The Names of God: Jehovah-Jireh

Jehovah-Jireh: The LORD Will Provide

Genesis 22:14 KJV

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

Jehovah-Jireh, The LORD Will Provide. I have so many testimonies, so many blessings I could write about in affirmation of this name of God. So many times in my life and in the lives of my family and my church family when the LORD has provided, has seen to our needs in ways we did not think possible. Jehovah-Jireh sees each and every one of us, sees what we stand in need of and provides for us in ways we cannot fathom, just as He has always done. 

Abraham was the first to use this name of God after God provided for Himself a lamb to sacrifice on Mount Moriah. Abraham took a staggering leap of faith when he left that day to walk with Isaac up on the mountain. But he never doubted that they would both return. He told the men who had made the journey with them that together he and Isaac would go and worship and together they would return. He never doubted, even for a second that Isaac would return with him, even telling Isaac that God would provide Himself a burnt offering. His faith was rewarded in God's provision of the ram. God knew that Abraham was willing to give all he had to God, even his own flesh and blood, and so He blessed him with the promise that Abraham's seed would multiply as the stars of the heaven and the sands of the sea shore. And God continued to provide for the children of Israel throughout their generations.  

And we can be sure today that beyond our physical needs and wants, beyond all things worldly and temporal, our eternal needs have been provided for as well. Jehovah-Jireh provided for Himself a sacrifice once again in His Son Jesus Christ, a Lamb more pure than any other, perfect and without blemish. Once we accept His Son as our Savior, we need not ever worry again about the trails and tribulations of this life. That is not to say that we will not endure them as children of God, but that we have the assurance that regardless of the outcome of our trials,they are only temporary. Our eternal provisions have been made. My earthly home may be small, may be old, may not be fancy and may need many repairs, but my Lord has gone to prepare a place for me, a mansion in gloryland, that mortal hands could never craft. My earthly car may be outdated, scratched, dented, and in need of repairs, but praise God I'll not need it when I leave this wretched body behind and my feet touch the streets of gold that await me in Paradise. My clothes may not be fashionable, may not fit just right,and  my boys may wear hand-me-downs, but that's just fine, because my Savior is standing at the right hand of the Father, ready to adorn us in robes of white and crowns of glory.

There may be much you stand in need of tonight, but there is nothing that Jehovah-Jireh cannot provide, temporal or eternal, we must simply put our faith in Him and ask. We must be willing to take that staggering leap of faith as Abraham did and trust that God will provide for His own. We must lay our Isaac down, whatever that may be. We must be prepared to give God our all, our most precious possessions, our time, our lives, and serve Him. When we give Him our lives in service, He sees to every need, He provides at every turn and in every circumstance.

He is Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD Who Provides.

When I Lay My Isaac Down

Abraham prayed for the day 

God would give him a son 

Blessed Isaac was his name 

The greatest gift he’d ever known 

Then came the day, who would have dreamed 

God would say “Give him to me

On this mountain you will prove, 

It’s you and Isaac, or it’s me and you”

When I lay my Isaac down 

Broken heart but my Fathers proud 

On this altar here he lays 

Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me

Most of us I’d dare to say 

Have an Isaac in God’s way 

On the Altar God will prove 

It’s not your Isaac that he wants 

He wants you

When I lay my Isaac down 

Broken heart but my Fathers proud 

On this altar here he lays 

Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me

The Names of God: El Olam

El Olam: The Everlasting God

Psalms 90:1-2

[A Prayer of Moses the man of God.]

1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Isaiah 40:28

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

I like to do a series with the blog posts because it focuses my thoughts and writing rather than just writing about random thoughts. And I like the series posts because when I'm done with one I immediately begin thinking about the next. Sometimes this means I have the next post up in a couple of days but usually it's a week. But everyday for that week I am thinking about the next post in the series and how my life factors in to what I'm studying about. I know I probably sound redundant at times because I write about losing Lachlan and my other babies, about the changes in Brandon over the last 3 years, about my fears and dreams for my boys - but I can only write what I know, what I feel, what I see. I can only write my story because God has given it to me to use to glorify Him.

So this week as I thought about El Olam, the Everlasting God, and my story, I was overwhelmed at the magnitude of what this name of God means.

It simply means that God and all He is, all He represents, all of His promises are eternal, without end, lasting forever. His love. His mercy. His forgiveness. His grace. His compassion. His comfort. His shelter. His longsuffering. His glory. His goodness. His gentleness. His hope. His faith. His peace. His redemption. His righteousness. His joy.

We could never deserve Him. Never work to gain His favor. Never be good enough for His eternal and everlasting greatness. 

