Fingerprints' Xmas Special

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.
At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ² “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him.”
Mt 2:1-2

I find it amazing that these men who were so wise, and in this translation (GW) astrologers, came not because of this special astrological phenomenon, but because they recognized it as the sign that the King of Jews was born. 

They obviously knew Jewish history very well. They also knew the sky very well. I don't know how far East they came from, but apparently they didn't repeat the mistake with the tower of Babel either, in their quest for knowledge.
But they came - not because there was a NASA convention in Judea, but because they recognized the sign, to come over and bow to the King of Jews.
And this also strikes me as intriguing; that they wanted to worship a king that was not their own, and barely a baby at that.

There are so many questions I don't have answers to, I can only guess and still not know. Like, did Jesus ever have an Egyptian passport? And why does the sky appear blue when in fact it has no color?
But this is what I do know.
The three wise men that came from the far Eastern country to worship a newborn, recognized a sign. 

We should all wish to have the eyes of faith, to recognize the signs that God is giving us, for surely He speaks to us the whole time. It was a star they saw on their sky. And they set off on a long journey to bring gifts. Fascinating. 
I believe that what made these astrologers wise, was that they also had a relationship with God. I believe that through our individual relationships with the Almighty, we can all come to this stillness and faith to understand Him. And then stand up and go as far as it's necessary to worship the King of Kings. 
This weekend, our church celebrated the Birth of Christ, and a part of the program were performances. It was moving to see people step out and show their talents, given by God, to contribute to nothing but a celebration for no other purpose but Jesus' birth. People served with preparing food, decorating the room, setting the equipment, and of course individual performances. Just because once a year, we celebrate Jesus' birthday. We also sang to Him a few German Christmas evergreens. Apparently He's not a fan of "Happy Birthday".
There was children running around, there were candles, warm and loving atmosphere, people exchanging cards and gifts. We celebrated Jesus' birthday. 
A year and a half ago, I followed my star to Germany. It was a long journey, but this celebration reminded me that I have come to worship the King. So I did. It made my Christmas.

But that's easy because we've read the book and we know that this birth took place 2000 years ago. At times, we don't need to do a service to people, or read the Bible. Sometimes we need to have the eyes of faith to recognize God's handwriting, and follow the star, with gifts ready for when we reach the spot. 

May The Almighty grant you this stillness and faith to understand His signs, and much joy when we reach every destination God calls us to. 

Merry Christmas.

Silvija P., Düsseldorf

El Roi: The GOD Who Sees... Me, You

Sigh. Sometimes this life can get a little much, non?

But then I hear GOD saying 'take heart'... I see you. Yes you. There in your random city, in your office, at your desk, in your room, on your bike, in your car, in the bathroom, at the Well (Gen 16:6-7)…wherever it is you go to breakdown and weep and wonder why?

GOD sees you.

“The LORD looks down from heaven; HE sees all [you, me]. From where HE sits enthroned HE watches all [of us]...” Ps. 33:13, NIV

The reality, truth that GOD sees me is something I have to come to know and cherish on a deeper level this year and I pray it grows even deeper. This reality can and will help when we need that energy, support, super-natural power that only HE gives to tend to our seeds and our plants as we live this life. See Sil’s previous entry here for more.

We are all here for a purpose. To love and worship GOD. We also have a mission. To be obedient to HIS will and also love others as HE has loved us. That manifests in many, many ways. One of those ways is to seek and save those who do not know or understand our GOD. I confess this is not always the easiest for me--even though people describe me as a people-person. Sometimes, I do think that not all people need GOD, and sometimes I believe satan’s lies that their lives are better than mine and that I have nothing to offer. And you know most of the time, some of these people’s lives are better than mine. But what is NOT true is that I have nothing to offer in terms of who GOD is and why HIS love matters.

Like Sil challenged last week, I need to not only remember where I planted this seed of faith for my non-believing friends and family, I also need to do the work of tending to it. I need to believe that with GOD all things are possible (Mark 11:24) and that “all have sinned” and all do need GOD (Romans 3:23), even those perfect people. And I need to believe and remember that HE sees me.

I guess another challenges for me is that I feel and see that no matter what I do everything still seems to go wrong. How can I be an effective Christian with so many catastrophes?! Oh, you feel me? Can you relate?

Our GOD does see me, you, us and HE loves us and HE will always keep his hand on us (Ps. 139:1-5). And to those discouraging questions of why me? He will provide answers and blessings (Gen. 16:13). These answers may not always be fun or easy to accept and the blessings may not even look like blessings, but they are. Just look at  Hannah’s life (1 Sam. 1-2), Joseph’s life (Gen.37-48 ) or Daniel’s (Dan. 6), or the whole story of David before he became King.

You and I have great examples in the lives and actions of our spiritual ancestors, these people mentioned above. I am especially inspired by Hagar. Who found the strength to be obedient even as she was pregnant. From what I’ve heard pregnant women are not the most reasonable of people--all those raging hormones and the fact that you have another person sucking away at your life-force can make it almost impossible to think properly. I digress. Sorry.

Hagar is teaching me that no matter how trapped I might be or feel in my circumstances, I always have a way out (1 Cor. 10:13)...I can choose to obey GOD and be humble, just as Hagar did (Gen 16:8-16).

So...go ahead and sigh. Tis ok. Life is often tough. But then again life is sooo beautiful I have no words to describe it... I could try... then this entry would be too long and you might think, ‘Peju is crazier than I thought :)

Life is beautiful because it is tough and life is tough because it is beautiful. Think about things you find even more special and beautiful think about how you got them or how they came to be. Now compare it to the things that were much easier and didn't have as much challenges. Beautiful? I’ll let you figure that one out.

El Roi. The GOD who sees you and I. El Roi the GOD who loves you more than you can comprehend needs you to always choose HIM. Please do. And see the blessings come. Amen.

• El Roi sees my heart and all that's in it, and HE's ok with it. Does HE see more than I do?
• Am I ok with that?