Love without Compromise - week 4 : Happy Valentine's Day

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

John 13 : "They will know you are my disciples if you love one another".

For the last few weeks we have been talking about love.  Specifically, "love without compromise".  How God loves us without compromise, how we need to love Him without compromise and love others without compromise, and how love without compromise is so "not of this world".

This topic is so close to the heart of God, because God IS love.  His message is love.  His son died for love and we will be saved if we believe - because He loves us.  And today, Valentine's Day is a day that celebrates love.

Now my husband, as romantic as he is, says that Valentine's Day was made up by the greeting card companies to sell more cards.  And, if that's true, then maybe all Valentine's Day is is a worldly holiday that, let's face it - isn't even really a holiday because nobody gets the day off for Valentine's Day.  But, even if this is true about the origin of Valentine's Day, it wouldn't be what it is if no one cared about love.  I think it's a good thing that we have a day to celebrate love... except that the way the world sees love is so different than what real love is.  Valentine's Day is mostly recognized by flowers and chocolates, romantic lingerie maybe, a nice night out together - all good things, but these things do not nearly live up to the depth and the width of what riches real love holds.

I like how Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19 puts it:
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

But, in the Message translation, it is even more clear:
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

This is what real love is.  Something you can root yourself in.  Something you can stand on without fear of it crumbling beneath your feet.  This kind of love surpasses knowledge.

The logo of Valentine's Day is the heart.

The shape of the heart is a symbol of the organ in our body which pumps life-giving blood to the rest of our body.  It is quite miraculous how the heart keeps going on its own.  The heart is also where we talk about feelings coming from, where our love resides, where we care and where our passions lie.  These things all take place in our heart.  

And the Bible has a lot to say about our hearts.  But so does the world.  How many times have you heard, "Follow your heart"?  In fact, it was the title of this year's Disney on Ice show.  It is the anthem that tells us that we should do what our heart tells us.  And this is totally accepted by society.  However, the Bible tells us differently.  The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?"  

So if the heart is so deceitful, then why would we ever want to follow it?  We recognize that there is a difference between brain and heart.  They are connected, but it seems that brain operates without emotion.  The feeling part comes from the heart.  It also seems as though thoughts and ideas in the mind can change, but once something gets into your heart, it is much more difficult to change.

On Thursday when we had a snow day, the girls and I picked an appropriate movie, and we watched "Frozen".  If you've never seen the movie, it is about two sisters, and it is about love.  There are a lot of great things about this movie.  But probably my favorite part is when the king and queen bring their daughters to the grandaddy troll to heal Anna, and he tells them, "The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded."  Thank you for your wisdom, Papa Troll.  And what does Elsa realize in the end of the movie??  "Only love can thaw a frozen heart".

I believe one of the most important scriptures in the Bible is Proverbs 4:23 which says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."  We have to be careful what we let into our hearts.  We have to protect our hearts from becoming hard.  Once our hearts are hard, we can no longer let God - or people in.  And all that comes from our heart will be influenced by the hurt and hardness that we have let in.  So, we need to guard our hearts from being changed by the world, and let Jesus in so that He rules in our lives.  Because once Jesus gets to your heart, there's no getting Him out.

“The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.“ Psalm 27:1,3

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7

Heavenly Father,
We praise you and we love you.  We thank you for all the blessings we have in this life, and we look forward to the day when we can live fully embraced by you in Heaven.  Thank you for Valentine's Day and the opportunity to celebrate love together.  Thank you for these women of the chapel, and our teachers and these great Bible studies we get to be involved in.  Help us to protect our hearts and remain rooted in you.  Lord, change us from the inside out and transform us into the people that you have designed us to be.  Help us to put on the full armor of God - and especially the breastplate of righteousness, so that our hearts will be protected by our faith and obedience to you.  Please bless us to be a light to the world that so desperately needs you.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Love without Compromise - week 3

God has loved us and does love us and will love us with a fatherly love that is so perfect we can't even fully comprehend it because we do not know how to love perfectly in this flesh.  He has made us His own children, His beloved.

