Jesse Tree Journey: What the Angels Saw

I have done the Jesse Tree stories for the past few Christmases with my kids. This year I wanted to bring the stories a bit more to their level, creating a storyline that would pull all of the Jesse Tree Bible stories together in a fun way. This story is my attempt to do that. I am happy to share it with you!

I incorporate the ornaments with our advent calendar. Each day the kids open the “door” on our calendar and pull out the ornament that is inside. Then we read the story together. There are some great ideas for making your own ornaments on pinterest, or I think you can Google ornaments to purchase. I just printed out paper images and glued them to cardboard—cheap but effective. 

I hope you and your family will enjoy sharing this journey with us. I will post the entries Please be patient as I am writing the story as we go along and I’m not quite sure where it will take me. I’m excited to find out!

I will post the daily entries below. Have fun!

Introduction to the Jesse Tree

December 1: The Plan

How to die, part 2

"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there my servant will be also" (John 12:26).

He has just raised the dead. Raised the dead. He let Lazarus lie in the tomb for four days just to remove all doubt of the miracle's authenticity. Now He has ridden into the city surrounded by adoring followers. His name is everywhere. His disciples spend their days controlling the crowds trying to get to Jesus.

It must be fun, riding that wave of fame and popularity. To be able to say, "Yep, I'm one of His chosen." "Yes, I was there when He raised Lazarus. In fact, I have seen almost all of His miracles."

These disciples have followed Him for three years, and if anything, they have learned He is unpredictable. But He is good. And now He is at the height of power. He is changing all the rules in their world. He's going to save them. He's the answer they have been waiting for. They swear they will follow Him anywhere.

We have the luxury of hindsight. We know that only a few days later, Jesus walks right into death, and almost all of His followers flee in terror.

He shattered their expectations. They did not understand a love that willingly gave itself up to suffering. They could not see beyond the now. They didn't know that sometimes He doesn't meet our expectations because He's going to exceed them in ways we cannot imagine.

He was part of a story so much bigger than their little world. And so were they.

It's easy to follow glamour. It's simple to attach ourselves to success and fame. But Jesus wants servants, not fans, and servants follow into death.

"Where I am, there my servant will be also."

Where is He?

In heaven, yes. And He's promised we will be there with Him. But obviously we are not there yet.

He is here, too. And if we follow, we will be where He is.

Where is He?

With the poor.
With the brokenhearted.
With the captives.
With the mourners.
With the desolate.
With the dying. (Isaiah 61)

If you know the story, you know that most of the disciples came back. They did follow. Right into death. Right into a lost and dying world. Into need. Into sorrow. Into anger and rejection and fear. These few men carried the candle of His hope, and it spread across the whole world.

We're all dying. It's how we die that matters.

We can walk into this death with our candles of hope, following where He is. Or we can cling to a life we are sure to lose. The question is, when we lose our life, what will be left?

It all depends on who we follow.

Thanksgiving

Sky above mountains

pink painted, swirling

impossible blue, shot with

sun's rising rays.

Early morning fire crackle, 

cat on lap, world still, 

listening.

Tousled heads bobbing

down hallway, tiny

arms round neck,

kisses.

Shoes heaped in

piles, toys lying in wait

like land mines,

songs sung loudly and

off-key. Juice spilled

again, chocolate-smeared

faces grinning at jokes

told a hundred times.

Golden hair streaming

as she runs. Giggles

cascading, contagious.

Finding his stories, written

by flashlight at bedtime.

The smell of sawdust

in his hair. Strong hands catching

daughters flying through the air,

building Lego masterpieces, creating

a home.

Breathing

the song of His

story.

Naming and

being named.

Sharing the

struggles shot through with

joy, knowing victorious

Love.

How to die, part 1

"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-25).

The thing is, we're all dying.

We started dying the minute we were born. Ironic. We come into this world taking these gasping breaths, clinging to this slender branch, instinctively wanting to live.

