DAY 9 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

We're progressed to the part of the Gospels that tells about Jesus first few events in his official ministry as God prepared him to be the Savior.

Titled Satan Stalked Him: He faced all kinds of the same temptations we do."- Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

First thought about this passage- the translation of Jesus 40 days in the wilderness in Luke talks about Jesus being tempted, not merely the devil trying to tempt Jesus. The phrasing of this passage reminds me that the temptation wasn’t just something that the devil threw out there at Jesus that left him un-phased or uninterested. In the past, I had just supposed that Jesus turned a blind eye and wasn’t the least bit impressed with what the devil was trying to tempt him with in the desert.

Luke’s translation of the event indicates that Jesus was tempted and felt the pains of doubt and uncertainty as he faced these choices offered to him by the devil. By similar analogy, I’m not even tempted if somebody offers me a piece of pie- because, well I don’t care for pie. Now if somebody is offering me chocolate cake or some cookies, I’m usually tempted beyond my willpower to indulge in dessert. It makes me feel better that Jesus was in the desert and experienced the desires for temptations like we humans experience the desires for all our temptations. However, we have a Savior that was perfect and never gave into his temptations.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We are having an amazing time in Alabama- taking millions of photos, enjoying the great outdoors and spending time with some wonderful friends.

LOS ANGELES IN A DAY

Last Friday, the 16th, I had a whirlwind trip to LA. I left my house around 5:30 AM, landed in LA around 10 PST, hopped back on my plane around 5PST and arrived home around 11 PM Central time.

It wasn't until we hit California that the clouds broke and I could see the desert mountains.

I'm so jealous of all these little people down there that wake up with a mountain in their backyard every day. It's much better than crappy construction in your backyard.

Something about the way this mountain had been molded and perfected by mother nature over the centuries intrigued me. I thought the colors and textures and patterns were so fascinating with the early morning sunshine casting a nice warm glow on them.

Nearing LA, we flew over what seemed like millions of acres of industrial areas. I wonder what is stored in all of those warehouses.

Approaching the airport, a thick THICK layer of fog covered the ground and entire city. It was neat to see the mountains sticking up out of the clouds in the distance or the skyscrapers of downtown peaking through the fog. My boss woke up from his nap, so I decided to put my camera away ;)

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Having a fabulous time in Alabama!

DAY 8 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

Today's message is about Jesus baptism by John the Baptist, and deals with what has become a rather controversial thing- baptism.

Titled Baptize You?: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.' " - Matthew 3:16-17

WOW! What an amazing passage and it's one that I've heard preached on a few times. I'll share my "learning" and opinions on this passage. First, Jesus didn't NEED to be baptized and we, as followers, don't NEED to be baptized. It is an act of obedience to God's command and is done as a response to salvation, not a pre-requisite. Re-read that line- it causes many people to stumble. Baptism is NOT a requirement for salvation, but it is an outward testament of the believer of their internal salvation.

From that logic follows the premise that being baptized is conscious act of obedience by a believer, not something that is thrust upon newborns. I was baptized as a baby and really struggled with being baptized again. However, once I studied the issue. I read about how people in the Bible were baptized, how Jesus was baptized as an adult, the purpose and reasoning behind baptism today.

I realize this is a controversial topic and it took me many months to come to terms with it and let go of my past. If anybody is struggling with it, I encourage you to study what the Bible says about baptism and look to our perfect example Jesus as a model for how God desires his children to live.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Winter has finally arrived!

THANKSGIVING THANKS

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm dedicating today's posts to all the things I'm thankful for in my life. First, above all else, is that God sent his Son to die on the cross for my sins & I am forgiven. Nothing else in life mattes at all- NOTHING. I could lose all the blessings I will talk about below, but I will NEVER lose salvation and hopefully never lose my faith. I also look at all the blessings below as God's favor on my life & how much He has given me. This past week I have been so blessed with some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, which remind me daily of God's greatness and love for his children. The fantastic picture above with the moon in the sunset is from my backyard, which I'd thought no longer provided me spectacular sunsets.

My wonderful, awesome, sexy, funny, smart, loving husband who has been by my side for 9 AMAZING months of marriage- the best my life has ever been. He loves me and my camera and let's me take goofy pictures of him and let's me tickle him silly and we have pillow fights and we both chase Zoe around the house. He's my whole world & the source of my happiness and joy every day. I can't imagine loving him more, but each day that passes finds us more in love, more in lust and more lost in each other (does that make you sick yet??)