Yes, sometimes in His infinite wisdom He sees fit to let us suffer, but this is not to punish us.  It is not because He is cruel.  Our Lord and Father in Heaven knows what we need and He desires for us to grow closer to Him, for us to know His love, for us to recognize His voice.  He sees the big picture and sometimes what looks like a harsh restriction or a painful loss is actually a protection, a redirection, that can put our feet back on the right path toward goodness and wholeness.

Has anyone ever desired anything so badly and felt that God was withholding it from them?  Has there ever been a goal that you've worked tirelessly for and then right as it is in your grasp, it slips through your fingertips?  Has anyone felt the loss of a relationship or dreams they have held on to?  Have you ever been blindsided by a tragedy in your life that you never saw coming?  Have you ever doubted God in these times or resisted His goodness and His protection?

I was out at the commissary yesterday with my three girls, and there were no "car carts" available so I had a regular cart, and I put the two-year-old in the seat part, and my six-year-old and four-year-old walked through the store with me.  On the way back to the car, I was getting the girls situated and putting groceries into the trunk, when my four-year-old changed her course from heading to her side of the car, to walking out into the parking lot.  And as I watched her wander into the open street, I saw a Cadillac on its way toward her.  So out of my love and desire to protect her, I grabbed her by the arm of her jacket and pulled her back into me between the cars where she was safe.  Immediately, she pulled away from me, trying to continue her course for destruction.  I of course, did not let her go, but pulled harder and firmly grasped her so that she could not pull away.  I told her she could not go into the parking lot and that a car was coming, and she insisted angrily with me that she was not headed for the parking lot (although clearly she was) and that there were no cars coming that she could see.  And in that moment, I was ok with her being mad at me.  I could see the big picture and she couldn't.  Out of my love for her and my ability to see what could happen if she continued in that direction, I used the power I had to protect her and re-direct her to me, to where she was safe from harm.

If I can see that as a mother, that I am willing for my child to be angry with me so that I can protect her, even when she doesn't see the problem, then I can only imagine what it must be like from God's perspective when He looks on us and the predicaments we can get ourselves in.  It might not be on purpose, and we may believe whatever we are doing is the good thing, the right thing, but we also might not see the car coming.  God sees it all.  He knows all.  He sees where we are headed and He is willing and able to use any means necessary to get us on the right path back to Him where we are safe.  He's even willing to risk us being mad at Him.

This is love without compromise.  This is the love of God that the world doesn't understand.  This is perfect, fatherly love that is holding on to us even when we are pulling away.  This fatherly love that is willing to withhold good things to get us to the great things.  Our Father knows that pain and suffering are important tools to grow His children and that discipline is not done out of harshness and punishment, but out of love and wisdom.  Our Lord does not want us to suffer forever, but sometimes its our suffering in this life that will bring us to a place where we can trust God more, that we are willing to let go of some things, and be more free to love God and love others.

And when we understand How God loves us, how He is not afraid if we get angry with Him because He cares for us so much, we can learn to love others with a similar love.  We can be better mothers when we see that telling our children, "no" once in a while is not a bad thing, and discipline teaches them that we love them because we do not allow them to grow into disobedient, disrespectful adults.  We can be better friends because we might find the courage to have a difficult talk with someone - at the risk of them becoming angry or offended, but we care about their well-being more than how they feel about us in that moment.  And we can realize that God never gives up on us, so we should never give up on Him.  When we truly realize that it is our sin - all of our sins - that put Jesus on the cross, and He still willingly died for all of us - that there are people who will never choose Him, that spit in His face daily, but He still died for them as well.  That is a love without compromise.  Who am I to question God when He tells me no?  Who am I to doubt His love and care and protection for me when He pulls me away from something I'm after?  Don't I know that His uncompromising love is perfect and good?  Don't I know that He is the God that has thoughts nothing like my thoughts and ways far above my ways?  Don't I believe that His plans for me are beyond what I can see and that He knows better?

