A Fresh Look At 2010 by Judi Jo Adams

A Fresh Look At 2010

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”  Luke 1:35

Mary was greeted by the most astonishing message on that day, so long ago, when the angel appeared to her.  We must remember she lived in a day when the voice of God was still rare & angels speaking to people were not the norm! Why?  We needed a Savior, someone to bring us back into fellowship with the presence of God.

Can you imagine how shocking it was to Mary to hear she would be used in the amazing reconciliation plan of God?  She could have given many responses, knowing that this could separate her from her engagement to Joseph.  Out of her heart came the beautiful answer:

“Be it unto me according to your will.”  Luke 1:38   

We tend to glamorize the manger & the years that followed Mary, but the truth is that it had to be difficult.  From having a baby in a dirty stable to escaping to Egypt & leaving their families behind, her obedience to God required her to pay a price.  

There is no greater place to be than in the center of God’s will.  At the same time, obedience to Him does cost us something.  If you study the life of Paul, he gave his all to press on in the plan of God.   Now, every moment of that will be rewarded with the very glory of God &, with that in mind, it makes each trial worth every minute!  I can remember many examples where it cost me greatly to obey God.  On our first trip to India, we travelled for 100’s of hours in coach class Indian trains… talk about rough!  With a huge back pack on my back, I can remember one day when I simply couldn’t physically walk another step!  Thronged by a crowd of people, I simply stopped walking & had reached the point of exhaustion.  Why?  Well, it requires something of us to follow in His steps & I would happily do it all over again.

Going through difficult times does not necessarily mean you are out of the will of God!  It may very well mean you are in harmony with his perfect plan!  Let’s think about this, His desire would be that we still lived in His glorious garden, but He understands that now we have to go the dirtiest of slums to seek what He has lost.   According to Luke 14:28, there comes a time in life when we simply have to count the cost.  In doing so, we realize that it is worth every last penny!  We gain a Heavenward focus & it changes everything for us!  We come to know that what we give up on earth is what we gain in Heaven, laying up for us riches that far exceed them all.

Well, New Years is almost here & with it generally comes a time when we stop to refocus.  As we do that this year, let’s take a fresh look at 2010 & consecrated anew to His plan.  When we stay consecrated, we are quicker to obey & hesitate less at what requires more of us.  During the years that we lived overseas, I found myself consecrating a fresh so often.  Truly, it does help us obey without looking back! For the children of Israel to get to the Promise Land, they had to go through the dessert.  For Joseph to be made second in all the land, he had to go through prison.  For us to fulfill the beautiful plan ahead of us, we must consecrate to walk through anything required to get to our promise as well!

Read more >>

A Christmas to Remember by Kate Jones

A Christmas to Remember

“It is more blessed to give than receive” - Jesus

I can still recall Christmas 1988, and how special it was that morning as we opened some of our most memorable gifts.  I received a beautiful doll that I’ve held onto for all these years, hoping to pass it down to my little girl.  My brother got a red BMX bike and my big sister got a new dress.  There was an abundance of gifts for us to open that morning.  We had a blessed Christmas, not because of the gifts, but because of how the story began… It was a Christmas to Remember!

On December 16, 1988, it was nine days before Christmas, and there were no gifts under the tree.  Separated from her husband, and left to provide for three children, my mom’s greatest concerns were keeping food on the table and the electric bill paid so we could stay warm.  There wasn’t extra money to purchase gifts for her family. However, her own circumstances didn’t stop her from wanting to give to other families in need that Christmas.  

My mom had $20.00 to her name and planned to send part of it to a ministry that provides food for families in need.  But as she sent the money, my mom was compelled to give everything she had.  Delivering her envelope to the mailbox, her heart was filled with unexplainable joy!  She didn’t give out of her own needs, but out of the same love God had shown her when he fulfilled a promise.

This story reminds me of another woman who Jesus witnessed giving everything she had.  While the rich men gave out of their abundance, this woman gave only two coins.  Although her gift was less than the rich men, Jesus believed she gave more because it was all she had to live on (Luke 21:1-4).  

Just three days after my mom posted an envelope with every bit of money she had, she received three checks in the mail on the same day!  In one card, a cousin who lived in Florida wrote that she had been in prayer and God impressed her to mail us $200.00.  There was also a check from a sales commission and the last check came from an in-law.  With just one week until Christmas, my mom received a total of $400.00 and was able to buy gifts for her children.  Our Christmas didn’t end there!  All the food we would need to have a Christmas dinner was provided by our churches food bank. 

This Christmas there are families all over the country and across the globe that would be blessed to have a hot meal at Christmas or a small toy.  There are churches and ministries whose offerings are low, but they are still reaching out, even if it means giving everything they have.  There are single parents and families who have lost jobs, but in the light of Christmas, still find it in their hearts to give.  We can also give to the poor, even when our pocket books are lighter than usual or our cabinets are less than full.  We can give not out of necessity for our own families, but out of the same love God showed us when He sent His Son into the world.   

When we are like the poor woman who gave more than the rich men and the single mom who put others needs before her own, we put our hope not on earthly things, but in a promise fulfilled to us on the day a baby boy was born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was Messiah, Emmanuel, our Lord and Savior.  He brought great joy and peace on earth!  His name is Jesus!

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. John 4:9-11

Read more >>

MiMi's Most Memorable Christmas by Judy Boewe Lau

MiMi’s Most Memorable Christmas

Twas a cold & blowing December day in Paris, Illinois.  Our family owned flower shop & greenhouses were bustling, as we were busy at work getting all the beautiful flowers delivered before Christmas.  The snow began to fall on this special Christmas Eve.  Judi Jo was just six years old & her brothers, Bart & Todd, were eight & ten.  All three of them joined in the fun, helping to deliver the lovely holiday poinsettias & bouquets. 

