LOL: Living Beyond the Manger

Memory/Meditation Verse: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy]..." Ecclesiastes 3:11a (HCSB)

Living Out Loud is above all things Living Beyond the Manger. As we walk through yet another season of Christmas, should we not be convicted to live beyond the manger? I  know I am.

What is living beyond the manger? It is being moved by the wonder of Christmas and looking beyond the manger to the cross. The wonder of Christmas...prophecies foretelling His arrival come true, the integrity and honor of a young man set to marry his bride who now carries the Son of God, the tough journey of the determined Magi to find their King, the heavenly invasion witness by the shepherds, and the faith and willingness of a young girl who embraced her miraculous assignment that was conceived of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most adventurous and amazing stories ever told...and lived.

In the wonder of this story though we must look beyond the manger, beyond the birth to the purpose. Everything about Christmas leads to the cross...

Read more “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”here: http://www.bradenton.com/2009/11/28/1879429/beyond-the-manger-the-meaning.html#storylink=cpy

 

“No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”~ John 3:13-21 (Message)

 

Choosing to live out loud this holiday in the truth and reality of God's light, the gift of His son to a broken and fallen humanity. Living out loud  beyond the God-work of the manger to the God-work of the cross-our gift of eternal salvation. If He loved me enough for that, how can I not love Him back with my life?

I came across a song with the title "Just Beyond the Manger" written by a Joseph Martin. You may have heard it before, I hadn't. The words reflect my heart as I embrace this Christmas season in 2012. YouTube has several versions of the song which you can hear here. I encourage you to pause and soak in the lyrics....

Just Beyond the Manger by Joseph Martin

Just beyond the manger
I hear no lullabies,
I see no golden hay,
I feel no star light

Just beyond the manger
I hear the hammer fall,
I see the rugged cross
I feel the chill of night
Just beyond the manger

Just beyond the manger
I see no swaddling clothes
I hear no angels sing
I feel no candle glow
Just beyond the manger

I see a lonely hill
The Savior crying still
I hear the thunder roll
Just beyond the manger

Forgive us Lord
and grant us eyes to see
In every Christmas, Calvary
Implant it in our hearts
Help us recall
'mid trees of red and gold
On another tree raised long ago
We hung God's brightest star
Just beyond the manger
I hear no lullabies

I hear no lullabies
Just beyond the manger

As you celebrate the 2012 Holiday season, focus on the glory of the Christmas story-the birth of our magnificent Savior then look beyond the manger to the purpose of the birth and the purpose of the cross for you an for me. Then live what your heart experiences out loud as a gift to God.

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.~ Hebrews 12:28

Shalom~Pamela
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