And, can I love others like this?  Can I put their needs before my own?  Can I risk them being mad at me to help re-direct them to where it is safe?  Can I put down my own wants and desires to just be there for someone who needs me?  Can I choose love over sin?  Mercy over judgement?  Can I give all I have to help others?  Can I lay down my life for my friends?  For my neighbors?  My co-workers?  My husband?  My kids?  Can I lay down my life for the one who laid down His life for me?  Can I love without compromise?

Read: 1 John 5

Heavenly Father,
Lord our God you are amazing.  You are wonderful and awesome.  Nothing compares to you.  When we look to you, all of the troubles of this Earth melt away because you are good and you are love and you are not of this world.  We are thankful that you have loved us with an everlasting love.  We thank you that your mercy is sufficient for us, that in our weakness, your strength is perfected and your ways prevail, and no matter what we do to try to pull away from you, you are holding on to us.  Your word says that you will be with us until the end, and we ask that you help us to always remember that you are with us.  Help us to look for your wonderful face in times of tragedy, in times of pain, and help us to also look to you and rejoice in times of gladness.  Father grow us in our faith so that we do not despair when things don't go how we would like, but we are encouraged because we know you have a better plan.  Help us to believe in your uncompromising love and make us fit to show that kind of love to those around us.  Make us fearless, remind us that we have the Lord of Heaven's armies covering us in His mighty wings.  Help us to love you without compromise, help us to love others without compromise.  Keep us away from anything that might take your place in our hearts.  Be among us today as we study your word and fellowship with one another.  Keep us filled with your Holy Spirit, and bless us to be Holy and righteous before you.  Thank you for this group of women, and for the chapel and this ministry.  I pray that you would take what is done here and multiply it beyond what we can see.  Thank you for loving us without compromise.  In Jesus' Holy name we pray, Amen.

Love without Compromise - week 2 : Mingle

At PWOC we have designed our group specifically so that we have a small group atmosphere in our Bible study groups  - so that we stay with the same women all year long in order to promote closeness and depth of relationship with each other.  We have received great feedback on this model, and as a board, we have enjoyed it greatly - getting to know you ladies on a much deeper level to where we can share with one another and do life together.

That said, it was a desire of ours to not only get to know the ladies in our study groups, but to really know everyone who comes each week.  Out of this desire, the mingle was born.  So the mingle is what we call what we will be doing today.  We are going to share some reading of God's word and some devotion on this message, and then we will break into groups of 3-5 ladies and answer some discussion questions.  Our hope is that you will meet someone that you have yet to meet here at PWOC and be able to share your heart with them a little and them with you.

So here we go!

For the next few weeks, our theme within a theme is "Love without Compromise".  This of course is under the umbrella of our theme of the year which is "Not of this world".  The two of these go together so well because the way God has loved us, and how He calls us to love Him and others, is definitely "not of this world", and it is without compromise.

Last week, we read 1 John 3 and talked about how the world has twisted and re-arranged this idea of what love is, and how by God's spirit and by prayer and by reading God's word, we can learn and know what God's love is all about, and we can fearlessly love God and others as we are called to do as women who are salt and light in this world.

This week, we are going to read 1 John 4.  If you have your Bible, please open to 1 John 4 and read along with us.

- Read 1 John 4 (you can also add any background about who John was, why he was writing, what was going on at the time, etc.) -

