Tis the Season

It's the season of joy, cookie baking, Christmas trees, lights, friends and family, presents, food, and merry times to be had! And isn't it a wonderful time of year!

I just want to remind everyone about what this time of the year is really about. We must remember to be thankful for what we have. And remember that because of the Birth of Christ we can have life in the darkness. This time of the year we remember that Jesus was born and He changed the world! He is the light. Oh the goodness in the simplicity of a birth! How simply and yet not so simple...oh how wonderful!

Here are a few tellings of the birth of Jesus.

in Matthew...
Conception and Birth of Jesus:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly, but when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and called His name Jesus.

Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem:
     Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up to Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
     In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afriad: for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
     When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Enjoy! God is good!
-Carlie J

DO Something

Have you ever needed maybe a little persuading...or not persuading but maybe just a nudge to jump out there and DO something for The Kingdom.

Maybe, you don't know what to do, where to begin... well I don't have all the answers and this video doesn't either. But I was feeling this way. I was feeling stuck. I was feeling lazy where I am, lazy in my day to day impact for the Kingdom. Not doing anything...not doing something. Then I watched this documentary...

And not everyone is called overseas to leave their country, a lot of times it is far harder work to stay in mainstream society and spread the Gospel. I feel a love of missions to far off places though! But I would still suggest to everyone to watch this documentary because you will not feel like sitting around anymore. You will want to get up and DO something!

It is called Father of Lights and I am going to add and two little clips from this video! One is 10 minutes and is a clip from the movie and the other is the trailer.

This is a short clip from the film

This is the trailer of the film

Be encouraged!

-Carlie J

Pain and Suffering

I know I am not the only one who suffers and hurts. Many who read this have dealt with divorce, lost a love one, been raped, and/or experienced some sort of tragedy. If you have not then you will at some point in your life. No one goes through life with out so sort of hurt, at some point. But through this we can be transformed! Changed! I promise you good will come out of it because God is good and loves us relentlessly! And yes, he allows suffering to happen to us (a good example is Job in the Bible) but through that, the hurt and the pain, how are we going to act? How are we going to view God during trying times in our lives? - This is all a constant struggle for me but I have recently read something that made me view my suffering in a new way--a new perspective! So that is what I am going to share!

I am currently reading A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley from the International House of Prayer (IHOP). I have not completed it yet but I have found many useful bits thus far! IHOP - Shelley Hundley (this link is to make of her talks on the IHOP website, I highly suggest you check them out)! I want to share many statements and excerpts from her book on suffering!

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his mega phone to rouse a deaf world." - C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain

BITS ON PAIN:

• we often chase lesser beauties and neglect the one is ultimate beauty/meets our deepest needs (1 Corinthians 4:4, Isaiah 53:2, Romans 1:21, Ephesians 1:18; 4:17-18)
• pain reveals the inadequacy of what we are beholding and unlocks our ache for a greater beauty to fulfill our needs - therefore - paint and suffering are useful because of what the tear down in our lives and the One to whom they can lead us
• pain directs us the the place where God is waiting, ready to change us

PAIN HELPS US:

• realize our hearts are alive
• indicate how much beauty we have seen
• realize the depths of emotional capacity
• shatter our phony attachments and faulty dependancies 
• have the ability to change our priorities in a minute
• pain is persistent and will not be deceived
• rather than disqualifying us from God, it brings us into intimacy with God
• encounter knowledge of God most deeply
• Deuteronomy 26:5-8, Isaiah 63:9, Revelation 21:4, Song of Solomon 4:16, 2 Corinthians 2:15

PICTURES OF SUFFERING:

• in the Bible we see God dignifying those who suffer and sharing in their pain
• He points us to great joy that is to come as well as supernatural grace to triumph out suffering

1. God uses pain to bring us back to our first love.

• Hosea 2:1-20
• he strips away what keeps us from Him --> sometimes there is something more dangerous lurking that we are headed towards <-- His protection

      2.  God uses suffering to prepare His delivers for work.

• Genesis 37-45 (Joseph)
• season of study, meditation, suffering, and knowing God more intimately

