Resolution? How about a life changing revelation?

I really don’t like the phrase “New Years resolution”. I’ve probably made hundreds of resolutions over the years. I’m sure I have made more than I have kept. I’m sure that I have made some that I had no intention of keeping. I know that I’ve made some that were broken before the first day of the new year was over. I have also made some several years in a row.

I made them with good intentions. I meant well. I wanted to do better. But the truth of the matter is, I need to make more than just a resolution for the new year. I need to be making a resolution that is life changing, not just year changing. A new years revelation. A life changing revelation.

I need to be focusing on what I can do to change my heart. Change my desires. Change my choices. Change me.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Jeremiah 29:13-14.

“And You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord.”

My desire for my life in 2010 and beyond, is to be a seeker of God.

A true lover of and diligent seeker of God.

I want to know Him deeper and seek Him higher. I desire to know Him more intimately. I want to learn how to apply His Word to my life like never before.

I want to focus on embracing His plan for my life. Embracing it even when the circumstances are adverse. Learning to change ‘me’ during those times instead of expecting God to change the circumstances.

I want to focus on what He is teaching me and then surrendering to where He is leading.

I want to search the scriptures and find truth. Truth that speaks. Truth that convicts. Truth that changes.

My hearts cry is to be captivated by God. Be a true seeker. Walk in His ways. Keep His commandments. Love like God loves.

Oh, I want to be found by Him. I want His presence to consume me. To overpower me. To overwhelm me.

I pray that 2010 will be a year that God’s church rises up. A year that the people of Christ begin to let our voices be heard. A year that God speaks to us and we listen. A year that we take what He is speaking and we put feet to it. I pray that we will be true seekers of God. True seekers of the Truth. True lovers of the Word.

It’s time to seek the Lord!

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” (Hosea 10:12)

Oh, Lord, as I seek You, consume me. Draw me close. Find me.

In the grip of His precious Grace,

CHRISTmas among the chaos....

Mikaela and Nana

Megan, Rod, Mikaela, Melissa

Ashlie

Mikaela, Eli, Mercie

Sawyer, Bryton

Anytime our crew gets together, it is quite entertaining to say the least. Our "crew" consists of Jimbo and myself, our 3 daughters, 2 sons-in-law and 5 grandchildren whose ages are 7,4, almost 3, almost 2 and 9 months. The combination of all the above makes for something that I lovingly call "JOYFUL CHAOS". Ha!

There are generally several different conversations or discussions going on at the same time. Voice levels are usually louder than what the term 'inside voice' dictates. You can count on at least one child fussing. One child crying. Another child screaming - either in anger or pain... Most of the time as a direct result of the actions of another cousin.

Someone is always hungry. Or thirsty. Or needs to go to the bathroom. Mercie and Sawyer compete for diaper changes.

Mikaela is the nurturer of the bunch and trys to keep the peace between Bryton and Eli, who seem to tie up at least once every get together. They do love each other, but the 'boy' in them really comes out when they are together...

There are usually 2 grandkids competing for Nana's lap or Papa's arms. The presence of 1 child in either place automatically signals time for a stampede of the other children to do the same. Inside voices rarely follow when this event takes place..

But there is one thing that is always present, even amidst the seeming chaos. There is one thing that will always prevail and that is LOVE. Love for family. Love for each other. Love for our Savior.

As we all gathered in the living room around the Christmas tree, Megan began to read the account of Jesus' birth from Luke. As she read, Mikaela, Eli and Bryton acted out the events of that special night. It was so precious and it really helped them to fully grasp what took place and to really understand why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

The presents that were piled under God's tree (as Bryton calls it), were most certainly not the focus of our celebration yesterday. In fact, the presents were the very last thing we did. And although we did enjoy opening our gifts, we made sure that Jesus was at the center of all we did.

As the gifts began to be unwrapped, it looked like it was snowing wrapping paper and ribbon. Paper was flying, children were laughing. Everyone was oohing and aaahing. "I love it!", "thank you!" and "it's perfect!" could be heard all around the room by kids and grown-ups alike.  Faces lit up with joy. Smiles abounded and hearts were touched.

The room gradually grew quiet. The commotion ceased and the tree was empty of presents. In about 30 minutes time, it was seemingly over. The gifts had all been given. Hopes and expectations had presumably been met. Needs and wants were certainly taken care of. 

For all intents and purposes,  that part of Christmas was over. The part that we so painstakingly prepared for. The part that we agonized and fretted over. The part where we 'spent more than we needed to'.  The giving and receiving was over. Or was it?  Perhaps giving and receiving can take on new meaning for the coming year. How about giving more of ourselves and receiving more of God?

We may not have accomplished that last year, but now it's time for us to focus on how we will do this year different. How will we make 2010 better than 2009? How will we change our attitudes. Our actions. Our intentions.

It is time to assess any damage done in 2009 and make a game plan to recoop losses for the next year. It is time to focus on making 2010  a year that counts.

A year of sacrifice.

A year of Joy.

A year of hope and miracles.

A year of knowing Him better.

A year of hearing Him speak. Obeying His commands.

A year of walking the walk.

A real Jesus year.

We need to celebrate the birth of Jesus every day of our lives. His birth is where it all began. He came so He could die, so that we could live.

Jesus - He is the reason for not only the season.

But for Life.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

Never before and Never again...

