29 December 2014
Things Only God Can Say
John 14:1
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled is some of the most comforting phrases in all of Scripture. No other authority figure expresses these kinds of words. Before exams in college my professors threatened and warned how difficult their tests were. None of them said not to be troubled about finals. Ever had a boss? They keep close watch on you and keep you on your toes. Even good and fair bosses are more than willing to give an employee walking papers if it benefits the company to dismiss them. It’s cause for a troubled heart when you know you’re completely replaceable. And my parents could only tell me to not let my heart be troubled when they were talking to me about trusting in the Lord. Otherwise, parents are constantly preparing their children for the realities of the cold, cruel world they will one day be released to. No one, not doctors, friends, politicians, teachers, or even loving spouses can give us this sound comfort of do not worry because only God is mighty enough to provide for and protect from what may come.

Other things only God can say...

Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:31-33
So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Dear God,
Thank you for making it so that I do not have to live in anxiety and worry. Thank you for taking care of my needs because you already know what they are. Thank you for caring about what I care about and relieving me from the burdens of life. Thank you that you are nothing like a college professor daring me to make an “A.” Instead, you show me what truly matters and that you have conquered all the realties of what I could worry about. I love you so much and I thank you and praise you for your strength and presence in my life, and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

27 December 2014
Seek for Yourself
Matthew 2:7-8
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.  Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

Angels appeared to the shepherds and the shepherds found Jesus just like they were told (See Luke 2). A star appears to the wise men from the east and they found the child they were looking for. But Herod did not find Jesus because Herod did NOT seek to find Jesus for himself.

God says very clearly, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (See Jeremiah 29:13) The shepherds, the wise men, the disciples, the Apostle Paul, my husband, me... We found Jesus because we were looking for him for ourselves. God doesn’t dare us to find him and then hide. Anyone who seeks Him finds Him. Herod did not seek God with all his heart, he used other people to try and get to the Messiah for him, therefore, he did not find him.

I know lots of people who tag along with Christians because they consider them interesting, they are fascinated with Jesus, but that’s not the same as finding him for themselves. Not seeking Jesus for oneself will never lead one to him. Children of believing parents do not automatically have a relationship with Jesus, a spouse of a Believer doesn’t automatically have a relationship with Jesus, and all Americans who listen to country music do not automatically have a relationship with Jesus either. Only the ones who seek Jesus for themselves find Jesus for themselves because he never hides from those who sincerely want to know and believe all about him.

Even Believers can know Jesus more and more and better and better for themselves because he has given us his Word and his Holy Spirit. And that is a wonderful thing to keep in mind for the coming New Year. I can know Jesus more and even better than I do because I can still CONTINUE to seek him for myself daily.

Dear God,
Thank you for never hiding from those who seek you. I’m so thankful for this truth for myself and on behalf of my family. Knowing that my kids choose you on their own and for themselves fills my heart with joy. I love seeing them trust in you for themselves and not thinking they’re riding my Christian wave or something. You have shown your Son real to them in their own lives in a direct and personal response to them looking for you, and they have found you. Thank you so much for your realness in our lives. You are great and greatly to be praised and I praise you and thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.

24 December 2014
Girls in Their Jammies
Luke 2:19
...But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

A lot is going on in Mary’s life. Shepherds are talking excitedly, people are astonished by their testimony, animals are sharing their space, and a newborn needs tending. But everything is happening just like Gabriel had told her God said these things would happen.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end (Luke 1:32-33). Mary is watching all that beginning to unfold right in front of her one night in her jammies.

Or, since Luke wrote of this decades after it happened, is he noting that for all her life Mary harkens back to these early days and mulls over the amazing miracle of Jesus’ birth so closely and personally touching her life? Either way, Mary had good things about Jesus stored up, and she got them out of her heart often to think and reflect on all of it.

I have Good News about Jesus stored up in my heart. He has personally done amazing things in my life and in the lives of people I love. He has taken my burdens and changed my position about so many things like no book, educator, experience, movie, public figure, medicine, friend, or loved one ever could. He has given me so much grace and forgiveness, love and comfort; it’s overwhelming. So much so that I can also offer these same things to others regardless of their standing (that’s not normal). I do save up all that He has done in my heart and think about it often.

I am so thankful for my husband. Big, strong, handsome, and so loving. Exactly what little girl Janys pictured in her mind when I would play house and dollies. I am so thankful for my kids. I wanted a lot of kids just like my mom’s friend, Sandy. When I look at my husband, I get those memories out of my heart and think about how God remembered everything that is important to me and gave it to me.