And yet in all His eternal majesty He still created us, still spared us from the flood, spared us from hell by sending His only begotten Son. He loved us more than we could possibly fathom. 

El Olam has been our dwelling place in all generations, from beginning to end. 

He fainteth not, neither is He weary. He never tires of hearing our problems but He deserves our praises. He never tires of comforting our sorrows but He deserves our sacred songs. He never tires of loving us in spite of our sins but He deserves our lives to be lived in fear and service, truth and love of Him.

There is no searching His understanding. We cannot know in this life why He chose to send Jesus to die for our sins, aside from eternal love. But He did choose to. Before the mountains were brought forth, before He formed the earth and world, the everlasting to everlasting God knew my story and chose to send His Son to die so that I could tell it. 

I Just Wanted You To Know

You made dry ground where once were oceans 

Where once were mountains You made them low 

Where there were stones, now there is water 

You satisfy my thirsty soul 

There's strength in knowing You are near me 

That peace that You, alone bestow 

I love You more today than ever and I just wanted You to know 

Where there is fear Lord You will hide 

when winds of danger around me roll 

I feel your arms of grace around me and I just wanted you to know 

All those times I've seen your glory 

And how You've conquered my every foe 

My love for you is overflowing 

And I just wanted-- Lord I just needed! 

My heart is longing for You to know... 

and I just wanted You to know

The Names of God: El Elyon

El Elyon: The Most High God

Genesis 14:19 KJV

And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

I have had a difficult time this week determining just exactly where the Lord wanted me to go with this post. There were several ways I could have gone. 

I thought about addressing the abomination of the Bruce Jenner sex change. The Most High God does not make mistakes in creation. He knows us within our mother's womb, knows our very frame and the numbers of hair on our heads, He bottles the tears that we shed. He does not create us as females trapped in males bodies. The very idea of that someone suffers from this because they were born that way is ludicrous. It is a mental illness that should be treated as such.

I thought about the last 4 weeks in my family's life. My niece was hospitalized with high blood pressure at nearly 37 weeks pregnant and several stressful days later she welcomed a perfectly healthy, beautiful and tiny baby boy into the world. 2 of my great aunts, they are sisters, were diagnosed with cancer on the same day. Neither prognosis was good. We attended the funeral of 1 today while the other recovered from surgery at home. Last week I completed my first round of fertility treatments and now we begin the agonizing 2 week wait to take a pregnancy test. My Daddy and my Papaw are each having heart procedures done tomorrow. Routine procedures but heart surgery nonetheless. And El Elyon, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth as Genesis 14:19 proclaims Him to be, is in control of it all.  Each and every situation. And yet it can be so hard to put our faith in Him when the most stressful moments of life are upon us. We so quickly forget what the Most High God is truly capable of.

But tonight, as I stood to hear the reading of God's Holy Word in our church service, the Holy Ghost whispered to me. My Pastor read from Hebrews 12:1-3, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." El Elyon, the Most High God was brought to the lowest of low for you and I.  

The weight of this world, the sin and the abomination that bombards us through every media outlet available, the worries of this flesh life and body, need be laid aside. When we find ourselves gossiping about the sins of one celebrity or another, instead of praying about the sin in our lives or praying for their souls, we are weighting ourselves down. When we find ourselves in a panic or on the verge of a nervous breakdown about a family member's health, our own desires, or even the stresses of working and paying the bills, keeping the house clean and the yard mowed, we are weighting ourselves down. We cannot run the race that has been set before us with the weight of the world on our shoulders. 

So what must we do? 

We must look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the Son of El Elyon, the Most High God, and we must remember what was done for us. When we are wearied and faint we must remember what was endured for our sake. El Elyon came in the flesh as Christ Jesus. The Highest of Highs became as the lowest of lows when He was born as a babe in a manger. Though perfect and sinless, He was born into a world of sin and wickedness, He endured the cross and the contradiction of our sins upon His innocence. And He did it with joy. He did it so that when we are weary and burdened we can remember, we can feel it deep within our souls, His love and what His sacrifice means for us. It means that no matter how heavy the weight of this world is we do not have to bear it alone. We can cast it aside and look to Him, El Elyon, the Most High God.

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Crown of Righteousness

The Crown of Righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

This crown is for those who look for the appearing of Christ, who anxiously await and look forward to the day when He will return for His saints. It is given to those who have lived a good and righteous life for God while here on this earth.

Before this past Christmas, I honestly did not know what Advent meant. I had seen DIY Advent Calendars on Pinterest, counting down the days until Christmas. But I didn't really think that is what Advent meant in the spiritual sense, little chocolates in calendar pockets. So I did a little bit of studying and learned that Advent is the preparation of our hearts for Christ’s coming. It is generally celebrated in the four weeks leading up to Christmas but truly Advent should be celebrated year round. We should continually be preparing our hearts for Him, looking for His coming, and love knowing that just any minute He could appear. We should be like kids waiting for Christmas morning.

