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rachelstarr
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Name: rachelstarr
Interests: oh, everything. barring anything unwholesome.
Expertise: Writing, reading people's writing; having other people read mine. I'm a publisher, editor, author, writing coach, professional big sister of eleven, and Christian down to the tips of my shoes and the depths of my soul.
Occupation: Writing, editing, coaching, an
Industry: Publishing
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
5/20/2004
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| On what it takes to forgive--and what the results can be, in us and in
others. I wrote the precursor of this article almost two years ago, so
it's lovely to see it up on Boundless.org at last :).
Here's the link.
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| "There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."
Proverbs 13:7
The
scene is Jerusalem, at the height of Jesus' ministry. Days ago He
raised Lazarus from the dead. Hours ago He rode into Jerusalem on the
back of a donkey and was hailed by the people as King. "Hosanna!" they
cried. "Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord."
Jesus'
fame was at a fever pitch. So was the anger and fear of His enemies. In
the midst of all this, John writes that some Greeks, who were in
Jerusalem for the Passover, came to the disciple Philip and asked to
see Jesus. (The whole story is found in John 12:20-26.)
This was
unusual. These were Gentile converts from a distant land. Apparently
they had also heard of Jesus' fame and the incredible miracles He had
done. Here, in this gloriously Jewish setting, a few Greeks dared
approach.
Jesus responded, "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified."
What
did Greeks have to do with the Son's being glorified? The key is in the
name Jesus gives Himself: "Son of man." He didn't think this up
Himself. It has a clear Old Testament precedent in the incredible
visions of Daniel. In fact, Daniel describes the Son of man rising to
heaven on the clouds, there to be fully glorified. He writes,
"I
saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him. "And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14
As
these first few Gentiles approached, timidly, wanting only to see
Jesus, the kingdom to come was foreshadowed. Jesus knew the glory that
would be His: the glory of welcoming us all, Jew and Gentile, Greek and
barbarian, into the fold of God.
It is staggering that Jesus should count us
as riches--as a reward. Yet He does. All that He did was for this
purpose, that He might redeem mankind and make us His own. So great is
this love that makes so much of us! But Jesus did not gain riches the
American way--the human way--the natural way. He is the epitome of
Solomon's long-ago words: "There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."
Jesus
gave up His position on the Father's right hand. He gave up the
invincibility of Heaven, the wideness of life outside of this world. He
came into our narrow sphere and impoverished Himself, making Himself
poor even by earthly standards. Yet great riches were His, even here.
He had the riches of the Father's love. He had the riches of doing
God's will. And He had the riches of salvation in His hands: His
privilege, and His unspeakable gift to us.
Jesus' next words to Philip were, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
Jesus
alone had the untainted friendship and favour of God. Jesus alone had
eternal life. Jesus alone had the joys and riches of fellowship with
the Highest. But He was not content to abide alone. He suffered, died,
and rose again, that He might forth fruit in us. All of His riches, He
gives us freely.
I leave you with Jesus' next few words. They are a challenge to us. How will we respond to them?
"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth
his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man
serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my
servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour."
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| My book Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord's Prayer is currently a featured resource on Ungrind.org!
Ungrind also recently published an article of mine, entitled While You Wait, Rebekah. Follow the link to read it. It uses the life of the matriarch Rebekah as an example of "making the most of the meantime"--the waiting periods in our lives.
My thanks to Ashleigh Slater, editor of Ungrind, for creating a great webzine and allowing me to contribute to it :).
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| And Zacharias, father to John the Baptist, "was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people...
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
The King has come! Praise God and Merry Christmas!
(Luke 1:67-68, 74-79)
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| The proof copy of Worlds Unseen arrived today, and it's gorgeous! It needed a little tweaking, but that's now done and the finished product will be ready-to-order before this month is out. In the interest of getting this book on Amazon in time for Christmas, I will only be taking pre-orders until November 30. If you'd like an early, autographed copy of my first fantasy novel, place your order on LittleDozen.com today!
Shameless though it is, I'm going to mention that Worlds would make a great Christmas gift for the pre-teen/teen/young adult in your life who enjoys Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, et al. This is clean fantasy with a backbone of truth and a lot of heart. Copies are $15.00, and like I said, they're beautiful! Deborah's cover art and design are gorgeous.
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