Bye Bye 2010

 So today we all prepare to close another chapter in our lives, so to speak, and embrace another new year.  In just a few hours the ball will drop and we will welcome year 2011!   So many things to think about…maybe 2010 was a joyous year for you, your best year yet, or maybe it was a year filled with pain and regrets or possibly a little of both, right?  Some may be ready to wave goodbye to 2010 and others not so sure, but either way time rushes ahead, the clock keeps ticking, and our hearts full with hope and anticipation for what lies ahead.  I love thinking about the future I can even feel my heart smile, if that is possible, because I know what a glorious future awaits me.  As Christians we are banking on what the future holds for us, it is our Hope!   God’s future grace and promises  are what we hold fast to as we continue our race of faith, especially when the road is rugged and all uphill at times.  So I consider a few of the promises I can bank on for year 2011

I am one year closer to beholding my King face to face (1Cor.13:12)

The Good work Christ has begun in me will be more completed this year (phil. 1:6)

I will become more transformed into the glorious image of Christ (2Cor. 3:18)

And of course there are many more.  Take some time and consider the glorious future that is awaiting you as God’s child.  May I encourage us to make 2011 a year of pressing on for the prize, holding fast to Christ and His promises and laying up treasures in heaven and not on earth! 

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13-14

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

No Room In The Inn

Before we leave the Christmas season and move on to celebrate the New Year I just have to share one more thing about the Christ of Christmas.

“If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost.  There was no room in the inn for Him.  Is there room in your heart for Him?” Corrie Ten Boom

My beloved Corrie Ten Boom always evangelizing the world even still today although she died in 1983.  She pleads with us not to miss the reason for the season, Christ in us!  Christ born in Bethlehem so I may have new birth, dead to sin and alive in Christ.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7

He Sent His Word

After rocking Mady to sleep last night I rushed straight to my bedroom, grabbed my bible and my stack of books and plopped on the bed eager to spend some time with the Lord.  One of the lessons I was working on had me doing a chapter study on psalm 107 which I soon fell in love with!  So be prepared you may get more than one blog out of this one!!   So there I was, back propped up with a stack of pillows and amidst all the underlining and highlighting there it was the verse of the night, verse 20!  I immediately began praying it for myself as well as all of you and wishing I had been praying it my whole life. I hope you love it as much as I do and pray it like crazy!!!

“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

Look how God healed and delivered… by sending His word!

The word destructions can also be translated “pits”.  I know we all have hurts of some kind and have all experienced pits at some time or another or maybe even now for some.  So I pray that God would send His word and heal you and deliver you out of your pits.  Join with me in learning to pray this powerful verse! Psalm 107:20

Wait for the Lord

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord”

 Psalm 27:14

So today in my devotions this is the verse that jumped off the page of my bible and worked its way deep into my heart and I hope there it will stay!  How I need to wait for the Lord!!  Look at the imperatives in this verse… wait, be strong, take courage and again wait.  It is strong and courageous to wait for the Lord.  There are so many times I want to act cowardly and take matters into my own hands.    This is one of those days for me.   Is it for you too, my friend?  I have learned that in times like this my words impart no comfort, so here is God’s promise for us…

“Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed…” Psalm 25:3

O Little Town of Bethlehem

So our traveling stops today in Bethlehem that of course is where we must eat!  Why do we need to eat here?  I am so glad you asked.

“Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.  While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:4-7

 I marvel at the scene of Christ’s birth and the beauty of the imagery. Bethlehem where Christ was born, means “House of Bread”, and where He was laid, a manger is a feeding trough.  God divinely ordered all these details because they represent who Christ is.  So this is why I say we are invited to eat because God laid our Christmas present in a feeding trough.

“This is the bread which comes down out of heaven; so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 6:50-51

Let the Christ of Christmas feed your soul this Christmas!  He is all you need! 

Merry Christmas!!!

To Us A Child Is Born

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

I just had to spend one more day blogging about Isaiah 9:6.  To me this verse is a treasure chest overflowing with the radiance of Christ our Lord!  So, you know me, I had to make a list of all He is from the text.  With this verse I actually like to make 3 lists just so I can try to absorb it all!