Living as a Bible-believing, Christ-following Christian in this world "at such a time as this" is not easy.  We have so much coming at us all the time.  We have popular celebrities and bloggers who call themselves Christians who have adopted worldly views as their own and share them with their fans as if it is God's word.  We have the news media covering stories that glorify the world and its ideals.  We have Facebook and Instagram, and music and movies and secular celebrities telling us what we should believe and how we should feel and what we should desire.  We are bombarded by messages day and night.  And the truth is, sometimes it can be difficult to understand how all these people seem to think the same way, and that how could so many people be wrong?  But, we have to remember that we are not called to be like the majority.  We are not called to be like the world.  We are not called to be like celebrities.  We are not called to agree with the news media.  We are children of God, and we are called to agree with and believe in God.  We have to make sure that the message that we hear, the message that we follow is the correct one.  We have to make sure that we can still hear God's voice - even when there are so many people trying to shout over Him.  We need to know that God is greater than he who is in the world.  And this means we can not compromise the ways of God for fear of what people will think or what people will do.  We must love people so much that we don't give them a false witness of who God is or what He stands for.  When we water down God's message, we are not truly loving God or His people.  There is no side door into Heaven.  There is only one gate, and that gate is Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:13-14New Living Translation (NLT)

The Narrow Gate

¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell^[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

And, as the word tells us, "God is love".  His message is love.  His message is selfless.  His message is forgiving and grace-filled.  God's love is fearless.  God's love is without compromise.  If we are to discern God's voice through all the worldly noise, we need to begin recognizing His voice.  We need to be ever close to Him.  We need to know God's definition of what love is so that when the world tells us what love is, we can weed out what is right and what is wrong.  The world is so quick to jump to judgement.  The world does not have patience or longsuffering, which are fruits of the spirit.  But God's love is patient and longsuffering.  It is gentle and kind.  God's love never fails.

We have probably all heard 1 Corinthians 13 before, but please follow along if you have your Bible:

"1If I speak in the tongues^a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^b but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

We are going to break into our discussion groups now.  We have several group leaders, so if you are able, please break into groups of 3-5.  If you are unable, then make a group with the ladies around you.  Take a few minutes to introduce yourself, and then discuss the following questions.  Feel free to jot down any notes as you go.  After about 10 minutes, we will all pray together and you can go to your study groups.

Question #1:  What are the best ways we can be sure that we are not listening to and following the wrong message?  How can we discern false prophets?

Question #2:  How can we help our Christian brothers and sisters be fearless as followers of Christ when it seems like the world is opposing all of God's ways?

Question #3:  Why is love so important to the witness of Jesus Christ, and how can we make sure the way we love God and others is pure in God's eyes?

Question #4:  Why does it seem so easy for Christians to be pulled away from the truth and begin believing the world instead of God?  How can we safeguard ourselves from being deceived?

Question #5:  How do we hold fast to God's values and never compromise what is right in His eyes, while maintaining an attitude of love for other believers and non-believers?

Love without Compromise - week 1

Good morning everyone and welcome again to PWOC.  You know, I am really honored to be with you ladies, because even though this group is called Protestant Women of the Chapel, we should actually be called just "Women of Christ" because not all of us are Protestant, and not all of us go to the chapel.  But we have two things in common - we are all women and we are all of Christ.  And this is so important.  Right now.  Because we see what's going on in our country - in our world - things are changing.  I am not going to get into politics here, but we now have a new president - a very unique type pf president.  And things are going to start changing.  We pray that they change for the better, but sometimes, change - even good change has to go through some growing pains.  Often times, for the right changes to be made, there is resistance and ugliness, because after all, Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  So yes, when we start doing things God's way opposition is to be expected.  Do not be surprised if the world tries to make everything look like it is falling apart at times when God's will is actually being done.  It might just mean that darkness is fighting harder against the light.  Sometimes it seems so hard to tell what it wrong and what is right, but we can be confident in what is good and right and true, if we know God's word.  His word does not align with what the world says, and you will find it very unpopular to most people.  Remember, Jesus had many followers, but He was also doubted and scorned, and ultimately killed.  He did not compromise the truth to be liked or to win followers.  He faced persecution because He held fast to the truth.

As women of Christ, and women of the chapel, we have the responsibility to know what God's word says, to trust in God alone, and to be a light to our families, to our communities, to our country, to our world.  This is not always easy, because light exposes the things that hide in the darkness.  Light exposes the lies that so many have believed.  The darkness does not like this, and those living in darkness will disagree with you, they may even hate you because you belong to Jesus.  But, unlike the darkness, God's light which shines from those who believe in Him can never be extinguished.  God's truth does not align with what the world calls truth.  When we speak God's truth, His power is with His words.  All other untruths are just noise.

