The excitement of decorating the Christmas tree comes early at our house and so our tree decor with it’s twinkling lights has been up since mid November! All was well for a time but the lights appear to be getting tired as they’ve had a couple of strands needing replacement to keep the tree sparkling at it’s best. Another strand now has just gone out leaving the bottom of the tree in the shadows. It seems to happen every year ~ burn out!! It’s quite frustrating to look and see a dark band or patch around a once beautifully lit, tree. It made me think that maybe that’s the way we are as we spend so much energy in preparation and by the time we celebrate the Heavenly Birth our twinkle is gone and our sparkle has dissipated into burn out. We’re worn out and the lights have dimmed or perhaps gone out altogether. On this Eve of Christmas, Make sure to relax and breathe and let the grace of God bring blessing and healing as you revive and rejuvenate from your tired aching bones and weariness.
❤ ❤
Advent
Relax! Enjoy this Christmas season as we celebrate the birthday of our Lord and Savior ~ The Messiah, Our King! Find the Hope, love and warmth that’s tucked inside God’s beautiful gift, given to a needy world, and let it make a difference in your life.
Feeling alone? So were the lowly shepherds, out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night after night after night. It was they who were chosen to receive the birth announcement with exquisite, “Out Of This World” props!! A star of wonder, lit the sky and 3D angels with muti-media and surround sound filled the heavens to proclaim this royal event. The lonely, lowly shepherds followed the star, sought him out, found Him in the stable and knelt to worship Him. I wonder if you’ve found Him? Wise men went searching for Him and wise men still do! Wise men found Him and wise men still do. Advent
“When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child”.…
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 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.”
Isn’t it amazing how prophecy of the Messiah, fell into place through the seemingly normal order of things? God had a plan for our redemption and He worked that plan, through the divine supernatural as well as the “normal” events. Even though Mary’s pregnancy and the birth of Christ certainly didn’t follow human protocol, the payment of taxes was mandatory calling this couple on a journey to Bethlehem at a crucial time. At “Just the right time!”
God has a plan for all of His children, as He graces us with His divine intervention leading us along our normal daily routines to ultimately bring us to the place where He desires us to be. He brought serendipity into the lives of Mary and Joseph and into the Shepherd’s night that lonely night on the hillside. God dipped into the normal and the mundane and brought something beautiful into the world. He brought life through the birth of His Son, so that we could have a part in His beautiful plan of salvation. Mary and Joseph were faithful to follow His leading and direction through the supernatural, the normal, the tough spots and the rough roads. The shepherds abiding in their normal fields on a normal night were blown away with the glorious surprise that broke through the heavens and filled them with a desire, an awe and a joy that drove them to find the Christ that had come! Advent
Are you still searching for Him or have you found Him? Let’s be obedient on our journey, even in the mundane, and in the ho hums of our lives. Let’s be found faithful in the excitement of the supernatural as well as in the difficulties and mundane of “normal.” Friends, if you truly know Him, be on the look out as God may very well be planning serendipity in your life. He can break through the normal leaving you in awe with an element of beautiful surprise! Don’t mistake it for mere co-incidence! His surprises have been well planned to break through at just the right time in your life!
If you don’t know Him, He’s in the business of changing lives and my friend; your transformed life is that beautiful break that you search for. Go with the shepherds, in your heart, and seek for Him. When you find Him, embrace Him and find forgiveness for your sin that will set you free.
John 8: 36 “ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
John 8: 12 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Romans 8: 12 “Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life se me free from the law of sin and death.
Advent
So today, wrap yourself in God’s love! Go on, Go ahead!!
At this joyous season of lights, and twinkle and magical moments of Christmas and Advent and peace, and joy and love and yeah ~ hurt, and pain, and sadness and rejection, and emptiness and loneliness! Oh the Wrapping and gift giving and fun, and family and gingerbread houses and cookie exchanges and sweet treats, and coffee breaks and last minute shopping and stuff and things and did I say heaviness of heart and fear and worry and panic and… ahhh ~ yes ~ Just Breathe!! Get all wrapped up in God’s love. It’s of the highest quality! Will never tarnish, break or wear out! It’s the most valuable gift you’ll find in these hectic, busy and uncertain days of so much to do and so much on your plate. Remember, that celebration of our Saviour’s birth in the manger so long ago is love for us right where we are in these hectic and tattered days of our lives.
So just now, Come away! Go on ~ just close your eyes, breathe slowly and let His love wrap tightly around you, much like a newborn securely nestled in the warmth and security of its swaddling wraps. His love is beautiful and awesome and comes wrapped with an unconditional bow of astounding grace and it’s right there for you in that gift exchange of love and in that difficult place and in that painful place and yeah, in the exciting nooks and crannies of a busy Advent season! There’s peace there too and joy and isn’t that just what you need right now ~ at this overwhelming moment of everything? So ~ When you’re too busy to catch your breath, catch yourself and take time out for a gift exchange with God. Get tightly wrapped in His unconditional gift of love and then beautiful soul, you become God’s gift, and wrapped in His love, give yourself back over to Him, both for your own well-being and for those in your circles of influence. ~ k
Romans 8: 35 – 39
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Psalm 103: 11
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;”
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Hope and Healing In Hard Places 