, I could be prepared with a healthier snack when I am tempted to eat sweets all the time.
I'm tempted by lots of other things too. I think we all are. Today, I'm going to focus on one of those things and try not to let my impulses always win.

Daily Reading 18

I just have to start off by giving you the gist of the last part of Max Lucado's writing for today. If Jesus were just God he could not understand us. If he were just man, he could love us but never save us. Then he says, "But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next-door Savior."

In the reading from Luke chapter 7, Jesus is watching a funeral procession. A mother is burying her little boy. Instead of standing with his head down and eyes watering like most of us would be, Jesus is whispering to the mother. She looks shocked and then nods. Jesus tells the men carrying the casket to wait. Then he speaks to the boy, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" -Luke 7:14. He says it with power and authority. Kind of like when your mother uses your full name. He meant business. The boy starts to breath again, his skin warms up, and he jumps into the arms of his mother.

Amazing. Raising someone from the dead. Kind of creepy, too, but definitely amazing. After the funeral, Jesus is eating with the disciples and Peter realizes who is sitting beside him. Jesus is sitting there eating lunch, probably laughing and telling stories with the guys. Peter thinks back to what just happened and the reality of this powerful, Godly man hits him. He probably wonders why this man is not surrounding himself by kings and angelic beings. But that is the irony of Jesus. He came for everyone, not just the rich and powerful. In order to let people know who he was, he did lots of amazing things. But at the end of the day, he was also a man, who could understand people because he was living right there with them.

Daily Reading 17

"Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool. . . Here a great number of disabled people used to lie." -John 5:2-3

This pool. mentioned above is in a place called Bethesda. Lots of people are walking around, not paying any attention to the activity that is going on around this pool. Some of the passersby are going to the temple to seek God. the funny thing is, Jesus (God as a man) is walking near the pool amongst a whole lot of sick people who want to be well. The purpose of this "pool" was to heal. Under the pool, the water source was a natural spring. When the spring bubbled up, people thought that the first person to touch the water would be healed. One man was sitting a bit away from the pool, paralyzed when Jesus noticed him. At the time, he was alone; no disciples watching or following.
When Jesus sees this man, he asks him what appears to me to be a silly question, "Do you want to be well?"
The cynic in me says, "DUH, Jesus! Of course he wants to be well. Why do you think that he's there?"
The funny thing is that the man replies with a problem. He has no one to help him get to the water when it starts moving. And Jesus doesn't even really acknowledge the problem. Instead, he changed the man's perception and did something that he did not expect. He showed him the power of faith. Instead of carrying the man down to the pool, he told him to get up and walk. The man did it! He didn't argue that he couldn't. He didn't give excuses that others wouldn't help. He did what Jesus said because he believed him.

A lot of times I am not sure how have faith every day. I'm not saying that I don't believe that God loves me or that he forgives me. It's kind of hard to articulate. I guess I get annoyed sometimes when people say, "You just gotta have faith." What does that mean? Does that mean that I am not believing hard enough to please God? I don't think so. I don't think that God is up there waiting for us to perform certain actions in order to supernaturally open all of these consecutive doors. I guess my prayer to God is, help me to, "Get up and walk" when you're telling me to. Help me to step into the unknown and be okay with your guidance and my lack of control...
What do you think about this man's faith?

Daily Reading 16

"I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." -Matthew 9:13 (Msg)

This time we're talking about how Jesus hung around a lot of people that were not perfect. The very religious people, the ones who tried to tell everyone how wrong they were, did not like this about
Jesus. Pastor Donnie is actually preaching through the book of Matthew this year. It just so happens that one of the biggest outsiders of the church back then was a guy named Matthew. He was a tax collector. Most of the people that knew him considered him a dirty crook. I don't know about you, but I am not a great supporter of the people who work in the business of taking money from my paycheck anyways. I would definitely have some strong opinions about a guy that was also taking more off the top for himself!
And yet, this guy was one of the closest followers of Jesus. One day Jesus walked up to him on the street, while he was working his tax collector both, and said, "Follow me." When Matthew responds, he doesn't just follow Jesus, he invites him over to get to know him. He wants to know more about this God Man. I'm sure that we can all picture what the religious types did when Jesus went to eat at Matthew's house. They weren't happy about it at all. But do you think Jesus cared?
He was sitting at a table with Matthew. he was letting him ask questions. He was probably helping Matthew get over some doubts that he had. In this story, we can see that Jesus wasn't here for the religious. Those guys thought that they had it figured out already. Matthew, on the other hand was just the type of guy with whom Jesus wanted to share his message. Think about it. What would the religious types do with this message that said their laws weren't everything? Go and plan to kill Jesus! And what about Matthew? He would be able to share a life changing message with other people like him.
Who can you share this message with? If you were in church on Sunday, who did you put in your fave five?