List One                                           List Two

Christ is…                                          Christ is…

Wonderful                                          Counselor

Mighty                                               God

Everlasting                                         Father

Peace                                                 Prince

How powerful each word is as you look at them separtely!  But let us not forget list #3

List Three

Christ is…

Child

Son

Seems strange doesn’t it?  How can this list go with the first two? The previous lists seem so awesome and powerful and the 3^rd so lowly, empty, but oh so divine.  This is the Christ of Christmas!

“Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil.2:6-8

This is what Christmas beckons us to do, come and behold Christ in all His deity as well as all His humanity! 

“Glory to God, Glory in the highest… O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him Christ the Lord!”

Wonderful Counselor

 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Just looking at all that Christ is in this verse is incredibly amazing!  So once more let’s take the time to quiet ourselves and intentionally worship the Christ of Christmas.   Today I just want to pause at His first name, Wonderful Counselor.  If you look up the transliteration and meaning of these two words they basically mean exactly what they say.  Wonderful meaning extraordinary and counselor meaning, giving counsel, advise.   

So the beginning of the verse says... unto us He is born to us He is given.  The Wonderful Counselor was given specifically to me and to you.  How has He been a Wonderful Counselor to you personally?  

As I reflect, let me share with you one way He has been a Wonderful Counselor to me.  He has given me His word and allowed me to feast on His truth!  One special thing this Wonderful Counselor has shown me is that He is a covenant God.  I am so thankful that He has revealed Himself to me that way through the wonderful counsel the word.  “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant.”(Psalm 25:14) Thank you Wonderful Counselor for revealing Yourself to me.

Please take time today to reflect on how the Christ of Christmas, born for you, has been a Wonderful Counselor to you personally.  Then go and adore Him once more!

O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Come Let Us Adore Him (part 2)

“And she gave birth to her first born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:7

I invite you…. come close to the manger, gaze over the edge and behold the wonder of this baby who is…

The Word of God, God, Creator, Life, the Light of Men, the True Light, the Only Begotten from the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, Jesus of Nazareth, King of Israel and the Son of Man!

This is the Christ of Christmas that you find in John chapter one.  How amazing to find all of that in just one chapter!  I hope you had a chance to search this out for yourself and spend time worshiping Him.  Have you experienced this Christ personally?  Which name or names are you reflecting on?   Take some time tonight, pause the wrapping and baking, dim the lights, light some candles and worship Him.

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Recently one of my girlfriends shared her interesting black Friday experience with me.  While accompanying her friend, whose microwave had recently croaked, to Target early that morning to grab a smokin’ deal on a new one, she spotted  some very serious shoppers prepare for what seemed like , battle.  This courageous group of about 6 people, which I will name Troop 6 for the sake of this blog, had of course claimed the most coveted place of all, front of the line. It appeared that Troop 6 had camped out all night and were now keeping all their fingers and toes warm by a cozy little fire.    As they stood huddled around a huge blown up map of the entire store, Troop 6 intently studied their specific routes, which of course were all marked out.  Each one armed and ready to shop holding in their hands a handy dandy list, all necessary ad clippings and an envelope with just the right amount of dough.  As the time drew near for the unlocking of the doors they eagerly reviewed their plans and recited what each was to do, keeping their eye on the target. (ha ha that’s where they were shopping!)  As their long wait was quickly drawing to an end, pressures mounted with each tick of the clock as Troop 6 suddenly became aware that their map wasn’t quite as accurate as they thought.  Knowing the doors would soon swing wide open, Troop 6 regrouped and remapped out some final strategies.  Can you just see this whole seen playing out in your mind’s eye?  I sure can and I chuckle a little with a non-judgmental smirk painted on my face, knowing that I get the same way about things that are important to me.  As she so descriptively relayed this story to me, I thought what effort, what intention and focus Troop 6 had, all for the right gift at the right price.

