A Christmas Devotion from Jan

Adonai

Every year, it seems as though the Lord gives me a special Christmas message that helps me to see Christmas in a new and fresh way.  This year that message began with a word: Adonai.  Maybe it’s because He’s been teaching me so much about obedience in the past few months. 

Adonai.  One word.  One meaning:  Lord, Master.  One personal application:  is He Lord and Master over your life?  Many, many uses.

So, I asked God how  what He was showing me  related to Christmas.  Here is how He answered me.

While Scripture may not answer every question we have about Jesus, and we don’t know much about his childhood, it still  tells us a lot about His purpose for coming and His earthly ministry.  As always, God tells us what he thinks it’s important for us to know.

This is one of my favorite and very illuminating passages:

The Incomparable Christ

13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven .

Col 1:13-20 (NASB)

Another place the Lord took me is to 2 Chronicles.  When King Solomon decided to build a tabernacle for God, he realized the greatness and glory of God which is why he said:

 "But who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him?   2 Chron 2:6 (NASB)

And, finally, one more wonderful O.T. passage:

Psalm 8

The Lord's Glory and Man's Dignity.

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained ;4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God , And You crown him with glory and majesty!6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalms 8:1-9 (NASB)

So, what does this have to do with Christmas?  I have a wonderful little book written by Bob Coy called “Devotionary” that I like to take out this time of year.  In it, he writes:  “why would this God who has the wisdom and ability to create all life as we know it, who is so immense that we cannot contain Him, and who has the authority to part the sea, shut the mouths of lions, and stop the sun and moon in the sky choose to inhabit the body of a vulnerable, helpless baby? The author of life took on human form for the sole purpose of dying, because death was the penalty for the wrongs we had committed.  That is the heart of Christmas.”

As I reflected on what that Christmas message means to me,  that led me to consider what Scripture tell us about His birth and what it meant to the Jews.  The Jews weren’t ready for Him.  They expected a King mightier than Saul and handsomer than David.  Even so, Luke writes:

As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road.37 As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,38 shouting: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"   Luke 19:36-38 (NASB)

This is a ceremony fit for a King.  It’s the same ceremony 2 Kings 9 records about the crowning of Jehu as King of Israel.  But, Jesus wasn’t the King they were expecting because He didn’t come to bring them a kingdom that would be victorious over their oppressors.  He came to usher in a spiritual kingdom.   Luke further records:

41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

Luke 19:41-44 (NASB)

As Jesus came to Jerusalem He knew what awaited Him.  I wonder if when He met with Moses and Elijah on the high mountain, the time that He was the connecting point or the bridge between God and man, temporal and eternal, if they discussed what was to come?   What could they have told Him?  What had God already told Him from the time He was a child?  What did He know and understand even as He was learning to talk in earthly words?  I believe God had prepared Him from the beginning for what He was to face. 

There is one more thing that we need to see in this Christmas message.  How are we to respond to it? Isaiahs’ vision and call to ministry is a wonderful answer to that question and one that has very special meaning to me personally:

1 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.7 He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven ."

The Lord Isaiah saw sitting on the throne is our Adonai.  And, what was Isaiah’s response? 

Isaiah's Commission

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"9  

Isaiah responded by humbling himself completely before His God; His Adonai and said simply, Here I am; send me.

So, this is the message I believe God has for me this Christmas.  A life for a death.  A death for a life.  He was born to die so that I might have everlasting life.   As Adonai, He could have commanded the heavens to open and obliterate the Romans.  And yet He came willingly as a sheep to slaughter.  Whether we see Him as a babe in a lowly manger, or as Mighty Counselor, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father or Almighty God.  He is Adonai, Lord and Master, seated on the throne and worthy of our worship and our obedience.  And, the take away message for me this year has been will I be?  Will you?

Rogers Family Christmas Newsletter 2012

Rogers Family News

Christmas, 2012

Greetings to all our dear Family and Friends!

Well, another year has almost come and gone.  Where does the time go?  It seems like only yesterday that I was typing up last year’s newsletter!  As we greet you in the name of the Lord, it is our hope and prayer that you are well.

How has your year been?  We earnestly hope that it has been a good year, and that you are in good health.   Our year has probably been much like yours; life just ‘happens’! But, through it all, the Lord protects, grows, disciplines and provides, and we have experienced all of those things this year as I imagine you have as well.

One constant in this year has been that our whole immediate family still lives in Greeneville.  Michael's parents and sister are still doing well and living in the Winston-Salem, NC area.  We have made many visits over to see them and they have made some visits here as well.  We also had the fun of going back to Hilton Head again this summer with Jon, Kara and the Grandkids.  This year, we rented bicycles and rode around which we could finally do because the kids were old enough.  We also took Asher and Sadie on a pirate ship adventure out on the sound and all had a ball.  It was a fun trip.  No trips overseas this year, but, we are planning to go back to Germany next year.

