Mary's Place of Quiet

Our Daily Bread offered a fitting reflection for Christmas Eve today, and gave me a new insight into that special birth as Mary brought Jesus into this harsh world in Bethlehem; it was two millenia ago but it is so fresh to me and countless others today.

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB

God’s Special Place

 [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, . . .  and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. —Luke 2:7

As a young girl in the late 1920s, Grace Ditmanson Adams often traveled with her missionary parents through inland China. Later, she wrote about those trips and the crowded places where they stayed overnight—village inns full of people coughing, sneezing, and smoking, while babies cried and children complained. Her family put their bedrolls on board-covered trestles in a large room with everyone else.

One snowy night, they arrived at an inn to find it packed full. The innkeeper expressed his regret, then paused and said, “Follow me.” He led them to a side room used to store straw and farm equipment. There they slept in a quiet place of their own.
 
After that, whenever Grace read that Mary “brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7), she saw the event differently. While some described the innkeeper as an example of uncaring, sinful mankind who rejected the Savior, Grace said, “I truly believe that Almighty God used the innkeeper as the arranger for a healthier place than the crowded inn—a place of privacy.”

Through eyes of faith, we see God’s provision for Mary. Look for the ways He provides for you.  — David C. McCasland


Wait on the Lord from day to day,
Strength He provides in His own way;
There’s no need for worry, no need to fear,
He is our God who is always near. —Fortna

Those who let God provide will be satisfied.

Our Daily Bread God’s Special Place

A Meditation for All

This week I am posting my meditation before Sunday; after all has been said and done, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest for the Christian, unless of course you are the pastor. I do not forget all the doctors, nurses, firemen, police, and countless other folks who are obliged to work on a Sunday. The main point is that you actually take a day of rest on one day of the week.

Reading my devotional "Day by Day," I came to this morning's entry by the author, Chuck Swindoll, titled "Commence Prayer."

The message should reach believers and non-believers alike; it seems appropriate for all but the most hardened atheists.

I have to say that the belief of atheists, that there is no God, seems very strange to me; a difficult "belief", and requires a denial of the evidence. How can anyone imagine that this amazing world all happened by a matter of chance would seem to require the suspension of one's critical faculties. I think it is clearly a belief, because the existence of God cannot be proved or disproved, but weighing the evidence it seems very hard to deny that God is real. 

But I digress; my aim in reproducing this is for a message that it would reach all faiths, including agnostics, and perhaps even some atheists, and so I include the whole piece for your consideration.

Gurth Whitaker ><>

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COMMENCE PRAYER

~ Malachi 3  ~

It was in 1968, I was on an airplane headed for New York - a routine and normally very boring flight. But this time it proved to be otherwise, As the plane was on its descent pattern, the pilot realized that the landing gear was not engaging. Passengers were told to place their heads between their knees and grab their ankles just before impact.

Then, with the landing only minutes away, the pilot suddenly announced over the intercom:

"We are beginning our final descent. At this moment, in accordance with International Aviation Codes established at Geneva, it is my obligation to inform you that if you believe in God you should commence prayer."

Scouts honour. . , that’s exactly what he said!

I'm happy to report that the belly landing occurred without a hitch. No one was injured and, aside from some rather extensive damage to the plane, the airline hardly remembered the incident.

Amazing. The only thing that brought out into the open a deep down "secret rule" was crisis, Pushed to the brink, back to the wall, right up to the wire, all escape routes closed ...  only then does our society crack open a hint of recognition that God may be there and - "if you believe ... you should commence prayer."

There's nothing like crisis to expose the otherwise hidden truth of the soul. Any soul. We may mask it, ignore it, pass it off with cool sophistication and intellectual denial, but take away the cushion of comfort, remove the shield of safety, interject the threat of death without the presence of people to take the panic out of the moment, and it's fairly certain most in the ranks of humanity "commence prayer."

Remember Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s admission? 

"It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. . . . So bless you, prison,for having been in my life."

Those words provide a perfect illustration of the psalmist’s instruction:

"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. . . . It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees" (Ps. 119:67, 71 NIV)

After crisis comes, God steps in to comfort and teach.

There's nothing like crisis to expose the hidden truth of the soul

Charles Swindoll

Day by Day