French author George Sand once said, “Admiration and familiarity are strangers.” When something becomes very familiar to us, we are prone to lose the wonder of it. If we aren’t careful, this can easily happen to us at Christmastime.

We’ve heard the story over and over again. We know that a baby was born to a virgin in Bethlehem, that angels appeared to shepherds in the night sky, and that wise men from distant countries traveled to bring their gifts.

But have we let the familiarity of the story rob us of its wonder, or are we careful to take the time to really contemplate what it all means to us? I have been reflecting on these words –

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! O, come, let us adore Him…

In a moment of time, the infinite Creator of the universe wrapped himself in finite flesh and entered the world. The Son of God in flesh appearing. He laid aside His majesty to become a helpless, dependent newborn baby. We have to break away from the familiarity to let our minds take it in like something fresh and new so that we can recapture the wonder of it all.

In the same way that admiration and familiarity are strangers, adoration and familiarity are strangers too. If the familiarity has clouded our wonder, we can’t adore Jesus the way that we should. It is the awe that brings us to our knees in worship at the thought that God loved us so much that He sent His Son as a baby born in a manger.

“In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:1-14, NLT)

O come, let us put aside the familiarity and read it again with fresh eyes and open hearts. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

-Dana

Clean is good.  Dirty is bad.  Work is good.  Rest is not so good, at least not if there is work to do.  Organized is good.  Clutter is bad.  I read that and think, “well, not necessarily…,” but the truth is that those assumptions try to run my life.  I am a perfectionist.  While sometimes that makes for high achievement and sustained effort towards goals, frequently it also leads to frustration and discontent. 

In my life, being perfect is not really achievable.  I have found over the years that I can’t measure up to my own standards for housekeeping and parenting and doctoring and a handful of other roles I expect myself to play.  Time and time again, I get feeling overwhelmed, and time and time again I have to choose what I do next.  Do I make a list and look at the time available and plan how if I use every moment I can get all the things done?  Do I turn toward denial and spin my wheels awhile on some mindless pursuit like scrolling through Facebook or playing Candy Crush?  Or do I turn toward my Maker, the one who designed me to appreciate order and accomplishment, give Him my to do list and my feelings of failure, and get His help? 

When I choose that third path, I hear these words…

“His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”  2 Peter 1:3

“but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’  So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”  2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Not that the things in front of me are even close to persecutions or calamities, but weaknesses, yes.  And where does God ask me to live when I am faced with weakness in myself?  In His strength.  He asks me to be content.

Content?  When things aren’t in apple pie order and I can’t seem to get them there?  When I am not meeting my own expectations and am sure I am not meeting the expectations of others?  Content? 

That will take something outside of me, a choice to turn my eyes off of myself and on to God, to be filled with His Spirit.  That will take relinquishing my desire for control and perfection, and learning to desire what pleases God.  This whole perfectionism, I-got-this attitude that causes so much internal struggle is prideful and self-focused. 

“Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.”  I Timothy 6:6-8

There is a balance here, of course.  My friend, Shannon, is reading the Bible from the beginning, and I decided to jump in with her.  We are reading Numbers right now, and I have been struck by God’s attention to detail and desire for order.  One of my favorite verses growing up was I Corinthians 14:40, “but all things should be done decently and in order.”  Having one’s house and one’s life tidy and organized is not bad in and of itself.  It is probably good!  It is the obsessing about it that needs to go. 

Work is not bad; the ability to work and the satisfaction of a job well done are gifts from God.  Today in Numbers I read about the work God assigned to each section of the Levites.  He has assigned work to me, and He has provided the energy I need to do it.  He has commanded times of rest also, knowing how important quiet and peace are to abundant life.  In his book, Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard wrote, “God never gives us too much to do.” And “the body must be weaned away from its tendencies to always take control, to run the world, to achieve and produce, to attain gratification.”

It’s not about me being perfect.  It is all about my perfect Father.

