Happy New Year!

"Question of the Week" will return next Friday, with a look at this query:

"Is it true that Christians 'can't' sin?"

May your 2011 have a solid foundation upon Jesus Christ, the Rock.

Image source: billycoffey.blogspot.com

Choosing What to See

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You're invited to visit his site and see what others are saying about today's theme: Reflection.

"The way we choose to see the world
creates the world we see."
~ Barry Kaufman

photo courtesy of Kelly Sauer

When looking at clear water or glass, do you see the surface image or into the depth?

We are created to appreciate beauty. When we look no further than superficial beauty—if distortion or ugliness prevents us from looking deeper—we miss true beauty. We know this simple truth, yet how often are we too busy or distracted to look beyond what we see first?

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But one who fears the LORD shall be praised.
~ Proverbs 31:30 (author)


When facing a mirror, do you focus on yourself, what is behind, or what is ahead?

There is a time to examine the image we present and alter it as needed. There is a time to glance backwards and make ourselves aware of what affects us. But gazing long at the past or at Self provides a limited view that can only hinder us from moving forward with others.

Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV)


When giving a matter serious thought, what single factor most shapes your perspective?

In the movie "City Slickers," Jack Palance's character, Curly, says the secret of life is just one thing—and each person must find that one thing. What is your one thing, that first comes to mind when you are happy, sad, worried? What one thing you look at is shaping who you are?

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Lord, as we look back on the year behind, as we look to the year ahead, please allow us to see ourselves, our circumstances, and Your Son as You do. In every reflection, may we see You.

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail me ~ buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

My God

"Did time stand still?
Did everything that hath breath hold it?"
~ Sandra Heska King

More than two millennia ago, as birth pangs came upon a young virgin, did any of her forefather David's words of suffering come into her mind?

I am poured out like water ...
My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.
My strength is dried up ...
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
~ Psalms 22:14-15

Could she know that the same psalm prophesied the experience of her Son?

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? ....
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet ...
They look and stare at Me.
~ Psalms 22:1,16-18

Thirty-three years later, when Mary watched Her Son's agony as His Father turned away, did she know that His thoughts included His mother's comforts and His trust in God?

But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts.
I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother's womb You have been My God.
~ Psalms 22:9-10

We unite with one another to celebrate the Word of God becoming flesh, and we call to mind that God subjected Himself to the whole of human experience as one of us.

My God, my God, thank You for the gift of Jesus, Your Word in warm, loving flesh. Thank You for rescue from the dust of death. Thank You for never forsaking me.

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail me ~ buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: What is The Christ?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put “glory,” “joy,” “Messiah / Christ,” etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word “peace” for "etc.," and spread the answer out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

: : :

"Annunciation" by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Image source: canvasreplicas.com

The Greek word "christ" and Hebrew word "messiah" both mean "anointed one."

The biblical word "anoint" refers to the pouring oil on a person. Olive oil was used as fuel for light. It was also poured on people as a cosmetic, to give skin and face the shine of health. Various herbs and spices in oil were used for food enhancement, for perfume, and for healing.

Anointing with oil was also a ritual, signifying that a person was set apart to serve God as His king, priest, or prophet, and often empowered by the Lord’s Holy Spirit. Persons were occasionally called "anointed" without ritual pouring of oil, when God appointed them for a special purpose.

Thus "anointed" also indicates the Holy Spirit and His power being poured out upon a person.

Long before the birth of Jesus, God promised He would send His Christ—THE Anointed One, God Himself in human flesh—to fill the three roles of King, Priest, Prophet. The great significance of Jesus’ mother Mary being a virgin is that Jesus' biological Father is God. The Holy Spirit did not simply empower Jesus as a Man, but impregnated His mother with a Person already divine:

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin ... "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS... The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God..." Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."
~ Luke 1:26,31,35,38 (NKJV; also see Matthew 1:18-23)

By consenting for the Holy Spirit to come upon her, Mary accepted God's Word and thereby received His seed—"seed" meaning both offspring and God's Word. Jesus grew within her until the day she birthed Him and He became manifest to others.

