Us

This marks the end of the set of blog posts which are entitled via a praise and worship song - early on I stopped using the title itself as meaningful, which takes away from the potential for such posts to tie together; likely due to lack of planning on my part. If that last sentence doesn't make sense, consider this: what if you loved a particular song, and each word meant something to you. You could then post paragraphs of content on that one word, the particular aspect of which could somehow relate to the gross meaning of the praise song itself. Ultimately, the entirety of posts which would be comprised of said titles would be an amazing testimony to your walk and hopefully would give Christ Jesus the glory.

Early on my goal for this blog was to make it about God ... and I tried ... but I have to wonder - if a blog is set up by a person, and all they can possibly blog is what Jehovah gives them, what they experience through Christ's glory, and ultimately are only able to share that data that Yeshua presents to that person ... is it even possible for a blog to truly be about the one one worships, instead about oneself?

I recently heard that "Jesus", though in current usage is the name of my christian God, is actually the modified name of an ancient Egyptian pagan god. So the question I ask YOU, dear reader, is this: What do you know of the origins of the word Jesus? Were you told it and took it for granted? Did you research its origins (for, to be sure, Christ Jesus was likely never called by that name, as he was Hebrew, and did not speak English), did you look at the lingual history of the languages that the holy scriptures have experienced, or have you done what I have done and taken on faith that the name of the God you serve is the same that He is called by? On that note: if you have any books, links, or other literature on this subject, or even the bibliography of same, please comment them.

Today's miracle: The sunset over my backyard fence was beautiful today. I am perpetually and continually amazed how beautifully God paints pictures with tools I could never hope to use, on canvases I have no means of interacting with. Ya'ay God!

My (never late) Jesus

Note: for those who peruse both, this post is different than its counterpart at Xanga.

Today I woke up rushing. I saw the minutes, saw the hour, realized the time, and jumped out of bed, wondering what I should attack first, becoming one of those hyper-planning mad scientist you see in the old black-and-white movies. I prepared to send apologies to my carpool ride (for this is my week to drive), worded in hushed and hurried tone phrases designed to describe my less-than-timely state, and explain why I would be a little later than our best laid plans.
Then I looked again at the clock and realized I was not late, but an hour early. Such happens when you get up between five and seven in the morning - five and six look alike and a rushed approach will often lead one to the wrong conclusion!

Some assume lateness on the part of Jesus. I personally don't do it often, but I know I have at least once challenged God to explain why something or someone happened in the order and manner that it occurred, chiefly because I believed it should have happened in some other order, or at a different time. I believe the reason for this is easy to see - if we are made in the image of God, and Jesus was made (physically, at least) similarly to us, we might conclude that Jesus (and thus God) had some of our own weaknesses, in particular that of an ability to mis-schedule, double-book, or the like, with the result that events don't take place in the way that is expected.

The thing to remember is simply: by whose standard are they unexpected?

Call to action
Notice events today you consider inappropriately timed
Examples include a traffic light that doesn't go as planned, a phone call that lasts longer or shorter than you'd like, hobbies that don't get to happen, or clothes you intended to wash that you never got around to washing.
Examples also include making that traffic light, getting just the phone call you need to keep you going, a hobby you were able to pick up after a decade of not touching it, and a spare pair of clean socks.

Realize that God is the God of everything and everywhen
Even of events that don't seem to happen when you expect.
Even of timeframes that you expect cannot happen, people who will not change, and governments who do not govern justly.

Claim joy and praise Him
Spend time, preferably at least an hour (but seek His guidance as to how long), praising Him for the fact that everything in your life happens, ultimately, to glorify Him. Thank Him for that missed traffic light, for the phone call you never wanted to take (or make), for that hobby you were finally able to pick up, and for that relative you did not want to visit (but who showed up anyway).
Thank Him for all the various events in your day that went according to "plan" too, for those events that were mundane and boring and obvious, like the sun rising, how food tastes, and being able to read these words. Thank Him, also, for your senses - for the autonomous manner in which your senses work, mostly without any effort on YOUR part.