The Joy and Wonder of Enjoying Christian Diversity.

They bused us and now we are addicted to diversity.

Does it really take that much?

Thou who wast God...

My Meditation of Him will be sweet?

Where are you, Lord, at Christmastime?

I know that this is all about You, Lord. I know that the festivities are about the eternal plan of gifting us with salvation. But why am I cast down, in my soul at this season? Why can my soul not embrace the reality of my spiritual condition as my greatest gift? Why is my mind captured by what I didn't get in the tangibles?

God had everything and came down to us, who had nothing of spiritual worth. I am not embracing this. I am constantly asking why am I not able to get this or that thing or the other for my loved ones? Covetousness devours my joy and makes me sullen and makes me cross as I go about attempting to make Christmas a true and real blessing for the little ones, whose minds I can impress.

In marches the meditation of Christ the stronger than the strong man. He uses 2 Cor 8:9. He takes the spotlight off of self and stuff, for a brief moment and points it at Himself and He is truly eternal. That moment of spotting Him becomes eternal also.

Ultimately, it is not about my portrayal of Christmas for the little ones, or the gifts or the travels; it is about my soul's greatest need and greatest hope. Each year, it gets harder and harder to find Christ in Christmas in the fog of responsibility and memories. I could sit in my regrets, I could sit in my unrelieved fears and dreams and I would become a castaway.

The mighty God steps in,

Thou Who Wast Rich beyond all measure, All for loves sake becomes poor... Stooping but sinners raising, God beyond all telling, Savior and King, we worship Thee.

Joy is the gift of God each Christmas. I think it is mine to grab and put on like a cloak. God reminds me, in the searching for it that it belongs to Him and I must seek Him for it, even in the smallest measure. When the flood of responsibility and emptiness threaten to eclipse the light of God in my minds eye, God restores my soul. It is not even in the effort that I put in. It is in the blessing of God on my seeking Him. It is He who has moved me to seek Him in this way. I thought it was me seeking and I look behind myself and see God's hand impressing my soul to worship and praise.

not unto us, even in the smallest amount, is the glory, but Unto God. Thou Who Art God, beyond all telling.

Savior and King- we worship Thee!

I will embrace the truth of the season with love and joy for all of the receipts and debts to God, for His indescribable GIFTS!

Surprise, Surprise, the Gift is For me! Redeemed

Surprise for the nations?

Rehabs Children, Ruth's children and even, Lot's wife's children.

Jesus ready stands to save us, full of glory, grace and power.

God's intention was to give His Son to draw us in. No other paternal sacrifice will do. No other maternal sacrifice will do. None of us deserves what Jesus did for us.

We open that box on Christmas day. We bend our knee to Christ and we are not Abraham's direct seed. We have no right, except in Christ, to open such a splendid gift.

Why Abraham, we cry, why not me? Rejoice, it is for you, pagan. Jericho, Egypt, Moab, all nations, He came to crush the serpent and not you. He came to crush our sins and snatch their dominions.

All kinds of mothers can see their tears cried in cleansing of the nations, when wed with the will of God! All kinds of knees can be taught to kneel at the foot of the cross.

No other gift outshines that gift for us all.

Now, often Abrahams children wonder rightly: Is this gift for us, as well? So many pagans have owned Christ that we cannot tell if we are welcome to the feast? Can we still enter in?

Surprise!

God's Eternal Gift is for Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah's children, as well as we. Redemption for children of mothers of the Old Covenant and the New are welcome. Gentile knees bow and Jewish knees bow to the Lordship of Jesus.

Unto us, Unto all of us a Son is given!

His sacrifice alone is heard in Heaven for our redemption.

Surprise! Our sins are paid for! We are saved, by grace through faith!

Halleluia, What a Savior!

Joy to the World, the Savior Reigns...

Let men, their songs employ!

Are your songs employed for the cause of the Savior?

Are your songs employed or unemployed?

The mark of the Savior reigning is the mark of wrestling truth into the minds of our youth. Grabbing their thoughts and patterns and pointing to Jesus, in contrast to what they are saying or in conjunction, it really doesn't matter which. Are they employed and are you employed, thusly?

Is Christ reigning?

Rejoicing in the Preciousness of Christ's Sacrifice.

What is precious?

Rare, genuine, real,etc.