Jon and Kara, both 31 now, have been busy with their many family activities and involvements.  Jon is active with the Praise and Worship ministry at church, plays soccer, and I’m not even sure what all else, but, he is always busy.  Kara is plenty busy keeping up with house and home and all the kids’ different activities.  Despite that, she continues to do well with her online sewing business, sew.hip.mama.  She makes many smaller things for little ones like darling hair clippies, but, also makes purses and other accessories, putting her art background and talent to good use.

Elsie, their youngest, turned a year old in October.  She is walking up a storm with a little personality all her own, different from her older siblings.  She loves all things doll and stuffed and keeps Kara running.  She is quite inquisitive and loves to walk around seeing and learning new things.  When she smiles, she smiles with her whole face and is so much fun to be around.

Sadie, now the middle child, turned 5 in March.  Sadie is unique.  She can be the most feminine little girl one moment, and in the next sink her fingers into things that would make other little girls run from!  She is beginning to look a lot like Jon and I think she has a lot of his personality.  She is outgoing and personable, and quite self-confident.  She’s still a ham and loves to be on stage.  The other day I was at her school checking in and the ladies in the office were telling me how she brought a boy from her class who wasn’t feeling well down to see the nurse.  She mothered him and proceeded to tell the nurse all about his symptoms and how he had been feeling sick the night before.  Then, as she was leaving, she asked them “wasn’t I brave to bring him down here all by myself?”  Apparently, this had happened just before I arrived and they were still talking about it. 

The photo below was taken at the local Kids Fishing Day last Spring.  It’s a fun activity up on Viking Mountain and both the kids had a really good time, as did we.   Dressed all in pink, Sadie ran from person to person, dancing excitedly whenever she got to handle the fish which even the boys her age (and some older) wouldn’t do.    She’s a tough little girl in some ways, with hardly and ounce of fear and a really off-the-wall sense of humor.  To read more stories about Sadie, go to my Facebook page, because I have lots of stories about the kids there in some of my posts earlier this year.  She reminds me a lot of Jon at that age.

Asher, the oldest, turned 7 this year.  Precocious, cautious and an analytical thinker who likes to be in charge and who doesn’t adapt to change really well, he has parts of both his parent’s personalities.  I can see some of both of his Grandfathers in him, too.  Asher is extremely bright.  In second grade, the last I saw, I think he was reading at 5^th-7th^th grade level with comparable comprehension.  I have the blessing of helping in his classroom again this year, and most frequently, I help with what they call ‘directed reading’.  It amazes me how more quickly his brain processes information and how advanced his skills are.  I usually stay and eat lunch with him after helping in his classroom, and one day earlier this year, I was at the lunch table with some of his classmates who are probably his best school friends.  Asher got up from the table in search of a spoon, and one of the boys said “Asher is the BEST kid in the whole class!” a statement with which most of the other kids at the table agreed.  I later told him he had a fan club and he looked me and said “Oh, Grandma, c’mon!”  He’s a lot of fun to be around and when he’s here I try to rattle his world a little because I think it’s good for him.  He usually goes along with me pretty well.  He’s a whiz at computer games, loves Angry Birds, and loves to read and write.  In that way, he reminds me of myself at his age, where I could most often be found sitting upside down in Dad’s red leather easy chair with my nose in a book.

Last May, Jon and Kara had a wonderful opportunity to go to Sweden for an international Dental Implant Conference which Jon had the distinction and honor of being selected for with all expenses paid.  They went and had a blast, and, while we were gone, we had the kids most of the week and had a blast of our own.  It was pure joy and I don’t know when I’ve had so much fun.  It’s nice to have them close by.

And, speaking of close by, Tim, 28, is still living here in Greeneville, and still playing in a band.  He is working at Applebee’s now, serving, and still hoping to get more involved in the restaurant business.  He’s busy with life and we don’t see him too often, but, he does stay in touch.  At the present time, he doesn’t have a girlfriend, but, that never seems to go for too long! 

Michael is still practicing, and still loves dentistry.  Lately, he has felt his heart being called more and more towards dental missions, so, we will see where the Lord has in mind for him to go.  I have been learning a bit about dental assisting, and have assisted him a little bit after hours with patients.  It’s my hope to study more of this in the coming year so that I can be prepared to go with and assist him on mission trips in the future.  He still loves to hike and be outdoors, accompanied by our dog, Polly.  Polly is a chocolate lab mix who loves to hike and swim, so, she’s a lot of fun to take along.  He is playing bass guitar now on a rotating basis on our church Praise Team and really enjoying it.

And, lastly, I manage to keep busy.  I took on a couple of new responsibilities this year:  first, I was asked to take over as Director over our church ESL program.  I have really enjoyed becoming involved in this outreach, and lead the beginning class.  Right now, we have students from 6 different countries.  It has been a learning experience for me because I have never done this before, and I continue to research and grow in my teaching skills.

