A few weeks ago, Lisa & I watched The Dark Knight for the first time. I know, we aren't usually running this late on movies. Don't know how it happened. It's a brilliant movie & yes, Heath Ledger DOES deserve a posthumous Oscar for his performance. As it's title says, it is a dark movie. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't seen it & want to, you don't want to read any further. But I have something to say about the message of this movie.

In my last post I mentioned that I like happy endings. They are required for any movies and books that I allow myself to enjoy. So those of you who have watched the movie now know that it was a bit of a disappointment to Lisa & me. It leaves the franchise wide open for another sequel as there are quite a bit of questions left. It doesn't take the easy way out, not for Batman at least. But what impacted me the most is the change of the character Harvey Dent. Here's a short bio on his character. At the beginning of the movie Harvey is Gotham City's DA. He's a tower of strength and character. He cannot be purchased by the evil of the city and is determined to make the city a safer and better place. And best of all, he's succeeding. Throughout the movie, Harvey's working in the light and Batman's working in the darkest corners of the city. So how does he become the evil 'Two-Face Dent'? Tommy Lee Jones played the Dent after he became Two Face in Batman Forever. In that movie, you never saw the before of Dent. The Dark Night spotlights the before.

Again, so how did he fall? Let me tell you. It's the same way we do. Through grief, pain and horror. Through lies and disillusionment. Through a devastating outright attack. Dent lived through something a person should NEVER live through. It opened up a dark place inside him that he never knew existed. And what happened then was more than any person should ever have to experience. The source of all the terrible things that had happened came to him. This one had caused the attack not just on Dent but also on Gotham. This liar whispered to Dent. He told the hurting man lying in a hospital bed in a burn ward the worst of lies. He told him all the ones who had really been behind the pain Dent was feeling. Then the worst thing happened. Dent believed the lies and the liar. Instead of recognizing the liar and stopping him, Dent began to believe that others who had trusted the liar were responsible for Dent's current position. Just as those others followed the liar's leading so Dent, unrecognizable his grief, blazed a trail of destruction of pain and suffering lead by the liar.

How often do we, in our grief and suffering, believe the liar? This enemy of our souls who whispers in our ear that the maker of our souls really is the reason we're in pain? This source of destruction and death leads us into a path of more lies and destruction. How many of us have lived through something no person should ever have to live through? It seems, when we are hurting so terribly our ears become open to the lies of a liar. How is that, when we so desperately need to hear the words of the Truth in those moments? There are some lessons to learn from the fictional tale of Harvey 'Two Face' Dent. When the liar comes to him, Dent is all alone. No one is watching over him, sitting with him. We must keep ourselves covered. Stick with the fellowship of believers. Have people praying and fighting the war for you through prayer. In grief, we are wounded. There is no war front for us. We are in the care of the medics. Keep your ears tuned. Ask for His words to drown out those of the liar. Make sure that when the lies are loud, that there are people in your life who can speak truth to you. Keep yourself accountable. Don't disappear as Dent did so that he could wreak destruction. And, lastly, remember that even if we follow Two Face's path, there is no point in your life that forgiveness and redemption are out of reach. Batman took responsibility for Dent's sins so that the good he had brought about would not be in vain. We have a Savior who took responsibility for our sins. Hope I haven't ruined the movie for those of you who haven't seen it, but I did warn you! We'll keep our eyes open for the next Batman movie.

Several posts back I wrote about diabetes and how it can mimic the Christian walk. The name was ‘Trust the Numbers’. Now, I’m no expert on diabetes or the Christian walk, but I do work for an endocrinologist and have walked the path of the Christian since I was 7. Than sounds like that commercial that states “… but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!” Anyhoo, I had a conversation with a patient of my doctor’s that follows along that line. She is a therapist who is diabetic and has been seeing my doctor for several years now. This last year has been a difficult one for her. Because of the deaths of family members, sickness and other things, she has not been taking care of herself the way that she should. I also have a friend who has not been following her diabetes the way she should either who has just begun to make the choices she needs to. Add to those two, a dear friend has fallen back into a sinful life that he walked away from years ago. These three stories got me to thinking…

I have always been a fan of happy endings. This is a shock to those of you who know me, I’m aware! I like things that can be fixed and don’t ever have to be dealt with ever again. Hard to believe that someone my age has that kind of mindset, huh? But I’ve always had my head in the clouds and like the ends of books, movies and shows to wrap up and resolve everything. So, here I am in my 40’s thinking that maybe I have it wrong. Just as diabetes is a condition that must be dealt with until the end of one’s life, so is sin. Just because you get your blood sugars under control this moment, doesn’t mean that they will STAY under control. Every hour, minute, and food or drink taken in (or not) effects the blood sugar of a diabetic. Every choice we make effects the moments of our lives. The person struggling with pornography has to guard every moment on the internet. The alcoholic has to guard against every temptation to drink. The compulsive shopper has to guard their money and budget.

When a diabetic begins to experience fluctuating sugars, they have many tools at their disposal. The meter can tell them exactly what their sugar is. There is insulin that can be taken to bring the sugar down. There are things to take orally to raise the sugar. If there are extremes, the patient has the option to contact a doctor or hospital. Each of these steps are the choice of the patient. When a diabetic ignores the signs, when they choose NOT to use any of these tools, there is only one result. Death. If there is not intervention by others, the diabetic dies. If we ignore the Holy Spirit’s voice, His ‘meter’ if you will, sin overtakes us. If we are still struggling after repentance, we have the Godly family to call upon. He even provides Godly therapists and counselors for those of us who need deeper intervention. Each of these steps are the choice of the sinner. They cannot be forced upon us. If we choose to ignore our sin and choose not to use the tools He has given to us, there can only be one result. Spiritual death.

The beautiful thing that can happen to the sinner is this… We have a LOT more time than a diabetic has. While a diabetic may only have hours, we have a longsuffering God. He can give us days, months, years to return to Him. Don’t loose hope if your loved one is in the middle of what would be called a diabetic crisis in medical terminology. They are on God’s timetable. Pray for them. Continue to lift their names up to Him. Do not loose hope. If they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, they will begin to crave Him again. If they haven’t, they can begin to crave what they have never had.

Merry Christmas

May your days be merry and bright.

Happy Christmas to all.

And remember the greatest Gift that was given

that amazing day!

From Lara and my family

to yours.

A Baby Changes Everything

Several years ago, Johnson & Johnson began airing some powerful commercials. They featured babies or children in special moments with their families. The tag-line was 'A baby changes everything'. Because of my struggle with infertility, I learned to avoid those commercials. They invariably made me sad. You don't have to tell someone who longs for children that a child can change your life. We already know that. So, this fall, when Faith Hill's Christmas CD came out with that title, I groaned. Christmas is so much more magical when children are involved. I assumed that is what the title indicated. Then, a few nights ago, I heard the title song. If you haven't heard it yet, you need to. Just as inviting Jesus into your heart and life changes everything, so did His coming to earth 2000 years ago.

The old hymn informs us that He accepts me 'just as I am'. But He doesn't leave us that way. We are lost, broken, wounded, blind, etc. This God, who loves us enough to become man, finds, heals and carries us. No, He is not a baby in the straw. He just started that way. This Man. This Lord. This risen Saviour. This God who was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough. He changes everything!

Merry Christmas from me & mine to you & yours.

Lara

'Into every life, a little rain must fall." Personally, I've always hated this saying. I'm happy ending kind of girl. You know, the ones where the good guys win over the bad guys. The girl or guy gets the person of their dreams and live happily ever after. It has provided some interesting moments in my life. It has only taken a few decades to realize that ideal has no root in reality. Have I ever mentioned that I can be a little slow on the uptake? I've been pasting some quotes recently & hope this habit doesn't annoy you all, but this one from Rick Warren is one that I believe is very appropriate right now.

It's Christmas. One of my favorite times of year. Very BIG in the Moore house. If you've been following my previous posts, you know that I've been dealing with some disappointments. So far, they've been only in one area of my life. But...

"Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for."

Rick Warren

Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water... Rain falls whether you are ready for it or not. It doesn't wait until you have your umbrella, raincoat or rain boots. It usually comes when you left your car windows down. No matter what is happening in your life, the people you love can be standing in the rain, too. I guess it isn't all about me and mine, is it? The beautiful thing about God is that He can work and intervene in all our lives and all at the same time. And that while we all may be hurting, we can still take care of each other.

Are You Looking?

I'm on a list to receive a weekly devotion from Max Lucado. Here is the latest one. He ALWAYS gets to me! Don't forget to look, listen and pay attention this Christmas season. He has so much to share.

The Arrival

by Max Lucado

God had entered the world as a baby.
Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.
The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.
A more lowly place of birth could not exist.
Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor; perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him—so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.
Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can’t remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn’t figured it all out. The mystery of the event puzzles him. But he hasn’t the energy to wrestle with the questions. What’s important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes he remembers the name the angel told him to use … Jesus. “We will call him Jesus.”
Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph’s saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33)
He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.
Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.
She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!
This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.
Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.
Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking.
Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

From God Came Near©

(Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006)

Max Lucado

Psalm 100

(Amplified Bible)
Psalm 100
A Psalm of thanksgiving and for the thank offering.

1MAKE A joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!

2Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!

3Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!

5For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.