Strange
Imagine: A young lady becomes engaged to the love of her life. She spends several days searching for the perfect wedding dress. Hours are spent trying on dress after dress. She finally discovers the one-in-a-million dress that seems to be made just for her.
She marks the days off on the calendar; it seems her wedding can’t come fast enough. Soon the big day has arrived. Her hair is styled perfectly. The pedicure and manicure have been completed. She pulls on an old pair of jeans and grabs the sweatshirt she wore to breakfast that morning (with pancake syrup on it) and walks down the aisle to be pronounced her husband’s wife.
Something’s missing, right?
The wedding dress!
As weird as that would be, God hints that forgetting to spend time with Him every day is even stranger than a bride who would forget her wedding dress. Check this out: “Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me” (Jeremiah 2:32 NLT).
We often make excuses about not spending time reading the Bible each day:
“I don’t need to actually read anything; I’ll just chat with the Big Guy.”
“I have too many other things to get done today. If I stop and make time to read the Bible, I may not have time for my friends.”
“Ahhh, God knows I love Him. I don’t think I really need to spend time with Him to prove it.”
Yet we’d go nuts if God ever used one of those excuses on us, wouldn’t we? Imagine asking God for help and getting one of these responses:
“Seriously? I have people praying from a war zone right now!”
“It takes a lot of strength to be attentive to bazillions of prayers around the world. I just need to take a quick nap.”
“Get in line. Others were praying before you bothered to send me yours.”
Aren’t you glad that when we call on our heavenly Father, He’s always there? And He’s always ready to meet our needs, hold us in His lap, and listen to everything we say.
What’s the most recent excuse you’ve given for not meeting with God? With His help, you can determine to make your daily quiet time with Him part of your lifestyle. Will you do it?
As we continue into 2016, commit to spend time with your heavenly Father every single day.
Try memorizing this:
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV).
MARY Christmas (Part 3)
(Part 3)
I hope you’re having an amazing Christmas today celebrating our Savior’s birth.
To think that the King of kings
chose to leave the perfection of a grandiose kingdom
and invade our sinful world with love
and a plan for redemption is mind-boggling.
I’m still thinking about Mary and want to pass on some lessons
I’m learning that I hope will challenge you today:
• Mary allowed God to make good things from her mistakes.
Twelve years after Christ was born, Mary lost Him!
She and Joseph thought Jesus was somewhere in the caravan of family and friends they were traveling with, but she soon discovered He was missing. Yet Jesus was exactly where He was supposed to be—at the temple. Mary maintained a teachable spirit and learned more about her Son from this incident.
Will you, too, have a teachable spirit?
I’m guessing this has to be one of the most important things to God. Obedience and a teachable spirit.
• Mary pondered things and kept them in her heart.
What’s inside YOUR heart?
Will you determine to make time to ponder some stuff this Christmas?
Instead of doing all the talking, consider being quiet for a while.
Think about Christ’s birth and all that it means.
Be willing to ponder some things as Mary did.
Learn to become comfortable with silence.
Start a journal.
Memorize some Scripture.
Learn to truly meditate on God’s holy Word this Christmas.
God’s best servants are often plain people who are available to Him. Mary was available. Are you?
God’s plans involve extraordinary events in ordinary people.
This Christmas, will you let Him use you in a way He’s never used you before?
Give God a merry Christmas by asking Him to help you celebrate a Mary Christmas.
And if you’re wondering what to give the King of kings on His birthday . . . the very best gift is always yourself.
Thoughts?
MARY Christmas (Part 2)
(Part 2)
As mentioned last week, I’m trying to have a MARY Christmas this
year. In thinking about her life, I want to pass on what I’m learning
and hopefully challenge YOU to establish a Mary Christmas as well.
• Mary trusted in the midst of discomfort. In Bethlehem, Joseph and
Mary soon discovered the inns were filled with other travelers who
had reached the destination much earlier. Mary was reduced to
giving birth to her first child in a cold, dark, damp cave.
No medical staff.
No medicine or sterile environment.
Just a frightened young girl, her frightened husband
and a few noisy animals.
When we don’t understand to begin with,
and when our situation becomes uncomfortable on TOP of that,
we often tend to question whether we heard God correctly,
or maybe we question God Himself.
Mary simply continued to trust.
If YOU can learn to trust in the midst of hardship and discomfort,
God will bless you by teaching you things you couldn’t have learned otherwise.
God doesn’t always reveal His plans right away.
Often, when it sees as though everything is going wrong,
He is quietly working behind the scenes.
Can you trust Him when you can’t see what’s ahead?
Ask God to deepen your faith this Christmas.
Imagine the letdown after traveling for 70 miles in the condition
Mary was in, only to find out there were no more rooms available
and she’d have to give birth to her first child in a cave.
Do you really want to have a MARY Christmas this year?
Then we have to realize when we do God’s will, we’re not
guaranteed a comfortable life. We’re promised only that even our
discomfort has meaning in God’s plan.
We like to think that Mary was comfortable, because most of the
popular Christmas scenes picture her kneeling serenely by a manger
with a baby who’s glowing.
Chances are good that the King of kings was crying and
uncomfortable Himself. Stables were often crude caves with feeding
troughs (mangers) carved into rock walls.
Though Christmas cards picture a clean atmosphere with happy
animals in the background, the truth was that Jesus was born in an
extremely unsterile and filthy environment.
This certainly wasn’t the atmosphere the Jews expected as the
birthplace of the Messiah. They thought their promised Messiah
would be born into royalty.
But Mary didn’t limit God by her expectations, and neither should
we. God is at work wherever He’s needed in our sin-darkened and
dirty world.
That night, the world’s greatest birth announcement took place.
The greatest event in history had just happened:
The Messiah had been born!
For ages the Jews had waited for this, and when it finally happened,
the announcement came to some humble shepherds.
They were terrified, but their fear soon turned to joy.
First they ran to see the baby, and then they spread the word.
Jesus Christ is YOUR Messiah,
YOUR Savior.
Do you look forward to meeting Him in prayer and in His Word each day?
Is your relationship so special that you can’t help sharing this joy
with your friends and co-workers?
How do you see Jesus?
Do you still picture Him as a baby in a manger,
or is He your absolute Lord?
Let’s not underestimate Christ. Let Him grow up in your life!
One of the best ways to do this is by exercising a mature faith in His
plan—even in the midst of an uncomfortable situation.
Jesus may not meet the specific expectations you have for your life.
He may want to move you beyond your own dreams.
Again: can you trust Him?
Give God your human expectations and ask Him to replace them
with His dreams, plans and vision for your life.
They may not be more comfortable, but they will always be better!
Thoughts?