But we're born into a dying world, and we've no choice but to be part of it. Even as we grow and live, we know we're doomed. We've been given passage on a sinking ship.

It seems like we spend most of our life denying death, running from it, fortifying ourselves against it, warding it off at all costs. Makes sense. We were created to live, after all. And death is suffering, and suffering is pain.

But in spite of all our efforts, pain is just the way things are. It's not the way things were supposed to be. But there it is. The God who loves us, He had to allow for the possibility of pain if we were to choose to love Him back. And so we made a wreck of things, rent this gaping hole in our existence through which death comes grinning.

Each day we die little deaths that only remind us of what is coming. 

Or maybe the little deaths are the hardest to bear. We don't mind dying in the end (knowing where we are going), but we want the passage there to be smooth and comfortable. We can't stand the losses and the hurts and the goodbyes and the hopes shattered. We long for certainty and safety. 

So we patch and paste and cover and mend, only to end up tearing bigger holes in this flimsy fabric of life.

But what if we die to live? What if we stop denying death and instead step boldly into it? 

We were made to live. But the life that is waiting for us lies through this passage of death. After all, we are all dying already. It's how we die that matters.

How we die determines how we live, not the other way around. 

And so Jesus comes to show us how these little deaths are seeds falling into the earth, smothered in black darkness for a time. But seeds that die in Him, these seeds live again. They grow up strong. Fruit-laden. Full of life. 

It seems absurd to think of a seed clinging to the branch past its time, trying its hardest to keep on living. And what if it does succeed? A seed that never dies must ultimately lead a withered, lonely life. 

We spend a lot of time being afraid of death. Maybe it's time to look death in the face, to determine how we are going to die. Maybe those little deaths--that really aren't so little after all--maybe they are seeds lying in the darkness of a long winter. 

But maybe spring is waiting. And maybe this death is about to sprout up into glorious life. 

He is there in the darkness. And when we are in Him, we never die alone. 

Five things you should know about abiding

Abiding in Him changes things.

It changes us. 

Here at the end of 31 days, I am only beginning to see it. How this groping for Him, finding Him, and clinging to Him is the secret to the life of joy. Without Him this is all meaningless. 

John knew it. This disciple, who later became Apostle, knew what it was to abide. He wrote the infamous chapter on abiding in John 15, and he mentions the word "abide" no less than 20 times in his letters. This idea of coming to Christ, remaining in Christ, and living out of Christ's love--it pervades everything he wrote. 

In trying to sum up this month-long journey, I find five things from John that we should know about abiding.

1. When we abide, we know we are loved.

Christ came to abide in us. He wants us so bad that He comes to us first. He doesn't simply reach out a hand to the drowning. He plunges into our muck, and He stays there with us as long as it takes. 

He abides with us because He loves us. He stayed to walk among us, teach us, suffer for us, and die for us. And then He sent His Spirit to stay with us still. To remain with us forever.

Throughout the gospel of John, the author refers to himself not by name but as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."He didn't need any other identity or recognition. Though he was one of Christ's most trusted and faithful disciples, with Christ in the most intimate and powerful moments, he did not draw attention to himself. His identity was found in Christ's love for him.

John knew He was loved. And that was enough.

"We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

2. When we abide, we go to the Cross.

John, this beloved disciple, is the only one mentioned by name as following Christ all the way to the cross. The others fled in fear at some point during that awful day. But John stayed. He was close enough for Christ to look down and speak to him from the cross (John 19:26-27). 

John was willing to follow into Christ's suffering because he knew Christ's love. He had been changed by knowing Christ. I doubt he understood what was happening. I am sure he suffered just as Christ's mother did, standing there together watching their hope die. But he knew Jesus, and knowing Him, he entered the suffering. He stayed.


3. When we abide, we believe.

I wonder if John saw it coming. His beloved taken by death and buried in a tomb. I wonder if, having seen the miracles, he expected Christ to defeat the cross, call down His angels, and take up His kingdom then and there. How did John feel when all his hopes and expectations were shattered? When Jesus died?

