You see, Church happens in places like the Bailey’s living room, on Christmas Eve, with a multitude of people who have hardly anything to give, but they give it with such joy. Such love. Such surrender.
THE ARROGANCE OF MAN
ANOTHER WORLD
To be truthful, I suppose I am a bit fearful of what 2023 may bring, and at the same time what it may not bring. I guess you could say I currently find myself “world weary”.
ALWAYS WINTER
As Lucy explains to her older brother, Edmund, what she had encountered while in Narnia, she says something that intrigues me. She says, “It’s always winter, but never gets to Christmas.”
THE OTHER CHRISTMAS STORY
When you pause to give thanks for baby Jesus, remember to give thanks for our King doing battle with a dragon. And this year, when you place your manger scene on the mantle, look for the red dragon. He’s there in the hay.
ODE TO EBENEZER SCROOGE
Scrooge examined his life, his heart, against God’s standard and found himself lacking. He knew that he could not change on his own but called on the Spirit to strive within him. You and I have a wonderful opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to live within us this Christmas day and every day, friend!
THE HOUSE OF CHRISTMAS
Happy Sunday! We are so enjoying Blogmas, and pray y'all are as well! This has become one of my favorite poems this season. Enjoy! - L
JESUS, LORD AT THY BIRTH
Not many are crowned much of anything at birth, except maybe to be called first born, middle daughter, or maybe even an unexpected surprise! Even in the families of royalty, children have to wait their turn to be called king or queen. Not Jesus. He was Lord at birth.
EXCITED ABOUT HIM
Our Savior is one who desires every part of your heart, and mind, and speech, and yet we rob Him of the power to display Himself through these things around the people we may very well have the greatest influence over.
REIGN
This is what the American Church is saying today. We have the same desire to rule over ourselves and imitate the world around us. We are selfish, have turned away from God countless times, and worshiped false idols whenever we have had the chance. Just like He did with the Israelites, God will say to us, you get what you ask for. He will remove His mighty hand from us and allow us to suffer in our rebellion against His perfect plan.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE PREPOSITIONS
God’s grace is not a license to sin. As a matter of fact, according to Paul it’s a deterrent.
“CAN’T” WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
By doing what he said he couldn’t do, Trigger saved the rest of his crew, and their mission to capture the Enigma and bring it back to America was ultimately successful. I believe "can’t" is the most dangerous word that could ever come out of any of our mouths.
IF IT’S ALL TRUE
Maybe you share some similarities with Thomas as well. You might be skeptical, a bit unsure of your faith. You may have more questions than you can count. Jesus has something for you. He can turn your skepticism into belief.
JESUS, PEARL HARBOR, AND BLOGMAS (REPUBLISHED)
As I have listened to stories today from some of my favorite historians, and pondered the commitment of the greatest generation of Americans on the heels of Pearl Harbor, I am left wondering if we presently have any real understanding of that type of sacrifice.
SALVATION IS NIGH
What I wanted to share with y’all on this very special day is that “Salvation to all that will is nigh.” Meaning, if you desire salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus, He is near to you at this very moment. All you have to do is reach out, call out for Him.
THE FOCUS
I ask you to please begin each day this holiday season alone in the presence of our heavenly Father. Focus on the Lord. Focus on His attributes, and His precious Word to you. Ask Him to open up your way as you journey through your day with the Prince of Peace beside you.
OUR DEATH-DEFYING HERO
Did you catch it, friends? Not only did Aslan leap over the Table, representing death, but Lucy scrambled over it too! This is what our death-defying hero has done for you and for me. He has made a way for us to scramble over death and get to Him, never to be separated from God; to have everlasting life! Hallelujah and Amen!
BEHOLD THE MAN
Now, take courage, dear heart, for suffering is no longer meant to produce only misery. Because Christ has assumed human suffering, that means we can also be confident that He has healed and restored it to its most divine form.
START 2022 OFF RIGHT
Our mission remains the same. Madie & I, and our family, want to help people just like you get serious about being serious for Jesus. We don’t believe that anyone can take Jesus and living for Him too seriously.
EVERY NOW AND THEN (BLOGMAS DAY THIRTY-ONE)
Most of the time they sat in silence, but every now and then one of them would pick up a flute and start playing; breaking through the oppressive silence. Pushing back the darkness.