This reminded me of a challenge that I had recently received from Kay Arthur in one of my morning devotion times.  She urged us to intentionally quiet ourselves and spend some time each day reflecting and meditating on the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Right away I noticed the word intentionally and realized how accurately she had penned that word.  In our commercialized culture with most of the emphasis placed on material things, this time of year a majority of our time and energy are spent planning, shopping, and driving ourselves more into debt.  You really do have to do some upstream swimming to refocus things on Christ.  Just like Troop 6, we too have to plan, prepare, maybe even map out a strategy, and be super intentional during this season to celebrate what it is all about…  Immanuel, God with us.

Now I know you have heard this message all before, so all that to say this…  I have a challenge for you, but it is going to take effort, focus and intention.  I was given this challenge so I am just passing it on to you.  I myself also completed the challenge and really enjoyed it.  Of course you know that because it is the whole reason for this super long blog!  So here is what I challenge you to do… Read the first chapter of John underline or circle all of the words that describe the Christ of Christmas.  Write them out on a list and then worship your King for all He is.  Don’t forget the last three words in the chapter.  Go ahead be intentional!

“O come let us adore Him, o come let us adore Him, o come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

Corrie Ten Boom You Hit The Nail Right On The Head!!

Have you ever learned or experienced something that you just couldn’t put into words.  Then all of the sudden someone says it so eloquently, and it hits you right between the eyes, and you shout “yes! I know that. You are right! You are right!”  Well that is exactly what happened to me a couple of nights ago while reading Corrie Ten Boom’s, Tramp for the Lord.  Corrie said, “I wish I could say that after a long and fruitful life, traveling the world, I had learned to forgive all my enemies.  I wish I could say that merciful and charitable thoughts just naturally flowed from me and on to others.  But they don’t.  If there is one thing I’ve learned since I’ve passed my eightieth birthday, it’s that I can’t store up good feelings and behavior- but only draw them fresh from God each day.”

 So in total agreement… I shout, “You are so right Corrie!” What a surrendered heart, totally dependent on God’s grace, and therefore He gets all the glory!  What else do I need to say? Like I said, she hit the nail right on the head!

Lamentations 3:20-26

“Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.  This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I hove hope in Him.”  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.  It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.”

Love Makes You Do Crazy Things

I am learning more and more that love can move you do some bizarre things you would have never done!  Love will compel one to do something like, oh should I admit wear a big red Elmo shirt.  Let me just paint this picture for you with a little deeper dimension.  Love compelled me to rummage through the rack to find my exact size, wait in a very long checkout line, dig deep into my wallet, and shell out some dough, rush home and find just the right pants to compliment my brand spanking new Elmo shirt. Then amid all the excitement I slapped it on and wore it before even washing it!

Those of you who know me personally are cracking up right now because you wouldn’t expect to see me sporting this cool shirt , you know it’s a bit outside of my character, and not really my style, but for a wide eyed toddler little girl who can’t stop shouting “ELMO”, I couldn’t help myself.

Praise be to God for His GREAT love.  Who never has to go outside His character to express His love to us!  He is love.  All that He is, He is to us all of the time faithfully.  We could never say, “That doesn’t sound like something God would usually do!”   How awesome is His perfect love!  So hard to comprehend and incomparable with our ways, and exceedingly greater than anything we can grasp. 

I call this GREAT love because that is how God’s love is described for us in Ephesians 2

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ…”

I say we are not able to comprehend this love on our own because Paul prays in chapter 3 of Ephesians that we know this love because it surpasses human comprehension.

“… And that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Delight Drinking

Again I am utterly in awe of the Holy Word of God!  Do simple texts sometimes just knock you out of your chair?  Well I know I am a bit crazy but this seems to happen to me often.  Well to be honest I look everyday for this kind of experience from the Word.   So check this out:

Psalm 36:7-8

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, Oh God! And the Children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.  They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

 Okay, out of my chair, look right there at the last phrase “You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.”  How amazing, I get to drink of what delights the living God.   Have you ever thought about that?  Stop for a minute and let your soul take that in!  What does God take delight in?  One of my favorite books, The Pleasures of God, by Dr. John Piper, can really help answer and take you deeper with that question.