So where do we start?  How do we love God and obey Him and be a light to the world?  Well, first we start with our theme of the year - and make our goal to women who are "not of this world".  We are women of Christ, not women of this world.  And then we look at what Christ did for us.  He loved us without compromise.  He gave it all so that we would have eternal life.  God so loved the world that He gave His only son - He did not compromise, for He loved the whole world.  And Christ tell us to love.  He tells us to love without compromise.  He tells us to love like He loves us - loving our neighbor as we love ourselves - even loving our enemies.  This concept is so unworldly.  The world tells us that love is self-serving.  That love benefits me.  That I can give love as long as I get something in return.  That I can love and be loved as long as it doesn't get in the way of my feelings or my personal agenda.  The world's idea of love has been twisted and mis-interpreted in so many ways, and this twisted worldly love has, in many ways replaced God in many people's hearts.

Christ's way of love is not of this world.  Christ's way of love is unchanging, unfailing, and never compromised.  Christ's way of love cannot be manipulated or bought, and it doesn't put self over the well-being of others.  Christ's way of love is selfless, willing to sacrifice one's self for another, and can only be practiced by the power of the Holy Spirit because it is not natural.  It is supernatural.

For the next couple weeks, we are going to look at what it means to love without compromise.  How real love, Christ's love is fearless and sometimes it is painful, but the call we all have on our lives to love God and love others is the very foundation for all that we believe in the Christian faith, and it is why we will one day be able to live forever in Heaven with our Father, and it should be the motivation for us to want others to go there with us.  But to do all this, first you have to believe.  You have to have faith.

Romans 10:17 says, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ."  

So we are going to hear the message and then you will all be released to go to your classes.

We are reading 1 John 3 if you have your Bibles.

Read 1 John 3

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day, thank you for these women.  Thank you for the chapel and the freedom we have to gather here and worship you and grow more close to you.  Help us to be women who are not of this world, but please make us more like you, able to walk in truth and in light.  Make us brave and courageous and able to stand for what you stand for.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Waiting in Advent #2

Hello everyone!  

I'd like to welcome you to PWOC this morning, as we wrap up our first semester with our final week of studies before the holiday and then next week we will have our wonderful Christmas program,
before we break until January 10.  

I hope you have all enjoyed your studies and your groups, and most of all I pray that you have grown in the Lord and that you feel closer to Him than ever before.  I hope that we are being a support to you in your spiritual life and relationship with Jesus.  Please come talk to me if you have any comments, concerns, questions, or just want to talk.  

I am so thankful that I can be your Spiritual Life VP this year, and I pray that if you have any feedback for me, that you feel comfortable to come tell me.  

I take this position super seriously and I love every minute I spend with you guys.  God is my greatest passion, and I love sharing my desire for a closer walk and love for Him with you.


So last week we read about Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary.  We talked about the importance of patient and expectant waiting in this life, and how we want to be "not of this world" by trusting God in our waiting.

In case you missed it, this year's theme here at PWOC is "not of this world", and our theme verse is Romans 12:2 "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.".  

When we think about what it means to be a Christian, and by that I mean a real Christian, one who knows that she has been saved by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, one who has decided to forsake all in pursuit of Jesus, those of us who call ourselves Christians, should really be weighing this in all aspects of our lives.  Are we choosing the world’s ways or God’s ways? 

So, if you have your Bible, please get it out and turn to the book of Luke.  We are going to pick up where we left off last week.  Luke is one of the four gospels, and I always remember what order they are in by singing, “Matthew, Mark, Luke & John went to bed with their trousers on”.  I don’t know where I learned that, but it definitely comes in handy. 

So we are picking up in Luke 1, and we are starting today with verse 39.  Please follow along.  Luke 1:39-55

There are a couple things that strike me in these verses.  First, is what Elizabeth says to Mary.  She says, “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.” 