Second, I am facilitating a new Bible Study which really is probably the area of most growth in my life in the last couple of months.  Around mid-October, I had a little scare with high blood pressure.  I had let my weight get rather out of control, and was paying the consequence.  I know what God had been trying to tell me for several years, but, I had been ignoring Him.  Well, there was no ignoring him now.  His message was unmistakeable:  get healthy.  If you can’t do it for yourself, do it out of obedience to ME.  Knowing I could no longer ignore Him or my health, I began my journey to health, and as of today, it has been 2 months and I’ve lost 32.5 lbs. and my blood pressure has gone way down to lower than it’s been for years.  I am also exercising at least 4 days a week.  The third new thing I have done this year enabled me to hire a Personal Trainer who comes to my house to help me with an exercise routine twice a week and that has been an incredible motivator for me.  She’s really good and keeps me working hard at a level I never thought I could do.  Exercise has never been my favorite thing to do, so, help and encouragement was necessary for me to be successful.

That third area was totally new for me and that was that I began selling Mary Kay cosmetics about 6 months ago.  I never in a million years would have pictured myself doing that, but, do it I did.  I can’t say that my business has boomed.  I’ve been busy and it’s hard for me to find the extra time.  However, I am doing it.  So, if you ever need anything Mary Kay, no matter where you are, you can order off my Mary Kay website by going to www.marykay.com/jrogers92330, or just give me a call at (423)552-3622.  I have used Mary Kay products since 1976 and have a lot of confidence in them, so, it seemed like a good fit.

I still have the blessing of teaching a Precept Ministries Sunday School class.  We are now doing Covenants and it has been a real privilege to have such a great class all of whom are so serious about studying the Bible and learning and growing in God’s truths. 

The other new study I’ve been involved in which has helped me tremendously in my health journey, and which I would recommend VERY highly to anyone who wishes to do the same is the Made to Crave study written by Lysa Terkheurst of Proverbs 31 ministries.  It is an incredible study.  She could have been inside my head!  One thing I realized when I began this journey is that I needed to figure out and understand why I overeat in order to overcome the same.  Well, I am learning exactly that and I can’t tell you what a difference it has made in my life!  I feel better and healthier than I have in years.  Our church opened this study up to our community and we meet one night a week with ladies from several different churches, all of whom are serious about getting on a journey to health.  I have truly enjoyed the study and the fellowship and so appreciate the support from our church in this effort.

Through Made to Crave, the Lord has taught me so much about Him and about me, and our relationship.  One thing that He has impressed on my heart more than anything else this year is the need for obedience.  It’s true that our salvation is a free and unearned grace-gift from God.  No doubt about that in His Word whatsoever.  At the same time, there is obedience.  Jesus tells us very clearly that He will abide in us IF we abide in Him.  In fact, John 15:1-8 makes that concept of abiding crystal clear:  if we are truly His branch; we will abide in Him.  If we don’t, we aren’t.  I love the way Kay Arthur from Precept Ministries succinctly puts it:  continuance in the faith is evidence of salvation.  Yes, it’s a gift.  But the gift is received and used through an act of obedience, and obedience should be the natural response to the gift.  Obedience, no matter what the circumstances, requires sacrifice and death to ourselves and our own desires.  The wonderful thing is knowing that God gave us those desires; those cravings.  It’s what we choose to fill them with that matters, and what He wants us to fill them with is more of Him.  That has been an important part of understanding myself, and an important part of the success of my health journey.  It isn’t easy, but, then, obedience rarely is, isn’t it?

One other ministry I am involved in which has been both eye opening and an incredible blessing is our church’s and the Gideon’s’ local jail ministries.  I go with a group and share my testimony and often play and sing.  Last week, I went with the Gideons group and shared my testimony and led the group in some Christmas carols.  It was one of the pods of men this time, and as I shared with them and encouraged them, I also challenged them that they were going to be faced with choices after they got out and what were they going to choose?  Most of them had grown up in church as kids, but, had made wrong choices as adults.  I know all about that.  I spoke to them about obedience and the richness of God’s reward for us when we were, and the consequences they were all-too-familiar with if we aren’t. It's always a matter of prayer when we go to the jail; praying that the Lord will give us the right words to speak and that His word won't return void and that a difference will be made in the lives of the men and women we reach out to.

So, dears, I think that’s about all that’s new in our lives.  Next year will be an interesting year for us. There will be new joys and challenges as we grow older and our lives change.  However, we know God will be walking with us every step of the way.  We do hope that is the strength you rely on as well.  Often times in life, we cannot move forward outside of our total dependence upon God.  I will have a lot more to share in next year’s Christmas newsletter about that!

We sincerely wish all of you and all of those who are dear to you a joyous, blessed Christmas and the best New Year ever.  If we don’t have your email address or Facebook contact, you can find us at:  mikeandjan4him@gmail.com, or on Facebook under Jan Rogers.  You can also follow me on my blog:  tnrogersfamilynews.blogspot.com.  Don’t have time to update it as much as I’d like, but, I try to from time-to-time.

As always, you are in our hearts, ever near and ever dear.

With much love,

Michael and Jan