Christmas

December 25, 2022

Advent Series Week 4 – LOVE

This post is a guest post written by my husband, Mike Johns.

I was listening to sports talk radio a few years ago and the host said something that piqued my interest. What he said was not new or anything profound but a simple reminder: “Children emulate what they see.” This phrase has stucck with me for years. It is easy to look past how God loved you so much that He calls you, His child. Think about what John wrote about this:

John 1:12, “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.”

1 John 3:1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And, that is what we are!”

It is a wonderful thing to be called a child of God! Think about that – the Creator, Sustainer, Giver & Keeper of life gives you the title of HIS CHILD! You are a child of the King! Now, remember, we are to emulate what we see. May we be found during the week of Christmas seeking to live like Jesus.

I thank the Lord that He has given us leaders to show us how to walk with Him daily. He has placed folks in our lives to speak the Word to us, who help us, who give us an example of daily faith.

Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Maybe during this advent focus on love, now would be a good time to express your love for those people who are examples of the faith to you. Send a quick message, a card, or make a phone call – encourage someone today!

Another outcome of this great love that God has for us is to love one another. We have experienced such a great love in Jesus that it should overflow onto everyone we come into contact with.

1 John 4:11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Let’s love like Jesus in a world that so desperately needs it.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

Dena

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December 25, 2022

Christmas Day!

Guest post by my pastor, Greg Fine.

Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

The day we have been anticipating, waiting for, preparing for has finally arrived! Merry Christmas! No doubt, for many, this day will e a flurry of activity and celebration. There will be presents to open, food to be prepared and enjoyed, perhaps family to visit. For others, the day may be spent alone reflecting on memories of large family gatherings and celebrations. Regardless, let’s make sure we also include time to worship the Savior whose birth we celebrate!

Luke records that Mary placed the baby Jesus in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The last phrase of verse 7 has been on my heart with this Advent Season when Luke records, “…there was no room for them in the inn.” We usually picture the scene with a heartless innkeeper turning away the young couple. But Luke does not use the normal word for an inn here. Instead, he uses a more general term referring to a shelter or lodging place. It suggests that Joseph and Mary stopped at a public shelter or place where caravans of travelers could stay for the night. Rather than being greeted by an innkeeper, they are met with an overcrowded shelter. There simply was no more room. The lodging place was already full of travelers because of the census. Joseph was forced to find a suitable location for them to spend the night and ultimately for Mary to give birth—the place where the traveler’s animals were usually kept.

As I reflect upon this verse what strikes me most is not the heartless attitude of an innkeeper but the overcrowding of the shelter for travelers. Overcrowding! I think most of us would say we would ever intentionally deny Jesus room in our lives. But when we allow our lives to become so full of other things then, in essence, we have left no room for Jesus. Our lives can easily become overcrowded with lesser things. Even though we may never intentionally deny Jesus room in our lives, we may unintentionally deny Him room in our lives because we are just too busy. We must be intentional about making room for Jesus in our hearts and lives.

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth today and look forward to a new year ahead let’s be intentional about making room for Jesus. Make time for worship with God’s family consistently. Make time to read God’s Word daily. Make time to spend in prayer, talking with God and growing closer to Him. Make time to serve others and build God’s Kingdom. Don’t let your life become so busy that there is no room for Jesus in your life. Jesus came so He could be the Lord over our lives; to walk with us each day and fill our lives with His joy and peace. Make room for Christmas by making room for Jesus today and throughout the next year! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Dena

December 18, 2022

Advent Series Week 3 – Peace

Guest post by Russell Smithson – Let Peace Rule

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9

We are about 10 days away from one of the days that we as Christians anxiously await to celebrate every year. Undoubtedly, you have prepped, cooked, cleaned, shopped, decorated, mailed cards and gifts, volunteered, etc. There is always so much to do during this time. But, wait! Have we taken time to have a cup of coffee with a friend, go to church with a smile and joy, thanked the many people who make our life the wonderous adventure it is every day, spent time with God without a timer set, accepted the gift of peace from God? Wait, peace during this time of year?

We all let the stresses of this time of the year wear us down and defeat us and then by Christmas day we are more ready for it to be over than to celebrate what this day symbolizes. The birth of our Lord and Savior who came here for you and me. He came on this day knowing what the future held for Him. Yet He decided you were worth it. I was worth it. He came with peace from God that He was doing the right thing for His family. US! His brothers and sisters.

Peace can happen anywhere even in the middle of chaos. Think about that night so many years ago. They had traveled for days in the dust and wind. All they want is to clean up and rest. But there is no place. They end up in a stable. The water around them used for the animals to drink from. The place to rest is the bedding of the animals in the stable. No fire for warmth because the stable would burn up. Yet in this setting, Christ chose to come and all the pictures we see are of peace. We see a mother happy to see her child. A father looking over his family. A child sleeping in this unlikely place of peace on a cold night in December. Where did the peace come from? God.