Daily Reading 15

"Master, we worked all night and caught nothing." -Luke 5:5

"They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." -Luke 5:6


At this point in his walking around and preaching, Jesus had been attracting some consistent followers. Peter was one of them. He had heard Jesus preach, let Jesus use his boat, and Jesus had even healed his mother-in-law. Then after Jesus had finished preaching from the boat to people, Jesus tells Peter and his fishing buddies to go back out into deeper water to catch some fish. At this, Peter responded warily that they had been out all night and didn't catch a thing. They were worn out and wanted to go home and sleep. More work was not on the top of their priority list.

Even though he didn't want to, Peter and the other fishermen go out and do what Jesus says. they may have been muttering under their breath, but they did it. I wonder if Jesus had one of those just trust me looks on his face. Mr. Lucado thinks that maybe, "Jesus had a smile on his face thinking about how Peter was about to be half yanked into the water." When they men pull up the nets, they are overwhelmed by their catch! And Peter, a man who doubts himself a lot, finally sees who this Jesus really is. HE recognizes that Jesus is God as a human. Not just a teacher or talker. Not just a healer or miracle worker. He is God, himself.

When Peter realizes this, he immediately pushes Jesus away saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." -Luke 5:8 Jesus does the exact opposite. He won't leave Peter. He stays with him, actually asks him to come with him and do some more fishing. Except this time, he wants Peter's help to "fish" for people. He wants Peter to let others know about who Jesus is and what he is all about.

I bet that all of us have felt like Peter. Tired. Needing rest. Doubting. Amazed. Self-conscious. Ashamed. Jesus encouraged him and accepted him. He invited him to be a part of what he was doing, even though Peter was not who he thought that he needed to be. He gives us the same chance.

Daily Reading 14

"Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will." -Romans 12:2

"They were astonished at his teaching." -Luke 4:32

Jesus had been through all of those days of temptation in the wilderness, went home only to be rejected, and then showed up in a town that completely swelled with excitement over his presence. He was in Capernaum. While there, all kinds of people came to him with requests, advice, and their own agendas. Jesus healed some of them, who had needs. But others, who wanted to tell Jesus what to do and how to do it were told what was up! "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." Luke 42-43

After 40 days of temptation, it would be hard to resist having a huge mass of people who were amazed by his teaching, wanting him to stay around and tell them more. But Jesus knew his purpose well. He could see the bigger picture. People in other places needed to hear his message, too. Even though there were a ton of people in this place who wanted him to stay, he knew his mission was to let EVERYONE know. He probably had to leave some people who still wanted to know more, or who needed to be healed. I wonder if they ever figured out that they could hear Jesus through others who had listened to him?

I can get caught up in what I think needs to be done, just like the people of Capernaum. Sometimes I wonder why God is not moving or acting like I think he should. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture. Maybe there is something that is going to happen that shows that God really is a big deal in a way that I am not expecting. I do know that I can participate in His work. I am not going to just sit idly and wait for things to be done by Him. I am one of His followers and I want to help to let others know about His message of hope.

Daily Reading 12

"He knows me inside and out." - John 4:29

These words are talking about Jesus. The person who is saying them is not at all favorable in the opinion of many people... even some of Jesus' closest followers. If you think about who the woman is, she might remind you of some people that you have opinions about. She came from a place called Samaria. In this town lived a mixed race of Jews and Assyrians. Traditional Jews thought that the intermarriage meant betrayal. This woman was one of them. In the 9th verse of John chapter 4, the woman points this out to Jesus after he had asked her politely for a drink. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she says.

Besides being Samaritan, was in a public place which meant that Jesus should not be seen talking to her as a Jewish man. She was also known by all who knew her to be living in sin. Jesus told her everything about herself. Things that he shouldn't have known because he had never met or talked about her with anyone. But this was God in front of her. She had no idea to whom she was talking.

