December 20 2020

It’s Almost Christmas!

It Is Almost Christmas!

 

It is almost Christmas! Just wanted to stop by and say hi and see how you are all doing? This is traditionally a week that can turn into a real frenzy with so many last-minute things to catch up on. I was reminded as I did my devotions this morning, that this is the very time when we need to slow down and really take the time to consider the season.

 

Christmas has the potential to come and go and be lost in the hustle and bustle of the “things” we feel we need to accomplish during this time. But what if this year, we made the decision to make it different? What if, this year, we were intentional about setting some quiet time aside, to sit with our Bible, to sit with the Lord, to sit with our family and friends and consider the wonder and the mystery of Christmas. To allow the Father to speak into our lives. To allow the necessity of real relationships to touch us in a meaningful way. To allow, the mystery and wonder of Christmas to touch our hearts and spirits in a way it hasn’t had the opportunity to do so before.
 

I challenge you this week – stop, listen, consider and hear. Don’t let the season pass you by in a flurry of activity that just leaves you weary on the other end and anxious to pack it all up and in until next year.

 

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December 2 2020

Consider the Cost

Consider the Cost

 

In Luke 1, both Mary and Zacharias received a visitation from an angel of God, with a message. The question that often comes to mind when reading this story is what did that message require of or cost each of them. As I mature in my faith, this becomes a more difficult question to answer. On the surface, what was required of Mary seemed much more costly. Zacharias was actually seeing the fruition of prayers that had gone unfulfilled up to now. However, think about the cost of those prayers coming to fruition at this point in time. Sometimes when we receive an answer to prayer that seems delayed in our own mind, we struggle to accept that the timing is right or that we are ready. As well, the magnitude of this promise, and how it signalled the coming of the Messiah, which would not only affect Zacharias but also the nation of Israel, is more than one would process in a few minutes. On the surface, it looks like Zacharias has to just receive the miraculous answer to prayer. However, deeper than that is the need to reconcile the timing and the impact.

 

The cost/requirement for Mary is altogether different. The message required that she give up everything – her body, her reputation, possibly her life if she gets into the wrong hands as being pregnant before marriage is a stoning offence. It seems more straightforward and such a large cost to her.

 

However, over the years, I have come to recognize, that each person’s walk has its own costs and they are so very different and dependent on context that they cannot even be compared.

What “costs” or requirements are you walking through in your own life? Be encouraged, God is not judging your response based on the responses of those around you. He is loving you right where you are in the midst of what He is asking you to do. What an encouragement for us today!

 
 
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December 1 2020

Sign or Surrender

“And Zacharius said to the angel,”How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” (LUke 1:18)

“Then mary said, ‘Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'” And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38)

Zacharius asked for a sign and was mute until the promised child was named. Mary questioned how it was possible (sought understanding) but responded with surrender.  

A Sign or a Surrender.  What message is God giving to you today?  What kind of faith will you respond with?  Will you ask God for a sign?  or will you (despite not knowing or understanding “how it will happen”) lift up your voice and say like Mary “Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to Your word.” Or will you, like Zacharius, ask for a sign which the Lord will graciously give you but will leave you mute for the duration of the promise coming to fulfillment?

When Mary surrenders, God gives her the sign she hasn’t asked for (Elizabeth who was barren is with child) and the reassurance she will need “with God nothing is impossible”.  

Advent is not only a season of faith but one of surrender.  Will you surrender in faith today to what God has for you in the Advent season of 2020?  There is one month left in this year.  Let’s lean in, commit to the shift and finish strong

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