Spirit Led Living

Mal 4:2-3 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. On these words the Jewish people clung for 400 years.   After coming out of captivity from Babylon the once powerful and independent Jewish nation became a minor territory that was the pawn of successive empires.   First they were dominated by Persia who largely ignored the Jews.   Then Alexander the Great acquired Palestine in 323 B.C.    He decided he was going to unite the world centered on the Greek language and culture.   At first they tolerated the Jewish practices but then began to enforce their doctrine Hellenization.   The majority of the Jewish people resisted by the aristocracy welcomed it.   When the people did not follow suit they tried to destroy the Jewish religion itself and all known copies of the Torah.   They even erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig.   The Maccabeans revolte

Matt 5:23-24 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. A few days ago I had the joy of getting together with some dear friends from whom I had been alienated for some time.   I had deeply hurt them through my sin and I had felt that they had turned against and wanted nothing to do with me. The details aren’t important except to say that Satan does what he can to drive wedges between us. Real offenses are lumped in with imagined ones and soon there is a gulf between people who used to be like family. I can’t speak for them or their process; I can only speak for myself. At the time I was in denial about a lot of things and while I was the offending party, it was easier to justify my position by assigning blame to others. I felt betrayed and I felt abandoned and ostracized.   I was in a deep d

Matt 25:21 'Well done , good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' This time of year has always been difficult for me. I have suffered many losses. My Father passed in Oct of '96 and my Mom in Dec of '04. This year we lost two good friends in Colin Niven and Dick Phillips. All of them had one thing in common. They called Jesus their Lord and Savior. They all spent their lives living out their witness and touched countless lives. In each case they received their welcome in heaven with the Father saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" In the case of my "Mami" (in Spanish), she lived to be 94 and hers was a long journey. She was born into a Catholic family in Puerto Rico in 1910. She saw many changes come over that little Island in her time. Her father sent her to Syracuse University so that she could become a nurse. Such was her upbr

Luke 2:8-14 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." This was the scene on the night of our Savior’s birth. Here it was the pivot point in all of history; nothing would be the same from this point on. The kingdom of God had just established a beachhead in this world and the beginning of the end was at hand for the prince of this

God never blessed me with the opportunity to father a child. My oldest two were adopted when they were 4 years old and my youngest two came to me through marriage. It wasn’t until my grandson, Mateo, was born that I was able to be a part of the process of watching someone you love grow in the womb and then seeing them moments after they are born. He just celebrated his third birthday and he is the joy of our lives. I think I know a little bit about how Joseph must have felt raising a child as his son that was not biologically his son. The child’s origin soon fades to the background and you are enveloped by the warmth and love of raising that child from an infant through the stages of his growth and development. I can identify with that. I can’t identify with what it must have been like to find out that your wife to be is pregnant and that you, after saving yourself for marriage and resisting temptation despite the passion burning in your loins for your betrothed, are not the father. Ta