Birthplaces

During this season of the year, we think a lot about the birth of Jesus. And we think of His birthplace, Bethlehem. It is a special place to us as Christians, because it is where our Savior took His first breath in a human body. Divinity met humanity, perfectly combined in one little being.  It is where the prophet, Micah, had said He would be born.

MIC 5:2 KJV,  But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

There are many other towns/cities and states and countries that claim to be the birthplace of many different notable people. Illinois is known as the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and Virginia as the birthplace of George Washington, etc.

The birthplace of my children will always be a place that is close to my heart. There is something very special about meeting the new little life you have carried for 9 months.

As I think about birth and birthplaces, it reminds me of the words of Jesus in John 3.

John 3:3 KJV

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Our natural birthplace is special, but it is our spiritual one that is the most important! It is as vital to being a part of the kingdom of God, as birth is to having life here on this earth. As a mother, I look forward to the spiritual birthplaces of my children. And I think that I will treasure them even more than their natural birthplaces.

So this Christmas, as we think about Jesus birth, may we also think about our own birth into His kingdom and thank Him for giving us that new life abundantly! Let's worship Him for He is worthy!

Celebrating the Birth of our Mediator!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the busyness that goes along with this special Christmas season! I am sorry for the long absence here. We have been very busy with many good things, one of which is taking care of a new foster baby. I do hope to do better at updating! 

Today I was reading through Job 9 and this verse stood out to me.

Job 9:33 HCSB

There is no one to judge between us, to lay his hand on both of us.

Job realized that because of God's greatness and his smallness, he could not question or answer to God. This is what he said just a few verses before:

Job 9:15 HCSB

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

I think that Job realized that there needed to be someone that could be a go-between, someone that understood both divinity and humanity, a mediator. He was looking forward to the time when God would send a redeemer to reconcile mankind to Himself. That mediator/redeemer is our precious King Jesus! 

1 Timothy 2:5 HCSB

For there is one God and one mediator  between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human.

This Christmas season, let's celebrate not only the birth, but also the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and praise God that through Him (Jesus) we have access to the Father. We now have someone that is our go-between, our mediator! 

Praise God's Glory

A continuation of our thoughts on thanksgiving....

Ephesians 1:3, 7, 11-12 HCSB

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.   We have redemption in Him  through His blood, the forgiveness  of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace We have also received an inheritance  in Him, predestined  according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, so that we who had already put our hope  in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

We cherish the times when our children express their love to us. Whether it is an "I wuv you, Mommy" or an "I wike your dwess", it always warms my heart.

I think that it is the same way for God. He is so great and has done so many mighty things for us and we are mere dust in comparison to Him. Yet He loves and wants to hear our praise and adoration for Him. He has blessed us with so much, we should be bursting with thankfulness and praise! Just read Ephesians 1:3-14, and look at the descriptive words in that passage that talk about what God has done! Let's take conscious time today to bless, praise, and thank our Heavenly Father. Will you join me?

Thank you, Father God, for all the spiritual blessings that You have given to me today. I want to bring praise to Your Glory today. You have done so much for me, and when I really stop and think about it, I can't help but adore, honor, and praise You, for You alone are worthy! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Thank God for Victory!

As we head into this season of Thanksgiving, I would like to think about things that we can thank God for. Today I want to focus on these verses:

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 HCSB

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work,  knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

The other evening, we took our family out to try the new ice cream shop in town. While we were waiting in line, I observed a father and small son that were also waiting. While they waited, they were playing "Pin the Thumb". When the little boy won, he jumped up and down and celebrated his victory.

We also can be excited about the victory that is already declared in heaven. Jesus Christ has won the battle against the devil and evil once and for all by His death on the cross. We must thank God for this amazing gift! And then out of our thankful hearts, we need to serve Him and 'excel in the Lord's work'.

"Thank you, Father God, for declaring the victory over sin and evil! Thank you for giving us the tremendous privilege of claiming that victory with Christ. We praise You and magnify Your Name! Give us the grace (power) to excel in Your work today! In Jesus name, Amen

"Gratitude unexpressed is plain old ingratitude"

Messes and Me

Psalms 51:1-10 HCSB

Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against You — You alone — I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge. Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Turn Your face away  from my sins and blot out all my guilt. God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast  spirit within me.

