Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 24

Goat

All the nations will be gathered in hispresence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheepfrom the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at hisleft. (Matthew 25:32-33, New Living Translation) 

Grace,glory, gift, gospel – so many great words which begin with the letter G. Andyet, here I picked the word goat.

Inthe above verse, Jesus was saying that the sheep were the compassionate people,those willing to help out a stranger. Meanwhile the goat refused to help anyoneout, except themselves. God would bless the sheep and curse the goats.

Wantan example of how those sheep helped others and how the goats ignored them?Check back tomorrow. 

Friend

Greater love has no one than this, than tolay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13, New King James Version)

Wouldyou give up your life for your friends? Maybe your best friend, and hopefully yourclose family members.

This is how we know what love is: JesusChrist laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for ourbrothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16, New International Version)

Doyou think that when John wrote these verses, he was talking about your bloodrelatives and your best friends? I’m pretty sure he was talking about strangersas well. And why do I think that? Because Jesus was born in Bethlehem to liveamong us and give His life for anyone who believes in Him. Now that’s aFriend. 

Eternal Life

    “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in Godwho sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, butthey have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24, New LivingTranslation)

When I started this blog series, I came up with words beginning with each letter to see if I could even do this. You wouldn’t think the letter E begins with many spiritual words, but I found a few. 

However, Eternal Life stood out, shining the brightest. (Since it’s two words, can I also check the letter L off my list?)

What was the point of God sending His Son to earth as a tiny Baby? The baby grew into a young Man who shared the Word of His Father. He was loved by many but also ridiculed by many, to the point that they demanded His crucifixion.

But it was all part of God’s plan so that we may have Eternal Life, that Jesus’s blood would wash us clean and take away our sins. It was all so that we would have Eternal Life.

Darkness

The people who walked in darkness haveseen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shiningon them. (Isaiah 9:2, Good News Translation)

Onething about December, which I don’t think anyone likes, is that the sun sets soearly. Where I live, it’s getting dark by 4:30 in the afternoon. (But myhusband just reminded me that there are less than three weeks until the daysstart getting longer. Yeah!)

I had to look it up online and discovered that Bethlehem’s days are nearly asshort as ours this time of year. Who knew?

Well,God did, of course. His Son Jesus came into this world in the dark of thenight, but ever since that Blessed night, there has been light in the world,24/7, for those who believe.

Children

But Jesus called for the children, saying,“Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom ofGod belongs to people who are like these children. I tell you the truth, youmust accept the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enterit.” (Luke 18:16-17, New Century Version)

Inmany ways, Christmas is a holiday for children. Santa Claus, holiday programs,presents, even hot chocolate. They have a glow on their faces, and their eyes are filled with excitement.  

Then,we get older, and we lose that glow. Instead of excitement, all we feel is stressover paying for all these presents, planning family get-togethers, decoratingthe tree, and the list goes on.

 Whyis that? As adults, shouldn’t we be able to feel the wonder of Christmas? Andshouldn’t we feel the wonder of being a child of God?

Bethlehem

          And Joseph also went up fromGalilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which iscalled Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to beregistered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (Luke 2:4-5, English Standard Version)

Areyou doing any traveling this Christmas season? Flying somewhere? Or maybe justgoing to the next town over to spend the day with relatives?

Josephand Mary made a long trek to get to his family's ancestral town of Bethlehem. Then, afterJesus was born, they made an even longer journey to Egypt to avoid King Herod'smen.

Howfar would you travel to save yourself and your loved ones? Or do you need totravel at all to be saved? All you need to do is turn your life over to JesusChrist, and you will always be safe and saved.

Anticipation

          At that time there was a man namedSimeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting forIsrael to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him and had assured him that hewould not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah. (Luke 2:25-26, GoodNews Translation)

Hereit is, December 1. Twenty-four days until Christmas. The most anticipated dayof the year. But what do we anticipate – look forward to – the most on thatday? The presents? The food? Spending time with family?