In John 20, when Mary comes running all breathless to tell the disciples she has seen the empty tomb, John seems to have been waiting for this moment. He and Peter run to the tomb to see for themselves. John 20:8 says "he saw and believed." 

While Mary is weeping, John is rejoicing. John 20:9 says that "they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." But John did not need the prophecy because he knew Christ. Abiding with Christ had taught him to believe.


4. When we abide, we share His joy with others.

John spent the rest of his life telling people about Jesus. He knew the secret of abiding, and he had to share the joy (1 John 1:4). His letters are filled with the joy of knowing Him.

"This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live just as Jesus did" (1 John 2:5-6).

When we really know Him, we can't help but be like Him. 

5. When we abide, we love as He loved.

Knowing Christ's love must lead to loving others.  

John says this over and over. 

"He who loves his brother abides in the light" (1 John 2:10). 

"He who does not love his brother abides in death" (1 John 3:14).

"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8). 

"And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God must love his brother also" (1 John 4:21).

And isn't this why Christ came? To show us the way? The way is love. 

We know love because it created us, it sings all around us, it walked among us, and it dwells within us. 

The world will know love when we abide in it, when it fills us to overflowing and floods our lives with light and hope and joy. Because He abides in us. He draws us to Himself, and He will use us to draw others. 

And finally, someday, we will see Him in all His glory. We will fall at His feet in joy of Him and abide with Him forever. And we will know Him because we have been with Him. Because we stayed.

Let it begin today.

Day 31 of Abide: 31 Days of Resting in Him

See all posts from this series here

Are you missing the best?

"The great danger facing all of us . . . is not that we shall make an absolute failure of life, nor that we shall fall into outright viciousness, nor that we shall be terribly unhappy, nor that we shall feel that life has no meaning at all--not these things. The danger is that we may fail to perceive life's greatest meaning, fall short of its highest good, miss its deepest and most abiding happiness, be unable to render the most needed service, be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God--and be content to have it so--that is the danger. That some day we may wake up and find that always we have been busy with the husks and trappings of life--and have really missed life itself. For life without God, to one who has known the richness and joy of life with Him, is unthinkable, impossible. This is what one prays one's friends may be spared--satisfaction with a life that falls short of the best, that has in it no tingle and thrill which comes from a friendship with the Father."

--Phillips Brooks,  Disciplines for the Inner Life

Day 30 of Abiding: 31 Days of Resting in Him

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It's a relationship

I read this blog post today and it made me think. We are all created unique, and we don't all approach God in the same way. We are all in different stages in our lives, and sometimes our walk with God takes different forms. 

For the past 29 days I have been writing about the importance of time with God. As I have reflected on what it means to abide in Christ, I have become convinced that the only way to abide well is to be with Him. Constantly. This means being in His word. It means praying. 

But not all of us can have dates with God like Abby did, even if we wanted to (I do!). I do think dates with God are an amazing way to be with Him. But as Diana says on her blog, "All of the ways we choose to worship our God are lovely to Him. As long as our hearts long to spend time with Him and seek Him out, I don’t think God keeps a scoreboard of who did what on what day."

She is so right in pointing out that a relationship is personal and unique. We don't (or shouldn't) compare our relationships with our husbands or kids with other people's--they are uniquely our own. So what if you don't get up at 6:00 and spend an hour praying? You might pray all day long in the quiet of your own heart. You might have a wonderful walk in the evening before dinner or a quiet few moments in the car on your way to work.

The point is that you are with Him. Consciously, deliberately, choosing Him above the other clamoring voices in your life. For many of us (like me), that can't happen very well unless I start my day with Him, just the two of us alone. But when that doesn't happen, can I still spend the day with Him, abiding in Him throughout the day? Of course. 

It is still a choice. But it isn't a formula. It's a beautiful, love-filled relationship, and your unique approach to Him will delight Him far more than your attempt to keep "the rules."