This wonder celebrated at Christmas—Almighty God dwelling upon the earth by His Spirit having union with a human to reproduce the life of His Son—is an everyday miracle. Because the Lord's Anointed One came as conquering King to defeat death, came as Priest to offer Himself as sacrifice for sin, and came as Prophet with God's Word for us (His seed), we receive the same invitation that Mary did.

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
~ Acts 2:38 (NKJV)

We can accept God's Word and humbly offer ourselves as servants to God, yield to the power of Most High God entering our human flesh, and then reproduce the life of Jesus so that God might be manifest to the world.

Christians are not merely Christ-followers. We are Christ-bearers and anointed ones, set apart to God and empowered by His poured out Holy Spirit, so that we might burn as the light of Christ, shine with spiritual health, heal and be healed, and be the perfume of Christ.

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.
~ 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NKJV)

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Darkness and Light

"Dark Lunar Eclipse" (at full moon)
Photo credit: Martin Pugh; Image source: apod.nasa.gov

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
~ 1 John 1:5-6 (NKJV)

Today's winter solstice brings to the northern hemisphere more hours of darkness than any other day of the year. An overnight lunar eclipse further dimmed the moonlight, and clouds obscured even starlight, plunging the sky into full darkness.

Jesus observed that some people love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, but that lovers of truth are drawn to light—they are drawn to the Light of Jesus. (John 3:19-21)

The apostle John says much of Jesus—God Himself—as Light, and also as Life and as Love. John does not write in shadows, but draws sharp lines of separation between these definitions of Jesus, and the darkness, death, and hatred which define the devil. To choose the latter categorically excludes fellowship with the former.

Fellowship might be defined as time spent hearing and sharing what is in our hearts with one another. Fellowship with God means spending time in His presence, hearing and sharing with each other—through talking with Him and reading His Word, and through fellowship and love with His people.

Lunar Eclipse, as seen over Michigan
December 21, 2010, 1:50 am EST
(full eclipse obscured by clouds)

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
~ 1 John 2:9-10 (NKJV)

Darkness, death, and the devil take many forms and threaten in many ways. But they must shrink back when we have fellowship with God.

Darkness cannot prevail in the presence of Light.
Death cannot prevail in the presence of Life.
The devil cannot prevail in the presence of Love.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)

Father in Heaven, thank You for the great gift of your Son, in Whom You have given us Light, Life and Love. Whatever darkness surrounds us, please draw our attention to Your prevailing Light.

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail me ~ buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: What is Peace?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put “glory,” “joy,” “Messiah / Christ,” etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word “peace” for "etc.," and spread the answer out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

: : :



Here is one Hebrew word easily translated: shâlôm.

Peace.

This Hebrew masculine noun is rooted in a verb that means to be safe and well; to make complete or to be completed.

True peace is holistic; that is, it takes in the whole person. Anyone who otherwise lives in health and ease, yet experiences gnawing hunger pangs in body, mind, heart, or soul, is not at peace.

If we look to the Bible for how to find peace, we discover that not only does peace affect the whole person, it is obtained in a Person:

You will keep in perfect peace,
The one fixed upon You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in YHWH forever,
For YAH—YHWH—is the Rock of Ages [everlasting strength].
~ Isaiah 26:3-4 (author)

We see here why peace eludes us. We think we can find peace in prosperity, in vigor of health, in relationship with another human. These things can bring a measure of peace, especially when we recognize them as gifts from God.

But they are all temporal. Prosperity is maintained by no small effort. Health and vigor are under constant attack from lifestyle, environment, and age. Every human relationship will eventually fail us, since every other human is as flawed as ourselves.

YHWH (also Yahweh, Jehovah, the LORD) is the Rock of Ages—eternal, everlasting strength. He does not change. His love never fails.

