Praise the name of God with song!!!!
Tag: Christmas
“Every Good Gift and Every Perfect Gift…” James 1:17
A few weeks back, we started the 30 Day Gratitude challenge in the book, The Grumbler’s Guide to Giving Thanks, where everyday we recorded five things for which we were grateful. I shocked myself that I consistent for 30 days. I still account for that which I am grateful but I’ll be honest I forget to write them down. But, that’s ok, God hears my prayers.
I am still reading this book. I am not finished. I am journaling what read and taking my time. I want this to stick. So often I read a book, and say “Oh that was a great book” and three days later I can’t remember a thing (insert eye roll). Another reason why I am still reading the book is I got hung up on a verse; James 1:17. Currently I am only studying the first half of this verse, “Every good gift and every perfect gift…” I was always taught to understand a verse, reading the surrounding verses will help.
The verse is sandwiched between verses of trials and temptations, it looks like this in my NKJV Study Bible:
Loving God Under Trials
12Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
Qualities Needed in Trials
19[c]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (The Bible Hub).
I began to wonder about these gifts. When I hear the word gift, I think pretty package, “brown paper packages tied up with string,” something pleasant, something that brings joy. So I investigated.
EVERY – Greek word – πᾶσα – pasa, All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole. Hmm declension made me wonder more.
Forms of declension? Trials as gifts? hmm.
GOOD – Greek – δόσις dosis -A giving, gift, donation. From the base of didomi; a giving; by implication, a gift. to give (in various senses lit. or fig.)
PERFECT – Greek – τέλειον – teleion –From telos; complete; neuter completeness. Perfect here is not defined as blemish free or without flaw. Perfect is defined as COMPLETE. Teleion, from telos, Strong’s Greek: 5046. τέλειος (teleios). There was another word that came to my mind, maybe you’re thinking the same one. Τετέλεσται -Tetelesta Strong’s 5055: (a) I end, finish, (b) I fulfill, accomplish, (c) I pay. From telos; to end, i.e. Complete, execute, conclude, discharge.
“”IT IS FINISHED! ” John 19:30
The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon
| Strong’s Number: 5046 Browse Lexicon Original WordWord Origint evleioßfrom (5056) Transliterated Word TDNT Entry Teleios 8:67,1161 Phonetic SpellingParts of Speechtel’-i-osAdjective Definition brought to its end, finished wanting nothing necessary to completeness perfect that which is perfect consummate human integrity and virtue of men full grown, adult, of full age, mature |
Gift – Greek – δώρημα – dōrēma -A gift, bounty. From doreomai; a bestowment
I found these definitions for telos an ultimate end (Merriam Webster) and I like how Wordnick describes it the end of a goal oriented process. Wasn’t Jesus’ death on the cross a goal oriented process? He was the perfect sacrifice. Perfect in the sense He was without blemish, without sin, flawless and it was perfect in the sense His work on the cross is complete. His coming to earth born as a baby, fully human and fully God was the beginning of the Gospel. The gift of salvation was given to us when Jesus was born. Salvation for us was completed when Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later. Jesus had one goal to complete, to pay the penalty of sin for us.
That’s probably why James nestled this verse in these verses of trials and temptations. We are going to be tempted and we at times may give (ok most likely) into temptation and sin. We will face trails and we likely fail. I know I will fail, we will fail if I, if we aren’t seeking God’s help in the midst of these trials and temptations. And there is nothing we can do to complete our salvation, there is nothing we can add to it. “nothing necessary to completeness.” What a gift!!!
And are we looking at trials as gifts? (ok I’ll save that for next week’s post because I do have some verses on that and this post is already long).
Ok so I am no Bible scholar. I may be waaay off in interpreting this. My head was spinning with all the information I was coming across and trying to organize it in my head, it was a lot to wrap my head around. I didn’t find any commentary that spoke to this, so if there are any scholars out there or if anyone has any constructive comments, please comment. I maybe missing something or not following something correctly. And right now it makes sense to me. So any insight, thoughts would be great.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
“Light of the World…
“… You stepped down into darkness … ” You may recognize the lyrics from Randy Travis’ song “Here I Am to Worship.” Typically one may not consider this a Christmas song but the lyrics kind of well, at least for me make me think Jesus’ birth. And without His birth we don’t have His death and resurrection and without either of those we don’t have His salvation.
Jesus is the life, the truth and the way. He is also the Light of this world. I find it interesting that Jesus was born during the night. Nights are, well, usually dark and I imagine that during His time when there was no moon … It. Was. Dark. Have you ever been somewhere at night where there are no street lights, there was no moon, and the stars were hidden behind clouds? Maybe you were driving in the mountains or a remote road where civilization is miles away and no headlights or flashlight was bright enough. It. Is. Dark.
The world is still dark today just as it was in Jesus’ day. He stepped down into darkness from Heaven. He left His Father and Heaven in all it’s glory and beauty to walk among His people, HIs creation in this dark world. He arrived in this world at night as a baby and as the Light.
For me the star was symbolic of Jesus’ light figuratively and spiritually. Most scholars agree that the light from the star was so bright it was almost like daylight (just a side note, I know that star has many theories as to if it was an actual star or planets aligning, that’s another post). The point is what miraculous event would it have been if Jesus was born during the day?
