Twas The Night Before Christmas

merry Christmas!!!

Our God is so good; truly He is the only Reason for the season. Should it not always be Christmas in our hearts? When Jesus is born in our hearts, only then is it truly Christmas! Jesus was born in a filthy stable.....and there was a reason. God was giving us a picture. The filth of that stable was the symbol of our hearts. All our righteousness is like that stable, but when the only Righteous One is born within us, then the cleansing begins. He is so good, so faithful, so beautiful.

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Rejoice in the Lord always!

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I received an email from the Ludys with a video of Hudson reciting "Twas The Night Before Christmas". Perhaps some of you got it too, but if you didn't, here is the link. Be sure to listen to it, because it is so cute! And if you really want to laugh; watch their other videos too. :)

http://kiddos.setapartlife.com/Our_Blog/Entries/2008/12/23_twas_the_night_before_Christmas.html

My Shepherd

The LORD is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

-Psalm 23:1

"You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord God.
-Ezekiel 34:31


Ezekiel 34 amazes me. (Read the whole chapter!) God meant earthly shepherds to be for the good of His people; to lead His people in a way that would show them who He is. Yet perhaps too many of them take their jobs too lightly or are ignorant of the fact that they are meant to be a beautiful picture of the One Shepherd. Certainly they are most definitely not beautiful pictures of Him in and of themselves, and never can be--- but by the impartation of Him who is truly beautiful. In the beginning of the chapter the Lord addresses the shepherds, telling them everything they have done against His sheep. The reason that they erred in the first place seems to be because of one thing: Self was on the throne rather that the LORD, which brought much destruction to the sheep and led them astray.
There are many warnings in this chapter; both to the shepherds and the sheep. His shepherds need to recognize their job, and His sheep need to recognize their Shepherd. Though earthly shepherds may be for our good (those who recognize their responsibility and the fact that they too are under the One Shepherd), we (the sheep that is) must never look to them to save us or be to us what only He can be.

In the middle of the chapter He mentions His servant David.
There is one key that unlocks understanding of this whole chapter; one key that this whole chapter points to. The key of David: Jesus Christ.
When we His sheep come to complete dependence on Him, and can truly say that He alone is our Shepherd, there is no other, we have need of nothing because He is our everything, then we will never be led astray.


(If there are any out there who also find joy in this, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Please!?)

Logan

He had just turned six years old. With blue eyes and white-blond hair, he was a little terror. I was reminded very quickly of the death grip with which sin takes hold of lives from such a young age. But from the very first time I laid eyes on him, I knew that all he wanted was someone to love him, and in that very short week that we would know each other, that is exactly what I planned to do. He would fight with the other kids just to gain my attention, cry like a baby when he was reprimanded, and the next minute show how well on his way he was to mastering the "tough guy" act. He seemed not able to call me anything but "teacher" and would continuously give me "bear hugs".



It was right before snack time when someone announced that everyone needed to quiet down because we were going to pray. I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked down to see those big questioning blue eyes looking into mine as he said, "teacher, what is pray?" I knelt down and said gently, "it is when we talk to God". His next words greatly surprised me. "I saw God once!" he stated confidently. I was a little taken aback and thoughts ran through my head saying "no one has ever seen God; what is this little boy talking about?" But then I thought of the love of Jesus, "doesn't He manifest Himself to people? He loves the children!" So looking once more at him, I asked, "where did you see Him?"

"I saw Him here; He was here last year!" he replied.

Gracious Uncertainty

"Certainty is the mark of the common sense life: gracious uncertainty is a mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately when we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only belive our belief about Him. Jesus said, "Except ye... become as little children." Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. "Believe also in Me," said Jesus, not---"Believe certain things about Me." Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come.

Remain loyal to Him."

-Oswald Chambers

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This quote really caught my attention. This world teaches us that we must make our plans, believe in and trust our plans, stand up on our plans, be completely certain of ourselves...and then we will be something. We all heard it when we were little: "What do you want to be when you grow up?", and when we were older it was supposed that we had gained our self-certainty: "What are you going to be?" (Notice the thread running through all of this: it's all about me.)

As I grew up, and my answer continued to be "I don't know", people would seem to kind of pause at my answer for a minute, and then with a little knowing look they would say, "Well, you are still young; you still have time to decide." (As I learn more from my Lord, I realize how different "Time" is in His eyes than in the world's.)

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How about loving Jesus and saying, "I delight to do Your will, O my God" ?

How about leaving all our plans and desires and letting Him be certain of them? How about saying,

When I grow up, I want to be

Certain of my God.

Rings of Gold

Oh, how the coming storm brings forth the darkest clouds tonight!

They seem to say that none can stand before their angry forms, and are made bold

To try and steal away the sweetness of the moon.

They do not know they only magnify its beauteous light

By circling it with rings of gold.

Happy Thanksgiving and a Poem

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have so much earthly wealth in this nation of ours; we have been so blessed. But as I thought over all the things I am thankful for, I realized that when it comes down to it, the most precious things of all are not the earthly things made with human hands or the fleeting pleasures of this world, but the things that are not of this world: my JESUS who gave up all for me and for every human being, the SALVATION that comes from belief in Him, the HOPE and JOY that He brings, the HEARTS of my family and friends whom I love, and the list goes on. But today I would like to look into one more very important thing that I am thankful for: THE PROMISED LAND.

By amazing power and wondrous miracles my God has freed me from the yoke of bondage and brought me out by His mighty hand. He went before me through the wilderness all the way, raining down angel's fare from heaven, providing water of life from the Rock, and showing His wonder in a thousand ways. My shoes did not wear out, for He carried me all the way, and when we had come to the river's edge He set me down to make a choice. I could hear Him declaring that the Land before me was mine for the taking, and that I therefore should go up and posses it and not fear, for He was with me and would fight for me.

