25 Days of Christmas: Merry Christmas

Have you stopped to read the scriptural account of the birth of Jesus today?

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, 

   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived

Jesus Storybook Bible = Great Gift

"It's not a book of rules. It's not a book of heroes. It's most of all a Story. And Every Story Whispers His Name...The Bible as novel for kids."

Whether you are buying for one of your children, grandchildren, niece or nephew, finding a gift that they don’t already have or one that they won’t toss a side quickly is always a challenge.  I always love it when I can find gifts that will work for my boys in different stages.  We received the Jesus Storybook Bible from a good friend when B was born and I am in love with this book!  Of course we pray daily that the Bible will never be something our boys toss aside, but the best thing about this format is that I feel like it will grow with them.  We have several different children’s Bibles, but so far this is by far my fave!  

Right now at 3 years old, D is captivated by the pictures and we break up the stories into several parts to keep him interested and I can see him reading the Jesus Storybook Bible for himself in just a few short years!  If you are looking for a gift for a child, you won’t be disappointed with this purchase.  I have seen them at Lifeway and Family Christian and of course you can find them online.

Biblical Models of Prayer

I don’t know about you, but I can often make things more difficult than they need to be especially in regards to my spiritual life and prayer.  I am a self professed doctrine nerd, so digging into doctrine and studying scripture is something I like to do and comes easier or more natural to me than prayer.  I want to over complicate prayer when scripture gives us several examples and models that we can use to pray.

Lord’s Prayer: Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus urges us to begin prayer with praise for God.  He then shows us to ask for daily needs, the forgiveness of sins, and the strength to avoid temptation.

We also see a Jesus request for God’s will to be done and be accomplished. We must acknowledge that He alone is in control and have an attitude that above anything, we want the Lord's will.

Nehemiah 1

This passage gives us a model for prayer that takes the focus off of ourselves and our needs and first puts the focus on God.

• Adoration- Spend time adoring the LORD.  Who is He?  Which of His attributes is present, real, and apparent in your life today? Who does Scripture say He is?
• Thanksgiving- Thank Him for not only who He is but for what He has done.
• Confession- Lay out your sin before Him.
• Petition- You have praised him for who He is, thanked Him for what He has done, and confessed your sin, now bring your requests before Him.

Praying Scripture

Throughout the New Testament we see numerous examples of praying Scripture back to the Father.  One example is in Acts 4, where we see the early church praying the words of Psalm 2.

Other Suggestions:

• Journaling: For years I have written out my prayers in a journal.  I am more consistent with it sometimes than others, but I love having the journals to go back to and remember how God grew me through a situation.
• Praying out loud: Do you have a conversation with your best friend in your head? I know that we can’t always pray out loud, but for me it helps keep me focused and it makes it more personal.
• Get alone with God: We can approach God anytime, anywhere, but we need to make sure that we are spending focused time in prayer where we are alone with God.
• Schedule a meeting: Put an unbreakable appointment on your calendar to spend time in prayer.
• Get on your knees: It is a position of humility and surrender and can reflect the position of our heart.

Waiting

There is no easy way to put it ... waiting is hard.  Part of having a depraved nature from birth means that we don’t like to wait.  My baby doesn’t like to wait for his bottle.  My three year old is struggling to learn how to wait every day particularly since his little brother arrived.  I am constantly saying and having to repeat, “WAIT” or “I be patient.”  Whether it is waiting on God to bring the right man for you, struggling through infertility, or waiting for direction from the LORD about a decision, waiting isn’t easy.  We are all called to wait at some point in our lives.  This week we are going to look at how we should face times of waiting as well as experiences of waiting from myself and others I know.

The Gospel for Every Day Living

Last week I was able to go and have coffee with one of my precious mentors. It was so nice to be able to sit with her for 2 hours. I feel like I bombarded her with questions.  We talked about many things from Bible Doctrine to time management tips. I took away several lessons from our conversation, but if I could sum up our conversation in one phrase it would be: “the Gospel isn’t just for salvation but for everyday living.” I had heard her use the phrase before, but on this morning those words washed over me in a whole new way.

