Even in winter, you are the sunshine of my soul

Ah, my Lord God, what a wonderous artist you are. You delight my senses with the gentle touch of a snow 0-Joseph-Cover-Kindle-Mediumflake and the crunch of my feet as I walk among your whited wonder. The wind is cold, but inside I am warm. Oh, look at that Woodpecker. How much fun he is having with that tree. And that squirrel scampering across the snow with something in its mouth; I’ll bet it’s some morsel it buried during the fall.  Oh, my, that child has made snow angels, and those children over there are making snowmen. How beautiful and enchanting you made everything on earth, my home.

Father, how can you forgive me for doing the same wrong thing over and over? How can you forgive me for leaving undone the good things I need to get out there and do? Help me forgive others in the same way I need you to forgive me.

Thank you, dear Lord, for loving me with a love so powerful, nothing holds it back. When I sin, you ache, then call me to you. When I ~ with your help ~ convince someone to become a Christian and saved from Satan, you notify the angels, and we all rejoice together. When I feel lonely, all I have to do is call one of the many friends you have given me. Oh, and thank you for children who remind me of innocent wonder. Even in winter, you are the sunshine of my soul.

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0-Joseph-Cover-ThumbnailJOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER was selected to raise the Son of God.  The responsibility! How was he supposed to keep the child safe in a violent world, even on the highways where skirmishes occurred?  And up in the mountains cutting lumber where bears and lions wandered? And in foreign Egypt where there were pockets of Jews willing to take bribes for information about him? And in his own town where his uncaring children called him bastard and their fathers called his father a fool for marrying a woman already pregnant by someone else?  To READ NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/30FFlbC

Book 5 ~ Joseph: The Other Father

 

They Rocked the Cradle that Rocked the World

The scripture for today, February 2 (2/2), is Matthew 2:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

book cover3a front-MED“[the Magi/Wisemen] asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

There are people who believe the “star of Bethlehem” was in the east. But the star wasn’t in the east; the wise men (Magi) were.

The Christmas carol says the star led the wise men the whole way. But Matthew 2:9 & 10 says, “After they had heard the king [Herod], they went on their way, and the star they HAD seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

They rejoiced when they saw the star again, not because it had been with them the whole time, but because it had reappeared.

The Christmas carol also speaks of them as “We Three Kings.” First, there were three gifts but could have been an entourage of ten or twenty or more. Second, they were not kings.  It wasn’t until 600 AD that someone named them as the king of Arabia, king of India and King of Persia. The original language calls them Magi which is a tribe of astrologers and priests in Babylon and Parthia.

By the way, the manger scenes show the wise men there with the shepherds on the night Jesus was born.  Jesus was around two years old by the time the wise men figured out the meaning of the star and traveled over 1000 miles to get there, following by boy babies killed ages two and under.

Then there are the carols that say the angels sang are wrong. Angels do not sing. Christians do, but angels do not. Check it out.  There are so many things about the Bible that we have heard all our lives and just assume are true. Here’s an idea: Investigate things for yourself! Why take a teaching about the Bible for granted? You’re smart. You can do it. Will you?

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book cover3a front-THUMBTHEY ROCKED THE CRADLE THAT ROCKED THE WORLD is the stories of everyone in the Bible involved in the birth of Jesus.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/ChristmasNovelsStories

They Rocked the Cradle that Rocked the World

Free Book today through Friday

0-Joseph-Cover-Kindle-MediumJOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER. “An awesome book. Love reading her books.” FREE MON-FRI at http://amzn.to/2bbLbV1

Imagine being told by God to guard His Son in a violent world until he is grown.
How does Joseph choose a city in strange Egypt to hide 2-year-old Jesus from Herod’s spies? Does he dare take 4-year-old Jesus to the temple where now-dead Herod’s son slaughters thousands?

How can Joseph protect Jesus with all the skirmishes and killing on roads everywhere with dozens vying to take over as king?

How does Joseph handle the persecution in Nazareth by people who could count and knew Mary was pregnant before marrying Joseph?

What does Joseph do with Jesus in Nazareth, just three miles from Sepphoris, hotbed of zealot protesters, when a Roman legate burns the city and crucifies 2000 more zealots in Jerusalem?

In what ways does Joseph teach Jesus how to be a skilled carpenter in sometimes dangerous situations, and avoid being mauled in the mountains when they cut trees for lumber?

How many times, when Jesus was in danger did Joseph cry out, “God, help me protect our Son!”?

(NOTE: A year before Jesus’ death, he was rejected in Nazareth where they said, “Isn’t this the son of the carpenter?” In present tense.)