There is an evangelist that Brandon and I like to listen to and one night on the way to church we were listening to him preach a message. In that message he told a story and it was so powerful and so convicting that I will never forget it. It went like this:

There was a man, a preacher, who went on a mission trip to Africa. He went with several other preachers and men of God, to preach the Gospel and spread Christ's love. After being there many days, they made one last stop before preparing to return home to the States. They stopped at an orphanage for mentally handicapped and disabled children, hoping to present the Word of God to them. The director led them on a tour of the home first, before meeting the children. The house was in immaculate condition, the men could've eaten breakfast right off the floor...except for one low corner window that faced the road in the front room of the house. Intrigued, one of the preachers asked the director why that window was so dirty, smudged and streaked with fingerprints, when the rest of the house was spic and span. She looked at him, and then looked at the children playing around them in the house and she told him that there was something that he needed to know. This group of missionaries he was with was not the first group of missionaries to pass by their little orphanage. Other men of God had been that way before and had told the children of a man named Jesus who loved them in spite of their imperfections, who loved them when they had been abandoned by everyone else, who loved them enough to shed His blood at Calvary for them and that He would return for them one day, to take them to an eternal home. The director looked from the children to the window and back to the men and told them that the window was so dirty because every morning after breakfast, those children crowded around that window, pressing their faces and hands to the glass, and they watched down the road for the man named Jesus who loved them enough to die for them. They waited and they watched for Him to come and take them home.

I can not think of a more beautiful description of what the receiver of the Crown of Righteousness looks like, lives like, loves like. Those precious children, whose minds weren't clouded and corrupted by the world, whose innocence was pure and sweet, they understood what so many of us can't. They understood that salvation is just that simple, that beautiful, that loving. They understood that all they needed to do was to believe that He had shed His blood just for them and believe that He would return for them one day. They believed so wholeheartedly that they sat, waiting and watching for Him every single day.

What have I done today? Have I thanked Him for His sacrifice for me, for my children, for the world around me? Have I shared His love with anyone today? Have I waited and watched for Him with the anticipation of a child on Christmas? Because what He did for me was a gift, a priceless gift. Do I cherish it enough to anxiously await His coming? 

I want to live my life in a season of continual Advent, preparing my heart for His return. I want to be there, with my face and hands pressed to the glass, anxiously awaiting Him when I hear that trumpet blow and I see Him step out on the clouds. I want to know that He has laid up for me in heaven a Crown of Righteousness.

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Crown of Life

The Crown of Life

James 1:12

12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

Revelation 2:8-11

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan. 

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

This crown is for those believers who endure trials, tribulations, and severe suffering, even unto death.

Our only purpose in this life is to point others towards Him, in every thing we do, in every season of life we are in, no matter what that may be. I cannot stress how important this is in our lives because you never know what the person beside you is dealing with every single day of their life. The trials, tribulations, and sufferings in one's life are not always in plain sight for all to see. More often than not the trials, tribulations, and sufferings in one's life are behind closed doors. We tend to keep our pain and shame hidden away. But all that does is eat at us like a sickness. It whittles us down until there is nothing left and life just does not feel worth living. So when we live Jesus for all to see, we are leaving behind a testimony, a little picture of the mercy and grace, hope and love that a life with Him brings. It will not be a life free from sorrow but it will be a life full of opportunities to bring your burdens to Him for comfort and relief. 

Did I ever think that losing my children would somehow bring gory and honor to my Savior? No I absolutely didn’t. But I never in a million years dreamed that I would have such a difficult time having and bearing children. Being a Momma had always been my dream. I loved babies, couldn't get enough of them, couldn't wait to get married and start my own family. I can remember each and every time I took a pregnancy test and it turned positive. 5 positives, 5 moments of thrilling joy.  And in each of those moments, I had only hope for a future with the precious baby in my womb. But life is not without sorrow. Yet it is in the midst of our sorrows that we are given the greatest opportunities to turn to our Savior, to leave only glory and honor for our Lord in sorrow's wake, not bitterness and resentment.

I never thought when I was in the midst of my first miscarriage, when I was burying my Lachlan, or when I looked at that ultrasound screen, just over a year ago expecting to see the flutter of a healthy heartbeat and instead saw black emptiness, that I would ever use my life, my loss, to tell others about Christ. 

But here I am and I have learned that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. And I can only hope and pray that I am doing good in the lives of others, that I am following His will and purpose, that somehow, somewhere in the lines of my blogs that I am pointing others to Jesus. Because if I am not it will be me, that has caused my loss to be for naught, to be in vain. Not Him.