Precious is a word that describes the things in your life that you protect and regard highly. Ever since I have seen the Hobbit, the word precious has sparked an alarm in my brain. Is it a good descriptive word or a dangerous one? Am I delegating this thing to an idolatry that I am willing to die for? I like that Tolkien had the ability to engage the conscience in that way, although I wish I could read it, so as to know the depth of his victory in this matter of introspection.

Anyway, the word precious is not like Awesome, which can only be ascribed to God, with accuracy. There are many many precious people and things in my life, that I adore. I adore my husband and children and sometimes I adore my home, without having to be Gollum for the loving of them. The fact that he muttered about, like a snakish man adoring the precious ring has captivated me as a real parallel of the human condition without Christ. Before Christ becomes the precious to me, many things have me captivated like that. When Christ comes, we, like the demoniac get set upright and new. We can know that He has done it for us. We must carry our sinful precious things to the foot of the cross. We must engage our souls in the most vicious battle for control of our sinful passions. We must see the payment of Christ's sacrifice and reason to flee those vile passions that keep us in the tempter's snares.

Jesus paid it All All to Him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain and He washed it!

on the Harp {Where are you, Christmas?} You are in the expression of Truth and Love! Christ is Christmas.

Psalm 49:1 Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: Psalm 49:2 Both low and high, rich and poor, together. Psalm 49:3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. Psalm 49:4 I will incline mine ear to a parable:

I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Psalm 49:5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? Psalm 49:6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; Psalm 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: Psalm 49:8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) Psalm 49:9 That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. Psalm 49:10 For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Psalm 49:11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Psalm 49:12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:13 This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. Psalm 49:14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. Psalm 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. Psalm 49:16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; Psalm 49:17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Psalm 49:18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. Psalm 49:19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Psalm 49:20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

"Blessed are the pure in heart...

for they shall see God."

How our hearts melt within us, when we cannot discern God's will among the voices of this age? where are you, Lord? There are so many people saying this and that is the word of the Lord.

God doesn't have to update His status, every so often. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. We are the ones who change and wither and exult, from time to time. How can we dig foundations that will last through the deluge of information pumped into our homes from sewers worldwide? We cannot choose a truth singly and build our lives around it. We must study to show ourselves seekers of God's will, today. We must dig into the truths that are poured upon us and not just receive all that is projected out. Stop being "click-bait". Stop just clicking on things in curiosity and see your mind as a wise consumer and not a dump.

Did I clic on this and why? Pray before you read stories on the internet. Search with a prayerful heart. Don't let these wicked days deceive you. You are smarter than that. My mind and my heart are vulnerable, eternally. Look back to simpler times and make sure that your spiritual and emotional foundations are built on the rock, Christ Jesus. We have no excuse for naiveté. God has given us His Word as the greatest treasure and if we hold it as our greatest treasure, we will find Him just as faithful to His Word. He gives us a sense of insecurity to allow us to know that we are not trusting in real truth. When we clean our mental house we will know His presence and strength. Until then, we are on a tightrope of the worst kind. The body's tightrope will take only our lives, the spiritual tightrope will take our souls, should we be deceived in this way.

Dear Lord, please give us clean hearts and discerning spirits in this deluge of spiritual information of differing sorts. We want to see You clearly in the fog of junk. Help, Lord! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Thank God that Jesus' Church has Him as its foundation! {and not us.}

As we mommies untangle ourselves from our children, we are sometimes dizzy. We try to pull all of the swaddling cloths from ourselves and we find ourselves in a dizzying condition with lots of stuff of our own to deal with.

The world teaches us to forget those children and concentrate on self, or keep parenting them when our job is nearly done. Both are deceptions. We need care and so do they.

Does Jesus care when your cradle is empty or emptying and your heart is not done cradling? Oh yes He cares, I know He cares. His heart is touched with my griefs.

God help your mommies find their mission in this world when their children are so independent and rearing their own children and don't need us. or don't seem to need us. Give us ears to hear your mission for us, for the ears that we learned to hear their cries. Give us eyes to see your truth for the eyes that learned to reflexively respond to their missteps and messes. Give us mouths to say what is right and true and not curse our useless sense of our condition. Give us hands to give and serve others, with as much care as we gave to our own dear children. Help us Lord! Make us up for Your Glory, we pray! Amen

Lighten our paths with the light of Jesus and darken our selfishness. unclasp our hands from that which is not for Your Glory!

Draw those mommies to you, who were deceived and didn't see that it was You rearing the children.For the Parenting Spiritually Disenfranchised people, we pray. Lord Hear Our Prayer!For the sake of Christ our great Redeemer! Amen.