December 31, 2015

New Year's Eve

1Samuel 7:11 & 12: 

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until [they came] under Bethcar. Then Samuel took a stone, and set [it] between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

We have come to the last day of 2015 and can like Samuel set up our "stone" of memorial and say "hitherto hath the Lord helped me." There may have been battles to fight and victories to win and "stuff" to go through - BUT GOD has been with us through it all! Mark it down - remember all the way the Lord has led you through this year - when you take time to reflect, you'll be amazed at all HIS good hand has done! This gives us courage to place our hands in HIS and allow Him to lead us into yet another year! 

December 30, 2015

ADVENT

Hebrews 9:28

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

The Shepherds were looking....

The Wisemen were looking...

Simeon was looking....

They found Him - Messiah and King! They worshipped Him!

Are you looking....for Him to appear? Notice it says "unto them that look for Him!" As we draw near the end of this year, 2015, maye our hearts in one accord be "looking for His soon return and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior!"

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 29, 2015

ADVENT

Matthew 2:11

...And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Were those among your gifts under the tree? Mary and Joseph were poor by this world's standards - but our extravagant GOD sent wealthy kings from a far away country to bring PROVISIONS for HIS only begotten Son. Must have blown Joseph and Mary away! No matter how impossible things may look - remember, our GREAT BIG WONDERFUL God has resources and provisions way beyond anything we can ask or think and will bring people clear across the world if necessary to carry out HIS will and purposes in our lives.

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 28, 2015

ADVENT

John 4:10

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The GIFT that never stops GIVING! IF we only KNEW the unending resource we have when we come to HIM we would NEVER stop drinking! Jesus said these words to the woman at the well, notorious for changing men like some women change shoes. He saw her thirst and had the resource to quench it! Has all the gift giving left you drained and thirsty? COME to the SOURCE - "the well that never shall run dry" Drink long and hard and there will still be plenty left for another drink for you and all the rest of us as well! :-)

WHAT A GIFT!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 27, 2015

ADVENT

2Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

THANKS! It's been said "If you'll THINK - you'll THANK! Sometimes instead of thanks we say "oh that cost too much" - or "you shouldn't have" - or we TAKE IT BACK!

Let's make sure that we NEVER stop THANKING GOD for HIS UNSPEAKABLE - over the edge - extravagant - ABUNDANT GIFT!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 26, 2015

ADVENT

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!

Are you returning gifts today? God's gift never needs fixing or returning and it does not grow old or out of date - He just KEEPS giving and giving and giving! More of HIS eternal life to us daily! What a GIFT! REJOICE!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 25, 2015

ADVENT

HE CAME!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

#merrychristmas #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #joytotheworld

December 24, 2015

ADVENT

All month we've comtemplated HIS coming!

ARE YOU READY?

John 1:11

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.....

Are you ready? Ready to receive HIM? We prepare our homes for family and friends but what about our hearts? Are you ready? If HE should show up on your doorstep today - Are you ready? If HE should appear as a person in need today - Are you ready? Or would it be an annoyance and inconvenience?

LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM!

"Room for Jesus, King of glory! Hasten now, His word obey; Swing your heart's door widely open, Bid Him enter while you may."

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 23, 2015

ADVENT

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Matthew 2:10

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy!

EXCEEDING GREAT JOY! Men from another believed the Messiah had been born and were determined to find Him! The star that had guided them out of their country once again appeared after their fruitless and dangerous visit to Herod. And when they once again saw that star the REJOICED with EXCEEDING GREAT JOY! That's extravagant - just like our GOD!

Has your search for Christ caused you to REJOICE with EXCEEDING GREAT JOY???? Let it be so today!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 22, 2015

ADVENT

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Luke 2: 17 (about the Shepherds)

Now when they had seen Him, [Jesus] they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

Joyful news is meant to be shared! If YOU had heard a host of angels singing in the sky last night - I guess you'd be telling everyone about it too! :-)

Better than that we have met the Christ of Christmas and HE lives within our hearts!

SPREAD THE JOY!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 21, 2015

ADVENT

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Luke 2:10

...I bring you good tidings of GREAT JOY which will be to all people...

Now that sounds like a message I'd like to listen to! In a world where we are bombarded by bad news daily - good tidings... GREAT JOY! Bring it on! Does it ever occur to you as you deal with a clerk or employee that is showing off their "attitude" that they are just in dire need of "good tidings of GREAT JOY!? - JESUS! It wasn't just for the shepherds way back then --- Christmas isn't just a great "remember the good old story" type of thing! CHRISTMAS is NOW - Jesus lives in you and in me! The Lord IS come! Hallelujah! What A Savior!