What is the Gospel? It is the message of Christ’s submission to God the Father by his death on the cross. The gospel is the good news that Christ’s death provides an atonement - or payment - for our sin so that we can have a personal relationship with God the Father here on earth and in eternity. In order for us to have that relationship, there is a personal death that must happen. At salvation, we die to ourselves by admitting that we are in need of saving from the punishment of our sin and in faith we turn to Christ repent of our sins and trust Him alone as Savior.  

Just as we have to die to ourselves at salvation, we also have to die to ourselves every day. Every day, we must make the choice to be under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  We must die to our desire to be in control and to be comfortable. We proclaim the Gospel in our lives everyday when we chose to put away sin and pursue holiness.  Every day we can use the Gospel message of Salvation. It isn’t something that can be left behind the day our personal relationship with Jesus Christ begins. This daily submission to the Lordship of Christ is part of our sanctification. In this daily submission, we acknowledge the truth of the Gospel everyday.

At the stage of life I am in right now, the Gospel for everyday living means that I have to wake up each morning and serve my family no matter how tired I am. It means that I will do the daily household tasks with joy. It means that I will discipline my 2-1/2 year old when it would be easier to let it slide. It means that I will not nag my husband. It means that I will study God’s word when I would rather do something else. It means that I will walk away from the conversation that turns into gossip. I will put to death the selfishness, desire to be in control, and laziness that wants to reign in my flesh and live in the grace that comes with dying to yourself and living under the Lordship of Christ.

“The he said to them all “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Will I make the choice to be under the Lordship of Jesus Christ today?  What needs to be put to death in my life today?  

Meet My Friends: Crawl into Your Father's Lap

Christi with daughters Mary-Allison and Mia

Today I am excited to be sharing a guest post from my friend Christi.  I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it through my first year of motherhood without her.  She graciously took all my panicked phone calls and calmed my first time mom jitters over everything from development to teething!  Christi is an amazing momma, talented writer and editor and blogs at Witty Words.

One morning I struggled to get out of bed. Well, to be honest, I struggle every single morning to get out of bed. I am certainly not a morning person—and probably will never be! My perfect morning would be to rise early, get an invigorating workout in, have a meaningful quiet time with God, shower, and emerge feeling energized for the day as my darling children wake up and run swiftly to greet me. Sounds likely, doesn’t it? HA! The reality is my alarm is set for that early, early hour—and then the snooze button is pushed for 20, 30, even 40 minutes! Then I drag myself out of bed, groaning about the disappointment in myself for not waking early to exercise and have quiet time yet again.

But this particular morning, I did wake up early enough to have quiet time. And boy, did I need it that day! My heart was heavy, and I needed to be filled from God’s Word. I settled myself on the couch and barely opened my Bible when I heard the creak of my daughter’s bedroom door. I sighed. Seriously? I just wanted one morning with God by myself. Couldn’t I just have that Lord, just this one time? I gritted my teeth, already upset with my innocent child.

“Hi, Mommy,” she said sleepily.         

“Mary-Allison, it’s awful early for you to be up. Why don’t you go back to bed?”

“What are you doing, Mommy?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her teddy bear.

“I was going to read my Bible, honey. But you really need to go back to bed.”

 “Mommy, I just want to be with you.”

Very gently, Mary-Allison climbed into my lap, laid her head on my chest, and said, “OK, Mommy, you can keep reading. I just want to be with you.”

 I breathed a prayer of thanks to God and squeezed my precious child, taking in the moment that I knew would be fleeting.        

God taught me on that early morning that this is what He says to us: I want to be with you. I want you to crawl into My lap and allow Me to be your Father, your Friend, and your Savior.

Won’t you crawl into your Father’s lap today?