Fear not!

Our Daily Bread
I go to a lot of movies.  The special effects of CGI (computer generated imagery) can seem to trick the eye into seeing things that don't seem possible.  The results are amazing and sometimes a little overwhelming!  I have seen so much of this stuff now that simple movies seem almost pale in comparison!

Can you imagine seeing a movie full of CGI 2000 years ago?  The shepherds didn't see CGI angels!  They were the real thing!  How overwhelming that must have been!  For us today, it might be like the movie Avatar was real!  ha!  There are other encounters with angels in the birth stories in Luke.  Elizabeth had an encounter.  Mary had an encounter.  There was also the wise men encounter with the star!  God gave us all of these things to bring the Savior of the world to us.  Praise God!

Lord, we thank you for the its-real-its-not-CGI moments in the story of the birth of Jesus.  We thank you and praise you!

Psalm Sunday
I apologize for missing two Psalm Sundays due to my vacation.  The long drives to and back from Ft Lauderdale took a lot out of me!  I am getting back on track this week with Psalm 121.  It is hard to believe that we have been looking at psalms for over two years!  Our journey will be over in the middle of 2014.

Psalm 121 is another in the series of "song of ascents" that spiritual pilgrims would chant or sing while traveling to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage.  I especially like this one.  Don't forget to read it out loud!

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

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Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13