Christmas Eve 2019

This Christmas 2019, and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas!  God is so amazing, and I am so grateful that He sent Jesus to us for our salvation.

As I sit and look at my Christmas tree I look at the stars and realize for the first time that they represent the Star of Bethlehem.  I have never thought about why we put stars on our trees before.  As I sit here this morning I have been thinking about how faithful the Three Wise Men were to follow the star.  Would we be that faithful?  Would we just get up and leave everything to follow a star, because we knew at the end of the trip we would find a king?  I started writing this post several years ago, but was not sure what God wanted in this post.  I have been waiting for Him to talk to me and lead me in the direction that He wanted.  I have needed to be patient, because I want to follow His lead, because that is what the Magi did, they followed His lead. Sometimes, we have to be really patient, because it has taken two years for this post to be finished. This was the right time for it to be published, His time.

When I was at church, one of my Pastors, Pastor Mills, spoke about the Three Wise Men.  He told us that they had been astrologers, which I had never realized before.  We do not know a lot about them, but we do know that they were not Jewish.  Yet, they saw a star that moved across the sky and they knew that they would find a king at the end of their trip.


1. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 
2. saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. And he gathered all of the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where Christ was to be born.
5. So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is is written by the prophet:

6. 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.'

7. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

8. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."

9. When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and feel down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12. Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

Matthew 2:1-12

I want to act with that kind of faith in God. The kind of faith that makes me drop everything in my life to follow Him because He sent a Savior for me.

My prayer this Christmas Eve for for all of us, you and me, is that we have that same faith, the kind of faith that makes us drop everything and follow Christ. That we also have the faith of the Magi.

Merry Christmas and God bless all of you!

Debi

Joy is a Gift

Joy is a gift from God. It is one of the gifts that we receive when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance

Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV

We are also told to count it all joy in James 1.

Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of you faith (through experience) produces endurance (leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace.)  And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed (in your faith), lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom (to guide him through a decision or circumstance), he is to ask of (our benevolent) God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask (for wisdom) in faith, without doubting (God's willingness to help), for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.  For such a person ought not think or expect that he will receive anything (at all from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways (in everything he thinks, feels, or decides).

James 1:2-8 AMP

I don't know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time with this one.  I have faith and I know that God had got all of my problems taken care of even before I ask, but when I don't see results right away, or maybe it even takes a year or two, I feel like it may never happen.  I still need to count it all joy, consider it nothing but joy, because this testing of my faith will lead to a spiritual maturity that I now lack.  Isn't that one of the things we are striving for in our walk with God and our faith is spiritual maturity and inner peace.

One of the reasons that I have not written much over that last year and a half is that I fell and crushed my left ankle.  It has been a true struggle.  When I broke it, I sang the song Way Maker by Sinach over and over quietly as they took me to each surgery, every test, and even in a hyperbaric chamber.  God is so good.  He placed me in the hands of an amazing trauma surgeon who was able to piece me back together,  I lost the feeling from above my ankle down.  I have neuropathy in my foot that is being taken care of pain treatment specialist,  He diagnosed me with something called Sympathetic Nerve Syndrome, which basically means that the nerves and blood vessels in my ankle and foot are confused and sending pain signals to my brain. In the meantime, I know that this struggle will result in a spiritual maturity that I did not have before.  So I am counting it all joy.  I know it sounds strange, but God is using this for something to benefit me in the end.  To bring me closer to Him, and also to benefit His Kingdom.

So as you move through life and you are dealing with difficult things in your life, remember to consider it all joy.  He doesn't promise us a tribulation free life, but He has the strength to help us move through these tough times.

Have a blessed week

Debi

Help Me Lord

Have you heard the Natalie Grant song More Then Anything?  I was in the shower this morning, and the song was playing over and over in my head, but what was I was really focusing on was Help Me Lord.  Some of the words in the song are; "Help me want the Healer, more then the Healing, Help me want the Savior more then the Saving, Help me want the Giver more then the Giving, Help me want you Jesus more then anything."1.  I've posted the video below, so that you can hear it.  It's so beautiful.

I have't been able to get this song out of my head recently.  As I was singing it this morning, what God shared with me was Help Me Lord.  Jesus is all of the things she sings about: the Healer, the Savior, the Giver, and we always ask Him for what we need.  Isn't that what we are supposed to do?  Yes, He could wave his hand and take all of our pain and suffering away, but want would we have learned.  Would we have learned to give Him our troubles, without trying to take them back and solve them ourselves?  Not if He just waved His hand and made it to easy.  What I heard Him say this morning was that we need to make sure we want Him in our lives (all of the way in), not just what He can do for us.  Without Him wholly in our lives, He can't accomplish what we are asking Him to do.  What I mean by this is that, if we haven't invited Him into our hearts, and turn our problems over to Him to take care of He can't do it, because our faith will not be strong enough.  If we don't turn healing over to Him, He can't heal us.  If we don't accept Him as our Savior, He can't save us, and if we don't ask Him to be our Giver, He can give us nothing.

