Hunting for "Christmas Spirit"

Merry Christmas Eve! I don't know if you are anything like me, but I had to look back on this year with wide eyes. This year has been HARD, y'all. So many things have happened for our family--job hunting, health issues, working on relationships, school, volunteering, deaths, beginning new friendships...I actually can't believe it is Christmas already. 

 Truth be told, entering Christmas season was challenging for our family. Not to mention coming right off of the...uh...swarm of election emotions. Honestly, there were a few times I cringed when I thought about Christmas approaching. NOT because I wasn't excited to celebrate Christ, but because I was looking around as people were backbiting, tearing one another down, and "unfriending"--all the while preparing to sing about "goodwill toward men" and "peace on earth"....I really didn't want to "pretend", because it didn't make SENSE. It wasn't the truth. At one point, we were so out of sorts that three of us girls were driving (being really goofy) around the Costco parking lot "hunting for the Christmas Spirit". Needless to say, we couldn't "find" it and were left laughing (and a bit dizzy!). ;)

Still, in the back of my mind this month, I've been wrestling with these questions.

Lord, how can we truly have peace when there IS no peace in our world? How can I show others the Hope I've found when even I'M struggling to have Hope? How can we cling to Joy when people have no joy? How can we rest in Your arms when it feels like we're drowning in the chaos, pride and fear of man? How can we celebrate Your birth when we are wrestling with such discouragement? How do we, as believers, show "the Christmas Spirit" of Joy?

And one of the most reassuring, awesome things I have learned about God as my Father is the fact that He CAN handle our tough questions. He can handle us. :)

I was really praying and crying out to the Lord for help, when He oh so sweetly reminded me of the Truth. The Truth is that despite how we feel right now--we CAN sing about the birth of a Baby, we CAN rejoice in the coming of a Child, we CAN celebrate this small form because He didn't STAY a baby. For His birth wasn't ONLY the miracle of a new life; it was the beginning of a craved Hope. He IS the Messiah. OUR Messiah. HE IS the long awaited Christ. OUR long-awaited Christ. HE IS the one in whom "nations would (and CAN) place their HOPE" (Matthew 12:21). He is the One in whom WE can place our hope. In HIM is forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). In fact, He came TO save us from our sins--pride, fear, lust, greed, jealousy, lewdness, bitterness, adultery, witchcraft, and every thing that stands in opposition to a Holy, pure God (Matthew 1:21). He came to bear our burdens (Ps. 69:19). He IS our all in all...in the tiniest, most unassuming gift wrapping. A little, innocent child.

That's just like Christ. Humble. Unassuming. Yet SO powerful, SO true, SO unwavering, SO trustworthy, SO incredible. So very pure.

Tonight as you prepare to celebrate Jesus tomorrow and if you are finding your "Christmas spirit" lacking, just remember this. We don't just celebrate a birthday. We celebrate the birth of Hope. We celebrate the gates of Heaven being opened up to us in a NEW, glorious Way. He IS the promise of eternal life (Romans 6:23). He IS the Redeemer through whom we have been adopted as Children of God--inheritors of a Kingdom of Light (Gal 4:4-5). We celebrate the One who IS Himself JOY. We celebrate the One who IS our Peace, because no one can take Him away from us (Romans 8:31-39), Through Him, we can be freed from our burdens, our fears and our sins. Through one small bundle, so very long ago.

And in THAT, my friends, is every single reason to rest, rejoice and WORSHIP. No matter what, no matter where.

Rejoicing in Him!

Tried and Found True

One of my favorite things to do in my prayer time is to open up to a Psalms, and earnestly re-present it as a prayer to the Lord. It is sweet that I can agree with King David, and the faithfulness of a God has not changed. Isn't that incredible to think upon? The same God that David so earnestly loved is the same God who willingly comes and sits beside us. The same Captain of Hosts that victoriously led Israel against armies twice their size, He is the same one who puts His arm around us when we kneel beside our bed. He who sustained David during the days of being pursued continuously by Saul--this Master is the same one who sustains us with His faithfulness even hundreds of years later.

Still, His name remains to be Faithful.

