Little warmer last night, by a few degrees – we had cloud cover which helped hold the heat in, at least a bit.  We have had some bright sunshine, but the beauty of Mt. Hood is coming through and appears close enough to get to it with a short jog.

Don’t know if you watched the Rose Bowl last night, but Oregon won in an overwhelming victory.  They did what they always do, and Florida State couldn’t contain them.

One of the things that came through loud and clear during the post-game shows was the respect Mariota (quarterback) has garnered by big name programs all over the country.  He is a person who doesn’t have to promote himself to lead the team.

He is a quiet man who has incredible skills and yet is very humble and rarely talks about himself.  One coach made a comment to those listening as he talked with Mariota “any young person inspiring to do well in college football, this is the man you want to be like.”  And he thanked Mariota for being that kind of man.

THAT was a nice touch.

Have some projects I want to try and get started, and/or finished today, so will get busy.  

Mathew 2:1-6   Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

⁵ And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

⁶ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

The Prophet:  Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

There are other foretelling’s by other Prophets, of course as well as other Writers.  The Jewish leaders had no difficulty in telling Herod where Christ was to be born, because they knew from the prophets He would be born in Bethlehem.  It was common knowledge among the Jewish People.

The question then comes up, why did they not go to Jesus as the Magi were doing?  The Magi were gentiles – who before Jesus were not considered by the Jewish People to have any significance with God.  Yet, the Magi went, found and worshiped Jesus – the Jewish leaders did not; and of course ended up crucifying Him.

Jesus was rejected because He did not fit the persona that the leaders expected.  Even though He fulfilled the Scriptures the leadership could not see Him, because they were looking for someone they wanted – not considering God’s Word and what HE wanted.

The leaders were blinded by their own beliefs; beliefs that were not founded on God’s Word – not all of course because we know the both “Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor,” and Nicodemus, both leaders, who ministered to the body of Christ after the Crucifixion.  But, in doing so they would have become in danger of persecution from the other leaders themselves, but they did it anyway.

The question now becomes, what are WE doing with Jesus?  Is He the nice guy that spoke words of wisdom, but while we should know what He says, we don’t need to obey what He said? 

Or, is He this nice guy that came to save all mankind regardless of their recognition of them – imparting the feeling that He would never send anyone to Hell?

Or, is He the Son of God, Who has authority equal with God and Who deserves our praise and thanksgiving as well as our obedience to His teachings?  

What do we expect of Him?  Where do we place Him on our list of important people?  Is He historical only, or is He the person God talked about when He created the Universe and Heaven and made man in “our” image? 

When we talk of Jesus do we portray a wimpy person, one who never gets angry who is so full of love that He would never be critical of others – or do we tell the truth about how He chastised those that did not follow God’s Word, or did not listen to Him as He was teaching them?

Do we lift Christ up, or do we lift our belief of what WE expect Him to be?  That was one of the greater sins of the people that crucified Him; they refused to honor Jesus and follow His teachings, even though His life was foretold in the scriptures.  Jesus, who portrayed Himself as equal to God, was not acceptable to their thoughts of who the Christ should be, what they themselves decided, what He should be despite the Scriptures that told them what to expect.

As I read these verses, the importance of the Old Testament in following Christ is reinforced.  Who Christ is was foretold in those Scriptures.

I am reminded that we must look at the Scriptures as a whole and in context; picking and choosing what we want to believe, discredits God and Christ as well as blinding us to His Truths.

My prayer today is that I do not want to be blinded, as the Jewish leaders were.  I want to accept Christ for Who He IS, not for what I want Him to be. 

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again