One of the reasons I fell in love with the Bible, and reading and studying God’s word is because when you read God’s word, you see that God always does what He says He is going to do.  God keeps His promises.  I think this is something that is very difficult for us humans to understand because we have been let down by other humans so many times and we have seen so many broken promises that we hardly trust anyone to keep their word anymore.  We have become so used to people breaking their promises, that we start to forget that God NEVER breaks a promise.  We forget that God ALWAYS keeps His word.  When you think about that, like really let it sink in for a moment… God in Heaven, our creator and our father and the one we call Lord and king ALWAYS does what He says He’s going to do.  He NEVER breaks a promise.  He ALWAYS follows through.

God’s word illustrates this point from the very beginning.  From the very first story of creation and the perfect world that God had made for Adam and Eve, God is keeping His word.  What is the first thing God says in Genesis?  “Let there be light”.  And before the sentence is over, there is light.  Literally, Genesis 1:3 says, “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light”.  He spoke and immediately the word was fulfilled.  It wasn’t like “Let there be light”.  Oh shoot, wrong switch, hold on…”  It was like, “Let there be light”.  Boom.  Word spoken and fulfilled.

This is my most favorite part about God’s word though.  Every single part points to Jesus.  The simple fact of God speaking points to Jesus. 

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,^[a]
    and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.^[b]”

This word was Jesus.  When I think about words, they really are a product of what we are thinking, feeling, understanding.  Words are how we communicate who we are and how we relate to everything around us.  When we think about God’s word, and how God relates to us, His word is Jesus.  And God ALWAYS keeps His word.  Even when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God told the evil snake Satan in Genesis 3:14-15, “Because you have done this (deceived God’s beloved humans), you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild.  You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.  And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.  He will strike your head and you will strike His heel.”  This sounds pretty straightforward.  Obviously there are a lot of people who don’t like snakes, and although the snake may get a bite of the heel, humans will destroy them.  But this is actually a promise God was making to Satan that He would defeat Him through Jesus Christ.  Although Satan tries to defeat Jesus while He was on Earth, it is but a strike on the heel.  But when Jesus rises from the dead, He has struck the snake on the head and defeated evil once and for all.  God keeps His promises.

The book of Isaiah (which is in the Old Testament) speaks of Jesus’ coming many times, but this is one of my favorites Isaiah 9:6-7:

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,^[d] Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen!”  God keeps His promises.

All throughout the Old Testament, you will find imagery such as this.  Example after example of stories that seem so obvious, but when examined closer, reveal promises of Jesus’ miraculous life, death, and resurrection, and the Love that God has always had and will always have for us, His children.  Again and again, God’s word proves God’s truthfulness. 

This is taken from Dawning: “Here is the way Paul put it in Romans 15:8 – “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews^[a] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs (Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham) might be confirmed.”  So there it is, stated crystal clear: Christ came to prove that God tells the truth, that God keeps His promises.  Christmas means that God can be trusted.”

And this is why, as we look back at Luke 1:47-55 and we read Mary’s response to Elizabeth, we see the immense humility and faith that Mary had.  She knew God kept His promises.  She believed Him with all of her heart.  She did not question, or whine – her situation would have been viewed as less than positive at the time – a young unwed girl, pregnant?  She never once doubted the plan God had for her.  Let’s read her response again:

Luke 1:47-55

Lord, bless us.  Help us to be like Mary Lord.  Let her words echo in our hearts.  Help us to remember that your ways are nothing like our ways.  Help us to remember that we are not to look at our circumstances and think that we are doomed.  As followers of Jesus, we are to look at our circumstances and believe that you keep your promises!  Whatever you have said, you WILL do!  Lord, thank you for coming to us in our need.  Thank you for answering our cries.  Thank you that you are good and that you love us perfectly, and that you ALWAYS keep your word and NEVER break your promises.  Thank you for the example we have in Mary, and help us to be humble servants as she was, trusting you for all we need and not relying on what the world has to offer.  Help us to draw nearer to you so you will draw nearer to us.  Help us to hear your still, small voice, and help us to celebrate this Christmas season in authentic faith that your word is being fulfilled.  Lord, help us to fall more and more in love with you and your word, and help us to not conform to the ways of this world, but Lord transform us from the inside out so that we will know your good, pleasing, and perfect will.  Lord, we know that you came Jesus not to be served, but to serve, and we thank you with all that we are.  Help us to serve you and those around us.  Thank you for this wonderful Christmas season.  Amen.