Then, 6 years into our marriage my doctor told me I wouldn’t get pregnant without medical assistance. I thought after we successfully had two babies we’d be satisfied with that. But God remembered I wanted way more than two, and we got TWO more with no medicine at all. I unpack this treasure in my heart all the time. I marvel at God being so kind to me to give us four beautiful, healthy, wonderful children.

I have a house, my parents live close by, there’s books and music in our home and a little garden outside. God has miraculously blessed and sustained us in times of need and also miraculously allowed us to bless others in their time of need. God made it possible for us to live on one income so that I can be home with our kids 14 years ago with gameshow prize money of all things. God miraculously intervened and healed my husband 2 years ago of deadly bacterial meningitis and restored his health after his recovery too which is unheard of for survivors. I think of these things often and get filled with joy and appreciation for just how amazing God is.

And, my parents love to recount this treasured memory, God taught their daughters to trust in him always by making it snow on Christmas 1975 in Boston because their two little girls went to bed praying for snow on a night with absolutely no snow in the forecast. Of course it snowed because God hears the prayers of little girls in their jammies. And we guard these memories like treasure in our hearts and live filled with JOY because of it!

Dear God,
Thank you for giving me things to think about all the time simply by what you’ve done in my life. I love the weight you’ve taken off my shoulders, I love your grace, I love my family, I love your provision, and I love your fine attention to detail in my life. Thank you so much that reflection on you yields joy. So much joy! You never ever neglect to prove that you hear my prayers from the time I was a little girl. Thank you for being so real and so present and so wonderful in my life. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

23 December
Peace on Earth
Luke 2:13-14
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

And on earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests... Why isn’t there peace on earth? Because peace is not only from God, peace is of God. Any peace but God’s peace isn’t really peace at all. 

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give peace to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 

Those who love and trust God enjoy his peace, for he has made peace with us through his Son, Jesus (Romans 3:22). The peace that HE gives isn’t “as the world gives” in that we only find “peace” in the world if circumstances allow, which is rare. But Jesus says he doesn’t give peace like the world does; circumstances don’t have to be a factor because he IS peace.

Peace came with Jesus and still can only be found where he is. He says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled,” and “Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).” Jesus is the only means for peace on earth, perpetual peace and real peace.

Dear God,
Thank you for you Son and for the peace that entered the world with him available to me all the time because HE has made ME right with YOU. I love you and I love your peace; I love having experienced your peace when circumstances normally wouldn’t allow for it at all. And I love it that I do not have to let my heart be troubled because of the real, true, and perpetual peace you have placed in my heart. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.  

22 December 2014
Christmas Comes Anyway
Luke 2:8-11
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Christmas is quirky time of year. In our country, it’s a mixture of vacation days, shopping lists, travel, and religious ceremonies, and a growing number of people want to do away with it all together. But the thing about Christmas is that it comes anyway whether you shop, travel, sleep in, go to church, or ignore it.

Look at the shepherds who get a late night visit from a bunch of angels announcing the birth of Jesus. Those shepherds were just having a business as usual kind of night in a field. Jesus came anyway.

I think Dr. Seuss nailed it when he wrote:
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Christmas doesn’t come from a store, and it isn’t whatever people choose to make it out to be. Christmas comes anyway because Jesus came anyway. Ready or not, Jesus came to save us from our sins and make us right with God so that we can have eternal life with him forever (Romans 3:22), and that most certainly does not come from a store!

Dear God,
Thank you for Christmas, Christ with us. Christ with ME! Christ for me! Christ IN me! You are so wonderful to have your will revealed in this way freely and generously. Shopping and traveling doesn’t offer anything close. I am so grateful and relieved at being made right with you simply by believing in your Son. I love you and thank you and I love CHRISTMAS and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

20 December 2014
A Real Birthmark

James 1:16-18
So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

Today is my birthday! My kids were sitting around asking me this morning about gifts I’ve gotten over the years; it was a fun conversation. But it really made me think about these words from James: Every good and perfect gift comes from God, my Father, Creator of the universe! He doesn’t give bad gifts. He only knows good, he only does what is good, and he only gives good things. If something bad happens in life it is due to the fact that we have an active Enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). God makes good things happen out of bad things that happen (Romans 8:28), and God provides a way out to the one who is tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13), which is also a really good thing! God is good! And he has been so good to me in every way for my whole life!