 David was a king--a man who made decisions that affected an entire nation, not just his own household. Talk about pressure, huh? I love how the Psalms are filled with "Oh, Lord, please stretch out Your hand and rescue me!" and then "Praise be to the God who rescues Israel!". 1st and 2nd Samuel are filled with the challenges and triumphs of God's faithfulness to a man after His own heart--and Psalms is almost an accompanying journal of the heart cry of David during these trials. A small window into the thoughts of a Warrior King (poet) whose only hope was the Lord God. And the victorious Psalms are past  tense. God has  done this. One Psalm even pauses, almost mid-sentence, halting the petitioning with a statement: "You answered me." Fact.

Here's a cup of Living Water to savor. Think of this as advice from a King who has tried and found his faith to be placed rightly in Jehovah:

"The Lord sustains all who fall

and raises up all who are bowed down,

The eyes of all look to You, 

and You give them their food in due time.

You open Your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways

and Kind in all His deeds. 

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, 

To all who call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them."

~Psalm 145:14-19~

Today, if you are struggling with Faith, if you are walking in the belief that you've slipped off God's radar, or stumbling over guilt from your past--read through a Psalms. Remember that God has not  changed. The Lord is  Kind. He is  gracious. He does  satisfy the desire of every living thing (as a father, so fulfills desires that will good for us). He is near--not some far off entity sitting on a cloud, frowning at you. He also hears our cry--He actually listens. 

My challenge to you: in your own quiet time, take a psalms and offer it up to the Lord as your own prayer of faith.

"You sustain all who fall

and raise up all who are bowed down.

[...]You are righteous in all Your ways

and kind in all Your deeds.

You are near to all who call upon You.

To all who call upon You in truth.

You will fulfill the desire of those who fear You.

You will also hear their cry and save them."

It truly becomes a prayer of Faith...which is one of the sweetest things in the eyes of the Lord! 

In the Arms of One Who Remains Faithful, 

Anna

(Image source: Google)

Teach Me, Lord - A Poem

Teach me Lord, to cling to Thee

When storm and tempest rail,

To cast all doubt into the sea,

And raise, in Faith, a sail.

To launch my future o'er white-capped wave,

Eyes lifted in fearless trust.

My heart content in Thee to save

This Child from every gust.

(Google)

Teach me Lord, to cast on Thee

All my heavy cares

To them o'er the side with glee

Thru never ceasing prayer.

To smile at e'ry looming wave

Though daunting they will seem

My boat of Faith shall stay afloat,

For my Captain is my King.

(Google)

Teach me Lord, to lean on Thee

When harsh winds thrust me down.

To bless the gust which beats on me,

It runs my Faith to safest ground
To watch with Joy for mornings dawn
Tho long may seem the wait
'Till safely stored, my boat shall lay
Securely tied at Heavens Gate.

(c) Anna Dumaresq

(Google)

Glorious

In the last few weeks, I have been earnestly pressing into the presence of God and fighting some intense battles against the enemy. There are some exciting things going on in this new season and my heart just earnestly wants God to be glorified. A few nights ago, as I was praying, I asked that God would strengthen me, and show me His will for me. But above all, that He would be glorified. After I finished praying, I opened up my trusty "Strengthen My Spirit" devotional and found this.

"God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory. Any aim less than this would be unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are?

Self must stand out of the way that there may be room for God to be exalted; and this is the reason why He often brings His people into difficulties: that being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance.

He whose life is one even and smooth path will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying and little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shall creeks know but little of the God of tempests; but they who "do business in great waters," these see His "wonders in the deep". Among the huge waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah because we feel the littleness of man. 

Thank God then if you have been led by a rough road. It is this that has given you your experience of God's greatness and loving-kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: Your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you that you might behold His glory as it passed by."

I cried as I was reading this. It was such a gentle reminder that my life isn't mine. I have died with Christ, crucifying my will, my flesh, and my desires, and I have become his willing servant. It was as if water from heaven had been poured over my heart. I serve a tender and kind Master, who is the definition of Holy and worthy of all I could ever give--and so much more!

My continued prayer for this week is more of Him, less of me! I want to see the full glory of God revealed through my life--in my words, my actions, and in my heart. May my "self" stand out of his way, and may I continue to be "fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work (my) deliverance"!

In Him,