Waiting in Advent

Good morning Ladies!  I hope you all are well!  Welcome to the Advent season!  What a fun time it is, with the Christmas music, lights, and gifts!

If you have your Bible, please open to the book of Luke.

As we enter this season, we can reflect on many things.  We can remember the generosity of God in our lives – the blessings He has given us already and the blessings that are to come.  We can rest in God’s promises – the ones that He has fulfilled and the ones yet to be fulfilled.  We can stand in awe of the mystery of God – how He is omnipresent – everywhere at all times - and omniscient – knows all all the time – and we can be humbled by this.  Humility helps us to be still and rest in God’s sovereignty – His ability to rule over us and this world – and it allows us to trust in His ways, His plans, and His timing.  Because when I realize I am small, then I can truly believe God is big.  When I realize I am weak, then I can truly believe God is strong.

The word advent actually means “coming”.  That is, Jesus is coming.  Somewhere between 6 and 4 B.C. – so four to six years before Christ was born, the Jewish people were waiting.  They were waiting for a Messiah – a promised deliverer.   The Roman government had taken over Israel, and they were oppressed by this powerful government.  They anticipated that a messiah would free them as a people.  They knew their savior was coming, but they didn’t know when.  So they waited in anticipation.

And then, as Galatians 4:4 says, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law”.  When the fullness of time had come.  Other versions says, “When the right time came”, “When the set time had fully come”.  Looking back now, historians and scholars can see that many things had taken place in that time, prophecy had been fulfilled, and the time was perfect for Jesus to arrive.  But for the Jews at the time, they did not know what hour He would come, or how he would a appear.  They just had to wait patiently.  And, maybe even more importantly, they had to wait expectantly.

Read Luke 1:5 – 25

In this reading we meet Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were “righteous in God’s eyes”.  They like their Jewish brethren were waiting for the messiah, but they also had no children.  I’m sure they had waited for a child many times in their lives.  Trying, expecting, waiting, only to be left waiting again.  What strikes me here is that even in their waiting, and surely in their disappointment, they did not stray from God or His ways.  They did not let their impatience and their sadness embitter them toward the Lord – instead they remained steadfast and endured in their righteousness, until they saw a miracle.  How many times in our lives are we set into a season of waiting, and instead of being like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we let our own wants and our impatience get in the way of the path God has laid out for us?  Why do we so easily forget that God is in control and that He has perfect timing?  Why do we instead try to takes matters into our own hands?  We forget that patience is a fruit of the spirit – a product of a life deeply intertwined with faith in Jesus – and instead of letting God come when the time is perfect, we tell God that we are done waiting.

Psalm 27:13 & 14 says, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14Wait for the LORD; Be strongand let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

Read Luke 1:26 – 37

And so, like the Israelites, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, and like Mary waited, we now celebrate their waiting in this Advent season, but we also celebrate that their waiting had come to an end, and when God saw that His time was perfect, He brought them (and us) a savior.  Although the Israelites thought this savior would bring them out of bondage in the political sense, we realize that God’s deliverance was much more than that for them, for us, and for all people.  We celebrate that nothing is impossible with God.  That when we trust Him with our lives, when we trust Him enough to wait on Him and not grow impatient and try to take matters into our own hands, His way will prove to be better than ours and we will be blessed because of it.  And, we also celebrate the season of waiting that we are in now, waiting for Jesus to return a second time and take us home to Heaven to live with Him forever.

So as we celebrate Christmas with all its trimmings, don’t let the busyness of the season or any of its shining distractions take your eyes off the prize.  Keep patiently and expectantly waiting for our savior to come.  And remember that what we do while we are waiting is also important.  Part of expectant waiting is to keep moving forward.  Keep being a light, keep spreading the Gospel, keep loving your neighbor.

Remember this:

Ephesians 5:15-16English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

And, if you are in a season of personal waiting, let God strengthen you in your faith as you wait.  As James 1:2 says:

² Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

  And remember, that nothing is impossible with God.

Thankfulness that is Not of This World

This is a tough subject for me to give a devotion on because I have this nagging feeling that I don't really know what it means to be thankful.  I'm not always sure that I am thankful.  I mean, I grew up in a middle class household, had everything I wanted or needed all my life, never missed a meal, went to bed warm and dry every night.  I try to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness.  I try to remember how privileged I am compared to the rest of the world, but sometimes I think my lack of need makes me ungrateful.

So I started thinking about what true thankfulness really looks like and how you find it.  I have been praying about how to talk to you guys about thankfulness and I am totally unqualified so here is what I feel God put on my heart:  Part of being a thankful person is practicing thankfulness.  It is a good discipline to look at the world around us and find all of our blessings in the seemingly mundane.  Realizing the abundant blessings we have is a huge part of being thankful.  But there is a deeper thankfulness, a soul and a heart of thankfulness that springs out of being needy.  Because here's what struck me: I know for a fact I am thankful for the cross.  I know without a doubt I am thankful to my Lord for sending His only son Jesus to die for my sins because I am so needy in this area.  I have been made painfully aware of my need for a savior because without Jesus I would not be standing here today.  I used to walk in darkness, trying to find any way I could fill that God shaped hole inside my heart.  I have always believed in God but the truth of the Gospel - that Jesus Christ came to Earth and died for MY sins - had never reached my heart.  You know, you were bought at a price.  I was bought at a price.  That price was paid for the sins of all mankind - then, now, and forever.  When I finally let this gospel message pierce my heart, I realized how needy I was for a savior and I have been ever thankful to Him for forgiving me.  The sins in my life were ugly sins that many would find unforgivable.  Many are sins I found unforgivable.  But the only perfect man to walk this Earth - God in the flesh - took these sins on Himself at the cross at Calvary.  I didn't deserve that.  But I needed that.  So for this I am ever thankful.

But as my day goes on and the kids are whining or the dishwasher breaks or there are piles of laundry, sometimes my thankfulness wanes.  And instead of being thankful I become annoyed that I do not have a quiet moment or that I still have to figure out what to make for dinner.  What a sad state it is for us Americans, never knowing need and never learning to live thankful lives.  

I think how we show thankfulness also proves a lot about what we believe about God.  The same way knowing our need for God makes us fall to our knees in prayer, our need of God makes us demonstrate thankfulness in different ways.  One is how we love our neighbor.  If I know I have been given this great gift of grace, then I will not act as though I have become great on my own.  If I truly believe that I am nothing without God then I will treat others as though they are more important than myself.  This attitude of thankfulness bleeds into everything we do.  We are different in our workplaces because we know our jobs are given by Him.  We are different when we are driving bcecause we don't have to get ahead and go faster bc God is getting us where we need to go.  An attitude of thankfulness is what helps us submit to God's ways and grow.

Some verses to meditate on this Thanksgiving:

Ephesians 5:15-20

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:1-6, 8-20 NLT

http://bible.com/116/eph.5.1-6,8-20.nlt

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Matthew 6:33-34 NLT

http://bible.com/116/mat.6.33-34.nlt

Isaiah 55

“Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.””

Isaiah 55:6-13 NLT

http://bible.com/116/isa.55.6-13.nlt

Thankfulness not of this world

Hebrews 12:1

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”

Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT

http://bible.com/116/heb.12.1-3.nlt

God bless & Happy Thanksgiving!