Today was one of those days......when I put the children down for their afternoon naps, the house looked like a tornado had hit and all that was left in its path was toys and crumbs and shreds of paper. I told Carsten "You boys made a big mess! ... That makes mommy sad!" He replied, "It doesn't make me sad!"... "I just don't want to clean it up." I had to laugh a little then. And it made me think.

About messes....

How often does God look at my life and say "You made a big mess!"? What is my attitude when He reveals something that needs to change in my life? Am I sad about my messes? Am I willing to go through the hard work of cleaning up?

Later at the dinner table, we were taking about who cleans up the mess and Carsten says "Mommy had to clean it up all by herself." (I did because the boys had gone down for naps) This makes me think about how this is similar to how God deals with us.  He is willing to take our mess and clean it up ... one little piece at a time. He never gives up and is insistent on total purity.

Prayer for today:
LORD, thank you for having an interest in the messes in my life. I give you my heart and ask you to clean it up and remove all the messes I have made. Forgive my wretched sins and make me clean and new so that I can serve you in your kingdom! In and through Jesus name,  Amen

Life Stories

Psalms 78:22, 35, 38-39, 65, 68, 72 KJV

Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: .... And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. .... But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.  For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again....  Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.....  But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.....  So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.


Life stories....

Some are long.
Some are short.

Some are full of drama.
Some are just ordinary.

Some are well known
Some are not known at all.

All are interesting.

All would show the mercy of God,  the grace of God,  the immense love of God.

Whether the person lived for Christ or not, God could still be seen working in his/her life.

This passage is a beautiful story but not because the Israelites loved and obeyed God with all their hearts and lives but because God is faithful.

God chose them and had many reasons to give up on them. But He didn't. Because of His character. Because of His commitment. Because of His love.

If you read the full chapter of Psalm 78, you will find that the Israelites were not faithful and yet God was and still IS!

How will your life story read? What will be said about you at the end of your life?

My desire is that my life story world be so wrapped up in God and my Savior that not much of "me" would shine through.

May "the world see Jesus when they look at my life".

Dear God,
You are so great, we cannot comprehend You! Thank You for the interest and love You show in our lives. I pray that each of us would allow You to write our life story today. Help us to follow Your perfect will for our lives so that when people 'read' our life story, what they see is the Glory of God! We love You and want to live for You! In Jesus name, Amen.

Glorify God

John 21:14-25

This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. John 21:19

We, as ladies, (or humans for that matter) who are followers of Jesus, have our ideas of what it means to glorify God. We may think that we can best glorify God by having a pure heart, worshipping Him alone or collectively, doing a good deed, praising Him, telling our neighbor about Him, etc. (And please don't think that I am minimizing the importance of glorifying God in these ways).

Sometimes though God may have a different plan or path for us to take to glorify Him better. In this passage, Jesus told Peter that he was going to glorify God in his death. How many of us want to talk about THAT? I mean "God, I can do so much more for You, bring You more glory, if I am a living body and not a dead one, right?" Our human reasoning tries to kick in.

But wait, Daughter of the King, who are you living for anyway? Do you remember how big the God you serve is? And that one of the paradoxes of life through Christ is that in complete surrender is complete freedom?

So my challenge to you today is this,  allow God to glorify Himself in you today in whatever way HE sees best, in whatever way HE will receive the MOST Glory.

Dear Father, 
Glorify Yourself in and through me today. If that takes me out of my comfort zone or means me doing something I don't really want to do, give me the grace(power) to do it anyway. I want to live for your Glory today. Because of and through and in, Jesus' name, I pray.  Amen. 

God WILL Do It!

Ezekiel 12:25-28 KJV

For I am the Lord : I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God .  Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.  Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God ; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God .

I am reading through Ezekiel right now and was blessed by this passage this morning.

Sometimes we can get discouraged by the failure of others or even ourselves to do the things we said we would do. Maybe it's the politician who didn't carry out his promises, or a salesman that didn't deliver the quality of goods you expected. Maybe it's your parents that couldn't quite hold up their end of the deal or your husband who didn't make it home by the time he said he would. Whatever it is, we all know and can relate to the feeling of disappointment that comes with these situations.

One thing about God that we can be sure about is that He will keep His Word! He has promised that and He cannot lie. (Numbers 23:19) He will always DO what He has said he will do. We can trust Him without fear of disappointment.

God is so much greater than our finite minds can comprehend and we may not understand all the 'whys' of life. He alone can see the big picture.  He also doesn't operate in the constraints of time, like we do. So we shouldn't be surprised if He doesn't always work in our lives or the lives of those around us in the ways we expect. This should not make us trust Him less, but rather more, knowing that "He makes all things beautiful, in His time" (Ecclesiasties 3:11).

