This third week of Advent is all about love: how love came down to redeem mankind, how love covers all sins through sacrifice… how Jesus is love. I appreciate how the love of God plays out in my life, particularly when it is revealed through friendship with other believers. I am excited to share one such friend with you all today. Deb’s authenticity is just one of the many reasons why I love her so much and I know she will bless you as she has blessed me. -Carissa When Carissa reached out to me and gave me the opportunity …
When Jesus is Small
It’s a week before Christmas and all through the house the children are yelling and so is the spouse. The presents are wrapped but the cat ate the tinsel now vet bills are piling and the ham’s full of gristle. This year was to be different, it’s an annual goal, but stressors keep piling like your yard full of snow. Your heart wants to focus on what Christmas is for but the world, so it seems, always wants so much more. Not everyone experiences stress during the holidays, but if we are all honest, many of us do… …
What Do You Want for Christmas?
Danny asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I was hard pressed to think of anything. While I was thinking about it, he said I don’t want a thing. I’ve got what I want. That’s how I feel too. Now there will probably be something under the tree, but we received so much this year and we are very grateful to still have one another. Oh beloved, what are you longing for this Christmas? Do you have a list ready? Are you frantically hoping your list gets filled? Maybe you’re hopeless. Nothing has ever turned out right on Christmas anyway. …
Rejoice!
“How my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For He took notice of His lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me.” These are Mary’s words shared in Luke [1:46]-49. She was a young girl, probably 15 or 16 years old, and she was ready to marry a man who was righteous and good. These are Mary’s words after the Angel of the Lord came to her one night, a night that otherwise would have …
A Thrill of Hope
Doesn’t that phrase just sustain you even now as you are reading it. A thrill of hope. The heart-racing, butterfly producing, anticipation of something exciting, something of incredible and possibly life changing impact. A thrill. This Christmas song is one of my favorites. I think of it at least once each day of December as I do my best to keep my focus on the point of Christmas. I love Christmas, so. much. My heart for Christmas is the reason I volunteered to man the blog this month. I have loved reading the words of each MJOF ministry team member …
You’re Worth The Blessing
Danny and one of his best buds spent the evening sitting with yet another best bud. They did this to help his wife be able to come visit with us at a women’s retreat. So I got to be with two of my besties as well! Doesn’t God do amazing things for us? Oh beloved, God wants to do amazing things for you! He already has. But He also knows your heart’s desires. Deep things down inside you haven’t shared with anyone. Maybe you’ve hardly whispered in prayer to the Father about it. He says watch for it. Watch how …
Jesus-My Living Hope
Jesus – My Living Hope 1 Peter 1: 3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” As parents we want to leave our children an …
Thank You Jesus for Choosing Me
Thank you Jesus for choosing me Ephesians 1: 4 and 5 – “For He choose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” The Bible tells me in Jeremiah 29: 11 that God has a plan for me. That plan did not begin when I were conceived in my mother’s womb. His plan began before He created the world. He knew he wanted to adopt me …
Jesus Re-created My Life
Jesus Re-created My Life We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God make Him who has no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we became a brand new person, on the inside. We are no longer the same person because the Holy Spirit lives within us. We have been re-formed, rehabilitated and re-educated – we have been re-created with …
Thank You Jesus for the Power of the Cross
Thank You Jesus for the power of the cross Colossians 2: 9 and 10 – “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given the fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” When I stop to really think about these verses I cannot begin to derive enough adjectives to describe the feelings welling up inside of me. Just the sheer realization that the same power that is in Jesus Christ is in me makes me want to shout. Jeremy Camp’s song Same …
Jesus Brought Me From Darkness
Jesus brought me from darkness Colossians 1: 13, 14 and 22 – “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. But now, he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight; without blemish and free from accusation.” During a recent visit to Blanchard Springs Caverns, we took time to tour one of the caverns. Halfway through the tour we were seated in what our guide called …
Jesus Comes With a Guarantee
Jesus comes with a guarantee 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 – “Now it is God who makes me (Betty Lacy) stand firm in Christ. He anointed me, set his seal of ownership on me, and put His Spirit in my heart as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (NIV and the Bible according to Betty) All scripture is personal to a believer. I love it when I can insert my name in a verse in a scripture such as this. When I do this I am claiming the scripture as a personal letter to me …