“It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.  He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.  He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have also given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand has held me up, your gentleness has made me great.  You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.”  Psalm 18:32-36 NKJV

Maybe your struggle is not against self-sufficiency and perfectionism, but whatever it is, don’t choose the picking-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps approach or the give-up-it’s-no-use-anyway approach.  Turn your weakness over to the One who made you.  Let Him lead you to strength and success and balance.  Let His gentleness make you great.

-Leah

This week, the Thanksgiving holiday will be different for most of us. The reality is that the pandemic has changed things in ways that are beyond our control. Most of us don’t like that very much. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to become increasingly aware of the fact that there are things outside of our control. We don’t always get to have things the way we would want them. That’s a principle of life, but one that can really get under our skin.

Just as with so many other areas of our lives, the attitude of our hearts dictates our response to what is happening around us. Said a different way, our response really displays what is already in our hearts. Anxiety, fear, anger, despair, and discouragement all tell us something about where our hope is anchored. If our hope is anchored in material things, people, circumstances, and yes, even holiday traditions, we can quickly be overtaken by those emotions.

If our hope is anchored in God and His Word, the resulting responses are peace, joy, hope, faith, trust, and gratitude. Gratitude. Let’s stop there and ponder it (after all, it is Thanksgiving week). Gratitude is powerful. When we choose to press pause on all the noise around us, quiet our hearts, and reflect on all that we have, we come to realize that we have so many reasons to be thankful.

I was reminded in a recent podcast that a key difference in gratitude for Christians is that our gratitude has an Object. We aren’t just grateful. We are grateful to God. He is the Source of all that we have that is good, and we are grateful to Him. Yes, we have experienced loss this year. We have lost important events, quality time spent in-person with other people, and some of us have even lost people that we love so much. But our hope isn’t anchored in things that can be lost. Our hope is anchored in the Giver of all good things, and so we can still be grateful.

Gratitude is a little like an avalanche. Once we start identifying the reasons we have to be grateful (to God), we start to think of more and more. If you need some help getting your gratitude going, here are some ideas to get you started –

We have been adopted into God’s family. If we have trusted in Christ for our salvation, the Bible tells us that we have become God’s children.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received Gods’ Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father.’ For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:14-16, NLT)

“See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1, NLT)

We are forgiven. I hope we never lose the wonder of this. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Here’s another line from a favorite hymn – “My sin – oh the bliss of this glorious thought – my sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.”

“Lord, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.” (Psalm 130:3-4, NLT)

“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:8-9, NLT)

We are so loved. Again, I hope this sparks wonder in our hearts every single day. The Creator of the universe loves you, and He loves me. I love this line from the song Creator King – “You who lit the stars and set the dawn in time, called them all by name and now You whisper mine.”

“This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10, NLT)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, NLT)

The list could go on and on. Just like an avalanche. We truly have been given so much, and we have so many reasons to be grateful. Let’s spend time this week asking God to help us to resist the temptation to complain and give in to negative responses and instead to experience the wonder of and gratitude for all His good gifts.

“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.” (James 1:16-18, NLT)

Dear Father, thank You for all that You have given to us. Please help us to be grateful to You for every good and perfect gift, and please help us to continue to anchor our hope in You and in Your Word. I ask You to bless every person reading this with an awareness of Your presence and with the gift of Your perfect peace. Amen.

“You left me unread.” That was the accusation leveled at me one day last week. What? I left you unread? I thought back over the text conversation I had had with Benjamin the night before, and yes, I guess I did leave his last response unread. It was “Thanks lol.” I could see the whole thing without opening it. I was tired and ready for bed (yes, we text each other while we are both at home), and I thought we were done.

Here is the exchange:
Me: Hi hi hello (wave emoji) how are you
“Hey You’re Awesome” GIF
Ben: Marvolus
Me: That too
Ben: What
Me: You are Marvolus
Ben: Thanks lol

Now don’t get me wrong, Ben wasn’t mad. He and Marco and I were bantering about something, and he was just calling me out for leaving him unread as evidence in whatever case he was making. But the comment left me thinking. Thinking about how we communicate these days and how it feels to be left unread.