The angels coming down from the heavens telling the shepherds of Jesus’ birth must have shown so brightly in those dark fields that night. Like someone turning the lights on in the middle of the night, it hurts. Sometimes it hurts when God illuminates the darkness in our own hearts and sometimes we run away and don’t want to deal with it. But the shepherds ran to see Jesus and to worship Him. The wisemen saw that star the night Jesus was born and followed it for what may have been months, some say it was two years. And when they reached Jesus, they bowed down and worshiped.
Jesus the light of the world, came down in literal darkness and HIs birth lit up the sky. His coming to this world was to also light up the darkness of people’s hearts. If you are a believer allow Jesus to come into the dark corners of you heart. If you want Jesus to show you the light read the book of John and ask God to show you His Light.
Jesus stepped down into darkness so we wouldn’t have to. Let’s not wait for Christmas to worship and bow down to the One who saves us from our sin and bridges the gap to all of eternity in His eternal Light.
Light of the world You stepped down into darkness
Open my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You
Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you’re my God
You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me
King of all days, oh so highly exalted
Glorious in Heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth
You created all for love’s sake became poor
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross
Here I am to worship
– Randy Travis –
Merry Christmas from the Kedge Anchor!
December 20, 2021-Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas! I hope this blog post finds you and yours well. It’s been a wild ride the past few years but we know God is sovereign and will reign forevermore. Take time out to relax, unwind and reflect on the birth of Jesus as you color today’s free downloadable coloring page. Grab a cup of hot cocoa or tea put on some Christmas music as you reflect on how God orchestrated everything, down to last detail. God is in the details. He loves you!
“This will be a sign to you:”
“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” – Like 2:12
The sign was a baby wrapped in cloths. King James Versions says “swaddling cloths.” By definition swaddling means wrapping. We have read that so many times it’s easy to overlook that. But these cloths have significant meaning. When the angels told the shepherds they would find Jesus in swaddling cloths they knew exactly what was being told to them. According to Levitical law the newborn lambs that were to be sacrificed for Passover, they were to be wrapped in strips of linen as soon as they were born so that they would remain blemish free and be protected from any bruising.
We know that Jesus later became crucified on the Jewish Passover as the “Lamb of God.” When Jesus was sacrificed as the Lamb of God, he was tied down and his body was wrapped in cloths at his burial. The Hebrew word for “wrapped” is “chattal, which means to wrap up or tie down. Interesting.
If you haven’t seen The Chosen Christmas Special – The Messengers, it’s a must see. There’s a touching scene between the Marys, Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother. I don’t want spoil it for those who haven’t seen it so you’ll just have to watch it. Hint, It has to do with cloths. You can see it on YouTube or through The Chosen app.
Merry Christmas!
December 13, 2021 – Luke 1:46-47
Happy Memorize Monday!!! It’s almost 2022!! Where has time gone. Today’s scripture is taken from Luke 1:46-55, known as Mary’s Song, commonly know as the “Magnificat,” literally song of praise. It’s also similar to the psalm of Hannah when she gave birth to Samuel. Mary prices God for His faithfulness to keep HIs promises. Ponder the faithfulness of God today as Mary pondered and “treasured these things in her heart.” – Luke 2:19. Praise God for His faithfulness to keep His promises today and all through the year!
December 6, 2021 – Luke 2:10
“Healing in His Wings”
Malachi 4:2 – “The Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.” Where have we heard that phrase before; “healing in his wings?” Here’s something really interesting. The Hebrew word for “wings” is “kanafim” which also means corners. Hold on to that thought.
Malachi prophesied that ” … the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.” Jewish believers gave the name Sun of Righteousness to the coming Messiah. Malachi was referencing Jesus’ ability to heal with the corners of his robe. Kanafim also means “corners.” Are you seeing a parallel? In the book of Mark 5:25-34, is the story about the woman who had been bleeding for over 12 years knew the scriptures. She knew all she had to do was touch the corners of Jesus’ garment and she would be healed.
25 … And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
And so we see this phrase used in a beloved Christmas song, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”
Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Wow! Kinda adds new meaning to the old Christmas carol. I bet you will be thinking corners the next time you sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. I know I will.
Merry Christmas!
November 29, 2021 –
Happy Monday!! Advent has begun and as we all prepare for Christmas celebrations and festivities, my prayer is that we take time to ponder as Mary did, she treasured these things in her heart. “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” – Luke 2:19.
Take time each day to think about what it may have been like to be greeted by an angel. What may have been going through Mary’s mind? Maybe take the time to read the accounts of the disciples in the Matthew and Luke, and treasure these things in your heart.
Image: Mary and Joseph by getdrawings.com
November 29, 2021 – Luke 2:10
Happy Monday! Here is today’s Memorize Monday free coloring page. Luke 2:10, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'”
Salvation for the world has arrived!! As we prepare for Christmas, take time to ponder the birth of Christ. Imagine what it was like for the shepherds. What if you were there. Would you be startled, afraid? Would you run away? Would you feel threatened or in awesome wonder?
These shepherds ran, but they ran to see baby Jesus in a manger and as they went, they passed the word along the way for others to come and see. When they arrived can you imagine? What did they see? I imagine these shepherds were Jewish and they had read the scriptures. Since the birth of Jesus was prophesied in Isaiah 9:6 “Unto us a child is born;” his prophetic promise of a “special child who would bring light into a darkened world and be the prince of peace provides comfort to readers of all generations.” Even still, not expecting this wondrous announcement, they most likely were a little scared, it probably took them a few minutes to recall what they had known.
Take some time today to reflect what it may have been like herding sheep in the thick of the night and angels appearing in the sky to tell you that the Messiah has come, Salvation is here.
The Kedge Anchor 
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