The majority of men with me turned their eyes on the giants in the Land,and looking at the mighty Amalekites, forgot their GOD and cowered in fear. But Caleb and Joshua looked up into the face of their mighty SAVIOR and said, "Do not fear, God is with us!" And when I looked up, I too saw my beautiful SAVIOR, bidding me to choose LIFE.

So with the minority, I took the step of faith into the water's edge. We were not bearing the coffin of some god, but the VERY PRESENCE OF THE LIVING GOD! And with that tiny step, the giant, overflowing waters of the Jordan were piled up on either side as we walked into PROMISED LAND.

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I wrote a poem the other day and I would like to share it with you. Though I really like poetry, I never write it, so this is pretty odd.It is not much, but it tells a lot about what I have been learning recently....which brings me to another thing I am thankful for... GOD's WORD is so amazing, it goes ever deeper and deeper and never, ever runs dry.I am only beginning to scratch the surface of its wonders. Thank God for His Word!!!

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My life began with Egypt's load,

And early I was wrapped in chains.

Twixt heart and hand was no long road,

And that was spilling from the stains.

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How shiny were the pleasures there,

Where truth is crushed and darkness prized!

For life was fun, without a care!

In ignorance my birthright I despised.

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Then came the load and heavy hand

Pressing down, for slave was I.

Hope was buried 'neath the sand

And surely no one heard my cry.

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How then miraculous freedom came

Through spotless Lamb and poured out blood!

Escape from death and terror's reign!

I walked, I sang, protected through the flood.

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Now pow'r was great, and hope was bright.

I walked with God; He led the way

Through cloud by day and fire by night

His faithfulness was e'er displayed.

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Here to sorrow my tale could turn

Like Israel so long ago.

To disobey and fail to learn

Humility at what the law had shown.

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Failing love to God steadfastly;

Failing faith to cast out leaven.

Longing for some food of fancy;

Hating precious bread from heaven.

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But no! GOD'S WORD now teaches me

Through wand'ring Israels mistake.

And here in Kadesh land I see

Before me is a choice that I must make.

Though Anak's kin would bring dismay

And keep me from the Life beyond,

I will not fear! God parts the way!

His Spirit will not lead me wrong.

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So here on Jordan's edge I stand.

I'll take the step, by God Almighty.

And enter in the Promised Land

Which overflows with sweetest milk and honey.

(Ten verses times four lines makes 40, which is the correct number to describe this poem!)

And though the Promised Land is still full of Amalekites (for surely Flesh seems way too tall and giant to overcome),they will not stand when we,like David,take up our swords and obey the Lord to destroy them. For every inch of ground upon which we set our feet is ours by faith, for the battle belongs to the Lord and victory is ours through Jesus. Let us therefore enter the Land!

Shelter- by Scott Cunningham

Recently I got Scott Cunningham's new album called 'Til The Whole World Hears, and there is a song on it that is just so beautiful. He sings it with his daughter Madison. I can't stop listening to it; I really like it. Here are the words:
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Shelter

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Oh God, I need You. O God I need You here with me. I know You hear me. You're my hope all of my days. You're my hope all of my days.

Jesus, Savior,Protector of my soul, O Messiah, Redeemer, You're the Shelter in the storm.

O God, I love You. O God, I love to speak your Name. I know you hear me. You're my hope all of my days. You're my hope all of my days.

Jesus,Savior, Protector of my soul, O Messiah, Redeemer, You're the Shelter in the storm.

I'll be watching, waiting, till Your love comes back for me, and I'll be watching, waiting still, till Your love comes rescuing.

Jesus, Savior,Protector of my soul, O Messiah, Redeemer, You're the shelter in the storm.

Joy

Listen to this quote (sorry if it is a bit paraphrased) :

"Joy is central in the Christian's life, while sorrow is peripheral. The fundamental questions of life have been answered, while only the peripheral ones have not.

For the unbeliever, sorrow is central while joy is peripheral, because the fundamental questions of life for the skeptic are still unanswered; only the peripheral ones for the skeptic may be answered.

Joy, which is the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian."

G.K. Chesterton

When I heard this quote, I was caught by surprise. I love it. It makes me want to shout. Isn't this so true?! Even in the most sorrowful of circumstances on the outside, are we not filled with joy on the inside? If we are not, then it is only because we don't know our Lord well enough. For when we know Him, even if we cry ourselves to sleep in pain and sorrow, we can still rise at midnight and give thanks to Him, and joy still comes in the morning. Perhaps you would say that I am young and have not really known sorrow, but I am not too young to have known joy. And in the end, joy overcomes sorrow, for truly death has lost its sting.....and is swallowed up in victory.

Song

I added another song to the ipod, if you'd care to listen to it. It is called "Learning to Love" and I really like it. I heard about Jason Upton recently and listened to a few of his songs and this is the one I liked.

These are the little kiddos I get to babysit!

This picture was from just the other day. Bubba wasn't feeling that well (he woke up with a cold that morning) and when he woke up from his nap he cried for a long time while I tried to distract him by talking about doggies and trucks and anything that might cheer him up, so his normal big smile is sadly lacking in this picture.


While Bubba mostly just totters around and grins, his Sissy is a bit more energetic. She and I play games, color with crayons, dance around singing Do-Re-Me, or sit at the piano while she flips through the hymnal and then bangs out her own version of the song she chooses.


Or better yet, we take rides in the baby bathtub! Or rather, I get the pleasure of whirling them around the house until I'm exhausted while they sit and squeal with excitement. They absolutely love it. (Bubba looks half asleep in this picture 'cause he had just woken up)