SPREAD THE JOY! Good news is meant to be shared!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 20, 2015

ADVENT

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Isa 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

The promise of the coming Messiah included JOY! Everlasting JOY! Clearly that is not something we often confuse as "happy" JOY is the wellspring of life that bubbles up in our hearts from knowing HIM - the JOY of living! Life itself may be unsettling - up and down - calm and upsetting - but with the WELLSPRING of life in your heart - you can still experience HIS JOY!

JOY to the world the Lord is COME! Apply it to your heart - but reach out and share it with someone else too!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 19, 2015

ADVENT

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

This week we ponder the JOY of Christmas!

In Mary and Elizabeth we see the outburst of JOY between two women experiencing the greatest MIRACLE of all - God becoming flesh to dwell among us!

Luke 1:44 - Elizabeth to Mary

The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb (John) skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!

Mary could have wrestled with many emotions at the astounding and unusual proclamation given her by the angel, but she CHOSE JOY! She chose to BELIEVE!

Oh may HE find in our hearts that same response to HIS Word - Choose today to BELIEVE God with JOY in your heart!

When Mary & Elizabeth chose believing joy - it changed the whole course of history - If we'll do the same it will change the whole course of our history at least, and who knows how far reaching it may be!?

Spread the JOY!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 18, 2015

ADVENT

A PREPARED PLACE: Bethlehem stable

Luke 2:7

....and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I know the general thought is how terrible that there was no room in the inn. HOWEVER.......

GOD and all heaven had prepared every detail about this whole divine entrance into the world of men! In order for prophecy to be fulfilled, Joseph and Mary needed to be in BETHLEHEM - there is no earthly reason they would have made that journey aside from Caesar decreeing that everyone must return to their home town to be counted! Seems like a whim - WRONG! It was orchestrated by HEAVEN! :-)

Secondly, the "INNS" of those days were very UNFIT places for a baby to be born! Men and women shared the same room lying on mats spread out on the floor side by side - often places of ill repute as well! There would have been NO PRIVACY or dignity to our King of Kings and Lord of Lords being born there! HOWEVER......

God put it in the innkeeper’s heart to offer his stable - a shelter - privacy - provision! Notice the angels knew exactly where HE was! :-)

We serve an awesome GOD that pays to minute details! WORSHIP HIM today with THANKFULNESS!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 17, 2015

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones: Joseph

Matthew 1:19

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly, But while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him.....

OK - he may have come in by freight (so to speak) but He was an honorable man and had the MOST angelic visits of anyone in the Christmas story! Certainly his was also a heart prepared and looking for the Messiah -

Naturally speaking, he had every right to have Mary stoned - but when the angel appeared to him and shared the good news with him - he rose to the occasion and gaurded her and the baby with love in his heart!

Even if the good news places us in an awkward situation - may we learn to rise to the occasion and stand firm in the truth that God has revealed to us!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 16, 2015

                                                                             

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones: Anna

Another prepared one! While Simeon was dedicating the Christ child

Luke 1:38

...and coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

As we saw in Simeon her heart was listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit who guided her into the temple at the precise right moment I like to call them "divine appointments" - and clearly she knew others who were longing and looking for the MESSIAH with PREPARED hearts - because she went and SPREAD THE WORD!!!

May your day be FILLED with DIVINE APPOINTMENTS because of your prepared heart!

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 15, 2015

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones: Simeon

He come into the temple by the leading of the Holy Spirit and here's a couple dedicating a child to the Lord - not an unusual sight in the temple - pretty normal and mundane - day to day stuff - BUT IT WASN'T!! As he takes the baby up in his arms, the Holy Spirit bursts out through his own mouth in prophetic utterance:

Luke 2:29-32

"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have PREPARED before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel."

It wasn't the normal "child dedication" speech! It was a prepared heart - sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit - with an ear that listened and heard from heaven!

May we like Simeon of old, go through our day, sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and listening for the voice of our Lord and Saivior from heaven!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 14, 2015

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones:Shepherds

The shepherds were faithfully keeping watch over their flocks by night - Sheep are high maintenance creatures - they need perpetual care! That alone tells us something about these men! They were going about their ordinary mundane day to day business - when suddenly in an unforgettable life changing moment the night sky burst into light with first one angel and then a whole HOST of angels singing! That is one scene I want to see re-runs of when I get to heaven!!!!

Somehow their very occupation had helped to PREPARE them for this unusual occurrence - because they ACTED on what the angel told them - and found HIM and when they did they WORSHIPED! Whew! It's an event packed with learning and meditation!