Then he started to tell her about living water. He was explaining the condition of our souls. Just like our bodies need food and water, our souls need to be filled with the good news that Jesus loves us and accepts us, even while we are still in the middle of our sin. When we drink this water, it lasts forever. His forgiveness just has to be accepted.

Doesn't that tell you something about Jesus, that he was spending time with this woman who needed to hear about his grace? He wasn't just surrounding himself with religious people. He loved everyone. He came for ALL of us to know. Do you know what this woman's response was? She ran to the village, knowing that everyone already knew about her past, and she told them about Jesus' acceptance of her. When they heard this good news, they ran out to meet him themselves. He then stayed there for two days, sharing his message of love and grace and salvation with many more.

I know for a fact that Jesus wants everyone to know about this good news. Do you know that he loves and accepts you?

Daily Reading 11

"Both Jesus and His followers were also invited to the wedding." -John 2:2

There is always some reason that a story is included in the Bible. This book called John is one of the four books of the bible called the gospels. They're given that title because they tell about the life and message of Jesus. Gospel means good news.
In my opinion, it is pretty good news that Jesus was invited to this wedding. You might say that He had just begun his "tour" and others had not really thought of Him as a celebrity, yet. A few guys had heard him talking about familiar things from the scriptures and wanted to know more about Him. But, at this time, Jesus was not doing miraculous healing or attracting a lot of attention. He was invited to a wedding, probably because the bride and or groom liked his company. He then walked a really long way - 90 miles to be at their wedding and His followers were invited, too.
It makes me smile to think that Jesus spent time at a wedding. He was very much God, but also did things to relate to us.

Daily Reading 10

"Rabbi where are you staying?" they asked. (John 1:38)

"Come and see." -John 1:39

"We have found the Messiah." -John 1:41

Two guys, John and Andrew were doing a lot of listening to John the Baptist. Then they heard about Jesus and started listening to his teaching. The way that we can tell that these guys looked to him as different is by thinking about the question they asked. They asked where he was staying because they wanted to be around him, to learn from him, and to really know him.

The response Jesus gave, telling them to come and see is really intriguing. You know that popular catch phrase, "I'll believe it when I see it?" Jesus actually invited these two to get up close and personal and find out who he was. He wanted them to come and hang out with him. How could they really figure out who he was without doing so? Of course this makes sense. He wanted followers who wanted to know and learn from him. They took the initiative to ask and he welcomed it.

I can relate to John and Andrew. I want to understand and "see" who Jesus is, too. Reading his words helps me to figure out how to be more like him. When I do get that figured out, other people around me can "see" Jesus in my actions.

Daily Reading 8

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' " -Matthew 3:16-17

The scene unfolds on this crazy looking man, John, who is wading in the water, telling everyone about the need for forgiveness. When we hear this guy in the bible, he is usually talking about another person who was coming. Another person who would show people how to live and love each other. Lots of people were waiting in line that day to be baptized. Waiting for their chance to say publicly that they are changing how they act. What is so surprising about this entire scene is that Jesus is in the line with everyone else. He is in line with the Gentiles - people who were not born into the Jewish faith, those who were seen as unworthy and pretty much scum to many Jews. John is perplexed when Jesus gets in the water. He tries to convince Jesus to switch roles with him and do the baptizing instead. But this act was making way for Jesus to show us yet again that he is willing to act for us.

I really think that it would be great if you could read the last two paragraphs of Mr. Lucado's thoughts about this story. He is pretty much affirming that none of us is perfect. We've made mistakes, tried to do what is right, and sometimes we fail. The attempts never come out to be perfect. But Jesus waiting in that line with us to be baptized is our clue that he takes care of all of that stuff. He can measure up where we can't. He is willing to pay the price for us that we could not pay ourselves. When we are baptized, we are connecting to the time that Jesus was baptized. We are saying that we accept the gift that he gives to us - the wiping out of our sin. t was accomplished for us, by God coming here as a human, to do it perfectly because we were not able.

