Enlightened

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.” (Isaiah 16:16-20)
 
Today is Epiphany, when Christians have traditionally ended the Twelve Days of Christmas by celebrating the arrival of the Magi, pagan astrologers who came to worship the young boy Jesus as King of the Jews. Isaiah was among the prophets who had predicted that God would call and enlighten the people of all nations through the appearance of His Savior. The Magi understood the appearance of a bright light in the sky as a sign that God was intervening in human history, and we understand the appearance of the Magi as a sign from God that all people are invited to join in the joy of the salvation that came about through that intervention!

​“Heavenly Father, thank you for drawing us to the light of Your salvation. May we join believers from all ages and all nations in seeking out and worshiping You as King, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
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AIR LINES:
An airliner flew into a violent thunderstorm at the end of the holiday.
Soon the big jet was swaying and bumping around the sky.
A very nervous lady was sitting next to a pastor and turned to him.
"Can't you do something?" she demanded angrily.
"I'm sorry ma'am," the pastor said gently, "I'm in sales, not management."
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Fifteen minutes into a cross country flight the captain announced,
"Ladies and gentlemen, one of our engines has failed, but don’t worry.
Our flight will take an hour longer than scheduled, but we have three engines left."
Thirty minutes later the captain announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, just an update:
Another engine has failed and the flight will take an additional hour.
But don't worry, we can fly just fine on two engines."
An hour later the captain announced, "Folks, sorry for the inconvenience.
One more engine has failed and our arrival will be delayed another hour.
But don't worry; we can still safely land the plane."
A young passenger turned to the man in the next seat and remarked,
"If we lose one more engine, we'll be up here all day!"
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 The Lord give you wisdom and safe travel this week!
 In Jesus,
 Pastor Kirk