Hope in Utter Despair

Christmas Tip #3:

Prepare a Mission Heart Hug shoe box for the wives of military spouses. Sponsored by Encourage Her Ministries, you can prepare a shoebox and drop them off at any local Chick-fil-A. (My preference - Cary Towne Center Chick-fil-A. This is my brother-in-law's store!)

Luke 1:7

But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

Last Christmas season, I was in unbearable despair and hopelessness. A tidal wave of fear, deep uncertainty and unrelenting insecurity had been crashing upon me for 3 1/2 solid years and I was at a breaking point. It seemed my prayers were merely hitting the ceiling. I ran out of ways to pray - I even lost all desire to pray. Many days, I felt hopeless.

To make matters worse, the devil was merciless - constantly kicking me when I was down. Tempting me to turn my back on deeply held convictions:

• "Why not have that glass of wine? God doesn't care about you," I'd hear in my ear at Christmas parties and gatherings.
• "Why not watch that rated 'R' movie? God's abandoned you, plus it's only a little profanity and nudity," I'd hear.
• "Why are you still getting up for your quiet time when God's not even listening?" was another lie I'd hear.

This is just the tip of the iceberg! HOWEVER, with all the might and strength I could muster up, I'd reply with a script that I'd memorized, a script that was helping me to hold onto Jesus despite His apparent silence - a reminder that: "God loves me. He will be faithful to me."

Over and over again, I'd pray it, think it and say it out loud. I was truly holding onto my faith by a strand. I wonder if this is how Elizabeth felt...

She was barren. Jewish homes were meant for children, lots of them. They represented security and social status. We read in Luke 1:25 that she faced "disgrace among the people." Month after disappointing month, year after year - no child - and then menopause! Hope was all but gone. Surely Elizabeth felt like her prayers were hitting the ceiling - where was God? Didn't He see her everyday obedience? Didn't He see her always doing the right thing, even when no one else was watching?

I'm challenged by Elizabeth because she NEVER gave up on God. She was never bitter towards God nor felt God owed her for her faithfulness. The quality of her character was never compromised by the degree of her painful circumstances.

It's easy to think that God has abandoned us in our seasons of despair and is with us only in abundance. However, God is never closer to us than when we've been kicked down by life. Often God does not answer our prayers the way we want Him to. But we have to persevere and trust Him, just as Elizabeth did. We have to trust that God truly has our best interests at heart. WE have to believe that God can and will do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine.

By the way, God did abundantly more than I could have imagined following this very low period. Even though my faith was a small as a mustard seed - He showed up in a miraculous way. Hang on dear friend. KNOW that God loves you. KNOW that as you are faithful, you can count on Him to be faithful!

Be Encouraged! Love,

God's Commendation - Luke 1:5-6

Keeping Jesus the center of your holiday - Christmas Tip #2:
As a good friend reminded me just this weekend, pull out a hymnal and read/sing/hum the words to the old Christmas hymns. Sing them to the Lord in your quiet time, with your children, or when you ride down the road. The words are deep and meaningful.

God's Commendation:
One of the things I love about Luke's gospel: he gives the most detail. Luke was a doctor and wanted to give an "orderly account." As I woman, I love that! The more detail, the better! In sharing the story of Christ's birth, Luke takes us all the way back to the conception of John the Baptist.

"It all begins with a Jewish priest, Zechariah," writes Luke (Luke 1:5 NLT). Zechariah's wife was Elizabeth. Luke tells us that John the Baptist's parents "were righteous in God's eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord's commandments and regulations. Yet they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and now they were both very old" (v. 6-7).

The words "righteous in God's eyes" jumped off the page at me. It's so easy to compare ourselves with others--for example, Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks--and think, "compared to that dude - I'm pretty good!" We can even compare ourselves with our friends or family members and think we're righteous compared to their lifestyles or decisions. But that's the world's standards. What about God's standards? Think about it for a minute - according to God's standards, are you righteous in His eyes? What makes us "righteous in His eyes?" I thought of a few things:

1. First and foremost: ONLY if we are a child of God are we righteous in His eyes (See John 1:12). This is when we accept Christ as Savior of our lives.

But what about those of us who are God's children? Zechariah was a priest. I would imagine his friends and family would have thought he was righteous - after all, he was one of God's servants. (Just because someone has a title - does not automatically mean he or she is right before God.) Yet God make's a point in making sure we know that HE was pleased with them. What were Elizabeth and Zechariah doing to receive God's commendation? I thought of a few things:

2. Obedience - "they were careful to obey all the Lord's commandments." Are you obedient? Am I? Do you come to Him each day to receive your marching orders - to find out what's on His heart and His mind before the day begins? And then are you faithful to do it?

3. Being careful of drawing near to Him in a quiet time or Bible study, or by going to church, yet having hearts that are far from Him. We can easily go through the motions with minimal effort or almost no thought. (The Lord quickened my heart a few Sundays ago on this very issue.) How do you approach your quiet time? How do you approach going to church? Are you mechanical or do you come in expectant - expectant for the LIVING GOD to meet with you, to speak to you?

4. Private blamelessness. In other words, doing the right thing behind closed doors when no one else is watching. Psalm 101 is one of my life Psalms. Read it!

More than anything, I want God's commendation. I want Him to say of me, "she is righteous in my eyes." Do you want the same commendation? Share your thoughts or you can comment on one of mine - don't forget I'm giving away Christmas Journals through Thursday!

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas - Journal Giveaway!!!

Christmas Tip #1: If you want to resist the urge of racing a senior citizen to the only table at Panera Bread (sadly, I've done it): start each day before shopping, decorating and entertaining by spending some time in prayer and Bible reading. Start with Matthew 1-2 or Luke 1. It'll make the biggest difference in your attitude and day!

Welcome to the launch of my new blog!!! I hope you like it. My other one was so drab that I could hardly stand to look at it. However, a good friend suggested Carol @ Lucy Designs - Carol is awesome! If you are in need of a blog makeover - she's your girl. (She's so good that she has a 2 month waiting list. Contact her now if you need her!)

I love Christmas! It's my favorite time of year! It's a perfect time to launch this new blog as well as my new Christmas Journal titled:

Christmas Keepsake Journal,

Celebrating the True Meaning of Christmas and

Treasuring the Memories of Each Passing Christmas

In this 70 page Journal, you'll find:

• 6 years worth of pages for recording all your special Christmas memories
  
  
  
• Practical Tips for keeping Jesus the center of your Christmas activities and festivities


• Practical birthday ideas for Jesus


• And much more!

As a way celebrate this very special time of year - as well as my new blog and Journal - I plan to:

1. Blog a Christmas devotion each day AND
2. Give away a free Journal Tuesday through Thursday.
   All you need to do is give me your feedback and thoughts to the daily devotion. This will register you for a daily drawing!

If you love Christmas or if you are hungry for meaning to this special season, join me each day as we deliberately keep Jesus front and center of our Christmas season. The Christmas devotions begin Tuesday morning!

Have a great day!