Christmas anticipation!

As a mom of 4 boys (10 and under), there is great excitement and anticipation as we near Christmas. My boys make Christmas wish lists, see boxes arriving on the porch from gracious grandparents and... and Amazon ;) While we decorate our tree, string lights on our home, and unpack our treasured nativity sets, I want to help my boys see and savor the real reason for our celebration. As we were driving in the van yesterday, I heard the song, "Mary, Did You Know?" on the radio and while I've heard this song dozens of times before, this line captured my attention and my heart leapt with the magnitude of this truth...

"Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.",

The same Jesus who spoke creation into existence, who had perfect fellowship with God the Father, and was constantly praised and adored by angels, chose to step down from His throne in heaven and join us on earth in the form of a babe. Wow! That's amazing LOVE! I want my boys (and myself) to stand in awe of Christ, this season and every day. Here are some of the books, devotions and traditions we do every Christmas season to open our eyes to the mystery and majesty of God coming down to us, in Christ's birth.

“Because some years you desperately don’t want a Christmas that can be bought,

or a Christmas you have to produce.

You want a Christmas you can hold.

A Christmas that holds you,

remakes you, revives you.

You want a Christmas that whispers: Jesus.”

-- Ann Voskamp

Ann Voskamp, author of 1000 Gifts, writes the most awe inspiring words. Her book, The Greatest Gift, truly unwraps the full love story of Christmas. These daily readings walks through the lineage of Christ with Scripture, prayer and devotions that help us set our gaze on Christ as we prepare to celebrate His birth.

Our boys LOVE going through Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree Devotional and putting one of the coordinating ornaments of the tree. The Jesse Tree also goes from Creation/Adam through the lineage of Christ. My boys LOVE this advent devotional and preparation for Christmas! I have a Jesse Tree devotional in a Word document and will happily send it to you! Just as I got together with group of about 30 women and exchanged Jesse Tree ornaments a couple years ago, I hope to get a group together to do this next year!

At a Family Ministry Conference 2 years ago, Josh and I heard from Sarah Cunningham, the author of The Donkey in the Living Room. This sweet children's devotional tells the story of each of the characters that were present at the birth of Christ and includes wooden characters to assist with storytelling.

Last year, we started reading The Biggest Story with our boys and were challenged by the in depth devotions and discussions in this beautiful book! Kevin DeYoung is one of Josh's favorite authors and he didn't disappoint in this book that helps kids' take classic stories and connect to Scripture’s overarching message about God’s glorious plan to redeem his rebellious people. Awesome book for everyone!!

Every Christmas Eve, we read several stories out of the Jesus Storybook Bible. There are even free videos to enjoy! Here are several other books and ideas for Christmas gifts in this post I wrote a few years ago.

The majority of our Christmas decorations revolve around nativity scenes... some from around the world (Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Nicaragua), as well as adorable kids' sets. Our boys enjoy acting out the Christmas story with the many nativity sets around our home. Their first and favorite was Veggie Tales nativity set! They enjoy playing with Daddy's old PlayMobil nativity set and the Little People set and I love hearing their sweet voices talk of the miraculous events that surround Christ's birth!

I would love to hear how you prepare to celebrate Christ's birth! What are your favorite family traditions?

Knowing... the Love of our life

Women seem to be drawn to love and romance. We desire to be loved and cherished, as well as truly love in return. We invest so much of our time getting to know possible suitors and possible mates, because we may crush on someone we don’t know very well, but rarely love someone we know little about. When we do find a worthy man, we want to know all about him! We delight in telling out friends about all him wonderful characteristics…from the color of his eyes, to his hobbies and profession, to the way he looks at and treats us. When we do fall in love with someone, we want to know that person so deeply and intimately. We delight in the pursuit of knowing our love! We hang on our love’s every word and pour over any letter or card they’ve written because we delight in that person. Each new day seems to find more opportunities to explore, adventure, and know our loved one.

When my hubby and I were dating, I made this small box for him and wrote all of the attributes I saw and love in him on the box. He still keeps this box on his dresser:)

In Christ, we are truly seen, sought after, and loved perfectly. Yet, do we really KNOW this Lover of our soul… do we know the depth of His love, do we really know all about Him and His characteristics, and do we know how to love Him in return? God has given us numerous pages of letters, notes, and descriptions about Himself and His love for us. How much time to we pour over His words? How much do we delight in the pursuit of knowing Him? Can we really love an unknown God? In order for our hearts to follow and delight in Him, we must know Him intimately!

I want to know this Lover of my soul, who created me, knows me so well, died for me, and gave me new life in Him! I want to delight in the One who redeemed me from the pit and rescued me for abundant life with Him!! Let’s pour over all of His written words to us, through Scripture, and get to know the true Lover of our souls!

Join me through this study of God's attributes... and get to know the Lover of our souls!