As it so happened, Daddy John had promised this mama that if we had any poinsettias left in the greenhouse at the close of the day we could give them all away.  This was one of our favorite things about the season!  Well, that year we grew hundreds of plants, so there were more than enough to turn into a blessing.  We called in our friend and away we went to deliver on that cold night before Christmas.  We were blessed as a family to be able to own a business that allowed us to give such beauty away!  For me, next to our Lord Jesus, there is no greater beauty on earth than that of a flower.  

There was such a blizzard that you could hardly see to drive, but the joy our little one’s received from the experience was one that will never be forgotten.  We chose to go the nursing homes & Judi Jo can recall with joy watching the look on their faces as they received the flowers, as well as the laughter of one little lady who wanted one for her fish!  To see how excited they were, brought about the true meaning of the season for all of us.  

It was more than the flower, it was the expression of love reaching out to them that really meant so much. This is what Christmas is all about!  God reached out to us, sending the most wonderful gift of all.  Now, we are to be like Him & do the same.  Luke 6:38 says “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down , and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  

God wants us to capture the true essence of the season, giving!  There is nothing my friend that you can take with you in the end, it’s only what you choose to give away that will ultimately remain.  This Christmas, let’s all make memories with our families & set an example in reaching out to others with the gift of His love.  

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Read more >>

He Loves Me by Debbie Beck

He Loves Me!

As we enter the Christmas season, I am once again struck by the awesomeness of God’s incredible love for us manifested in the Christmas story. In the most profound display of true agape love ever to occur, God sent His most precious gift to live, die and rise again for broken humanity – Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. It is mind-boggling to me that so much love not only exists, but is available to me as a free gift. Although I enjoy the trees, caroling, and gift giving, the true wonder of Christmas still lies in John 3:16 and the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 

Yet sadly, the holidays are known to be a difficult time for many people. Whether dealing with the loss of a loved one, money struggles throughout the previous year, a broken family situation or other challenges, not everyone will enter this season with joy and cheer, but some with hurts and disappointments, or even resentment and bitterness. Even many Christians will pass through the holidays and miss the Spirit of the season – the opportunity to experience the love of God in a fresh way as we reflect on His “unspeakable gift” given to us in Christ Jesus. 

Recently the Holy Spirit began to talk to me about the importance of having continual faith in the love of God as a believer. Although our initial experience of God’s love through salvation is certainly the first step, a constant revelation of God’s love toward us is vitally important if we are to enjoy the journey from here to Glory. In Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul prayed an incredible prayer for the church. In verse 13 Paul expresses his desire that the church not faint or grow weak or weary due to the tribulations he was facing on their behalf. It could have been very discouraging to this relatively new church that after such awesome displays of power in the life of Christ, their beloved father in the faith and many others dear their hearts were now suffering intense persecution. How could these believers rise above what they were seeing, hearing and feeling about the current situation? Paul prays that they will be strengthened, but we need to pay close attention to what he said would bring them strength for the tough times they were facing. Let’s look at verses 14 – 19 in the Message Bible. 

14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. 

What was going to take God’s people through this difficult time? Firmly planting their faith in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love! 

Most of us probably remember the childhood game played by little girls first exploring the idea of love and romance where you take a flower with petals, pick one off at a time, and for each one either say, “He loves me” or “He loves me not.” Of course, the hope is always that the last petal will tell us that the object of our affection does indeed love us. Many a broken heart has been had simply because a flower was short a petal that probably blew away in the wind earlier that day. 

As believers we must be very careful that the enemy does not use the trials and situations of life to lead us into a similar mental game about God’s love for us. Satan is the ultimate accuser and will use any tactic he can find to distract us from the revelation of God’s great love for us. Regardless of what we face in this life, we must remember one thing – what really matters never changes, and what never changes is the Word of God! If the Word says He loves me, then He loves me. Period. 

We must reject every lie that comes to undermine this truth. Why? Because according to I Corinthians 13:8 love never fails! If we will firmly plant and hold fast our profession of faith in His extravagant love for us, we cannot fail in this life. According to Romans 8:32, if He has given us Jesus, He will freely give us all things! It is an essential component of faith to understand that God loves us and wants us to be healthy and live a long life, wants us to prosper, wants us to have a good marriage, wants us to be protected and kept, and in every way you can think of wants us and our children to live a blessed life! If we will do our part to believe in and act on His love through holding fast our profession of faith, He will do His part to manifest His goodness in our lives – and He’ll do it every time! 

Romans 8:35-39 is clear that no outside natural or supernatural force can separate me from the love of God. It all boils down to one thing – what will we believe? If doubts and fears regarding God’s love for you and your family have come to torment you, now is the time to put them to flight! There is no better time than the Christmas season to renew your faith in the love of God. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Let it overwhelm you and every situation you are facing in life right now!

Below are some ideas to help you get started in your quest to renew your faith in His great love. I wish each of you a wonderful Christmas filled with the awesome love of God!!

- Do a study on the love of God. Look up and read every Scripture you can find on His love. Jot down or type out the ones that really minister to you and begin to meditate on them daily. 

- Develop a personal confession of faith about God’s love for you based on Scripture and say it out loud faithfully each morning and night. Faith is released by the words of our mouth!

- Listen to anointed teachings about the love of God. One great resource is www.moorelife.org. Pastor Keith Moore has some awesome teachings on the love of God available for free download there. There’s a single called “God Loves Me” (S25), and a series titled “The Love of God” (0801) that will cause faith to rise in your heart again!

Read more >>