Day of Praise

Th, 01/02/14, 9th Day of Christmas, "Day of Praise"

Luke 1:41-42 - "And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!'"

Sing with me! On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

A sense of humor.

Some dear friends gave me a new sweater for Christmas. I opened it up for our church's New Year's Eve prayer gathering. It felt really comfortable, so I put it back on yesterday morning. Looking in the mirror, I started laughing at my silly-looking self because I had this big long "M", "M", "M" sticker running straight down the left side of my chest to my waist.

Now I know why everyone was smiling so big as I spoke at the beginning of the New Year's Eve prayer time. I looked like a nut! Mmmm, and I thought they were liking what they heard. :-)

Well, maybe they were. Maybe they were liking what they heard because maybe they were focused on God's Word instead of the silly, imperfect person in front of them so that they saw the silly, imperfect person through the lens of God's Word. Ya see, the lens of God's Word is the key for all of us looking at people differently on the Ninth Day of Christmas and bearing the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

In today's Bible verse, Elizabeth celebrated the fruit in Mary's womb, which was the soon to be born baby Jesus, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a reminder that God is eager for the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in us so that we can see each other with the same love, smile, and, (dare I say it?) humor as God views us.

So have a great day. And check your heart for Holy Spirit fruit (and your shirt for stickers).

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson