#2 Christmas Favs // Thursday E-Devotion

What is your favorite thing about Christmas? Family. Tradition. Winter. Gifts and giving. Joy and music. Church and friends. Whatever your favorites, we need to remember that we are a blessed people. Blessings come because we serve a great God. He is able to care for us, guide us and to provide even when we don't see the possibilities.

A story like that provides our 1st Christmas Fav of the day. (Drum roll please) It is Mary, the mother of Jesus. What an awesome lady! Read on:

(verses taken from Luke 1 of the New Living Translation of the Bible)

28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 "Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God!

That is just the start. What do we learn about this young girl? God chose her. She was blessed because she knew God and believed God. What a testimony! What an example to follow! Read on:

38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her... 49 For the Mighty One is holy,and he has done great things for me.

Can you imagine what all this young girl went through? Marriage. A baby. The baby being God in the flesh. Too much and I am sure filled with stress, but so good because of what God would bring to all of us through her.

The last Christmas Fav of the day, and I cannot say enough about them, are my parents. They've put up with so much. They have given and given and given more. Often the trek the 1,000+ miles to our home and share with us more. I remember as a kid the good times of Christmas. The special presents but mostly the family times. I am still a bit anal about something they taught me. We have to pass out all the presents on Christmas day and open them one at a time. I love that. It is important to me, but some people, including my wife, cannot handle that. Oh well.

I am so thankful for family. My parents (and I get to see them next week) are pictures for God's best, they have shown me God through their lives and their love. But most of all we have lived life learning together. Christmas gets us together, reminds us of the blessings and points us all back to God. That is what Christmas Favs are all about.

Matthew 1:23 (nlt) --- "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Search This Blog