Choose to trust Him today. Look for things that He has promised in His Word and cling to them. You will not be disappointed or have your hopes dashed!

"The word which I have spoken shall be done"

Amen! 

Getting Better at Meditation by Tim Challies

Here is a link to a good blog post on meditating on God's Word. That is an area that I want to grow in. I want to dig into God's Word deeper and grow in my knowledge of Him! Read it and let me know what you think! :-)

P.S. I especially like some of the ideas in the comments...

With Each Sunrise

Lamentations 3:21-33

Mornings breath steals across
        Country and city,
             Bringing hope, fresh and new.

Just as morning wraps her arms
        Around me,
So I imagine God's new mercies
        For the day
               Enfolding me
               Empowering me
               Energizing me
                    To face the challenges
                           Unique to today.

"Great is His Faithfulness"
        For every morning
                He provides new mercy,
                If I only stop long enough
                        To let it refresh me!

"Wait patiently"
        Don't rush into your morning,
                Dear Sister,
                       So fast that you miss
                              His new Refreshing Mercy
                                      That is specially
                                              For you!

Look forward to each sunrise
         For it points to
                The Eternal Sonrise
                         Of King Jesus.

Faithfulness

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 ESV

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Faithfulness

When I think of faithfulness
     I think of being
          Trustworthy
          Steadfast
          Unchanging
                No matter what
          Consistent
      And realizing that there is
           Someone greater
                Than me
                     Whose glory I live for.

And He (God) also is faithful.
       Even though He answers
            to no one.
Yet He is faithful
        Because that is His character.

May He faithfully direct
       My heart and yours
             To His love
             And Christ's steadfastness.

Amen.

Pray for Christians being Persecuted!

Let's pray for the ones that are being harmed by ISIS. Here is an article on what is happening now.

Dear Father God,
   We come to You in the name of our King Jesus! We bless You for Your presence and Your love.  We adore you for what You have done for us. We praise You for the blessing of coming to You as Your child redeemed.

And we implore you on behalf of our brothers and sisters being persecuted in the Middle East. We pray that you would bind up the power of Satan and his demons and thwart the plans of these evil men.

 Be very near to the suffering Christians. I pray for the fathers, that you would give them wisdom to lead their families and grace to be strong for You. I pray for the mothers, O God, my heart goes out to them as they have to watch their children suffer! Please fill them with inner strength and physical well being. I pray for the children. We know how much you love the children! I pray for their protection and physical needs. Work miracles by your angels on their behalf!

I pray to for the men carrying out these atrocities. They need to find You as their Savior. Lead them to the foot of the cross where they can find your grace. Stop their wicked plans by the name of King Jesus!

Father, thank You for holding off the demise of this world another day. We know it is because You are being patient with souls that need You. Continue to draw people to You today!

We bless and honor Your Most Holy Name! And pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ! Amen

Following God and walking in Absolute Love.

EPH 5:1-2 KJV

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

We are called to follow Christ and walk as He walked, do as He did, and love as He loved. He has loved us with Absolute Love and we are to show that Absolute Love to everyone. This includes our friends and family of course, but also includes our enemies and people that we would just rather not be around.

Here is a message that is very inspirational on the topic of Absolute Love.

My prayer for you today is that God would give you the grace to show His Love to everyone you meet.  May your children and family see today that your cup is full and running over with the Love of God!

God creates Beauty!

Isaiah 61:3 KJV

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord , that he might be glorified.

God is the author of beauty! Nature itself points to Him. No person can begin to create something that has life and is as beautiful as his creation. It's the same way in the spiritual realm. Christ is the only one who can give life and He gives it abundantly! He takes away our deadness and makes beauty out of our ashes!

Glory in our King

1 Corinthians 1:31b, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.

As a daughter of the King, we should only seek to bring glory to our God, not to ourselves in any way. This includes every area of our life, from the way we dress to the way we act, from who we associate with to where we go. We need to constantly be thinking and analyzing "Does this bring glory to the King"

One area that I was recently convicted about is the area of dress. This message helped me to analyze why I wear the things I do. Do I like getting attention for myself or do I wear clothes that bring the focus to the God who is living in my heart?

Thought for the day: Let us bring glory to God today by what we say, do, wear, how we act, and where we go.