Author: dianafmurphy@gmail.com

My granddaughter, Rhiannan, gave me this for Christmas. It is hanging on my wall above the dining table. I think she was thinking of some memories made around that table.  So was I when I opened her perfect gift.

When I was growing up we all ate at the table for every meal, unless you were sick. Then my mom might bring some food to whoever was sick. Otherwise, the table was the meal place. I think some families are missing that today. When our girls were growing up Wayne and I expected the family to eat together also. We celebrated birthdays, discussed the day’s events or problems, and sometimes enjoyed our giggly girls when something stuck them as funny.  I remember playing Monopoly and other games with them around the table.

We always made Christmas Eve dinner a special candlelight dinner, and for many years we continued that when our girls, with their families, came home for Christmas. Grandchildren’s birthdays were celebrated around the table. We played games with them around the table. The grandchildren couldn’t wait until they were old enough to join the adult game, Contract Rummy, which was a carry-over from the Murphy side of the family.  Almost all of the grandchildren are adults now and we still enjoy that game when we’re together-I think we had 10 or more playing a few times this past Christmas!

Twelve members of our family can mingled a lot of conversation in with our meals. As the grandchildren grew and changed so did the conversations. And, I might add the food has changed some, too. No more spaghetti Os!

I remember meals when our girls began to cook and sometimes they’d do the meal for us.  I remember special treats such as pizza nights. After the girls were married and had their own families, I especially remember Wayne’s surprise for me one evening.  He would often prepare most or part of the evening meal when I worked full time.  As we finished one particular meal he reached over to the chair opposite of where I sat and picked up a plate of chocolate covered strawberries that had been hidden by the table. He had prepared them himself! Happy memory enjoying those strawberries–just the two of us around the table!

Jesus instituted a memory around the table with His disciples. Using the bread and wine He gave a way for us to remember the price of our salvation.  Psalm 23 reminds us our great Shepherd prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. I picture God providing a banquet table for us as he shelters and protects us from our enemies. God provides and protects us here on earth and He’s issued an invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb! What a table of memories that will be!

“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” Revelation 19:9

Enjoy your table memories!

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24).

As I read my emails this morning I was most interested in what Jason Yates  (My Faith Votes) had to say about a sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr.  He included in his post a lengthy quote from that sermon. I will spare you the lengthy read, but I want to share the worthy points he made.  Mr. King said there was something wrong with our world. Oh, my! If he could see our world now, I wonder what he’d say.  Mr. King went on to say we had forgotten some “mighty precious values that we’ve left behind.”

Value 1:  “All reality hinges on moral foundations.”

Value 2:  “All reality has spiritual control . . . there is a God behind the process…”

Well, Mr. King, it is apparent that we still need to remember those principles.  Morality (Or should I say immorality?) today has gone beyond what anyone in 1954 would have thought.  Many have lost their moral foundation because they do not want to accept the truth of God’s Word. 

It is God who will judge our life here on earth and He will base His judgment on His truth, not ours.  God is in control and no matter how far out-of-balance our world seems to be, God has the final word. The cross proves He wants us to belong to Him. The resurrection proves He is the only Way to the Father. Every human will live–either saved for eternity or lost for eternity.

Are we forgetting God set the standard for morality? Are we forgetting we have a God to whom we must be accountable?  You had it right, Mr. King, there is something wrong with our world, but thank God, there is a cure!

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'” (John 14:6).

You can read or listen to Mr. King’s sermon by going to www.myfaithvotes.org and click on “Rediscovering Lost Values.” 

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8). 

I’m familiar with the vine and branches passage in John 15, or so I thought. This time, when I read the passage, verse 8 got my attention.  I know the part about Jesus being the Vine and we need to stay connected and bear fruit or we’ll be cut off, and the branch that bears fruit will be pruned in order to bear more fruit. In verse 8, Jesus gives us the purpose for our fruit bearing—to bring glory to God our Father! In truth, I know my life is to bring glory to God—to make God look amazing, but I fail to live like I know it.

There is often too much of me in my life. Branches do not thrive without the vine. Why do I think I can thrive on my own? I cannot. God chose me to bear fruit for Him: remain in His love by obeying  His commands, and to love others. God wants His joy in me so that my joy is complete.  This only happens when I give God first place and my selfishness becomes less.