 This text portrays God’s delights as a river.  This river is always flowing, never dry, and always safe to drink from.   Think about the word drink for a minute.  Drinking refreshes, sustains, cools, strengthens and hydrates, it is something you do slowly sip by sip several times a day.   So soak this in with me… Almighty God, full of joy and delight that is continuously flowing like a river, gives me full access to drink from this river and as I do I am refreshed and strengthened.  So why would this delight drinking be so refreshing?  Well as John Piper says, you don’t really know someone until you know what they love and take joy in.  So as I drink deep of all that brings Him joy I experience Him, know Him, walk with Him, enjoy Him, and grow closer to Him.  So if you are one of those who take refuge in the shadow of His wings, understand that you have full access all of the time to drink of His delights!  So what are you waiting for?  DRINK UP!!

 Oh God, that I may drink of Your delights today, so fill me with what brings you joy, and let an abundance overflow on all those around me.

Praying the Book of Ephesians With A Twist

Over a year ago, one of my dearest friends began the vigorous journey of memorizing the entire book of Ephesians.  I thought, wow you are incredibly brave and way smart!  Shortly thereafter during one of her visits by the house she fearlessly handed me a stack of pages bound together in the corner by a staple.  My eyes gazed over the title and it read, An Approach to Extended Scripture Memorization, by Dr. Andrew Davis.  http://seekinghim.net/docs/scripture_memory_booklet.pdf   Knowing how much she had already gained by pursuing this wonderful task, I eagerly went on and read through the method.  It seemed pretty straight forward and much to my surprise quite simple.  After  quieting the loud voice shouting in my head,” you could never do this”,  I then took Dr. Andrew’s advice, asked God for help and off I went to begin with verse one.  With great joy and delight I can say, by God's awesome strength and abundant blessing upon us, we both memorized the whole book along with a few others who joined us along the way.  It was a wonderful experience and really a lot of fun!

 So these days, we are in the retention part of the memorization method, where you are to quote the whole book every day for 100 consecutive days.  My 100th day actually lands on Christmas… how fitting. 

Well all that introduction to set the stage so I can talk to you about praying the book of Ephesians.   Chapters 1 and 3 of Ephesians hold two of the most wonderful prayers and while quoting them we have learned to pray these passages for ourselves as well as others.  So recently my friend told me while out for her daily run she has begun praying the entire book of Ephesians for her husband. Wow! The whole book… I love that!  Then a few days later she told me while praying she became a little perplexed with chapter 6 verses 1and 2.   “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”  Since she has only been married a few years with no little ones yet, who was she to pray this for?   All of the sudden she felt the Lord say, “I want you to pray it for your children.”

  So now I picture one of the most beautiful scenes in my mind, my dear friend out jogging the canal, sun on her face wind at her back, quoting the book of Ephesians while her heart prays it for her husband and the children whom will join their family one day.  Is there anything sweeter?  It sure puts a smile on my face and a song in my heart!  Praise God! 

Ephesians 6:18

“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

I Love This Prayer

A couple of weeks ago, as a counseling session was ending, a young man prayed.  At this very moment the words he said are still reverberating in my heart.  I love this prayer!

“Lord, you have pierced my pride and it hurts but please keep doing it.”

Wow!  How amazing I thought.  He gets it! God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble!  How precious the grace of God has become to him.

What a wonderful, honest, holy prayer.  May that be my cry!

Psalm 10:17

“O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear.”

Learn to Pray for Tackle Boxes

Learn to Pray for Tackle Boxes!!

Just recently our church Bethel Bible celebrated its 2^nd year anniversary.  So in honor of the occasion we had a church retreat.  At this time, we are still a small church and are able to do these incredibly cool things like go tent camping in November at Roosevelt Lake.  Although it was cold at night we all bundled up and kept warm by the camp fire singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.

During the day it was so calm, peaceful and completely serene, just the time and place to do a little fishing.  Well for those of you who do that.  The water was just a short hike down the mountain and the lake was nearly deserted. So well equipped with a tackle box, a couple of fishing poles, and corn as bait one of the gentleman made his way to the water’s edge and spent a good amount of his day fishing. And since Bethel seemed to be the only group of people brave enough to be camping, it seemed completely logical to leave the poles and tackle box near the water’s edge for another round of fishing after a break.  Well much to our surprise when He returned the tackle box had been taken.  This of course was not the end of the world but a total bummer… right?