"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger..." (Luke 2:7)

Never before and never again would there ever be a birth quite like the one that took place that night.

All of creation must have sensed something special was about to take place. There surely was expectant electricity in the air foretelling an impending and miraculous occurance.

The sky was probably clearer and more vibrant in color.

The stars surely shone brighter and twinkled with such amazing brilliance.

The glory of the Lord beamed radiantly from that stable to the far reaching ends of the world.

A Holy sigh most likely reverberated through the heavens and echoed the emotion of awe and sweet release.

The Baby that was born that night was...

the Christ child

the Savior of the world

Emmanuel

the Breath of Heaven

the Messiah

As angels proclaimed the arrival of Jesus, the sky was illuminated with the brilliance of the glory of God.

Their angelic voices rang clear with such grace as they sang praises to the King.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men"

"OH, what amazing worship occured that night as God came near. All of creation probably stood with arms wide open and head lifted high.

Praising God the Father, for God the Son.

Faces tilted toward heaven, eyes closed, with nothing less than sheer joy etched on each expression.

God was made manifest in the flesh.

The shepherds departed. The people marveled.

Mary pondered....

Jesus was glorified. Jesus was praised.

What glorious splendor.

What sweet mercy.

What amazing grace.

That sweet Baby born in Bethlehem.... was perfection. Redemption. The Word.

A child of Peace.

A child of  Hope.

A child bearing the fingermarks of God.

May we be ever thankful for the birth of God's Son. For without the birth, there could have been no sacrifice made on the Cross. No redemption for our sins.

No Grace could have taken place.

No Mercy could have been shown.

No Truth could have been found.

We worship His majesty, His divinity, His holiness.

We worship Him. Jesus. The Son of God. Savior of the world. God.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Merry Christmas!!!!

The Immeasurable Love of Christ.

"...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"

( Ephesians 3:17-19)

The love of Christ is immeasureable.

The breadth of His love extends to all people.

The length of His love extends to the lowest of our human need.

The height of His love extends to the highest heaven.

Christ's love for us covers all dimensions. The love He has for us surpasses all knowledge. His love for us transcends everything we can comprehend or imagine.

He loves us with an everlasting love. An unconditional love. A perfect love.

His love gives us roots to plant deep so we can be firmly grounded in Him.

Firmly grounded in His Word. Firmly grounded in His love. Firmly grounded in our faith.

He loves us with an indwelling love. He abides in us and gives us the ability to love others.

"We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19)

Because of His love -

We keep His commandments.(1 John 5:2)

We love others. (1 John 4:7)

We have no fear. (1 John 4:18)

We are His children. (1 John 3:1)

Because of His love for us -

We can experience victory over sin and death through the shed blood of His precious Son.

I pray that during this time of year, we keep our focus on the baby in the manger. The birth of our Savior. The Christ-child.  I pray that we long to draw nearer to Him and yearn for the deeper things in Christ. May the love that God has for us, cause us to love more. May we keep the season all about the Son of God. Let's celebrate the gift of Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for the unending, eternity reaching, unconditional love that you showed all mankind on the cross. Thank you for loving me when I am unloveable. Help me to love others. Help me to love like you love. Thank you precious Lord for loving me well. You are awesome and mighty and powerful. You are my everything. You are indeed the reason for the season.

CHRISTmas..... it's all about JESUS!

Do you know why Christmas is so special?

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord"  (Luke 2:11)

Many, many times in our lives we have told our children the true meaning of Christmas.

But have we actually shown them the true meaning? Are we pointing them to the cross? Are we leading them to the manger? Are we telling them about the birth of Jesus and His life?

It's so easy to say that Christmas is all about Jesus. But if we aren't backing it up with tangible evidence are we really accomplishing anything? If we stress to our kids that it's not about the gifts, but then we have the presents stacked high up under the tree, are we being truthful? If we tell them that it's better to give then to receive, but then we don't give, aren't we being deceptive?

When my 2 year old grandson, Bryton, asked his mother the other morning, "Mama, do you know why Christmas is so special?", it's because she has asked him that question many times lately as she is trying to teach him that Christmas is all about Jesus.

So when Ashlie's response was, "Why do YOU think it's so special Bryton?", he was able to say, "because it's Jesus' birthday!"

He knows that because she has taught him. And we do need to teach our children. But it isn't just enough to teach them in word only. We have to show them. They need to see evidence that it is truly all about Jesus.

They need to see us doing for others.

They need to see us putting Jesus first.

They need to hear the Christmas story every chance we get and especially on Christmas morning.

They need to see Jesus being the focus of all we do and say.

They need to see...

The only way they will ever 'get it' is by example.

We have to show them why Christmas is so special.

We need to show them that Mary was blessed. That Joseph was obedient. That God sent His Son.

We need to show them that a Savior was born. That a tiny baby was brought forth that bore the fingermarks of God. That the glory of God came down.

We need to show them that love grew. That grace came. That mercy fell.

We need to show them Jesus. The Christ child. The Messiah. Emmanuel.

Jesus came to this world to save us from our sins. He became sin that we might be delivered from it. He came to redeem us with His precious blood. He came to grant us forgiveness and take away our bondage. Jesus came that we might taste of eternal life. Abundant, overflowing, amazing life everlasting. Jesus came to die. For me and for you.

Jesus.

That is why Christmas is so special.