WAR WITHOUT WAR (BLOGMAS DAY THIRTY)
You see, we wage “wars” that won’t ever satisfy us like real war will. All because we don’t want it to be an inconvenience on our part. We want to create the “wars” we fight. We want to plan them so that we’re certain we can win them before we even start.
HOW ARE YOUR SPIRITS DRESSED? (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-NINE)
You see, I believe that Scrooge’s story is so powerful because it can so closely relate to us and our present lives. I want you to think back over your life. Think about the past, about your innocence. Think about your present, the things you most want. Think about what your future may be, about whether your eternity will be dark as Scrooge’s was once bound to be.
CHANGED YOUR MIND? (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-EIGHT)
In the final scene, Churchill's minister for war asks him one question in regard to his position on Hitler. "Changed your mind?" to which Churchill responds, "Those who never change their mind, never change anything."
1,000 YEARS FROM RIGHT NOW (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-SEVEN)
As we have just experienced Christmas day, I want us all to ask ourselves a simple question. Presents or presence? Which of those two options are more valuable to you?
CHRISTMAS CAROL POEM (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-SIX)
Happy Sunday! Our family has decided to continue BLOGMAS this week because we have enjoyed sharing with y'all, and didn't want it to end quite yet! Let's continue to challenge ourselves to live wholeheartedly for Christ, no matter what day it is! Enjoy this poem for today. 🙂
THE KING HAS COME (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-FIVE)
The King has come! We celebrate this Christmas Day for that reason. No longer is our world grey and grim. No, it is now bursting with hope and joy because the Light has come into our darkness in the most powerful way. What an adventure this has been! Have a very Merry Christmas, y’all!
FOR LACK OF WONDER (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-FOUR)
I have a question for us to think about today… What does Jesus marvel at us for?
CHRISTMAS IS WHAT WE DEFINE IT AS (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-THREE)
You see, in that moment, I focused on the darkness, and the power I thought it had over the way we may celebrate Christmas in the future. Now, I focus on the small things, as I wrote about in one of my other, recent posts. I began to focus on the things I can do to keep darkness at bay, the intimate gatherings we have during this season. The good food we are blessed to enjoy. The presents we have the privilege of giving, and I was reminded all over again that Christmas is about the little things.
CAN’T YOU JUST SEE IT? (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-TWO)
But let's stop and sit for a minute. Just let the Holy Spirit refresh our minds. Who is the Baby in the manger... Really?
AND FOR WHAT? (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY-ONE)
The question is, how different are we than the folks Gabriel was describing from those early days? What is Gabriel saying about our level of belief today? Do you think he would be looking down at us and saying, "Now this generation of the Church really gets it. Man, look how they are living."
HARMONIZING WITH HEAVEN (BLOGMAS DAY TWENTY)
Our souls are in desperate need of harmony. Harmony with our Messiah. We are longing to dance with the only One who understands everything about us. The One who doesn’t simply play the note we long to dance to, but is the note itself.
IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER POEM (BLOGMAS DAY NINETEEN)
Enjoy this delightful poem this cold, winter Sunday! We look forward to continuing on with this journey of Advent with you this final week!
DEALING WITH DARKNESS (BLOGMAS DAY EIGHTEEN)
From the time when he was that innocent child in a manger, this was his goal. This was his mission. This is the reason He suffered and died. To deal with Darkness.
WHICH SPIRIT HAVE YOU? (BLOGMAS DAY SEVENTEEN)
It was said of old Scrooge that after that, he kept Christmas in his heart all the days of the year. What will people say about us? Which spirit have you?
PAY ATTENTION TO THE PREPOSITIONS (BLOGMAS DAY SIXTEEN)
Let me be clear, this substandard approach to genuine Christian living was never God’s intention for His people. God calls His people to holy living as evidenced in Matthew 1:21. Jesus did not arrive on planet earth with the mission of saving His people IN their sins but FROM them.
CHRIST, THE LOGOS (BLOGMAS DAY FIFTEEN)
Imagine how your life would change if you made an effort to seek out things that nourish your soul and glorify Christ as the logos! How would your child’s life change if you gave them great works of literature, art, and music to consider versus Facebook, YouTube, and Tik-tok.