We cannot produce peace on our own. No matter how hard we try. Nothing is going to be perfect. We all have feelings, and they are fragile. One wrong word from someone or someone else’s actions can cause us to start worrying and stressing over everything. We cannot produce peace on our own. Our hearts and minds will not allow us to ignore everything. Work, family, obligations, illnesses, desires, our own mistakes, etc. all cause us to worry and fear. We cannot produce peace on our own. The heart is the source of our feelings. The Bible does not teach that the very thing that we fear will not take place; rather, what the Bible does teach is that God will keep your heart and your mind in a state of peace whatever happens. As Psalm 4:8 tells us, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord make me dwell in safety.” We cannot produce peace on our own. Our God is solid. We proclaim Him to be our rock. If we want peace in our lives, we must accept that it is a gift from God. We get peace when we pray to God and seek HIs peace in our lives. Among all the challenges, struggles, striving for perfection we must humble ourselves and acknowledge the only way to have peace in our lives, in our families, in our church, in our community, in our world is to ask God and accept this glorious gift He has for us.

This is a great time of the year to let go of all those feelings we have harbored all year. What someone did or didn’t do, how we were wronged, what awful thing someone said, that someone who sat in our spot at church, the person who didn’t say thank you after we worked so hard, that person that walked by and didn’t say anything after we greeted them, and so many other things that we allow our heart and mind carry around. Let it go and let God’s gift of peace settle in our hearts and minds. Start a new year with a new goal of accepting God’s gift of peace in your life daily and letting go of those things that we were never in control of anyway. Let God’s peace settle over you like the snow on a cold winter’s night. For the coming year I pray that “the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:26

Merry Christmas my family.

What situations in your life do you need to turn over to God? (Pray right now about them)

What are some of the things in your life to be thankful to God for this past year?

What can you do to fix your eyes on God and not your problems?

What scripture speaks to you about God’s gift of peace? Memorize it and keep it in your heart.

Until next time!

Love,

Dena

December 6, 2022

Advent Series Week 2 – JOY

Guest post by my almost 16 year old daughter, Makenna.

What does joy mean to you? Is it just an emotion, or a feeling that you don’t notice most of the time? Well joy is a really good thing, very good for us. Joy is and can be produced in us, even in dark circumstances. God is the creator of joy, so don’t depend on your circumstances to make you feel a certain way. Don’t wait for the circumstances to change, realize that joy can be with you in every season of life. If we want to be joyful, then we have to be in the Word of God. Be in the presence of God. Religion doesn’t bring joy into our life, relationship does. Take a look at Psalm 118:1, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” What is more joyful than that? Steadfast love from God. I think a lot of times we don’t realize how good our God is. How often do you seek joy in other places? We need to seek joy through God, not the world. Return steadfast love to God. Find joy in his presence. Now take a look at Hosea 6:6, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Seek His steadfast love! That is where our genuine joy will come from. Another question may be, how do you find joy in pain? Well, believe it or not when you’re going through painful trials and hardship, that’s what makes you stronger to get the most joy out of life. God’s Spirit is the one who empowers us to do what we never could. As we’ve seen in the Christmas story, things that seem impossible suddenly become a reality when God shows up. The Bible describes Jesus as the Son of God anointed with the oil of joy. This should give our hearts hope! We have a Savior acquainted with grief but anointed with joy – the same joy he promises to give to us in our grief. God gives statements like, “I am the one God he will never leave or forsake you.” “I am the one with peace and understanding.” No matter what circumstances we face, we can rely on a joyful Christmas season and days beyond knowing that God loves us, and will never leave us. That is a joy that can’t be robbed!

Thanks, Makenna for allowing me to share your devotion! Hope you all enjoyed!

Love,

Dena

December 31, 2016

Favorite Jesse Tree & Advent Resources

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The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean is such a wonderful resource for using during Advent and while working through the stories of the Jesse Tree.  It is written to grab the interest of children!  It is about a carpenter who is carving the Jesse Tree figures for the church.  A young boy comes asking questions each day, to which, the carpenter tells the stories behind each carving he is creating.  There are a couple of downfalls to the book, though.  One is that there are no Scripture passages to go along with the stories.  I was, however, able to locate the stories and link them to the Scriptures so that problem has been solved!  (I plan to send out a chart next year after Thanksgiving with the resources and Scripture passages I’ll be using, so keep an eye out for that next year!)  And, the other downfall is that the carvings don’t go along with other Jesse Tree ornaments or studies that I’ve also used.  So, I have ended up mixing and matching my favorite resources and making it work for our Jesse Tree.  In spite of these downfalls, I absolutely love this book and plan to use it each year!  It is so engaging and enjoyable to read and the stories come to life.  It is definitely a top pick for the advent season!