The more we are fixed on temporal things, the more ways we experience disappointment in their failing us. The more we are fixed upon YHWH, and establish Him as the solid foundation of our lives, the more peace we find amid the failures of all that is temporal.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
~ Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

A closing thought about peace is this: just as lack of peace in one part of the body affects the whole person, lack of peace in one part of Christ’s body of believers affects the whole. Indeed, lack of peace in one part of humanity affects the whole.

2010 draws to a close on a world without peace. While each of us might work toward peace in our corner of the globe, we remember—in this expectant season of Christmas—that peace cannot be complete until The Prince of Peace again walks the earth, as He promised He would.

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: flickr.com

Hearing the Lord Sing

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You're invited to visit his site and see what others are saying about today's theme: Rejoice.



"The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."
~ Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)

Can a newborn know the fierce love of the parent who rejoices over it?

The child will learn love and share love, multiplying the rejoicing. And on the day when one rejoices over one's own child, that love is perhaps finally understood.

Such is the love and rejoicing of our God over us. We can't quite comprehend the extent of His love, nor can we love Him as much. We don't always see ourselves or our circumstances as something to rejoice over. Yet whether or not we choose to join Him in the rejoicing—if we're even able—He does indeed rejoice over us.

We shall one day hear clearly His songs of rejoicing over us. For now, we simply offer to Him our songs of praise, worship, woe, brokenness—and rejoicing.

In the stillness, we may perchance hear the faint echo of His song even now.

"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."
~ John 16:22 (NKJV)

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: best-norman-rockwell-art.com

Question of the Week: What is Joy / Rejoicing?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put “glory,” “joy,” “Messiah / Christ,” etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word “peace” for "etc.," and spread the answer out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

: : :

Image source: denverbroncos.com

The Finnish language has three dozen different words for snow. Some of us understand the difference between Colorado champagne powder, Michigan sleet, and springtime mashed potato snow—any of which may be a foreign concept to the Floridian.

The Bible has over two dozen Hebrew words and about a dozen Greek words used in 69 different ways to express joy and rejoicing, with an astounding variety of concepts. Three basic points that the Bible makes about joy and rejoicing are these:
• rejoicing actively shares unrestrained joy
• joy is commonly connected to labor or sorrow
• lasting joy springs from the Lord’s goodness

Some Hebrew & Greek words used to describe rejoicing include ideas of exult, cheer, make merry, gush, burst out, laugh, congratulate, celebrate, gleam, be bright, skip, jump, leap, dance, twirl, spin, spring, stomp, shout, boast, sing, scream, clamor, toss the head, enjoin, hurry eagerly.

Perhaps the clearest example of biblical-style rejoicing in our culture is watching sports fans, particularly at season’s finale. Otherwise staid and placid humans go into fanatical frenzy and embrace strangers when their team overcomes all others. I well remember being in the Denver crowd which threw a parade for the Broncos in 1978. After a thirteen losing seasons, we didn’t seem to mind that our team returned from Super Bowl XII as the NFL’s Number Two.

The Bible often describes the most intense joy following the most intense sorrow. Among Jesus’ last words before His cruel death were these:

"Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."
~ John 16:20-22 (NKJV)

I have never known a time when so many Christians are struggling through so many intense difficulties. Amid affliction, how do we produce the spiritual fruit of joy (Greek chara—delight, cheerfulness)?

We keep our hearts mindful of the blessings we do have by continually expressing thanks to God. We express love, because we know God's love. We remind ourselves often that of all the good things we might ask from God, He already offers us His greatest gift: His Son Jesus.

Now when [the shepherds] had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child... Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
~ Luke 2:17,20 (NKJV)

If you're able, picture the shepherds high-fiving and hugging one another, then jamming cell phone lines and putting Twitter & Facebook "over capacity" in the excitement to share their joy.