     3.  God uses suffering to reveal His glory.

• Job (most commonly known), Luke 22:31-32 (Peter)
• Satan asked God's permission --> God allowed putting Job on display and ultimately revealing His great glory
• praise in blessings but challenged to praise when everything is wrong
• feeling of being inhabited from having a real impact for Jesus during times of illness and pain

    4.  God uses pain to prepare God's people to reign.

• (Daniel 7:9-14, Ezekiel 1:26, Psalm 2) --> reveal God's glorious plan
• Daniel 7:27
• as Christ's Bride, the church overcomes only by being victorious in love --> Revelation 12:11
• The avdersary (satan/antichrist) will overcome Christ's Bride (us) physically --> resulting in martyrdom --> but she (Christ's Bride) will triumph spiritually --> receiving the right to rule with Jesus forever
• Daniel 7:21, 25; 8:24; 11:33-25; 12:7, 10
• Revelation 6:9-11; 13:7; 17:6; 18:24; 19

     5.  Suffering gives God access to the deepest places in out hearts.

• God's presence is always with us but we can't always feel it -->in our deepest darkest sufferings when we almost feel there is no reason to believe Jesus says "Open to me"
• Song of Solomon 5:2 --> many requests from God to the Bride of Christ but when suffering He only has one request, that she respond to His knocking and open the deepest places of out hearts to Him!
• a picture of Jesus coming to His bride with hair wet from dew of the night (speaks of Jesus own suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane) it reminds us that He meets us in the place of suffering!
• when she responds to the knock and cannot find Him she is able to tell others (less mature believers/ daughters of Jerusalem) about how beautiful Jesus is to her and why she is so lovesick for Him. Song of Solomon 5:16.
• It goes on to explain how touched God is when He is so adored in times of pain and struggle and suffering, in our darkest times. Song of Solomon 6:4
• one reality can capture Jesus --> love from a suffering heart
• A prayer for in these times: "Jesus I know that you did not take my pain away (heal me) again today, but I also know what You are longing for as You look at my heart. I know what I can give You now in this darkness that won't be the same after you have healed me from pain (or sickness) and I can see You clearly for who you are. I can love You! Jesus, in the midst of all that I am going through, the pain and my inability to sense your presence, I love You!" 
• something along those lines, and pray it daily
• imagine Jesus' reply: "Your name, you are beautiful to me! You are awesome! You are overcoming the accusation and fears like an army triumphing a battle! You are beautiful! It is too much for me, I am overcome! You are my beloved!"

I shall continue on my next post about how the response to suffering is a gift!

Go, encounter God in a whole new way!

Open your heart to Him!

Be blessed!

-Carlie J

A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

Great FREE Bible site

This is Shelley Hundley sharing her testimony - Atheist turned to Christ

The Little Things

I just was laying here when insomnia is hitting me and I simply cannot sleep and thinking to myself as I catch up reading my K-Love verses of the day (I was about 10 behind, oops)!

I was thinking and realizing how each verse made a small impact on my heart. All bit one of them were familiar verses, so it isn't like they were new or a first time read. But they reminded me that our simple everyday day-to-day actions "the little things" matter! The smiles, the hellos and how are yous, hugs to friends and loved ones, I love yous to spouses even if you assume they know it - why not remind them.

Why not do the little things. A smile can turn someone's day around without you even thinking twice about doing it!

Brighter thoughts! And happier days!
-Carlie J

30 Day Challenge

For the past couple of months I have kept my car radio set to the KLove station instead of playing CDs, or my phone. Part of it out of laziness, and part of it is because much of what I hear on the radio I find offensive or don't want the girls I babysit to go repeating. The stronger my relationship with Christ gets the more sensitive I get to worldly things. I don't say this to be a "prude music hater" I love music and I do have favorite bands that are secular bands.

But, I want to encourage you to try a thirty day challenge! A challenge to listen to only Christian music for 30 days! Only thirty days! Go into with a clear mind and just see what happens! See how you feel after the end of those thirty days!

Today, on the radio, I heard a man that has diabetes and the only thing about his lifestyle that he has changed is this 30 only Christian music challenge and his blood pressure on the average has dropped from the average of 225 to 130!

Don't put God in a box. He is so much bigger!
-Carlie J