Fruit bearing is God’s work in me. Paul, in Galatians 5, calls this the fruit of the Spirit.  Peter exhorts us to add to our faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; etc as a participation in the divine nature. (See 2 Peter 1:3-8)  This fruit is what I desire so I must seek and learn more of Jesus. I must submit my will to His.  Not easy. That’s why I must read and study the written Word so the Living Word can live in me.  And Jesus has promised to help. To God be the glory!

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7).

Another year gone, and I can’t help but wonder what things of value I accomplished in the past year.  When I think about that I’m reminded I didn’t accomplish anything without God’s help.  Beyond that, I’m sure God was ready to bless those ventures I bypassed and left undone. He has power beyond what we could ask or think.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

These verses from Ephesians are convicting! God is able to do all I ask Him to do and He is able to do what I imagine, but do not ask. God’s power is at work in me. God’s power is available.  I lack confidence and am uncooperative at times.  What could God do through me if I abandoned my will and surrendered to His?

Many folks make resolutions at the beginning of a new year and give up on them before long.  I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions, but I have set some goals for myself—goals that state who I want to be in family relationships, my writing, and my church and spiritual life. My prayer is I will surrender these goals to God and cooperate with His work in me. This will be a daily task-a daily surrender. A new year is a new beginning, but I like to think of each new day as a new beginning.  When I fail God does not. He is faithful!

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Happy New Year!

Christmas past: Jesus was born-God with us.

Christmas present: Jesus’ church on mission to bring the lost to the Savior.

Christmas future: The Church with God for eternity.

“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).

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

The book of Hebrews clearly points to Jesus as our only hope of salvation.  When we look at the manger and the infant Son of God we must look beyond to view the cross. Jesus came to live among us, to live as any human lives, yet without sin. Mary, his mother, cared for him as mothers do. She fed, bathed, cuddled, and nurtured Jesus. Joseph helped Him walk his first steps, taught him the Scriptures, and most likely showed Him how to help with the carpentry business.

Jesus was fully man and He was fully God. Only He could become our great high priest by offering himself as the sacrifice for our sin. When we sing “Joy to the World, the Lord has come” let us breathe a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for Jesus who made a way for us to “approach the throne of grace with confidence.”

Celebrate Jesus Christ with family and friends. Celebrate Jesus, the Way to the Father and the One who makes us the family of God.  

 

Thank you, Jesus, for humbling yourself to come to this sinful earth as a helpless baby so that we could be called the children of God. Thank you for mercy and grace found at the cross and for triumph over death at the empty grave! Amen

In memory of my mother I am publishing a piece I wrote several years ago. I pray it will encourage you.

My mother told me about a Christmas when she was a little girl. Her story reminded me of the simple joys of a coloring book and crayons, but it also jolted my thinking about the people we encounter each day.  

My mother, Alice, was just a young girl during the Depression and her family lived in a four-room house that was cold and drafty.  It was Christmas morning and Alice woke before anyone else. She crept expectantly to the small Christmas tree her mom had decorated a few days before and found a present with her name.  She quickly opened it and found a new coloring book and crayons. My mother said she doesn’t remember what she was expecting for Christmas, but she remembers feeling very excited about the new crayons and coloring book. Shivering from the cold, she hurried back to her bed and snuggled under the covers to color a picture.

There are those people today who, like my mother, long for a place of warmth and comfort.

 Jesus can provide that comfort and more. He can do that through His followers who let His light shine.  The Apostle Paul calls this kind of life“living by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). The  fruit of the Spirit is listed in Galatians 5. Thinking about my mother’s crayons and how the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in my life brought to mind the idea of coloring the world. So, let’s color a picture.

 Using the red crayon we can color our world with God’s love, letting others know He loved them so much that He sent His only Son to die for them.

Pick up the yellow crayon to spread around a few smiles and the joy we experience in being a child of God. This yellow glow of joy is surrounded by the blue of God’s peace. Some folks live chaotic lives and need a respite of genuine peace for their souls. Could we share a moment with them to rest in the meadow under God’s blue sky of peace? 

 Our world also needs the brightness of orange.  We must be generous in coloring in those bright spots of kindness and goodness. There are people around us just waiting for that kind word or good deed that we can say or do.  Of course, no picture is complete without the green of grass, the trees, and other plants. Neither is our spiritual life complete without faithfulness.  Allow the world to see you walking on the lush, green, and living grass of faithfulness as a sign that God has given you new life and life lived to the full (John10:10).