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Another favorite is found at this blog:  1+1+1=1  There, you can find an e-book on the Jesse Tree, and printable ornaments to go along with the devotions each day.  This goes fairly well with The Jesse Tree book, but I will warn you that this ebook devotional covers 31 days, rather than just the 25 that most do.  I just used the ones that went best along with The Jesse Tree book and weeded out the rest.  I do love that lots of Scripture is used, but the devotions are rather short and colorful.  The ornaments are also colorful!  I like that all you have to do is print, cut, and laminate!  If you like to have a calendar to go along with your advent season, you can make one up and place the ornaments in each slot and work through them once a day.  We did this one year, but because of the way I made my calendar out of paper envelopes, they easily tore and it was more of a pain that it was good, so this past year we ditched the calendar, and just keep the ornaments in a safe place without it.

unwrapping-the-greatest-gift-ann-voskamp

Then, this year I found out about Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  It is a family devotional that has beautiful artwork throughout.  The stories are kind of flowery, but it does include wonderful thoughts about God’s love for us, and that love is weaved through each story/devotional.  I was also able to print out some ornaments that go right along with the book that I colored and shrunk down to fit our Jesse Tree.  This could be a great activity for kids, or a crafty one for the adults.  It did seem to take forever to color all of the ornaments, though, as they are each very intricate.  I’ve heard about all sorts of ornaments that go along with this that others have made that you can purchase from etsy or on the web, so if you’re not crafty, you could opt to do that.  Below is a sample of what one of the ornaments looks like.

I am still researching about the Jesse Tree as this is only the second year I’ve learned about it.  I hope to add to  my list of favorites each year we do it, and the more I learn about what all is available.

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Another favorite resource for the Advent season is The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel.  This is such a fun book!  It has stories, activities, traditions to create, crafts, recipes, etc. throughout!  We have several favorites that we’ve made traditions through this book.  One of our favorites, that my kids beg for each year, is the red and green candied popcorn!  Lots of great things!  The best part about this book is that I was able to get it personally signed by Lisa Whelchel!  The only book signing I’ve ever been able to be a part of!  She’s a lovely lady!

Then, last, but not least, is the Christmas Angel.  I began hearing a lot about The Elf on the Shelf a few years ago and was very intrigued by it, however, not long after, I heard of The Christmas Angel.  I liked the idea behind the angel so much better.  The focus wasn’t mischief and laughter, but love and service.  The Christmas Angel is a way to give back, to show my children that Christmas isn’t just about getting, but giving.  It shows them the joy in giving, and gives them a heart of service.  The idea is that the Angel leaves messages of service ideas each day for them to do.  The website even has several calendars of ideas if you struggle to come up with ideas on your own.  I found the ideas very helpful in jump starting ideas of my own.  I highly recommend using this Christmas Angel, or finding another way to serve during the Christmas season.  Taking the focus off of oneself, and shining the light of Jesus to others!  Isn’t that really a HUGE part of the season?  I think so!  It’s a representation of the greatest gift of all, the gift of Jesus coming to the earth and walking among us, to live an example before us, and then ultimately to die for our sins, so that someday we could live with Him for eternity.  Even if those we touch get a glimpse of this, how wonderful and powerful it would be!

I hope this gives you a start to some of our favorite resources for the Christmas season.  May the Lord use them in the same ways He’s used them in our family!  I would also LOVE to hear what resources you’ve used and enjoyed so that I can add to my favorites!  Please share in the comments!

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Dena

November 30, 2016

Christmas Memory Making

This Christmas, I am planning on incorporating The Jesse Tree, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, The Christmas Angel, and The ADVENTures of Christmas all into our Christmas season.

For the Jesse Tree, we will be reading a devotional story each day, along with Scripture, from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift then adding an ornament to our Jesse Christmas Tree.  We will also read The Jesse Tree each day.  The Jesse Tree is a living book with a story about an older man who is carving ornaments in a church.  A young boy has lots of questions about what he’s carving and why, and the story of the Jesse Tree and the story of Jesus is wound into it.  It doesn’t have Scriptures, though, that is why I have added Unwrapping the Greatest Gift to go along with it.

The Christmas Angel will be visiting us daily with fun service projects we can do, and family activities.

And, I’m pulling several things from The ADVENTure of Christmas.  Fun things to do as a family, with teachable moments about the traditions of our Christmas season.

I’m hoping to make Christ the central part of our Christmas this year.  We’ve done each of these in part in the past, and each were so much fun.  I think combining them will add a new dimension of fun, focus, and service to our season.

Below is a calendar of our December and what I plan to do each day.  Take what you like and use as you wish!

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Have a wonderful Christmas season!

In Christ,

Dena