I AM A WINNER!!!!

Over at Jennifer Partin's blog, Where the Heart Is (I would add a link but I dont know how - check out my sidebar) I won a contest! You need to go there and check it out. She put the name of everyone who entered in a basket and let her sweet little girl pick a name and wouldn't you know it, she picked me. YAY! I think it is so neat that Jennifer would even have a contest like that - she has 7 kids (one is a month old), I mean, it's not like she doesn't have anything better to do. So, I am very thankful to Jennifer. What a fun thing to do! I am coming up on my 73rd post, I will have to think of something fun for my 100th. Anyway, thanks Jennifer!

This weekend was the Christmas drama at our church. It is a huge deal (it's a two and a half hour production complete with live animals and professional lighting, etc, etc, etc). Every year we see many people accept Christ during the three performances. I haven't heard the final count for this year, but I know that we gained over 20 new brothers and sisters in Christ on just Friday and Saturday (not sure about last night) . The baby Jesus was a little colicky this year (or maybe it was the 95 member choir singing in the background).

When I see plays that depict Jesus' life I always wonder what it was really like when He was born or what it was really like in Nazareth when he worked with his earthly father as a carpenter. I wish I could see the look on Mary's face when Joseph told her that he wouldn't 'put her away' because she was pregnant. I wish I could see exactly how the stable looked when Mary and Joseph had to settle for a barn instead of a room in an inn. I wish I could see those wise men coming to see that little toddler they had heard so much about. I wonder if He talked to them or if He was shy around those men who were undoubtedly dressed in royal robes. I would love to see the look on the faces of Mary and Joseph as they ran back to the temple to find Jesus. I can just hear Mary saying, "You scared us to death!". Can you imagine watching Jesus heal people? Or what about the woman at the well? I picture a dry desolate land with a few scattered houses and a white-washed well with Jesus leaning against it. I wonder what her expression was when He said "You have had five husbands and the man you live with now is not your husband"? I bet her bottom lip dropped to the ground.

In our church drama, the cross scene always makes me cry. I suppose because I know that it is my fault that there IS a cross scene. The soldiers beat a bleeding Jesus and then nail Him to the cross. The sound of those nails always makes me cringe. What if that were my son? Can you imagine someone driving stakes through the hands and feet of your precious son? I did that to Him. I caused God to look away from His only begotten. I am the one who caused Him to be beaten unmercifully. I wonder what He thought as those soldiers gave Him gall on a dirty rag instead of water. While He was on that cross, I wonder if He saw all the sins I would commit. I wonder if He had a mental picture of the despicable things I would do two thousand years later. It might as well have been me there holding that cat of nine tails whipping Him over and over. It was me.

I would have loved to see the look on those soldiers faces when they felt the earth shake beside the tomb. I bet they became instant believers. I wonder what it was like for Peter to see the Jesus that he denied knowing. I wish I could have been there when He showed Thomas His scars - Blessed are those who believe and have not seen (that is us). I have a lot of mental pictures of how things looked when Jesus lived here on earth, but none of them are accurate. I wish I could have been a witness to His earthly life. I wonder if I had lived then if I would have believed He was God's son. Would I have accepted Him as God on earth or would I have screamed "Crucify Him!" ? Probably the latter.

It is much sweeter to think of Jesus the baby in that little manger stall than it is to think of Jesus the man on the cross with the weight of the world on His shoulders. Jesus, the baby, makes us think kind and gentle thoughts while Jesus, the man, reveals the blood on our own hands. Just like in life, we have to take the good with the bad. When we think of baby Jesus, we also have to remember Jesus on the cross. We caused both His birth and His death. If it werent for us, He would not have needed to come to earth and if it werent for us He would not have had to die on that cross.

One of my favorite songs right now is "There is a Remedy" ( http://www.projectplaylist.com/node/20604906 - click on There is a Remedy) - somebody please help me do links, will ya? This version is actually by the Specks who are frequently at our church (one of the Specks' sister goes to our church). This song was sung in the program as people came to Jesus to be healed. One after the other- the blind man, the woman with an issue of blood, Lazarus' sisters, etc, etc. It is the same with us today. We are like those people in that play. One after the other, coming to Jesus with our illness and disease. Some of us have health problems, some family problems, some drug problems. The disease of sin is fatal unless we ask for the Cure. One thing is for sure we all have sin problems. We ALL have sinned and we are ALL in need of the remedy - Jesus Christ.