I believe I need to say thank you for that, and remember my baptism. I actually grew up going to the Catholic church. I cannot remember having baptism explained to me when I was young. It may have been, but I don't remember it. Within the last couple of years, someone told me the reason that there are water bowls posted at entrances/exits in a Catholic church... Their purpose is to help you to remember your baptism. To remember that Jesus paid the price for you and to remind you of the decision you made to live your life in His direction. I have actually had two baptisms. When I was a teenager, I got interested in learning more about God. A friend of mine sparked the interest and I went to a youth event. After several months of questions and discussions, I realized that some people that I had met had something that I wanted. They loved unconditionally and supported each other through really tough stuff. I prayed in my room one night telling God that I wanted what they had. My friend's parents had given me a bible. I read in Romans 10:9-10 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." After some more discussion, I decided that I wanted to tell others about what I had learned, so I had a baptism. I don't necessarily think that I had to be baptised again. I believe that my parents wanted me to live with God's direction when I was baptised as a baby. This was another way to show how God had been working in my life.

Max Lucado Daily Reading 7

"Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God." -Mark 1:14

"God chose him for this purpose long before the world began." -1 Peter 1:20

If you haven't tried it yet, find a bible and read some of the rest of the context surrounding the verse that starts each day. It totally helps to understand what is going on. Too often, we read quotes or bible verses in isolation. As I read the beginning of this first chapter of mark, I saw that it introduced Jesus a bit differently than Luke. It talked about John the baptist and how he proclaimed that the Messiah was soon coming. He was announcing Jesus' entrance into a life of public scrutiny. Max points out that Jesus had to first say goodbye to private life at home with his family in the little town of Nazareth before he went out. The crazy thing about it all is that Jesus didn't have to do any of it. He could have kept quiet and led a normal life. But he allowed God's plan to unfold anyway. Not just to be killed, but to willingly carry his own tool of death- a cross, to have it done.
My favorite question so far in these daily readings posed by our author came today: "I wonder what kind of love is this? When you come up with a word for such love, give it to Christ." I have a new friend that is a fabulous writer. I think someday, she will express this sentiment in a way that I cannot. I have been talking about God with her for only a short time, and she is continually blowing me away with her insight about this lifelong spiritual journey. I am thankful for her and I am thankful for what God has done. "immense in mercy and with an incredible love. . . embraced us." - Ephesians 2:4

Max Lucado Daily Reading 6

"He's just a carpenter." -Mark 6:3

"No stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him." -Isaiah 53:2

"He had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as a high priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already experienced it all himself - all the pain, all the testing - and would be able to help where help was needed." -Hebrews 2:17-18

Today's reading takes us to the dusty village of Nazareth. It is brought to our attention that jesus is working there as a carpenter and that he is being raised by his mother Mary, alone. Joseph must have died. The passages above show us that others around jesus didn't see anything extraordnary about his childhood. He did a job that was dingy, hard, and probably caused a lot of BO! He is living among a bunch of people who are not thought of by their government as more than laborers. He lived in a simple place and did a mundane job. He worked for others in a job of service.

I can kind of get a glimpse into God's reasoning for sending his Son to live among us. I can see that jesus would really relate to us because of his childhood and job in these stories that are referenced above. It makes me want to thank God for showing us that he understands. I know that he knows and that helps. Sometimes I really want to shake my fist at Him and complain about my circumstances. At least Jesus was here and felt some of the same emotions. He probably didn't experience all of it the same way that I do, but he was here and he did endure "earth's toughest pain".

Max Lucado Daily Reading 5

"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." -Luke 2:40

Mr. Lucado discusses the first time that Jesus is acting upon the knowledge of who he is - God in human form. His parents have been traveling on a return trip home after visiting Jerusalem. They realize after 3 days that he is not with them. They look for him at relatives' homes and friends' houses, but do not think to look at the temple. Max points out that this is the first place that our Lord goes. He goes there first, showing us that we can do the same. In this visit, Jesus astounds many thinkers that are much older and have had more education. AND, even though he senses this call on his life, he returns home with his family. He spends time living with, taking care of , and focusing on them.

First of all, it amazes me to think that it took three days for Mary and Joseph to notice that their son was missing from their traveling group. There must have been a lot of people in that caravan! Reading this today, it does not surprise me that Jesus was in the temple. But then again, I only have a few pages to read, between his birth and this story. We have the benefit of reading the summary of what happened... Angels appeared announcing the arrival of the Messiah and we can quickly find out about how Jesus grows up and teaches people about the love of God. Mary and Joseph didn't have that knowledge. They were frantic, looking for their missing child. If I stop to think about it, this makes complete sense. Who wouldn't be frantic?

