She’s a Keeper

A Series on Advent
The hymns of Luke’s birth narrative: The Magnificat by Mary
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 1:26-56 

[In Luke’s Gospel, there are four songs sung by different individuals, or a group, that were involved in the story of Christ’s birth. In this series, we will look at the meaning of those songs, how the singer was involved in the birth story and what it means for us today.]

 

On September 14, 1974, my wife Debbie and I were married. We were young and in love. Debbie was beautiful in her wedding gown. She was the one for me. And, over the years my love for her has grown as I’ve learned that she was even more than I could have hoped for or expected. She’s a keeper!

 

Following the custom of her day, when Mary was probably between the ages of 12-14, she was betrothed to Joseph. She was a normal Jewish girl growing up in the small town of Nazareth of Galilee. Her future was pretty much mapped out for her. That is, until her life was turned upside down.

 

Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, came to her and gave her some startling news. Even though she was a virgin, he told her that she would conceive and give birth to a son who was to be named Jesus. He would be called the Son of God. The Lord would give him the throne of David. His Kingdom would never end!

 

At first, it was disturbing news for Mary because, as a poor young Jewish girl, she had no social status. This meant that if Joseph refused to marry her, then her father would have to take her into his home. And if he didn’t, then she would have to fend for herself by either begging or prostitution.

 

It was also disturbing because she was already betrothed. How would she tell Joseph? Who would believe her story of an angel? What would become of her and her baby? What would her friends and family think and say about her?

 

Despite having so much to lose, Mary said yes and emphatically embraced her call.  “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” 

 

Having been told by Gabriel that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant also, Mary decided to visit her. Elizabeth’s story was just as miraculous, as she had been childless and was now too old to have a baby.

 

When Mary greeted Elizabeth, her baby “leaped for joy within her”.

 

⁴² Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. ⁴⁵ You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”    NLT

 

In this meeting of the miracle moms, Mary responded in spontaneous song. Her hymn of praise is known as the Magnificat which is the opening word in the Latin translation. It means glorifies, or praise.

 

⁴⁶ Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. ⁴⁷ How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! ⁴⁸ For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.                        NLT

 

Mary continued her song with a litany of the Lord’s mighty deeds. With Old Testament themes of helping the poor and humble and casting down the proud and wealthy, she wove Scripture seamlessly into her song of praise.

 

Imagine God and Gabriel looking down at Mary and discussing her good traits as she sang. “She’s a keeper”, says Gabriel. “I know” says God. Mary believed that the Lord would do what he said. She trusted in his faithfulness; that nothing was impossible for the Lord.

 

^37 “For the word of God will never fail.”             NLT

 

Thanks be to God!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

One Thing

A series on the book of Micah
Week 5 – What does the Lord require?
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 6:1-16 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

  

Growing up, I went to church every week. Back then, we didn’t have children’s church. So as a little boy I had to find ways to entertain myself – particularly during the sermon. My most common distraction was to create “pretend battles” on the folds of my pants. Needless to say, church was just a ritual for me.

 

In this chapter, Micah wrote to the Israelites who had turned their faith into a series of meaningless rituals. To make this point, he rhetorically asked, would it please the Lord if you offered him “thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil”. Or if you “sacrifice your firstborn children to pay for your sins”.

 

He answered his own question with a resounding “NO”! And then he explained what would please the Lord.

 

⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?        ESV   

 

Unfortunately, many of the Israelites had already not only gutted their worship with mindless rituals but also turned their backs on God in rebellion. This was obvious through their actions.

 

¹⁰ What shall I say about the homes of the wicked
    filled with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice
    of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?             NLT  

 

Continuing, Micah went on to describe how the rich used extortion and violence; how the people were so used to lying that they couldn’t discern the truth; how officials and judges took bribes. Even close friends and family weren’t to be trusted!

 

"Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God”. What would these words mean to a little boy trying to get through a sermon, or to an old man whose heard thousands of sermons? Below are two different translations of a verse in Romans that give Paul’s perspective on how to please the Lord.

 

¹ So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.        GNT

 

¹ So here’s what I want you to do, with God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.             MSG  

 

In the 1991 movie City Slickers, Curly, played by Jack Palance, told Billy Crystal’s character "Do you know what the secret of life is? It's one thing... just one thing. And that's what you've got to figure out".

 

For you and me as followers of Christ, the “one thing” is to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. If we do that, then our faith will less likely be a ritual, and more likely we’ll experience the presence of the living God.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

A Small Package

A series on the book of Micah
Week 4 – The coming Messiah
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 5:2-15 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

  

As a little boy, one of my most memorable Christmas gifts was from my older brother. He was in college and didn’t have much money, so he had to be creative. As a result, he got 100 shiny new pennies and placed each penny in an envelope. Then he strung twenty sets of five envelopes each and hung them from the living room ceiling near the Christmas tree.