So this morning as I was singing this beautiful song, the phrase "Help me Lord" became part of what I was singing, even thought it isn't part of the song.  "Help me Lord to let You into my life, to release You and Your power into my life, so that You can be all of these things to me."

What will it take for you to let Him into you life, your heart, your soul?  Maybe you already have, but maybe you need that extra bit of conviction and faith to totally surrender to Him.  Whatever it is that you need from Him, I am praying for you to let Him help you.  For through Christ all things are possible.

Today, I am asking you if you need prayer?  If you do please contact me and I will be happy to pray with you.  Remember to make sure that you are not a no-reply comment blogger.  You will need to change that or send me your email address, so that I can reach you.

Have a blessed day.
Debi

1. Songwriters: Becca Mizell / Samuel Mizell
More Then Anything Lyrics Copyright BMG Management

Who Do You Say I AM

"Who do you say I AM?"   That is what I heard on October 22, 2018, on the way to Bible Study.  God was pretty insistent that night.  He asked again, "Who do you say I AM?"  This is the conversation that I had with God that night, and I wrote it down, because I knew I was supposed to share it with you.

My answer, "God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit."
"Do you recognize the signs?"

"Did  they recognize the signs, the people of that time?"

"What  were the signs?"  

"Did  the Apostles know?" 

"What  are the signs now?  Because we know He is coming again."

"Are  we ready, are you ready?"

God's questions were so insistent that night.  Insistent that I remember and share this with all of you.  He is coming and there are signs that are being fulfilled all of the time, and we must know what they are so that we can be ready.  

The next part of the conversation went like this.  "Who do you say I am?"  Me not Him.  

"You know me.

Every hair on my head.

My name before I was born.

You sent Jesus for my salvation.

You say I am a Child of God.

You say I am loved." I answered.

Our job, yours and mine is to know the signs.  How do we do that?  We must know the Word, we must read the Bible.  It is so important, because we do not want to be asleep at the wheel.  God loves us all and does not want anyone left behind.

Have a blessed day.

Debi

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Matthew 16:15-16

Sherpa Photo Blanket Review for Collage.com

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, but I did receive this Sherpa Photo Blanket from Collage.com in exchange for a review.  All content and opinions are my own, and I will not receive any compensation if you purchase something from their site.

Product reviews are not something that I normally do, but when Collage.com approached me, I checked out their site, it looked like a good product, and something I would be comfortable sharing with all of you.  I received a photo blanket as a gift from my kids several years ago, and it was an amazing gift to receive.  I thought if this turned out to be a nice blanket, it would be a good suggestion for your Christmas gifts this year.  As you can see below, it is adorable.

We took a trip this past summer with our two older granddaughters and my mom in our RV  What a fun trip it was!  We went to the Kennedy Space Center, St. Augustine, Savannah, Dollywood in Pidgeon Forge, Tn., The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, St. Louis, and ended in Denver.  We even got to see Dolly Parton in a parade at Dollywood, which was a treat.  She is only there twice a year, so we felt very fortunate.  We also took pictures of our youngest granddaughter and my mom when we were in Denver, so I was able to get pictures of my mom with all three of her great grandchildren.  We had such a fun trip and  I took so many great pictures.  I wanted to be able to turn the pictures into a photo book, which I will do at some point, but when this opportunity arose I decided this would be a fun way to commemorate this trip.

I decided to make the blanket a gift for my mom's birthday, and I am so happy with the way that this Sherpa Photo Blanket came out.  It is so cute.  Collage.com let me design a 50 x 60 inch sherpa throw which retails for $159.00.  It is made with a plush arctic fleece which is super soft and cuddly.  Their website is very user friendly.  They have many templates that you can choose from to put your pictures on the blanket or you can do a custom template.  There are also many different backgrounds to choose from besides just plain white, I chose this rose pattern for my mom.  The blanket was here in about 1 week from the time I ordered it, which I thought was very fast.

I love the way this blanket came out and my mom loved it also.  Right now Collage.com is offering a sitewide sale with 50% off, use the code Fall50 at checkout to receive your discount.  This is a great way to make one of a kind gifts for your loved ones this Christmas or Hannukah.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that you are able to use this code to get some of your holiday shopping done early.

Have a great week.