Simeonwas also anticipating something – meeting the newborn Baby who would grow up tobe his Savior and ours.

Maybeinstead of looking forward to that one day of the year – Christmas day – weshould look forward to the day we meet our Savior Jesus in person.

Alpha and Omega; Beginning and End

“Iam the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who isand who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8, New King JamesVersion)

Onesummer when I was middle school, I memorized the Greek alphabet. You know –alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, etc. Maybe I wasn’t as cool at the time asI thought I was; I’m still not cool now.

Ijust always imagined my achievement being something someone would ask about someday. You know, when people ask things like, “Can you touch your thumb to yourwrist?” “Can you list all of the US presidents?” “Do you know the Greekalphabet?”

Anyway,I really have no wisdom other than that today. Except to let you know that Ihave another goal – post a blog here every day from December 1 thru December24, each one covering a word that begins with a different letter of the alphabet, from A to Z (skippingtwo letters), with a story of how it pertains to the first Christmas.

Andthis won’t really be my achievement; it will be God’s. People always ask whereI come up with the ideas for my inspirational blog posts, and my answer always isthat it’s only through the grace of God that I can write anything here. And God was here from the beginning and will be here forever. 

 

Give Thanks

Tomorrowis Thanksgiving! Where did the year go? Christmas is right around the corner,and one week after that it will be 2024! (and another Leap Year). Wow. Thatalso means it will have been four years since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Somuch has happened in the last few years. So many bad things, heart-breakingthings. Disease and despair and death.

Yet,there are so many things I am thankful for.

Ilive in a home with cupboards full of food, running water, and electricity. And even though our furnacewent out yesterday morning, the repair man arrived at our house only a fewhours later and was able to fix it. Granted, now we have another bill to pay,but we have money in the bank to cover it.  

Ihave a wonderfully devoted husband, two great kids, and a list of otherrelatives and friends who care about me.

Nearlyall of my physical and emotional needs are met every day, and I have little tofear. Yes, maybe the future – don’t we all worry about what craziness willhappen next in the world?

Buttruly, we should give thanks to God in all times and all places, for everythingHe has done for us.

Givethanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. (Psalm106:1, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 118:1, Psalm 118:29, Psalm 136:11, and 1 Chronicles16:34)

Yes, that exact verse is in the Bible sixtimes. So, yes, I think we should give thanks to our Lord.

Who do we turn to?

Last night, I ran across this blog post from ten years ago. I thought it was worth sharing again. 

 We must never stop looking to Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2a, Easy to Read Version)

One afternoon, a young mother brought her baby in to our clinic for her well-child checkup. As I laid the little one on the table to measure her, she kept looking at her mother with bright trusting eyes. I’d call her name to get her attention, and she would turn her head to me for just a second before turning back to Mom. At just two months old, she already knew who she adored, who supplied all of her needs and who would never let her down.  Good thing she didn’t look at me with any devotion. When the doctor was done examining her, I returned with three immunizations.  

Most babies don’t like the first shot, but they can’t quite figure out the pain, so it’s not so bad. By the second shot, they have processed the pain and are not happy. At that point they are crying their heart out. The third shot. Well, it doesn’t matter by then. I just get the vaccines in as fast as I can. After I slap on the last Band-Aid, I tell Mom it’s ok to pick up her baby.   The sweet little baby girl mentioned above was no different. She just wanted to get into Mom’s arms. That tiny two-month old brain already knew that Mom would make it all right. Her tears subsided quickly.

It just reminded me of life with our heavenly Parent. We look to God with devotion when things are going well, but as soon as the pain starts or we run into problems, we forget where to turn. It isn’t until He reaches down and takes us into His loving arms, that we feel safe again, that the pain eases. That we can look to Him again with devotion, knowing that He will provide our every need.

I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help. Like servants, alert to their master’s commands, like a maiden attending her lady, We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy. (Psalm 123:1-2, The Message)