All my friends and family are such a blessing that I am so thankful for all of their support and love and encouragement, especially over the past year. H and I were so incredibly blessed to have most of them join us at our wedding in Puerto Vallarta this past February. It's been a difficult year for my immediate family with several deaths, but I think all the trials of life are teaching us to be closer and strengthening our bonds.

And of course I can't forget Zoe! I'm so thankful I have such a wonderful, awesome, fun, funny, entertaining, loving dog. She always brings a smile to my face or can snuggle away the blues. We actually played on the ground last night- throwing her toy and then simply just playing games. I was literally rolling around on the ground, shrieking with laughter, as she kept "nosing" me and trying to lick my face, all the while rolling around and wagging her stumpy tail a million miles an hour.

No reading of my blessings would be complete without mentioning how thankful I am that I have such a wonderful job, that I love what I do, that I have a generous boss, that I get to travel to so many awesome places and that (despite a few rough days) I'm overall so happy with my job.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We are headed to Alabama for a long, relaxing weekend in the country with some great friends.

DAY 7 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

Today's verse is from the very beginning of Mark and some of the first information that the writer of the Gospel tells us about Jesus.

Titled Bye, Nazareth: "Jesus went into Galilee,proclaiming the good news of God."- Mark 1:14

Mark wastes no time with birth stories or genealogy, but gets straight to Jesus work on Earth. The "proclaiming the Good news of God" is a profound statement and summary of Jesus' work on Earth. He didn't come to heal or feed or teach parables or be a good spiritual leader. He came proclaiming the new covenant, the new peace agreement, that God was making with his people. That he, in fact, WAS the perfect sacrifice for man's sins.

This passage is also a reminder to Christians that Jesus left his home, left his safe haven, left his comfort zone, to do the work which he was called by God to do. We as Christians must not keep our faith in the 4 walls of our comfortable church. We must go out into our modern Galilee and fulfill the Great Commission.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It's amazing how every single action of Jesus provides an example of how Christians should live today.

ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTION

On my way home from the Custom Home Tour of Houston (I promise a blog about it is coming as soon as I get more info from my dad....), I had the unfortunate experience of having to incur the Beltway-8 and I-10 interchange. I hit the Katy Freeway to close to the Beltway to get on the freeway and catch the old fly-over, so I was stuck sitting at the light on the frontage road. I stared in amazement of the absolutely GIGANTIC scale of these roads, that were replacing other ramps just a decade old.

This particular interchange has been under construction as long as I can remember. As an engineer, I'm totally impressed with the sheer genius of all the roads and how they are suspended so high in the sky.

I often feel like the Katy Freeway is a road to nowhere, but hopefully this fly-over will go some where, some day.

In another fruitless attempt to enjoy my now-blocked-view of the sunset, I did capture this striking image of the colorful sky behind the monstrous crane in my backyard.

I also found this rebar, with it's patterns and shadows to be rather interesting too.

Well, it's not that great or beautiful, but I'm trying to see something of value in all this so-called construction that results in so much destruction.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hopefully today will be a short, easy work day.

DAY 6 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

I'm on the road yesterday and today, and I really wish I had a Bible with me to look up the rest of the context of this passage. But for today's meditation, we have just a few words about Jesus' life before he began his ministry.

Titled Chicken, Hammer & Jesus: "He's just a carpenter." - Mark 6:3 (MSG)

Mark chapter 6 goes onto say that those surrounding Jesus were offended by him being just an ordinary carpenter, son of Joseph and Mary. This story falls just before Jesus calls his disciples and gives us a glimpse of what people thought about Jesus, and their underlying frustration that he was so ordinary- so like them.

He's just the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

This particular passage and study in the book calls me to see Jesus in the regular, down-trodden, stressed out, sick, angry, tired, poor, weary people around me. He didn't come in a space-craft with a red carpet roll out upon his arrival, followed by the paparazzi. Instead, He came to earth to experience the dirty, grimy, dusty, difficult, weary life that the rest of us know. He experienced all of our joys and sorrows. He knows what it's like to be alone among enemies and abandoned (and even betrayed) by friends. He knows hungers (in the desert) and pain (on the cross).

I think the Bible goes to great lengths to tell us of the ordinary human trails that Jesus went through because He wants to connect with us. He wants us to know that wherever we are, in the deepest depths of trouble and despair, He's been there too. My pastor this week also spoke about who are "neighbors" are and who we are to show kindness. I think it complements this story that Jesus represents everybody, and whoever you show kindness to you have also showed kindness to Jesus.

Matthew 25:40- 'Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did for me.'

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: