“She gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged.” Luke 2:7
Today’s post is an entry from “Journey Through The Stillness”, my personal spiritual journal that I have been sharing on facebook since the start of 2010. I am sharing it now because I know most will get quite busy over the next few days and probably won’t be checking in as often. I hope it touches your heart and brings you a little closer to Him. God bless, and Merry Christmas to all!
June 18, 2010 – We are going for a walk again today. I find myself walking alongside Jesus down dusty, dirty, crowded streets in the town of Bethlehem. As we go along I begin to smell the stench of animal feces mixed with the scent of hay, and an earthy odor that makes my nose burn. At the end of the street we are facing a crude stable area up against a rocky formation. Now the stench is almost overwhelming. We walk up to one of the stables. It is mostly under the overhang of the rocks, but a small thatched roof extends out beyond, supported by two cut tree limbs. There are limbs and branches forming a makeshift fence from the rock wall out to the support limbs and across the front. There is an opening in the middle, and there is a rope across the opening. Inside the stable are a couple of very old milking cows, a goat, and a couple of sheep. Looking along the row of stables I can see that each one is pretty much the same. There are dogs running around and barking loudly. Jesus looks at me and says, “I wanted you to see where I had my start into the human journey I was sent to traverse.” It is hard to look my Risen Lord in the eye at this moment so I just stare into the filthy little stable. He says, “Mary wanted some clean hay to birth and then set me upon. There wasn’t any. Joseph tried to dig through for the cleanest, but in the end, they had to make do with hay that had been soiled with animal saliva and excrement. At times Mary was overwhelmed by the stench and was want to faint, but Joseph pressed her to his robe that she might breathe a familiar smell. There wasn’t any clean water, either, Martha. Only the trough water, which Joseph wanted to heat over a fire, but things were happening too fast. There wasn’t time. Joseph could see and feel Mary’s pain. He knew her wishes for their newborn son and he could not provide. He prayed to The Father for all to be over quickly. It was, but then there were new concerns. I needed to be kept safe and warm. Warm he could handle; safe was an entirely different issue.” I still do not want to look at Him, but I do. He is looking lovingly at me. He says, “Everyone wants the nice, sweet story of my birth. It was far from sweet, Martha, but filled with LOVE.”
And here is the entry from yesterday that completes the story:
December 20, 2010- A star is shining so brightly above me that I can barely open my eyes to see. I am there, at the stable. Jesus is cradled in the hay. My Lord says, “See my child, my Son, whom I love with a love no human being can even begin to fathom. I would shower Him with all that is good at His birth, but it would not serve mankind for Him to be in Kingly circumstances. For the sake of the world this is how it must be. My Son, my child. Watch over Him. Love Him. He is my gift to you and all men. Remember, daughter, you are my child also. Seek to learn ALL that this means. Seek to do ALL that I ask, and ALL will be yours.”
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