Fri 12.10

Luke1:19-20 The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time." Some scholars call the period of centuries with now new WORD from the Lord the Period of or Intertestal Silence. I contend that often we mistake silence for the fulfilling of what God has already promised and SPOKEN. During the waiting, is it REALLY silent if one is hoping in and reviewing the promises and instructions God has given in the meantime. Does His voice then not continue to SPEAK? Perspective. Hope is not silent. The verses above are spoken to Zechariah by the angel Gabriel to announce the birth of John, Jesus cousin and the voice that would herald again His already foretold coming. Doesn't your spirit leap when you hear "I stand in the presence of God"...and yet later he would kneel in the presence of a baby in a manger! This song was the first solo I remember singing. I was prolly 10, maybe younger at my church in Pageland, SC. In a few hours I'll step back into that church to sing my mom's final sister to her eternal rest. It is a sorrowful day when I think of my cousins whose holiday season will be colored by this loss. And yet, perspective again, she professed Christ and if we hope in and believe what He promised and promises then she now stands and kneels in the presence of God. I had a message today that I should hear soon from the Europe Director at UWM about placement with a Church Planting Team in France. Waiting and praying but with hope and joy.