He never changes or casts a shifting shadow... God doesn’t say one thing and mean another, set impossible hoops for me to jump through, or try to trick me in anyway!

He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word... The most fun part of having a baby is all of a sudden, without anyone opening the door to the room, there is another person present! When we believe in Jesus and obey God’s Word, that gives life to a new person, a person who wasn’t there before. We now live for HIM and not our sinful nature. We become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) indeed.

 And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession... God sets Believers aside from all other people. We don’t turn into perfect people, he just places us in the set of people who aren’t going to have their sins held against them anymore (Romans 3:24). And God generously gives his Holy Sprit to all who believe. The Holy Spirit is HIS mark on me, making me different, proving I belong to HIM. A real mark of my born again birth!

Ephesians 1:13 says, And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. God marked me as his own the moment I believed in Jesus same as the hospital showed to whom I belonged by tagging me with the same wristband they gave my mom in the hospital 45 years ago today!

Dear God,
Thank you for birthdays, my actual one and my spiritual one. Thank you for setting me aside and marking me with your Holy Spirit proving that I belong to you. I LOVE belonging to you. I love the good gifts that you bring into my life. I’m so thankful for my parents, my siblings, my in-laws, my kids, and my husband and our life together! I love YOU very much and thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name, amen.

18 December 2014
Let this happen to me as you say!

Luke 1:38
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Jesus’ mother, Mary, a regular person, offers the most wonderful response to God’s supernatural prospect for her life, and I would like to have Mary’s response to God’s Word in my own life too! Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” Then the angel went away. (Luke 1:38)

When God says to tell our children about his Ways so we will see them grow to be as vigorous young olive trees, I want to do that because I hope that happens just like he says. Olive trees are the oldest of trees. Telling our children about God promotes eternal life in their lives. I want all my kids in heaven with me! (See Psalm 128:1-3) Let this happen to me as you say!

Ephesians 6:2-3 has another  promise that sounds good to me: “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” I remember knowing this verse when I was young, and I certainly hoped it was true. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!”

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. I will do it, I hope it’s true. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!”

Matthew 6:33 offers another promise I want to follow because I hope it’s true. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. I want everything I need to be given to me without me having to worry or scramble, so I will make seeking God’s will my highest priority. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!”

And I love this one from Matthew 11:28-30. Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. I want rest and un-burdensome burdens. I will come to him especially with my troubles so that I can receive this from him. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” 

I could go on; there is so much more! I really admire Mary’s response to her interaction with God, and I want my responses to God’s interactions with me through his Word to be just like hers.

Dear God,
Thank you that what you say is true and, on top of that, GOOD! I am your servant. I will do what you say to do so your promises can be revealed in my life just like you say. I love you and I trust you and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

17 December 2014
Marry the Girl
Matthew 1:20-21
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Mary is visited by an angel of God, who comforts and encourages her, and she is even excited to carry out  God’s will for Mankind (See their interaction in Luke 1:26-38). Then she leaves for her cousin’s house a few days later. I don’t know if she interacted with Joseph before she left to see Elizabeth, but when she returns about 3 months later, she is obviously pregnant. So, Joseph is visited by the angel in a dream and when Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.  But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25).

God said to marry the girl, and Joseph did exactly what God said.

This makes me think of our society today with no Christmastime theme at all. What the heck is wrong with people today such that they do not marry? It has been ingrained in society so subtly over the last few decades that it has now become standard practice and common knowledge not to marry like the Bible says anymore. 

I was watching Teen Titans Go, a children’s cartoon, with my 8 year old son the other day, and Robin, who is madly in love with Starfire, pours his heart out to her about how he would like to take her out on a date, then move in together, and then eventually get married. Whattheheck? Why is that the order? Why do these sociological assumptions go completely unchallenged? Kids are accepting this system and growing up to do the same thing.

Joseph took Mary as his wife right away. Right when he woke up he did what the angel said to do. He didn’t wait till the baby was born, till they tried each other out first, till financial conditions were right. He just did it. They had lots of kids together and lived happily ever after too. 

I can’t stand it when the ideas of the world creep into the church. Young Believers today are totally under-informed about marriage. Even some well meaning parents state their wishes for their 20something child to finish school or get a job first, but in the meantime the couple will most likely get a little bit pregnant. The truth is that when you meet “the one,” it isn’t necessary to live with them first or have children with them first or have your careers in place or be financially set. Here’s why, Matthew 6:33 says to seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Make God’s will the most important thing and do what his Word says, THEN he will give you everything you need like children, homes and incomes. The reason the world has it wrong is because they are trying to get everything they need for themselves FIRST and then maybe get around to obeying God. But not Joseph. He obeyed God even when it sounded weird. And today, in our day and age, getting married before you live together first sounds weird.