It did not stop there for we read:

Luke 2:17

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

They became fearless witnesses!

Think of it - they saw and worshipped a babe in a manger - we have known and fellowshipped with HIM as our SAVIOR and Lord and know HIM as our REDEEMER - personally! Have you "made widely known" that which you have seen and heard and experienced?

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 13, 2015

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones: Mary

Although she was young, Mary had a heart prepared to serve God!

Luke 1:38

"Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."

Complete surrender! Complete cooperation! ...thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power...(Psalm 110) It was the day of God's power and she was willing - God is still looking for WILLING hearts to COME to! Through a willing surrendered heart the course of history can be changed...transformed...

OH COME to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee!!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 12, 2015

ADVENT

Pondering the Prepared ones: Zacharias and Elisabeth

Luke 1:6

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Here were two ordinary people going about their normal duties - childless and well beyond childbearing years. Blameless! what a commentary! Suddenly into that "normal-ness" came upheaval! An angelic visit - the promise of a son - the loss of speech for Zacharias - the miraculous fulfillment - the fore runner to Messiah - the promised "Elijah" the one crying in the wilderness PREPARE ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the dessert a highway for our God!"

This is why our faithfulness and every day routines are important - we never know when GOD will show up in a miraculous moment and life will nevermore be the same! Are you living in that kind of expectancy today?

OH COME to my heart, LORD JESUS, there is room in my heart for THEE!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 11, 2015

ADVENT

He CAME to PREPARED ones!

As we begin to meditate on the PROLAMATION we notice that those who God used to bring forth His Only Begotten Son into the world were those whose hearts were PREPARED -

Psalm 110:3

My people shall be willing in the day of my power.

How is it with your heart today? Is it prepared for Jesus to show up at any moment along the way? There are people HE would like to speak to through your lips, there are people HE would like to listen to through your ears, there are people HE would like to love on through your loving, there are people HE would like to encourage through your smile. ARE YOU PREPARED and WILLING?

Prayer:

Behold the love servant of the Lord, be it unto me according to your word!

OH COME to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for THEE!

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 10, 2015

ADVENT

Isaiah 64:1 

Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest COME down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

In this verse we hear the cry of the prophet echoed down through the ages ...oh that you would rend the heavens and COME DOWN! COME DOWN HE did! Not to a sterile state of the art technology hospital room - but to a lowly manger in Bethlehem!

....He came unto His own, and His own received Him not!.... unthinkable! Could it be so!???? After so many years of yearning and longing could rejection be possible!? When Jesus said this to the Scribes and Pharisees they were flabbergasted! Yet they did it - they rejected HIM!

Let us earnestly pray that we will not reject HIM in one moment of HIS COMING to us, now in this Christmas season, but also in every day of our living ...."Oh COME to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is ROOM in my heart for THEE!"

#keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 9, 2015

ADVENT

Isaiah 9: 6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

A SON is GIVEN!!! We think of going "HOME" for the holidays - songs have been written about it - people travel great distances - to be HOME for Christmas - JESUS the SON left HOME to give us CHRISTMAS! As you gather in your HOME this Christmas remember the great distance HE traveled to give us a heavenly HOME! HALLELUJAH - What a Savior!

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December 8, 2015

ADVENT

Can you imagine the preparations from HEAVEN's side for that first Christmas? Clearly the preparations were in place from before the foundation of the world - however I can imagine some angel meetings going on as assignments were passed out :-) They were thinking palaces and pomp and circumstance - They had to have their thinking aligned! :-)

After a long period of darkness and no prophets - finally: The announcement of John the Baptist!

Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Malachi 3:1

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the convenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

The time drew near for the first angelic visit to Zacharias - it had to be a moment heaven would always remember - the SON of GOD preparing to leave the grandeur of HEAVEN and become human flesh! Before Messiah could come JOHN needed to come to PREPARE the way! No stone left unturned, not even the smallest pebble! In your preparations for the season today may you find time to prepare your heart for HIS coming!

"OH come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee!"

 #keepChristinChristmas #spreadtheword #thewordworks

December 7, 2015

ADVENT

Prophets foretold of HIS coming to reign!

Isaiah 11:10

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Jeremiah 23:5 & 6

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Reading these scriptures you can understand how the disciples were looking for the natural reign of Christ to overthrow Roman rule - But he CAME to set the captives free and set at liberty those that are bound - HE CAME TO REIGN in our hearts!

"Oh come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is ROOM in my heart for Thee!"

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