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Security

September 11, 2001, 9:03:04 a.m.
Flight 175 Strikes the South Tower

Photo credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Image source: life.com

Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
~ Psalms 127:1 (NKJV)

Walls of defense which humans erect, whether visible or invisible, are no more than illusion. Security is found in only the Lord.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Inevitable Triumph

Today's post is dedicated to the memory of all who lost their lives and risked their lives in defense of freedom during World War II.

USS Arizona
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
From the National Archives

"With confidence in our armed forces—
with the unbounding determination of our people—
we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

This last weekend, our worship ministries orchestra, choir, and drama team presented an adaption of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" for two nights. The presentation featured an apartment set on one half of the stage and an 1941 radio studio on the other half. Our musical had its moments of comedy, top-quality soloists, and big band era music.

The climatic scene was when news is received of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and a father hears over the radio that his son's battleship—the USS Arizona—has just been completely destroyed. We did our best to honor history, our veterans, and our Lord. We all prayed that a message of hope amid tragedy, available through life in Christ, is what people would take home with them.

Though our worship ministry team practiced faithfully, we were aware that our performance did not achieve perfection. But it's unlikely that the audience noticed the numerous minor flaws. I believe we presented excellence, and that is what will be remembered. Though we wish to do well for the sake of the team, the greater goal is that our offering is pleasing to the Lord, however imperfect.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
~ Psalms 19:14 (NKJV)

Evil thoughts pass through the heart. David did not pray for the Lord's acceptance of his thoughts, but of his meditation and spoken words.

This prayer is not as difficult as it looks. Whatever wrong thoughts may come to us, we must determine not to make them our heart's meditation, nor allow them to escape as spoken words.

God knows we're not perfect. He doesn't ask us to be. He asks us to strive for excellence. He asks us to give Him our best offering, flaws and all, keeping in mind how He loves and accepts His children. He has promised to not remember our sins, and He has promised to remember us. For He has (Isaiah 49:15-16) inscribed us on the palms of His nail-scarred hands.

In Jesus, we have inevitable triumph.

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

No Longer a Slave

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
~ Galatians 4:7 (NKJV)

If one views captivity as natural, freedom from slavery will not be desired, nor will liberty be valued even when offered as a free gift.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: What is Glory?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put "glory," "joy," "Messiah / Christ," etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word "peace" for "etc.," and spread the answers out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

: : :

Photo courtesy of Sandra Heska King

Glory

The Bible uses no fewer than nine Hebrew and four Greek words which are translated "glory" in English. Both noun and verb forms of those words include familiar concepts such as splendor, majesty, grandeur, and especially dazzling light. But they also take in much more than the inherent beauty we commonly associate with glory.

The Bible's words for glory include praise, or boasting, as in the phrase "give glory." Some of the original language words' literal meanings include "ample" or "swell up"—because glory is always something huge. When we give glory, we are boasting in a showy way; we are magnifying God, or making Him bigger in the eyes of others.

Yet glory is even more than size. We think of it as abstract, but it has substance. The most common word for glory (Hebrew kâbôd) literally means "weight." However else we think of dazzling light and glory, we do not think of it as heavy. On the contrary, we attribute heaviness to the burden of suffering and affliction.

But the two usually go together. The greater the weight of affliction borne with faith, the greater the glory we give to God—and the greater the glory we lay up for ourselves. This is the concept described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Jesus exemplified this principle on behalf of us all. Yet He sought glory for only His Father, rather than for Himself, trusting that the Father would one day share that glory with His Son. It is this weight of glory—bound up in the weight of suffering—which we shall one day share with God.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
~ Hebrews 2:9-10 (NKJV)

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was occasionally visible in His shekinah glory, or His visible glory. At Jesus birth, the glory of the Lord again became visible: God became man to manifest the dazzling light of His love; His shekinah glory shone around the angels who heralded His presence; and their message carried the weight of the cross and all its suffering, bound up in the name "Savior."

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11 (NKJV)

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.