In my daughter's eyes...

My Daughter's Eyes - Martina McBride
In my daughter's eyes,
I am a hero,
I am strong and wise,
And I know no fear,...
But the truth is plain to see,
She was sent to rescue me,
I see who I want to be,
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes,
Everyone is equal,
Darkness turns to light,
And the world is at peace,
This miracle God gave to me,
Gives me strength when I am weak,
I find reason to believe,
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger,
How it puts a smile in my heart,
Everything becomes a little clearer,
I realize what life is all about,
It's hanging on when your heart has had enough,
It's giving more when you feel like giving up,
I've seen the light,
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes,
I can see the future,
A reflection of who I am and what will be,
And though she'll grow and someday leave,
Maybe raise a family,
When i'm gone I hope you see,
How happy she made me,
For i'll be there,
In my daughter's eyes

 

 

The Promised Messiah

I shared a Christmas devotion at Sedgebrook, from Luke 2 in the perspective of a mother, the other night. Since it was a "3 point sermon" (as Londa affectionately coined), I will be creating 3 posts out of that. So here's the first one. Have a blessed Christmas my very dear friends.

The Promised Savior from the line of David

 

The first thing that jumped out to me is that Jesus is the Promised Savior from the line of David.

In the beginning of the passage, we see Joseph, who is from the line of David, going to the town of Bethlehem because of a census. The author Luke added these two simple facts for very significant reasons.

In the Old Testament, God promised His servant David, that He will establish His eternal Kingdom through his descendant (2 Samuel 7). And through Micah the prophet (Micah 5:2), God promised that a ruler for Him will come from Bethlehem.

So by mentioning the simple facts that Joseph (who is Jesus’ earthly father) is from the line of David; and that Jesus is born in Bethlehem; Luke is making a point.

He is telling his reader that Jesus is David’s descendant and He is THE Promised Messiah. The Promised King of God’s eternal kingdom. The Promised Savior – who will save all from sin and death. Jesus, the Promised Savior is born!  What good news!

I must confess that I often take the good news of God saving the world for granted. I forget to meditate in my mind and feel in my heart – the good-ness of God in saving me! But I was struck afresh by the good-ness of this good news recently.

I was holding Mya in my arms the other night. And as I look down upon her face, I was overwhelmed by the beauty and purity embodied in this little baby. I know she is a sinner. A little one. But a sinner nonetheless. Even so, she was this picture of perfect innocence, peace, beauty and purity. 

Suddenly in an instance, I saw her life flash before my eyes. She will grow up, and experience pain and suffering in this broken world. A result of sin in this world, the sin of others, and her very own sin. And she will experience death – the death of others, the death of her parents (us) and loved ones, and her own death.

It broke my heart. How can such purity and beauty be stained by pain and suffering? And how can such peace and innocence be ravished by death? My heart ached so badly. I don’t want her to experience any of that. I wish I could protect her from all the pain. I don’t want her to suffer. I don’t want her to experience death. I felt very strongly and clearly – “I hate pain. I hate suffering. I hate death”. Yet, alongside these feelings, was an unmistakable helplessness. There was NOTHING I can do about these inevitable experiences that Mya will have.

When Arthur came by and learnt what was causing me to cry, he comforted me saying, “There is someone like you, you know. Someone who hated pain, suffering and death. And He hated them even more than you. But the difference is, He could do something about it, and He did. This is why God had to send His son. This is why Jesus had to come. This is why we have Christmas. So that we’ll have a chance at eternity with Mya.”

Indeed. Christmas is God not letting sin, pain, suffering and death have the final word. Christmas is Jesus doing something about that, so that we can have a chance to be with our loved ones, in heaven forever. What good news! Thank God for the Promised Messiah from the line of David!

 

 

 

The Night Before Christmas

This is one of my favorites this year...