You can sing His word all day long in your car. You can pray while you are washing dishes. You can journal letters to Him. You can write down one verse and carry it with you throughout the day. You can dance or play your guitar or teach or change diapers or sit at your desk with Him.

The beauty of true abiding is its dailyness. The more we practice it, the more ordinary it becomes. But it is never dull. 

And I still say: the more time we spend with Him, the better we know Him, and the more like Him we become.

“However strong the branch becomes, however far away it reaches round the home, out of sight of the vine, all its beauty and all its fruitfulness ever depend upon that one point of contact where it grows out of the vine. So be it with us too.”

― Andrew Murray, Holy in Christ

Day 29 of Abiding: 31 Days of Resting in Him

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Four good reasons to prune your vines

As we have seen, a Gardner who cares about his vines is committed to caring for them well. Pruning is an essential step for growing vines that bear fruit. Regular pruning keeps your vines healthy, productive, attractive, and under control.

Don't be afraid that you will hurt your vine by pruning it. You are not doing it any favors by letting it grow unchecked. An unpruned vine will become less and less productive and attractive over time. The right kind of pruning will only help your vine and ensure that it consistently produces abundant fruit.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).

A Gardner who prunes well will do the following:


1. Remove dead, damaged, diseased, or unproductive stems. Removing the diseased or unfruitful stems will keep the other stems healthy and encourage new growth.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

2. Remove overly tangled stems. If you do not care for the growth of your stems, they can become a tangled mess that will then become an unmanageable mass. Reducing a vine's mass will encourage new growth but also allow light and air to reach the plant's interior.

"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). 

"In God I trust and am not afraid . . . For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life" (Psalm 56:11, 13).

3. Remove errant stems that grow away from the support. Vines must make their way up in the world by clinging to or twining around a support. Some stems have minds of their own and appear determined to grow away from the support you have provided for it. These vines must be trained by pruning.

"The Lord was my support . . . He delivered me because he delighted in me" (Psalm 18:18-19). 

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:7, 10-11).

4. Direct its growth. Vines must also be guided to grow upward. Cut a bud or stem that is pointing in the direction you want the vine to go.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you" (Psalm 32:8). 

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12).

Far from harming your plant, the right kind of pruning will help your vine to thrive and yield more fruit every year.

 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Related: How to know a good vinedresser

Day 28 of Abiding: 31 Days of Resting in Him

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No matter what

"The Lord's love does not fail however much we fail him. Peter had built his whole relationship with Jesus Christ on his assumed capacity to be adequate. That's why he took his denial of the Lord so hard. His strength, loyalty, and faithfulness were his self-generated assets of discipleship. The fallacy in Peter's mind was this: he believed his relationship was dependent on his consistency in producing the qualities he thought had earned him the Lord's approval.  

"Many of us face the same problem. We project onto the Lord our own measured standard of acceptance. Our whole understanding of him is based in a quid pro quo of bartered love. He will love us as if we are good, moral, and diligent. But we have turned the tables; we try to live so that he will love us, rather than living because he has already loved us." 

--Lloyd Ogilvie,  Ask Him Anything

Yes. This is it. 

Admit it. There are days when you get it all right. You love well and work well. You smile all day and say all the right things, and you think, I've got it. And you can imagine God smiling down upon you in Fatherly approval. 

Those are good days. But then there are the days when it all goes wrong right from the start. The days you wish you could take back, the words you regret the moment they leave your lips. And if you are like me, you go to bed heavy-hearted, promising, I'll do better tomorrow. 

Do we really believe that God loves us as much on the bad days as the good ones? Or do we try to live so that He will love us?

I want to live, really live, because He has already loved me. Because His love surrounds and fills me always. No matter what. 

I think if we really believed that, we would live so much larger, so much greater, with so much more joy. Because we are already securely loved, valued, wanted, redeemed. 

No matter what.

Day 27 of Abide: 31 Days of Resting in Him

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