Dear God,
Thank you that your Word tells us everything we need for life and godliness. I like living how you prescribe and seeing you meet every single need that comes up. I pray for the young people in my house to see the blessing of how you work in our lives that always brings about exactly what we need. We do not want to copy the behaviors of the pattern the world has in place, but we want to know what really matters, and we want to obey YOU! I love you and thank you for showing these truths about marriage to be good and pleasing based on personal experience. And those who trust in you are never disappointed, and I certainly am not disappointed either. Thank you so much, I love you, and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

12 December 2014
A Regular Ol’ Person

Galatians 4:4
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

God sent his Son... God is supernatural; his Son is supernatural.

Born of a woman, subject to the law... Not supernatural.

It is essential to remember that everyone God uses, works through, enables, encourages, comforts, and has close personal contact with is just a person. The only reason anything amazing gets accomplished is because God is in the mix. (Woe to those who take credit for what God does, btw.)

Because believing in Jesus gives me a close, personal relationship with God (Romans 3:22), I too get to become subject to supernatural and amazing things yet remain a regular ol’ person. It’s all God. 

For example, God says in his Word not to repay evil with evil but with a blessing instead (1 Peter 3:9). That kind of behavior is not natural. But I am amazed every time God gives me grace for a graceless person, love for someone who is difficult to love, and the ability to pray for people who are mean to me like Jesus said I should do (Luke 6:28). God does that. I am just a woman, subject to the law and not supernatural in any way. And because Jesus freed me from having to perfectly obey God’s laws all the time (Galatians 3:13), he works through me, inside out, through the power of his Holy Spirit to make a natural person experience supernatural things (Philippians 2:13).

Dear God,
Thank you for using regular people to do amazing things. I am a regular person, so that means you can work through me too. I love you and trust you, and I am so thankful for the things I’ve experienced through your supernatural presence in my life. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, thank you for Jesus, and I pray in his name, amen.

11 December 2014
Business as Usual
Isaiah 7:14
The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

We can know for certain that Jesus is God’s Son because hundreds of years earlier God told his people what to look for. So when it happened, when a girl having no sexual relations got pregnant, where was the hoopla? Why wasn’t there an entourage of people assisting Mary in her miraculous pregnancy? Did people not believe Mary’s story?

So, God gave another sign. On the night of Jesus’ birth, angels tell a bunch of shepherds with very specific details what they will find in Bethlehem. Curiously,  the shepherds go see for themselves, and, after seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished. (Luke 2:8-20) Astonished, yes, but where did everybody go? Where are all the excited people who have been waiting centuries for this to happen?

Isn’t human reasoning fascinating? We want something so badly, and then when we get it we don’t want it because it means change and stirring up the status quo.  The religious leaders in charge in Jesus’ day didn’t want change. They had attained some level of power that they were comfortable with and the Messiah showing up on their watch would mess all that up. So, when some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened (about the empty tomb), a meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe.  They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’  If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.”  So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today. (Matthew 28:11-15)

But what if Jesus had come today? Same thing. Ignore. Jesus messes with the status quo. The Good News of Jesus is that God is real, He wants a relationship with each one of us, and He also has a specific way for us to live as prescribed in His Word. But human reasoning looks at that and sees God trying to limit man’s freedom, but in all reality God’s design for our lives isn’t to hem us in but to keep evil out. That’s a good thing! But people would rather do what they want to do and just hope God doesn’t exist, just hope Mary wasn’t actually a virgin, and just hope the shepherds were simply delirious. 

Because if Jesus is real then God is real.

There was no crowd and no hoopla for Jesus back then, and there isn’t going to be any for him today either. Even the majority of the ones that follow him these days keep it on the DL. People prefer business as usual, and life with Jesus is not business as usual. People can ignore the predictions about him and dismiss his time on the earth, but one day every knee shall bow and every tongue will say that Jesus is Lord whether they’re ready or not! (Philippians 2:10)

Dear God,
I am so thankful for Mary, the shepherds, and your SON! I am glad not to be left to my own limited devices. I am excited for the impact Jesus has had on my life. Thank you for telling us what was going to happen, having it happen, and letting it continue. This is such an exciting celebration this time of year focusing on when you stirred things up and changed business as usual so that we could be saved in every way! I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.