Archive for the ‘ Holidays ’ Category
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Psalm 100:4, ESV
Always give thanks to God, for everything all the time, praising Him for His love and good works.
It is the fastest route to God’s heart.
“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),
Ephesians 6:2, ESV
They gave you life, so they are due some honor.
Or they raised you, so they deserve some respect.
Loving our parents shows our love for our heavenly Father.
He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Luke 24:6-7, ESV
Jesus Christ is not dead.
He is risen!
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19:38, ESV
How do we respond to the coming King? Are we as fickle as the crowd in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, shifting allegiance based on how we think Jesus should be? Or do we seek the truth of who He is?
On this day 19 years ago, at 6:46 PM CST, I bent my knee to Jesus as Lord and Savior. (If you do a search on this site for “birthday”, you will see the various explanations.)
I like to call it my Re-Birthday, as we call faith in Christ being born again. This comes from John 3 and 1 Peter 1.
Something that excites me this year is that my Re-Birthday falls on Wednesday, which means I get to teach the youth about our Lord today!
Also, it is my mother-in-law’s birthday, so join me in wishing her a happy and blessed day! If not for her, I would not have my wife!
God bless you, and remember that Jesus Christ is the reason we live and move and breathe and have meaning!
2018, amiright?
Another full year has come and gone.
My wife and I moved from ever sunny, ever hot Phoenix to a cooler (and currently snowier!) climate.
There were many new Adventures. Some are still growing.
I started a youth group for a small local church. I am getting ready to (hopefully sooner than later, at this point) to launch a mobile coffee cart! (Look for “Bean Adventurer Coffee”!) I am writing A LOT! (Though this blog took a small hit. But …)
Jesse finally started contributing here, though YouTube has not received an update this year. Moving and lacking access to editing software hurt that. But hopefully more is coming soon!
In all things, God is good. All the time.
May you receive an abundance of bunches of blessings this year. And though life may take some effort to trudge through, fall on the promises of God, this year and always.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
In His Love,
Daniel
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Luke 2:13-14, ESV
Some teach angelic beings do not sing, or at least not anymore, since The Fall.
Is it too much to think they may have at the birth of the Son of God?
Regardless, they worship Jesus. May we join with them!
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21, ESV
Trust the promises of God. Like Mary did, we can trust that the One who saves is returning!
Continuing our journey through the songs and hymns that have had an impact on my spiritual life, we now turn to another of those famous Christmas carols.
O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
In all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it can be too easy to forget to stop and worship our King.
We must remember that this is a time of joy. Our Savior has come!
Some may get caught up in the materialism. Get past it.
Some may get caught up in the idea that angles do not sing. I like what some teach, that they did sing at Creation (Job 38:7) but stopped singing at the Fall. However, perhaps they did sing at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:13-14), for God joined His Creation to save sinful humanity.
Regardless, let us come together and adore our Savior and King!
It is time to continue looking at the hymns and songs that had an impact on my spiritual life, and this week I have another of my top three Christmas carols.
Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come
Little baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
On my drum
Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Here is why I really like this song:
We are invited to come to the King of all Creation. We must realize that we nothing to bring other than what He has given us, so we really have nothing to offer. But …
If we only seek to give our best, our all (even though we may – will – fall short, He only desires that we obey His commands and draw near to Him), Jesus will smile on us. It is His faithfulness that we rely on. We merely let Him call the shots and help us get through.
a simple man of God 