 

When I woke up in the darkness of early morning and went downstairs with great anticipation of the gifts that were waiting for me, I had no idea what my brother had created. As I rounded the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was a magical Christmas scene with all the envelopes hanging from the ceiling.

 

Like previous chapters in Micah, this one also tells the story of how God hates sin but loves the sinner. In a society where the powerful oppressed the powerless and promoted idol worship, Micah boldly proclaimed the Lord’s judgment for the end times, but with implications for the current culture.

 

¹⁵ I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
    on the nations that have not obeyed me.”    NIV

 

Micah also brought a message of hope from the Lord who promised to provide peace and deliverance for a remnant of Israel. In the following verses Assyria represents the enemies/evil, not only that Israel faced during Micah’s time, but also that we face.

 

^5a And he will be our peace
    when the Assyrians invade our land
    and march through our fortresses.

^6b He will deliver us from the Assyrians
    when they invade our land
    and march across our borders.            NIV

 

Finally, Micah prophesied about a ruler that one day would come to shepherd his people “with the Lord’s strength and majesty”.

 

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”       NIV

 

Like my Christmas gift, sometimes the best gift comes in a small package – or in my case, envelopes. But in the case of Micah’s prophecy, the small package would arrive in the form of a baby boy, born out of wedlock in a stable in the small rural town of Bethlehem.

 

It was over 600 years before Micah’s prophecy of a shepherd/ruler was fulfilled. It’s been over 2000 years since then. God was faithful then and he is faithful now. “He is the same yesterday, today and forever”.

 

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.        ESV    Lamentations 3

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

In the Fullness of Time

A series on the book of Micah
Week 3 – The Lord’s Plan
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 4:1-5:6 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”. As a 21-year-old college student whose life had been turned upside down, those words were music to my ears. The person who I had most wanted to love me… had rejected me. As a result, my life seemed to have no rhyme nor reason to it – let alone a plan.

 

However, the realization that God loved me and did have a plan for me, was a pivotal moment. Even though I couldn’t see it at the time, this meant that somehow God had already intervened in my life. The result was to give me new purpose and direction that changed my life forever.

 

We often can’t see how God is at work until after the fact. Yet, the Lord has a plan that is unfolding every day. Although he didn’t know the specifics, Micah prophesied about three different time periods of the Lord’s plan for his kingdom.

 First, he spoke about the last days, and how people from all over the world will come to the Lord’s temple to worship him.

 ² People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”            NLT

Second, even before coming into power, Micah prophesied that the Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and take the Israelites into exile. But he also foretold that later a remnant of Israel would return.

 

^10b You will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon. But the Lord will rescue you there; he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.     NLT

 

Finally, Micah prophesied about a leader, the Messiah, who would one day “shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord”.

 

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”           NIV

 

As a 75-year-old man in the autumn of my life, God is still at work. He still loves me and has a plan for me. It’s up to me to discern it. What about you?

 

God loves you and has a plan for your life. That plan may not be evident now, but “in the fullness of time”, it will come to fruition.

 

¹¹ 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 hope and a future.                     NIV    Jeremiah 29

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Power and Control

A series on the book of Micah
Week 2 – God's hatred of sin
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 2-3 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

  

Power and control! We all want control over our lives. One small way that you can see my desire for power and control is through how I keep my desk and office. They need to be well organized, not looking like a tornado had just blown through it. It helps me feel in control and I have the power to do it.

 

However, the problem with power is that it can corrupt. You’ve probably come across at least one person where that’s been true. Think of a mall security guard who is overzealous to enforce the rules; or a supervisor who micromanages; or a paper-pushing bureaucrat who enforces the rules capriciously.

 

Micah spoke out against those who were not only rich and powerful, but also used it to take advantage of the poor and downtrodden.

 

² When you want a piece of land,
    you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house,
    you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property,
    stealing his family’s inheritance.       NLT   Micah 2

 

Also, in order to show how the leaders of Israel had no respect or compassion, Micah charged them, figuratively speaking, of cannibalism.

 

^2b You skin my people alive
    and tear the flesh from their bones.
³ Yes, you eat my people’s flesh,
    strip off their skin,
    and break their bones.
You chop them up
    like meat for the cooking pot.  NLT   Micah 3

 

Is it any wonder that the Lord judged Israel and Judah. God declared that He was "devising disaster" against them; a disaster that they couldn’t escape. Micah prophesied God’s judgment which came true when they were invaded by foreign powers. The result? Israel and Judah were exiled from the Promised Land.