When getting to know people, we sometimes have false impressions or misconceptions about who they really are? What were your first impressions of your best friend? your spouse? Was there anything you were wrong about? How did you learn that these were false? Often it takes getting to know the true person, before our misconceptions can really be dispelled.

  

ACTIVITY

Ø      Think about yourself; consider all of your qualities, attributes and characteristics.

o       Which of these characteristics are more visible to other people; which characteristics are more hidden?

o       What characteristics do you aspire to attain?

o       What characteristics does the world applaud?

Ø      What characteristics are you proud of and of which characteristics are you possibly ashamed? Think about your spouse/best friend; consider all of his or her qualities and characteristics.

o       What are the characteristics that you know the best about that person?

o       What characteristics do you admire and wish to emulate?

o       What characteristics are your favorite; what are your least favorite?

o       What are the ways that you have gotten to know these characteristics in your friend?

Ø      Think about God; consider all of His attributes and characteristics.

o       What are His characteristics that you know the best?

o       What attributes of God do you tend to think or talk about; which do you tend to ignore or put on the back burner?

o       What are some popular ideas about God’s character?

o       What are some misconceptions about who God is?

o       What are some ways that we can get to know who God really is?

What are some characteristics YOU believe about God? Where did these develop … from parents, teachers, peers, ministers? I want us to set aside all of our preconceived ideas about who God is, and look at who He says He is throughout His Word.

“If we are to know God at all, it is necessary that He reveal Himself to us”[1]

Why do you think God decided to reveal Himself to us? Do you learn more about God from His revelation in nature or His revelation in Scripture?

·        The Bible alone tells us how to understand the testimony about God from nature[2]

·        Romans 1 – “they/we exchanged the truth of God for a lie”….we need Scripture

·        I pray that God would open our eyes that we would see wonderful things in His word (Psalm 119:18).

·        How does our own view of God affect our understanding of God?

·        How do we keep from limiting God to our own perspective of Him?

·        Can our perceptions of God ever be wrong? If so, how does that affect our lives bringing glory to God?

·        How can we know that what we are learning about God is true?

“Even though we cannot know God exhaustively, we can know TRUE things about God…

all that Scripture tells us about God is TRUE”[3]
Join me over the next few weeks/months for a study on the attributes of God. 
Main resources include 
Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem
Attributes of God, by A. W. Pink
Systematic Theology notes from my favorite professor, Dr. Stan Norman

---

[1] Grudem, Systematic Theology, 149.

[2] Ibid., 149.

[3] Ibid., 151.

Selective Hearing?

When I was in college, I was really struck with the thought…. If we truly believe who God is and what He has done is our life (redeemed us from the pit and gave us NEW LIFE), our lives would be radically different!! Over the past few years the Lord has really made me uncomfortable with the way our “Christian society” lives out (or doesn’t live out) our faith in Christ. Seriously, do most believers' lives and everyday actions really reflect the image of God, the life Christ displayed before us and the life He calls us to? Does my life? David Platt’s book, Radical, really resonated with me and so much of what the Lord had been placing on my heart! I am so thankful, encouraged and challenged for his boldness and clarity in waking up believers from living a “Christian spin on the American dream”!

Our society tends to listen only to the comfortable parts of scripture and misses out of the commands that involve sacrifice of our self-centered lives. These commands also open our eyes to the heart of God, and reveal the people and things that God cares about in this world.

In Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to his disciples on giving to the poor (verses 1-4). Jesus makes clear that man cannot serve God and money, he will be devoted to one and despise the other (verses 19-24). Jesus also exhorts believers not to be like the pagans, who worry about what they eat, drink and wear (verses 31-32). Many professing Christian cling to only one verse in that entire chapter, 6:33. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”. I am very thankful for God’s provision, and we should remember that God will give us the things we need for life and godliness. Too often we fail to take into account that there is a difference between God giving us what we “need” versus everything we “want” and desire in this world. God providing for our needs does not mean that He will give us all of our wordly desires and possessions… the possessions that usually that usually draw our time, attention, and affections away from Himself.

Let us keep in mind that God has called us to a life that is bigger than ourselves. We are not on this world merely for our own personal enjoyment and delight. Of course, enjoying God and loving Him is our highest delight! Let us not overlook this truth, God has created us for His glory and has created us to be vessels that spread his Name and Glory to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28). Scripture also reveals that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

If we are polluted and corrupted by the desires and pleasures of this world, not only will we be unable to answer this call to demonstrate Christ to the world… but we will not even hear the call. Is you life so full of wordly distractions, possessions, and debt, that you cannot even consider following Christ's commands that involve giving to the poor, looking after the fatherless and widows, or spreading the Gospel  to the all the nations? God tells us to “keep oneself from being polluted from the things of this world”, so we can hear and obey HIM! (James 1:27) A life of obedience to our loving Father is a very blessed life indeed!

I have so much more I want to say, but that will be for another day and another blog. Let me end with this passage from Isaiah 48:17-18 that we studied this week in Bible Study Fellowship.

“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea’.”