It also caught me off guard to think about how Jesus did spend a lot of his life at home with his family. It wasn't until in his early thirties that he went and gathered the disciples to help him tell about God's story to others. He really cared for his family. He made them a priority and helped them understand. What made the most sense to me was the line where Max asked, "What makes you think they'll believe you overseas if they don't believe you across the hall?" Lots of times, I need guidance because I am scared to start a conversation about spiritual things. I think I should try focusing on my actions, though first.

Max Lucado Reading Day 4

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:16

Still pondering that amazing day of Jesus' birth, we are asked the question, "Would you do what Jesus did?" There are a lot of things to consider in this small question. Would I have given up the peace of heaven? What about the security of the Father's company and the worship of the angels? Or the control of the universe? Hmm. Trading in all of that for a cramped womb and then to have needs that have to be met by a mother and father. Did he know that later he would be humiliated and beaten when he gave all of that up?
Then we are asked to think about how that decision is completely because of love. Love is the difference maker. It was a choice that Christ made... to love.
It amazed me to try and put myself in Jesus' shoes and wonder if I would have made the same choices that he did. He could have stopped any time, when he was confronted with something that wasn't a "Godly" task, or when he was mistreated by others. But that is exactly what he did not do. He did not turn away from any situations that faced him. He experienced them as a man, even though he was God. This is love. That choice shows that he is willing to experience the pain and hurt, the mistreatment and mocking. He loved us enough to become one of us, so that we could understand who he is. He went all the way to the cross to show us how much he loves us. He loved us that much!

Max Lucado Daily Reading 3

"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home to be his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." - Matthew 1:24-25

The big question asked by Max today is , "Why Joseph?" He questions the choice of this man as opposed to some lofty priest or scholar. What intrigued me is that the reason for God's choice of this man was probably because of the way he sacrificed his own reputation in order to be Mary's husband and the dad to Jesus.
Here on earth, we always seem to want the approval of others. Joseph knew that according to others, he should shun her publicly and then get out of the situation entirely.
It amazes me how similar this is to the story of Jesus talking with the woman caught in adultery. Men led her out to be stoned, telling Jesus of her sin and what should b e done. Instead of shunning her publicly like the other men did, he turned the situation around on them - "The one without sin should cast the first stone." Obviously the stones dropped and everyone went away. I wonder if when this happened later in his life, Jesus had any idea that his earthly father, Joseph had made a similar decision. His dad made a decision to let go his "unblemished reputation" because he believed. He put God's plan ahead of his own.
Today, I am praying that God will help me to put his plan ahead of my own and that you can do the same.

Max Lucado Daily Reading 2

Mary Cradles God
"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no roomfor them in the inn." - Luke 2:7

Today, Max talked about the surroundings of the stable where Christ was born: cobwebs, minimal hay, hard earth, and parents weary of a long trip on foot. Then he speaks of mary contemplating what has just taken place. She remembers what the angels had said, "His kingdom will have no end," and she knows that in her arms is God in baby form.

The funniest part to me was Max's comment that, "He looks like anything but a king. his face is prunish and red. he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being." I am amazed when I think about how God limited himself in the form of a baby, putting his powerful self in the arms of a woman who would change his diapers and nourish him. I wonder what Mary thought as she held him for the first time?

Max Lucado Daily Reading 1

On Monday, a friend loaned me a book to read called 3:16 by Max Lucado. The amazing thing is that she read the ENTIRE thing over the course of Saturday morning. It was actually given to her the night before by another friend, who thought she would really like it. Well, she did. It answered a lot of questions that she was having. And so, on Sunday when I talked to her, we decided to use the 40-day devotional section at the back for discussion.
I think it would be a great way for discussion out there in the blogging world as well, so I am going to post here the scripture for the day and give a bit of summary as well as reflection about max's thoughts. I hope you'll consider reading the scriptures and commenting and questioning along with us!

"Suddenly a great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'" -Luke 2:13-14

I love this part of Luke's story when the angels announce the arrival of Jesus to the shepards. One of my favorite Christmas movie moments is when Linus tells Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. He recites this passage in Luke under the stage lights to a bunch of ordinary animated characters like Lucy, Pigpen, and old Charlie Brown. I think it is amazing how God announced the most important earthly arrival to normal, everyday beings. Even stinky, smelly shepards. They carried everything that they owned with them. He knew that they would be able to believe without needing to consult books or needing to clean themselves up first. They went straightaway to meet their Savior. What faith!