God in the Manger - a few thoughts for Christmas

On several occasions, I have read a fictional story by Max Lucado called "Cosmic Christmas". It's a story about what it might have been like the night that Jesus came to earth. It speaks of a "war" between God and Satan, with Satan doing everything in his power to prevent Christ from being born. But then while reading Ann Voscamp's book "The Greatest Gift", she made mention to the Revelation Nativity which is found in the 12th chapter of Revelation verses 1-17 and I was intrigued to find out that maybe Max's story wasn't too far fetched....

 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.  And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."  When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.  The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,out of the serpent's reach.  Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Tonight as you celebrate with your family the coming of Christ I pray that you look on it in a different way. The celebration of Christ's birth was a "war" between God and Satan. As Mary was preparing to push and give birth, Satan was waiting to devour Him. But as He crowned, He was seized and thrust to the throne being crowned the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! And then after one last attempt, the darkness of evil was thrown out of heaven and defeated! All is calm, All is bright!

You see, even Satan knew what Jesus' coming to earth was going to mean. The greatest enemy to God - one of His fallen angels -  knew what God in a manger meant to the world. But the difference between us and Satan is that we can rejoice in His coming! Tonight, remember that God fought a battle for you and He won. He is our Knight in shining armor and has defeated the dragon! He loves us more than anything and He sent His one and only Son to prove it!

Merry Christmas! Joy to the World!

~Donna

Let every heart prepare Him room ~ A Christmas gathering with pupose.

It all starts with a prayer to share the joy of Jesus with others

And.................a messy kitchen

 

Each year leads to Christmas.
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.

The atmosphere is set to draw the senses to the Savior. Prepare a place. A place for others to enjoy, but more importantly, a place for God to enter. A place for God to radiate His love to his children. A place for others to see and feel the Joy of Christ. We pray the words of the angel who spoke to Mary many years ago...let the Holy Spirit come upon us and let the power of the Most High overshadow us.
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

Jesus tops the list!

I made a mistake.
Four simple words that can be so difficult to articulate when they really need to be said.
Sometime, like this weekend for me, they just need to be whispered to God.
Other times they need to be quickly said to a friend, a child, a spouse.
Are you able to get those words out quickly? Do you know that great healing can begin when we are just able to say I made a mistake...I messed up...I know I was wrong?

Christmas is upon us, just 23 days away. It's a time when we can get busy, frustrated and distracted. But that is when we focus on Christmas as a "to do" list.
1- Buy gifts
2- Send cards
3- Decorate the tree
4- Cook meals
5- Host parties
6- Attend parades
                 and on and on.
All of a sudden we have a list of Christmas that never includes Jesus.
And He is the guest of honor at this birthday celebration!

I made a mistake. Whisper it today. Don't wait until December 26th to tell God you missed Christmas and the real celebration. Make a new list today.
1- Prepare my heart for a Christmas Celebration! Jesus Birthday!

At Faithfully Fit we started on Advent study in November. We are reading The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. I am learning things is such a new way. Seeing the Savior! Preparing for Jesus to come. Some mornings as I ready my heart sings shouts of praise. Some mornings I sit in deep thought as I reflect on what I have read. But all mornings I have been directed to await the birth of a King! Let this Christmas be that one where you look back and say it was a real CELEBRATION! A celebration fit for a King's birthday! Let Jesus whisper to your heart and help you make your list.
Celebrate Jesus ~ Jodie

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

The Stump

I have a stump in my yard. It has been there since we moved in almost 4 years ago. I have tripped over it and fallen backwards. Justin has tried to chop it up and dig it out but it is still there. Just a dead stump. But you know, that stump was once a tree, full of life and leaves, providing shade in the summer and beautiful foliage in the fall. But now it seemingly has no purpose.

 Isaiah 11 talks about a stump but it is a little different than the stump in my yard. Now, don't get confused -  it is still a stump, which means that at some point it was a flourishing tree but then it was cut down. Let's see what it says: Isaiah 11:1 -

A shoot will come... My mom has given those to me before. She usually finds them in her yard/wooded lot and will give it to me to plant in my yard. Most of the shoots I have been given are from a "fruit-bearing" tree. I plant them, and they grow into another tree. Serving its' purpose.

So, it says that a shoot will come from the stump of Jesse. So my first question was: Who is Jesse? And then my next question was: what happened that his "family tree" was cut down?  1. Jesse is the father of David (Ruth 4:22) who was chosen to be King by the Lord himself (1 Samuel 1: 1, 12-13) 2. In 586 B.C.,  Babylon was taken captive thus ending the "Davidic dynasty" leaving one to believe that this "family" was not longer to reign. A stump. But you see, God can make even something dead come alive if He so chooses.

A Branch shall grow out of his roots..... God laid that foundation when He created the world and all the people in it. He knew and He chose the line from which Jesus would come. He kept the roots nurtured and healthy so that when the world thought that nothing could come of it - out came Life!

Isaiah was telling us here about Jesus - The greatest gift ever given. Jesus began as a small babe in a manger and then grew to become a great teacher. All the while, He was and is the Messiah. But then, Jesus was cut down, He was beaten and ridiculed and then hung on a cross to die - for you and for me.

See, that Shoot grew a Branch and then that Branch became a mighty Tree. That Tree was then cut down again and hung on a cross and once again out of death came Life! Life for you and for me. But what's even better - The TREE is still ALIVE! When we are "cut down" -  because of things in this world, because of broken promises, because of mistakes - we can find life again. Life through Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:55

"One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. she flinched as she was carried through an angry, jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.......and every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God"

~The Tale of Three Trees

Today, I find JOY in the stump!

~Donna