Day 1 - Verse 95 - "This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12

Technically, this is Day 2 for this verse of announcement of our Savior's birth.  But since the first day that we discussed it was in June 2014, I think we might just want to start over...agreed?

So I'm not going to go back and resurrect that day's discussion.  Not even sure what was said.  Let's just start fresh and see what Scripture says to us today

If you'll remember, we are using Robert Morgan's book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.  Morgan divides his book into sections of Scripture so that we memorize verses that pertain to one another.  The last section of the book, the section that we are in, is "Alpha and Omega: The First and Second Comings of Christ."

The preceding verses in this section have been:

Isaiah 9:6   For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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.
Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Bringing us to today's announcement, "This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger."  Luke 2:12

The angels told the shepherds of a sign...their sign was that the baby they were seeking would be wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger. The baby that they had already been told was a cause for great joy.  The baby that they had already been told was a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.

And how were they to be sure that the baby they found was the right baby?  Well, this heavenly sent baby, this Savior, this Messiah, this Lord would be found wrapped and in a manger....a manger!?!

Do you think the shepherds might have looked at each other after the angels departed and said, "Did you hear what I heard?  Did they really say the baby would be in a manger?  Maybe he said mansion...yeah, I bet that was it...our Savior, our King, must be in a mansion!"

No, the shepherds knew what they had heard...and they went to find the baby just as the angels had said, lying in a manger.  Does this tell us anything about the way that God views our value system? He found a meager manger to allow His Son to be born in...did that lowly manger take anything away from the royalty of our Lord Jesus?  Not one little bit.  Would Jesus have been any more of a valuable gift to the world had He been born into a plush, lovely nursery surrounded by handmaids caring for Him?  Not at all.

And yet, we continue to think that the more expensive our earthly "trappings", the more valuable our home, the more lovely our surroundings...these have to indicate the person's value as well.  That certainly wasn't the case for Jesus...it certainly doesn't seem to be the picture that God wanted us to see of how He views things.

It seems the very first lesson we are taught by God through the incarnation of His Son is that our earthly circumstances are pretty much meaningless in God's view.  If it wasn't necessary for His Son to live in earthly grandeur while He was in our midst, then it just must not matter that much!

A manger...yes, a manger.  Good enough for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  All that we see will pass away...whether a manger or a mansion.  Most of us find ourselves somewhere in between. Wherever we are, it is enough.  It is where we are living out this small bit of eternity...our earth story.

Here was the beginning of Christ's earth story.  You will find Him in a manger.

The mansion comes later.

Are you with me in this....again?

When I realized this week that it was five years ago that I established this blog with the intent of utilizing it as a tool for Scripture memorization, I was saddened that, after numerous attempts to refocus, I had stopped the blog completely about a year and a half ago...short of completion of the 100 memory verses that was the goal.  (And, if you were "traveling" with me on that previous journey, also just short of the completion of the analogy we were using of hiking the Applachian Trail!)  We were close, very close!  We were on Verse 95 out of the 100....and we had already reached Maine, the last state of the hike.  WHO abandons a journey when you're that close to the finish line????

So, we're going to finish this journey...and then, hopefully, start another one!  In the five years since I started before, so much has happened.  So much in our family, I'm sure so much in yours, and so much in our world.  For us, personally, we have had much sadness in the past five years.  It has been a time of being forced to remember that although we have every assurance from God that He loves us greatly, and that we have wonderful eternal promises, that life this side of heaven is filled with heartbreak.  These five years have brought to our family the loss of a son, a brother-in-law and two brothers, along with numerous friends.  One of the offsets of the blessing of living longer is that you have to suffer through the deaths of those around you, some expected, some very unexpected.  How do we continue to go through life with any degree of joy when we are forced to face such sadness, over and over again?

We can answer that question with all kinds of Christian platitudes.  "Only with faith"..."Only with a good church family"..."Only by knowing that we'll be reunited with our family again."...but I see people with no faith, no church, and noeternal  belief system rebound from tragedy, sometimes seemingly just as well as those who have deeply held convictions of God and His promises.  How does that happen?

I guess that's what you might say I've been doing the past 1.5 years...rebounding. Not all of the time in the way that I would have thought I would as a "faithful Christian." I look back and know that I have "rebounded" not through my faith, not through my church, not through my vision of heavenly family waiting for me...I have" rebounded" only because of God's faithfulness to me.  If it had depended on my faith, I would have been in trouble...because at times my faith was no more than the proverbial mustard seed.  But that mustard seed is still all it takes to allow God to move mountains, and He has moved some out of the way on my behalf.

Psalm 118:13-17
I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.  Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”  I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

So, yes, the unbeliever may rebound in an apparently comparable fashion.  They may be going on with life in a semi-positive manner, and telling others that you just have to put some things behind you and go on.  

But I dare to say that the comparison ends when you ask both of us if we have anything to PROCLAIM about our experiences that actually brings us a sense of joy as we proclaim it.

I get to PROCLAIM that I wasn't the rebounder...that my God lifted me up, pulled me out of the pit, and placed my feet on solid ground.  I get to look back and KNOW that God was with me every day, that His right hand was holding on to me and doing mighty things.  I get to PROCLAIM that God is faithful and true.  I get to PROCLAIM with joy in my heart that my Lord has done mighty things!

So I began 2016 with this word in my heart...PROCLAIM!  And now, here it is February 26, 2016, and I'm getting ready to start proclaiming.  Proclaiming His love and His great faithfulness to me. Proclaiming that His promises ARE trustworthy and His provision IS assured.  Proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ - His perfect life, His atoning death, His powerful resurrection, His triumphant ascension, and His assured return!  

I'm asking you to join with me to confidently PROCLAIM our God and His power in our lives.  We will do this by first completing our 100 verses...and then continuing on together.  I want to encourage you to PROCLAIM your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior at every opportunity.  As I said in the beginning, the past five years have brought much change, and our world has changed too.  We find our world crying out for us to bring the Gospel to all of those dying to hear God's words of love and salvation.  As believers, it is our calling and our Christian duty not to neglect this overwhelming need to hear the proclamation!

There is still grief to bear...there is still sadness.  There will be other things come in life that will be hard, but I believe God has taught me through this time not to expect this life to be without disappointment, heartache and....death.  But these things will not catch me as off guard and the enemy will not disarm me again in the way he has done before.  I know I have a God who defends me, who upholds me and who does mighty, mighty things!  He is my God, and I will PROCLAIM His mighty name!