 

The Lord hates sin, but he loves the sinner. He always provides a way for redemption. Even with these abuses of power, he gave Israel the promise of a future deliverance and restoration.

 

¹² “Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
    I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
    be filled with noisy crowds!      NLT   Micah 2

Today, he still provides a way for redemption. Despite our sinfulness he gave you and me the promise of deliverance and restoration through Jesus Christ. Paul put it like this.

 

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!     NIV    Romans 7

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Center of Influence

A series on the book of Micah
Week 1 – The judgment of God
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 1:1-16 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. Likewise, Micah contrasts God's hatred of sin but love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

  

Big cities tend to be the center of influence. Commerce, culture, technology, government, education, entertainment and fashion often originate in big cities and then spread across the country.

 

Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. Unfortunately, it had become the center of pagan worship, blending Canaanite religious practices with Israelite traditions. Samaria’s idolatry was graphically described as prostitution. It was a metaphor that illustrated Samaria’s unfaithfulness.

 

Following a vision from the Lord, Micah condemned this rebellious behavior and declared the judgment of God on Samaria.

 

⁶ “So I, the Lord, will make the city of Samaria a heap of ruins.
Her streets will be plowed up for planting vineyards.
I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below,
    exposing her foundations.
^7a All her carved images will be smashed.
    All her sacred treasures will be burned.      NLT

 

Ominously, the Lord promised to come, and it wasn’t a social call!

 

³ Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
    he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
⁴ The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.   NIV

 

But the depths of depravity in Samaria weren’t restricted by the city limits. Like the cities of America, Samaria was the center of influence. As a result, Samaria’s rebellious behavior spread throughout the northern kingdom into the southern kingdom and its capital of Jerusalem.

 

⁵ And why is this happening?
    Because of the rebellion of Israel—
    yes, the sins of the whole nation.
Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion?
    Samaria, its capital city!
Where is the center of idolatry in Judah?
    In Jerusalem, its capital!         NLT

 

What can we learn from this? Sin is not static; it’s dynamic. It’s like an addiction that grows progressively worse. It moves from city to city, person to person and even within an individual. Like a cancer, it lives to bring death.

 

Micah’s message is a warning for us today. Peter also gave us some good advice regarding how to live and navigate in a sinful world.

 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.    NIV    1 Peter 5

 

Like Samaria, we as individuals are a center of influence. We influence those people around us at home, work, school, the grocery store, church – everywhere we go. So, will we be a center of influence like Samaria, or like the light of the world that Jesus spoke of?

 

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.         NIV    Matthew 5

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Good News

A series on God’s calling: Rahab
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Joshua 2:1-24 

[Traditionally we think of someone who has received “God’s call on their life” as being a missionary or pastor or some other paid ministry position. But God has called all of us into ministry. And there’s not just one way that He does it. In this series, we will look at how God called people in the Bible to ministry, and what that means to us.]

 

There are certain events that I can still remember when I heard the news even though it happened years ago. One of those was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was in my fifth hour history class in junior high when the principal announced over the PA system that Kennedy had been killed.

 

Bad news travels fast! And the media loves to spread it. Everyone knows that a sensational headline sells. Even in Old Testament times, bad news traveled fast. Rahab the prostitute was a firsthand witness of it.

 

Even though news traveled by word of mouth, Jericho was in a prime location to hear widespread news accounts. It was on an east-west trade route that connected two north-south trade routes making an H-shape in the region.

 

Because she was a prostitute, Rahab likely had many travelers visit her house, telling her the latest bad news. In fact, all the people of Jericho had heard about the Israelites and their God. As a result, their “hearts melted in fear”.

 

But Rahab was presented with an unexpected opportunity when two spies that Joshua had sent came to her house. You could call it a perfect storm of circumstances. Because of what she had heard about the Lord, Rahab firmly believed “that the Lord has given you the land”. Here is what she said to the spies.

 

¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.     NIV

 

That’s quite a statement of faith. Rahab recognized that the God of Israel was greater than any god that she had ever encountered. Because of this, she believed that this unexpected opportunity could give her a chance to live. Therefore, she made a deal with the spies.

 

God isn’t limited in how he calls us to ministry to serve others. It doesn’t have to be through a burning bush or dreams or a mentor. It could be through a perfect storm of circumstances providing an unexpected opportunity. And when it happens, we need to be prepared to respond like Rahab.

 

Because of her faith and actions, she is mentioned in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. James also praised her for her faith, which was visible by her deeds. But maybe the greatest praise of all is that she is mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus.

 

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.  NIV

 

Bad news does travel fast. But God used it to bring Rahab the prostitute to faith. A faith that eventually led to the birth of Christ. That’s what I would call Good News!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com