GIVE YOUR YES (BLOGMAS DAY FOURTEEN)
Will we choose to engage with the story that is unfolding right before our eyes? Do we long to rise up and open our eyes to His coming this Christmas season and in this New Year that is before us? Just as Gideon, Mary, Joseph, Noah, Peter, Simeon, Micaiah, and many other heroes of the faith all had to choose whether or not to engage with the story before them, so do we.
ADVENT INSECURITY (BLOGMAS DAY THIRTEEN)
Calvin was confused because his church friends really did not understand the meaning of Advent. They could not explain the meaning of Advent to him. However, Hunter knows fully what Advent means because she is celebrating a new life, a new start with Jesus.
CHRISTMAS BELLS (BLOGMAS DAY TWELVE)
Happy Sunday, everyone! We will be back again tomorrow with a new BLOGMAS post. Be sure to scroll through the recent posts from this past week in case you missed any!
THE EVERYDAY DEEDS (BLOGMAS DAY ELEVEN)
You see, the reason I always felt so much happier and more content around Christmas time, is because of the small things, that kept the darkness at bay for the month of December. The small things that changed a little girl’s view of the world, even for a short time.
TRUE WORSHIPPERS (BLOGMAS DAY TEN)
I just pray that we spend more time on cultivating our relationship with Christ this Christmas than we do on buying and wrapping material gifts. Let us be swept up in the true wonder of the season; the Lord came to dwell among us! May we feed our own souls with the right kind of worship and share the good news of Jesus birth, death, resurrection, and second coming with those around us.
ALWAYS WINTER (BLOGMAS DAY NINE)
There is comfort in the trials that winter brings, because the Lord who has created them never lets them weather us without also allowing us to experience the hope and joy of Christmas. Jesus has always promised His presence to us. But in order to understand the beauty of Christmas, we must understand just how bleak winter can be.
JESUS, PEARL HARBOR, AND BLOGMAS (BLOGMAS DAY EIGHT)
As I have listened to stories today from some of my favorite historians, and pondered the commitment of the greatest generation of Americans on the heels of Pearl Harbor, I am left wondering if we presently have any real understanding of that type of sacrifice.
WHAT IF? (BLOGMAS DAY SEVEN)
While I was driving, I was asked if I thought that, on either occasion, those people knew Jesus? We hadn’t talked about either situation at the time, but apparently, I was not the only one to notice what was happening. My reply was vague, at best, because even if I thought that they did know Jesus, they certainly didn’t act as if they did.
ODE TO EBENEZER SCROOGE (BLOGMAS DAY SIX)
Scrooge examined his life, his heart, against God’s standard and found himself lacking. He knew that he could not change on his own but called on the Spirit to strive within him. You and I have a wonderful opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to live within us this Christmas day and every day, friend!
CHOOSE SOMETHING LIKE A STAR POEM
We pray this encourages your heart to be willing to see the mystery of Christ and His coming. Happy Sunday & Merry Christmas!
WHO ARE WE TO HIM? (BLOGMAS DAY FOUR)
I’m going to be bold and write that maybe many of us are uncertain about who we genuinely are to Jesus, because we live for the noise, the busyness. Our arms never can stop flailing about. We can never sit still to seek Him. We despise quiet and if it begins to surround us, we fill it with other distractions.
FROM CHILDISH TO CHILDLIKE (BLOGMAS DAY THREE)
I believe that a childlike faith actually consists of this thought that we are merely a small part in the big scheme of life, but we take pride in Jesus wanting to use us. We still see those endless possibilities, but they are now cultivated by God, and used to help us step off the shore and dive into an ocean of incredibility.
OUR LONGED-FOR GUEST (BLOGMAS DAY TWO)
Advent is a chance for us to prepare for the coming or arrival of the most important person into our midst. Friend, is Jesus your longed-for guest today and every day? Do you desire the arrival of the kingdom in your home and in your heart this Advent season?
THE WAY FORWARD IS THE WAY BACK (BLOGMAS DAY ONE)
I invite you to allow God to bring you back to Him this Christmas. Back to His heart and what truly matters in life. The reason He came into this world was to save us from our wretched sin and the misery that pertains to it. May revivals take place in our hearts and homes this year as we begin where we may have left our first love.
The Few 