Good News For Us

Future

We want to know our future
A look upon tomorrow
We want to know before we walk
Our path won’t lead to sorrow

But God sees roads we’d never tread
His kingdom seeds unsown
All for the knowledge of the pain
True joy would be unknown

And so God calls us out in faith
To walk uncharted lands
And yes, we’ll travel through life’s storms
But always in His hands

For everyone who follows
The One who is The Way
The future has been written
It’s ours to know this day

New heaven, new earth, new city
Jerusalem - a bride
God Himself will wipe away
Each tear we’ve ever cried

No death, no pain, no mourning
God makes all things new
These promises are written
They’re trustworthy and true

So of my future life
I need know just one thing
My sovereign Father’s love for me ~
A child of the King

Mary Graver

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  I drive my daughter, Maya, to school each weekday morning. We skip the car line, opting to take a nice walk together. I get her all prayed up in the car, so this little hike allows us time to sing two songs. Every morning, Maya and I sing, ”This is the day that the Lord has made…” and “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice…”. We have a little chat before we kiss goodbye - one regular kiss, and then we each kiss our own thumb and tap them together, saying, “ding” as they touch. This evolved from a blown kiss and a thumbs up sign Maya started in kindergarten.

On one such walk, I had been thinking about a devotion entitled, A Word, posted December 27th. I wondered if my eight year old daughter knew her word, that one word in The Word that most speaks to her each day of her young life.

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 Scripture is rich with beautiful, relevant and and life-changing words for our lives.…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3

As I read and meditate on Scripture, there are those words that stand out, jump out, leap from the pages of my Bible. Their significance changes with the seasons of my life and each day’s circumstances, so that every time the Book is opened it is new and fresh with revelation.

I have come to believe that each one of God’s children has one word from The Word that crosses over into every season - one particular word that builds faith, brings God’s strength and provides His comfort in every situation. I have come to believe this because I have experienced it firsthand and have witnessed it in the lives of others.

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This morning is dark and quiet. My family is upstairs, asleep. This morning is Christmas morning.

 I make my way to the dining room table and light the circle of four advent candles. Finally, I light the large white candle in the middle, the one I have been waiting to light all year long, the Christ candle.

I carefully remove the tiny Baby Jesus from the place I have hidden Him these four advent weeks. This is the same little figure I gazed upon as a child. My father would wind the small music box on the crèche and I would lie beneath the Christmas tree to listen, and watch.

Silent night, holy night

I now swaddle the Babe in a small cloth and lay Him on a velvet pillow with the word, “Rejoice!” written in gold thread. I place the pillow before the candles. Their light shines down upon Him.

All is calm, all is bright

I can hear rustling upstairs. My family is awake. I invite them to join me by the table before we open our gifts. They see the candles shining on the Baby Jesus and even my nine and ten year old children are silent. My family reverently encircles the table and I proclaim, as the prophet Isaiah of old,

 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9;2

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:11

I carefully hand the pillow to my youngest, Maya. We process to the crèche, singing, Silent Night. Maya places Jesus in the manger as we sing,

Holy Infant so tender and mild

My children’s presents are laid out under the tree just a few feet away, but their eyes never leave this holy scene and the greatest gift of all ~

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born 

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An account of the birth of Christ, beginning in Luke, the 1st chapter, the 26th verse, portrayed by young hurricane survivors - Christmas of 2005.

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December, 2007

 My two youngest children attend a public school, and last night we were seated in the audience of the school’s annual “Holiday Music Program” or “Festive Winter Musical” or as Matt and I like to call it, “We All Know Why We’re Here But We Can’t Say It Celebration!”

Jesus wasn’t invited to the party, but He came anyway. I felt His presence there as I looked around at all the joyful families laughing with visiting grandparents. I felt Him surrounding the family seated in front of me - the aunt caring for her widowed sister’s three young children, while the mother battles stage four cancer in the hospital this day. I closed my eyes and prayed for this mother, Cindy, and her sons, Kyle, Luke, and Alex, as the children sweetly sang, “We need a miracle. Who will come to save us? Who will come to save the day?”

I looked over at my husband and whispered, “I know Who!” Matt smiled. Jesus smiled. I felt sure we were not alone, reflecting on the only One who saves, the only One who performs miracles, the only One who can save the day.

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My family, along with other members of our church, recently delivered hand-crocheted blankets to a local children’s home for Christmas. The boys tied their blankets around their necks “Superman” fashion and the girls wore theirs as princess robes.

We played and prayed that day with those fifteen beautiful children, and I ask that you continue with us to pray blessings on their lives - prayers that, through Christ, they will grow to be “Super” men and women of God and that, robed as children of the King, they will faithfully walk with Him all the days of their lives. 

As we prepare to go on another “Threads of Love” mission this week, I am posting a devotion from last year’s visit to a nursing home. In this busy Christmas season, I pray you will carve out some time for a similar family service project. You will be blessed as you bless others.

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What are you without? Are you without the job you thought you wouldn’t lose? Are you without the home you once owned or the one you dreamed of having? Are you without the funds to pay your bills? Are you without the means for the trip you wanted to take, the car you’d like to drive, or the clothes you wish you wore? Are you without good health, without physical comfort? Do you live without peace of mind? Are you without the freedom you wish you had? Are you without the love you’ve never known, or the love you thought would last? Do you now live without the beloved person you held most dear on earth? What are you without?

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We are currently leasing a home, so my paint brushes are packed away for now. But I remember a time when I would gaze upon the walls of my home and in my mind’s eye see a fresh new color scheme.

I would make my way to the paint store, where I would pull every interesting color swatch card from the long racks. One store employee, noticing my obvious delight, offered to sell me a “contractors only” color wheel on my birthday. I was over the moon - best twenty bucks I ever spent! I took it home and studied every hue and color name. I would love to be a color namer. Wouldn’t that be a great job? I once bought four gallons of a paint named “Belize” just because it was named “Belize”. I painted several rooms “Mangrove Shade” just because it was “Mangrove Shade”

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Spreading the Word of God, His Good News, through cyberspace has been dubbed e-vangelism, and those called to this joyful task, e-vangelists. I like that!

God always finds a way to meet us where we are. He is able to give us eyes to see the holy in the ordinary. One of my favorite aspects of the abundant life in Christ is the gift of sacred vision.

It makes life a whole lot more interesting - this surrendering my eyes to God business. It doesn’t have to always be deep and life-changing. Sometimes it is as simple and lighthearted as looking at a computer keyboard and seeing a prayer. The Holy Spirit had a little fun with me on this one!

 e-prayer

Save Your Word to my favorites

Bookmark every part

Copy all to my file

Paste them in my heart

Delete the devil from MySpace

Block him - he is spam

Never let his message open

Junk mail, paper jam

Enter every thought

Refresh my soul anew

When I backspace,

Launch me forward

Send me home to You

Mary Graver

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