There should also be a purple crayon in your collection, the color of royalty. King Jesus is all-powerful but also gentle.  As our King, He gives us the gentle spirit we need to brighten our world. We can use the white crayon of patience to highlight the edges of the other colors.  Finally, to enhance all those wonderful colors in our picture of life, let’s color a black frame of self-control around it.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). What better way to color our world than to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

 

“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name’” (Luke 1:46-49).

I recently heard Dr. David Jeremiah speaking of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He reminded his listeners of Mary’s submission and suffering. I don’t think I’d ever thought about her submission. But it’s certainly showing right there in Luke, chapter 1. Mary is troubled by the angel’s appearance and announcement to her, but she does not resist. She asks how this pregnancy was to happen and accepts the angel’s answer with, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

Mary submitted to God’s will and purpose for her life despite the suffering and ridicule she must have endured. I can only imagine how her family and friends must have accepted her news—an unwed Jewish girl, promised to the young man, Joseph, and now pregnant with God’s Son.  Yeah, right!  No wonder Joseph was ready to break the betrothal. In Jewish culture, a betrothed couple was considered as husband and wife but did not live together until their year-long betrothal was over.  What would anyone think? Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph or they didn’t wait for physical relations until marriage. Joseph knew it was not the latter.  It took an angel’s revelation to change his mind about breaking the betrothal. He, too, became submissive to God’s will. He, too, must have suffered ridicule along with Mary.

When Mary and Joseph were required to travel to Bethlehem for the census we see submission to the government authorities We see Mary’s suffering when no room was found for her comfort. She gave birth to Jesus in a stable and used a manger for his bed!

The worst suffering any mother can imagine is to see her own child tortured and killed. Mary was there! At the cross! She saw Jesus’ wounds and heard his cries of anguish. Then she heard Jesus give John the responsibility for her care. What grief! What suffering!

I’m compelled to ask if I am submissive to Almighty God?  Am I willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus? Am I willing to give up comfort and selfish ambitions to be obedient to God?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” ( Philippians 2:3-5).

 

 

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song” (Psalm 95:1-2).

Molly and I traveled to Tennessee to be with my older daughter and her family for Thanksgiving. It is getting harder to get my whole family together at the same time so it was good to be with one of the families.  Another reason for traveling to TN was to visit with friends who are in a battle with cancer. Family and friends are at the top of my list of things for which I am thankful.

As I look forward to celebrating Christmas I am most thankful for God’s plan to redeem us for His own people. Beginning in the book of Genesis God reveals his plan to mankind that a Savior would come.  Matthew and Luke begin their gospel writings with the narrative of Jesus’ birth and both include his human genealogy. Matthew begins, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  God had promised David, “your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Jesus fulfills that promise as the King of kings over the Kingdom of God. God had promised Abraham his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).  Jesus offers this blessing of salvation to all who will receive it.

It is interesting that Luke takes Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to the first man, Adam, who he calls the son of God. (Luke 3:38)  He was created by God as the very first man. Jesus, the Creator, is the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), the Son of God. The first Adam brought sin to all people, but the last Adam brings life.  The first Adam was not without sin, the last Adam is sinless and takes away sin through His sacrificial death and powerful resurrection.

Thank you, God, for my Savior! I praise you for the peace He gives me. Help me live a life worthy of my King!

“Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3).

Driving home from the Eastern Christian Conference on Sunday, I noticed a billboard with the words, “It’s your time to shine.” I think it was an ad for jewelry, but for me it was a reminder of what the weekend conference had been about—Arise! Shine! The theme was based on the Scripture passage from Isaiah 60. I listened to speakers encouraging Christians to be ambassadors for Christ in our dark world. The lost live in darkness and need the Light of the world. Christians reflect the Light of the world through the way they live their lives. It’s time to shine!

The Apostle Paul says it this way, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:14-16). I have to ask myself, “Can the lost see Jesus in my actions?” It’s my time to shine!

This was the last year for the Eastern Christian Conference – a gathering of Christians from the Eastern part of the United States. It was a bittersweet weekend for me. Wayne had worked with this conference for years and many memories came to mind as I reconnected with friends through worship and fellowship. Dyke McCord led this grand finale, bringing together top-notch speakers and workshop leaders.  He chose Ken Meade to give the closing message Sunday morning. Ken brought it to a close with a celebration: Celebrate Christ, Celebrate the Church, Celebrate Christians, all with a joyful heart.  What a challenge! If every Christian did that daily  what a different world this would be!

It’s time to shine the light of Jesus!