 Well Kevin has been preaching through the book of Ephesians and was just finishing up in chapter 6 on spiritual warfare and at this time He had landed on the offensive weapon of prayer.  Encouraging us with the idea of 3-D prayer from the text, Pray for the saints, Pray for the preaching of the gospel, and Pray for the unbelieving.  He had given some incredible examples of answered prayer some very large, like millions of dollars of medicine being given to heal the sick in Africa, and some simple, God helping a little girl find a lost earring after Kay Arthur had prayed with her. Kevin very enthusiastically told us to pray at all times for everything, assuring us our heavenly Father is that intimate with us.  So right there in his message he stopped and in faith asked God to bring the tackle box back.  Of course, I am thinking are you crazy we are all leaving after this message in about an hour or so how could it be possible to get it back before we head out, but it was a kind gesture anyway... right?

You know what I am about to tell you don’t you? Just as all the festivities were wrapping up and all of us wonderful brave campers were finishing packing and making plans to hit the road, a car drives up, out jumps a kid and returns the tackle box, right there in front of us all.  No one had left that campsite without knowing that the tackle box was back!!  We were so excited!  God had just showed Himself to us in such a real way to grow our faith and He didn’t have to but He chose to and it left a mark on us all.  What a wonderful way to close out the retreat. 

I know it may seem like a small trivial thing but oh not to us, not to us!!  So I say what is your tackle box? Will you lift it to your Father in heaven who cares deeply for you?  I promise you can trust Him.  You know that I am not talking about praying to get what you selfishly want or trying to manipulate Him.  I am encouraging you to pray like crazy for everything and trust your Father.  He says in Psalm 139, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. “   He has that many thoughts about you and all of them He says are precious.  He is our Father and He will never be little what is important to us.  He longs for us to trust Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways.  So go on and do some tackle box praying!!

Psalm 5:3

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning, I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”

Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen!!

Years of marriage that is.  Today is the day 16 years ago, my high school sweetheart, Kevin and I were married.  How fitting that today is my first official blog entry.  I could go on for pages on what a glorious triumph this is but instead I just have one thing that keeps running through my mind… By the grace of God I stand.  Glory to Him as we celebrate, He is the one who has so blessed our marriage beyond anything I could ask or think.

Yesterday I was surprised a little early with 16 red roses.  Red for love!  How romantic or some might say easy… right?  But the red is a reminder to us of the bloodshed so that we could make a marriage covenant and have strength to keep that covenant.  It reminds us who our marriage is to display, Jesus Christ.

Kevin says that marriage is a light to the world to display the gospel.  Oh how I pray that our marriage will do that for the sake of the glory of God.

Kevin here is 16 things I admire:

1. I love how you care more about your people than taking a shower!

2. When we are in a large gathering, I love how you spot the oldest woman in the room and comment on how beautiful she looks.

3.  I love how you leave me love notes written all over our mirrors

4.  I love how your favorite movies are the Love Come Softly series.

5.  I love how you have never let me sleep on the couch when I am upset.  You always come and pick me up and carry me back to bed.  You will do it 10 times if you have to.

6.  I love how you are vibrant and full of life and super funny but at the same time dead serious about what matters, the Word of God.

7.  I love how I have to fight you to get a chance to rock our little Mady to sleep because you say it is your favorite part of the day.

8.  I love how you love people.  Your example has taught me so much.

9.  I love how you say, “You can love people or stuff but not both!”

10.  I love how you are a daredevil and we have to keep extra insurance on you for all those ER visits!

11. I love how no matter where you are you light up the whole place and have the most fun out of anyone else there. (Even if it is the dentist office or hospital bed)

12.  I love how when I call you CRAZY you always reply, “CRAZY in love with you!”

13.  I love how you can’t sing but yet you are the loudest singer in the room, and right in the middle of a song you will change keys if it gets too high for you.

14. I love how you always know someone everywhere we go even when we are out of town.  How do you do that?

15. I love your faithfulness to love and forgive me always

16.  Last but of course not least… I love how you love the Lord.  It shines through everything you do and inspires all of us around you to imitate your faith!

Eph. 5:31

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”