It’s Christmas Eve! 

The day we celebrate the true meaning of love! Not manufactured, love. Not earthly love. Not love that fits any human description, regulation, stereotype, or image. Instead, love that came down from perfection in heaven to become completely human and completely divine at the same time! Love that was born to a virgin. Love that could not be defined, comprehended, or even understood by any other means other than divine!

God sent His One and Only Perfect Son! He was born in a manger and His birth announcement was to the lowest of society, shepherds. The sky was filled with a brilliant light and the angels proclaimed Him Lord! God put a star in the sky that led all those truly seeking the Savior directly to Him!

Today, the Light still shines and the love still flows through all those who follow Him. It illuminates the clear path for anyone seeking Him to find Him!

He lives today in the hearts and lives of all His children. Regardless of what is happening in the world today or in your own life, His light is brighter and has the power to overcome all your circumstances and heal all your wounds.

God’s love is what Christmas is all about!

God sent His Son to heal all wounds, bind all hearts and prove that love is not a feeling, it is an action!

“For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His only son so that whoever believes in Him will never die but live forever with Him.” 

John 3:16

CHRISTmas is Love!

It is God’s Love demonstrated for us!

May you hold those you love close this CHRISTmas and may you feel the love God has for you as you celebrate His birth!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE & MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Speak Truth Love

Today we are in the season the church calls Advent. One of the best definitions of Advent I know is “anticipation”. It is something we are looking forward to that has yet to happen!

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, God’s Son! We anticipate celebrating him on Christmas Day. But the promise of God’s of sending him to earth as a baby has already been fulfilled. That is what we celebrate each Christmas! But we continue to anticipate his return! 

The practice of Advent today is more of a remembering of God’s faithfulness of his past promises, which encourages us in our faith as we trust him to fulfill the rest of his promises. The practice of remembering and celebrating Advent every Christmas season is one of the best ways to keep Hope shining brightly in our hearts!

Today I focus on one of my Bible heroines: Mary the mother of Jesus. Scholars surmise that Mary would have been around 14 or 15 years old, but could have been as young as 12. Regardless of her age, her faith in God emulates a much more mature age as she embraces God’s plan for her life with open arms!

Now you might readily agree with me that Mary is an incredible heroine. But you may be surprised that the reason she is my favorite heroine is not because she birthed the Son of God. Yes, of course as a mother of a son, I cherish this aspect of Mary’s life with high esteem. She was chosen to be the mother of our Savior. With that came all the joys of being a mom of a son, but also, all the heartache.

I remember watching my son play football. As the starting quarterback from his Freshman year to his senior year, he was the only quarterback. To say he had a target on his back would have been an understatement!  It would not take the smartest coach in the league to figure out that the way to beat our team would be to take out our quarterback. As his mother, this was not easy to watch. It increased my stress level every game day. However, it also increased my prayer life. There were hard hits and a few scary moments, but all in all God protected my boy.

For Mary, this reality was not true. Her son would be mocked, scorned, beaten and killed. And she would watch it all. This truly does make her a hero!

But the reason she is my favorite heroine goes back to her visit with Angel Gabriel. At her very young age, an angelic being burst into her reality and spoke God’s truth for her life to her.

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1: 28

As I imagine this scene unfolding, all I could think of is how frightened I would be. Alone, young, vulnerable, inexperienced, and the list goes on. Her reaction to the messenger of God is awe-inspiring.

 “I am the Lord‘s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.“ 

Luke 1:38

Mary is my favorite heroine of the Bible because I want to have her faith and her trust. I want to have to quick, clear, and concise response to God, trusting Him wholeheartedly without reserve, regardless of my life’s season, situation, or standing!

Because of Mary’s undaunted, faithful character, Christ our Savior was born in a manger. And we can not only anticipate Christmas, we can also anticipate his glorious return!

Until then, may I strive to have undaunted faith like Mary!

Truth Bomb

Mary’s example is to have a quick “Yes” in our heart to God!

Speak Truth Love

This statement is truly an oxymoron! Yet, I believe it’s the way most of us live our lives.

We rush and hurry, we fret and worry, we scoot and scurry only to WAIT! 
We plan, and prepare, we plot and purchase, all in hopes to make everything work out just right!

The harder we push and the faster we go, the more we find ourselves less in control. The oxymoron seems to live itself out, and we find ourselves in the middle of “THE WAIT!”

Waiting in traffic, waiting in line, waiting for the delivery, waiting for others to show up when they are supposed to, waiting for healed relationships, waiting for answered prayers. 

WAITING, WAITING, WAITING, no matter how we try to avoid it, we find ourselves in “THE WAIT!”

Waiting is nothing new to God’s people! The last prophet of the Old Testament, Malachi, spoke of the coming and long awaited Messiah! The people were waiting with incredible anticipation! He would save them from harsh rule, he would break their oppression, he would be their savior and their king.

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord, you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says The Lord of heaven’s armies.”

Malachi 3:1

They waited and they waited and they waited. For 400 years, they waited!

God never foretold how long the wait would be. The people waited and clung to God‘s promise! Many would not see the promise fulfilled in their lifetime. But they held to the hope and waited!

As we enter this season of advent, the season of anticipation and waiting, my prayer is that we would not “hurry up and wait,” but that we would slow down and wait.

Wait and see what God will do. Wait and see what answers to prayer He will give.  Wait and see what relationships He will heal. Wait and see what Hope He will give. 

“WAIT FOR THE LORD; be strong and take heart and WAIT FOR THE LORD.” Psalm 27:14

TRUTH BOMB

ADVENT IS A SEASON TO WAIT ON GOD IN GREAT ANTICIPATION OF WHAT HE WILL DO!

Speak Truth Love