It all starts with a prayer to share the joy of Jesus with others
Month after month, it leads to Christmas.
January, February, March, April...we wait for December. Somewhere around July we think...6 months until Christmas. And October rolls in with pumpkins and leaves we think...it's almost here...where did the year go...it's just about Christmas. And you blink...December.
Last year we started the tradition of a Faithfully Fit Christmas Gathering. Not a party. Not a meal. Not a gift exchange. A gathering. A time filled with love and purpose. Bring glory to the Lord. Fill our hearts with His word. Share the JOY of Christmas. And this year the tradition continues.
We pray.
We plan.
We invite.
We shop.
We pray and plan for all that God has in store. It is always more than we imagine. Because that is God. He is more than we can imagine. More than we can ask.
Months before we set the date. Months before we make the plans. The unique thing about this year...it's moments before that God gives the message and then moment after moment He answers prayers faithfully! He is so good.
I often ask for the message many moons sooner than I receive the message. But I have learned that in the hour that I need the message God will provide. All He asks is that I make a place for Him to dwell and then He does the rest...in His perfect time.
Trust and obey, for there is no other way.
You know the rest.
The message is received and we wait for the Joy to fill the hearts of all who come to receive.
We love the details, the decorations are thoughtful.
After much prayer we open the doors and we wait for the Lord to answer...because He will. We pray for a sister struggling with depression to come...she turns down the invitation...at first...then calls later to say, "what time". We pray for a car...a family in need...hours later, it is provided. We pray for a daughter and trust in His care. We pray for a business having technical difficulty, later, we find that moments after that prayer all systems were restored. We pray. He answers. We make a dwelling place and He dwells. Faithfully. He dwells.
God with us. No truer three words.
The door greets...we wait. One by one the rooms are filled with cheer and laughter. The kitchen is bubbling....
Our taste buds watering and the oven is cooking slow...only I know that God is seeing if I can rise to the occasion. Can I handle the pressure of all not going just as I planned? Can I trust in the truth that God has plans beyond my plan? Can I trust in the truth that I do not need to produce, perform or perfect for the Lord to be powerfully present?
I trust.
I trust.
I stand firm. Knowing that my labor is NOT in vain.
Words flow forth...the Word is our guidance...we pray for the Lord to fill the space. The space we create within ourselves. Let us be a dwelling place for the Lord. Just as Mary was willing...let us be equally willing to make a room for the Lord within us. Let us trust that "His Kingdom will never end"! Let us be a dwelling place.
Trust. Without fear. Willing and wanting.
Let us simply become a dwelling place. Knowing that when we make room for Him we make space for others. Once we make space for Him he is able to fill that space with gifts overflowing from His love. And those gifts will then flow freely out of us and into a lost world that needs Him...desperately.
We open a space. We make room.
Then we sing, because we want every heart to prepare Him room.
We light and pass candles. We share the light with one another. We share the Joy.
The Joy of Jesus.
Let every heart prepare Him room!
And heaven and nature sing!
Joy to the World!
Blessings this Christmas, blessings ~ Jodie
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." ~ Luke 1:38
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