Cell phones have dramatically changed our access to each other, but sometimes it feels like there is less access, not more. How many times does the person you are calling actually answer? Have you been in the position of sitting around waiting for a response to your text, wondering if the recipient is busy or mad or what? It would be difficult to manage to live life and at the same time answer every call and respond quickly to every text. We would burn out in a hurry, and it would take our attention away from the people in front of us in person.

But, God is not like us. In His infinite capacity, He can and does hear and respond. Every. Time.
He doesn’t side button us or send us to voicemail. He listens.

“I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Psalm 116:1-2 NLT

The writer of this Psalm had experienced God as a God who hears, and it inspired him to keep on calling. He called in distress, “Then I called on the name of the Lord; ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!'” vs 4. He called in worship and thanksgiving: “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, ” vs 13, and “I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.” vs 17.

David wrote “On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Psalm 138:3 NRSV.

The Psalms are full of references to calling out or crying out to God. Here is another.

“Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.” Psalm 5:1-3

What a privilege to be able to “call anytime” on the God of the universe and be assured that He hears, that He bends down to listen! We need Him. Let’s stop trying to get through without Him and calling just when we can’t think of anything else to do.

“But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.” Psalm 55:16-17 NLT

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 NRSV

“But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7 NRSV

God promised Jeremiah “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3 NRSV

And lastly, remember this promise: “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NRSV

Call on God. You won’t be left unread.

God, oh how we need You. We need You as individuals, we need You as families, we need You as churches, we need You as countries. Teach us to be humble and to cry out to You. Give us repentant hearts that are willing to turn from sin. Hear us from heaven. Answer and heal and make us like You. As You hear us, teach us to hear You, to listen as You speak. Forgive us for leaving You unread. Amen.
-Leah

This may sound crazy, but on one hand, I feel like I have so much to say today, and on the other hand I feel like I don’t have anything to say. We are living in a very unique and unsettling time in history. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to remind ourselves and each other of what is true. To that end, I would like to let my words in this post be few and instead focus in on words of truth from Scripture. I invite you to read this passage over more than one time and let the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts through God’s Word. 🙂

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the LORD.

Instead, ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.’

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:9-21, NLT)

In the ESV version that last verse is translated, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

In times like these, we are not called to be part of the problem. We are called to live counter-cultural lives that point others to Jesus. It’s easy to see the evil around us and be tempted to be overcome by it. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? Wrong.

What does God’s Word tell us? Don’t let the evil overcome you, you overcome the evil with good. How? By doing all the things in those previous verses. Things we CANNOT do without God’s grace working in us and through us, but things we MUST do by His grace. Notice, none of those things are suggestions. They are all commands.

What if we, God’s children, actually did these things? How might that change the landscape right now?

I challenge all of us to read the passage again and ask the Holy Spirit to show us not how everyone else has missed the mark in the last few weeks, but how we have individually. I have missed the mark, and you probably have too. That bar is set really high, isn’t it? Once the Holy Spirit has faithfully shown us those things, let’s confess them (agree with Him) and embrace repentance. Let’s ask for His help as we seek to do the things that He has commanded us to do.

My friends, let us not be overcome by evil, but let us overcome evil with good.

Dear Father, Your Word challenges us at our very core. You have given us very clear directions, but our rebellious hearts default to pride, selfishness, and even vengeance. Please forgive us for all the ways that we have fallen short of your perfect standard, and please help us to live out the commands You have given us. We see so much darkness and evil in this world, and we often complain, point fingers, criticize, and condemn. Would You, by Your grace, help us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good? May we be beacons of light in this dark world pointing those around us to Jesus. Help us to live out the truth we know from Your Word in ways that bring You glory and honor. Amen.

-Dana