I sometimes think of what it would have been like to have been blessed to be able to have all of my babies here with me on earth. I wonder what their personalities would have been like and whether they would take after me or Brandon. I dream of Christmas mornings and birthday parties. But I know that if I can endure the temptations and the sorrows of this life a little longer, that my Jesus will meet me in the clouds one bright and shinning day, with my babies by His riven side, and the Crown of Life in His nail scarred hands. 

~~~***~~~

Well Done My Child

I go winding my way to glory land, the home of the soul.
My life is filled with sorrow where I roam, where'er I roam
But when I enter the gates of gloryland which now is my goal
My Lord will say, "My child you're welcome home."

Well done my child, my Lord will say,
With courage bold you've stood for the right.
A crown of life you've won, "Well done my child."
He'll say that day like Paul of old, you've fought a good fight
"Well done my child, Well done my child, well done."

I'll meet my friends and my loved ones gone before in heaven's fair clime
Inside the gates they'll be to welcome me to welcome me;
Praise God my troubles and cares will then be o'er in glory sublime.
With them I'll live for all eternity, eternity.

Well done my child, my Lord will say,
With courage bold you've stood for the right.
A crown of life you've won, "Well done my child."
He'll say that day like Paul of old, you've fought a good fight
"Well done my child, Well done my child, well done."
I now am waiting and longing for the day when I shall arise,
And sail away across the ocean's foam, the ocean's foam;
I'll be so happy to hear my Savior in sweet paradise,
"Well done my child you now are welcome home, you're welcome home."

Well done my child, my Lord will say,
With courage bold you've stood for the right.
A crown of life you've won, "Well done my child."
He'll say that day like Paul of old, you've fought a good fight
"Well done my child, Well done my child, well done."

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Crown of Rejoicing

The Crown of Rejoicing

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 

20 For ye are our glory and joy. 

This crown is given to those who faithfully and joyfully are witnesses to the saving grace of God and whose lives point men to Jesus.

Today the little boy in this picture turned 4 years old. It is so hard to believe how fast the time has slipped by me. Those itty bitty newborn outfits, no bigger than a baby doll would wear, have been replaced by grass stained blue jeans and dinosaur t-shirts. Baby rattles and pacifiers replaced by Legos and anything that roars.

Tonight as I sang him to sleep and he clutched his brand new toys, my heart was remembering and rejoicing. Remembering the aching emptiness it had once felt and rejoicing at the overwhelming fullness if feels now. 

Oh that day felt like it would never come. Disappointment, sadness and heartbreak had paved the way for worry, sickness, and anxiety. 20 weeks of bedrest, blood pressure medicine, and endless tests, made for a long and difficult pregnancy. A grueling labor, failed epidurals, and a painful c-section all culminated in one of the most glorious moments of my life. Hearing Kieran cry for the first time, knowing that this time I would be leaving the hospital with a baby to raise instead of one to grieve, was a moment that gave clarity to everything I had endured up to that moment and one I'll never forget.

You see in that moment I loved my son with a fierceness that I couldn't quite comprehend. I had loved him while he was in my womb but up until that moment when he cried, he'd really only been a dream, a dream I had been waiting for so long to come true. But there he was and as I held him to my breast to nurse, as I cradled him throughout the night, as I meticulously charted his feedings and diaper changings, I began to understand all that I had endured. I understood that now, having had my dreams turn to nightmares before, that I would love him more deeply and protect him more mightily than I'd ever imagined possible.  He needed me. And I needed Jesus. 

There have been a lot of changes take place in our lives over the last 4 years, and though there have been hard times and sad times, my heart has been rejoicing at what the Lord did for us when Kieran was born. We had been living in sin, we were out of the will of God, and we were headed for disaster. But when I heard Kieran's first cries, the Lord made a change in my heart. If I hadn't been willing to turn back to Christ for myself, I was now responsible for someone else's soul. And in that instant my heart made a vow to my Savior that I would protect him with all I had in me and with all that He could give me. 

It was just after Kieran's first birthday when we attended church for the first time as a family and it was amazing, near miraculous, that change that took place in our lives.

Now instead of living in the past and wallowing in our sin sick lives, we are rejoicing at what is to come. Now instead of focusing on the wickedness that this world has to offer, we are doing our best to point our children towards Jesus in our rejoicing, in our praise, in our love of Him. Now instead of working our way through a 6-pack, we are collecting Crowns by living Christ centered lives full of rejoicing. We are rejoicing in our hearts that the Lord will save Kieran's soul some sweet day just as He has saved ours, we are rejoicing in our hearts that the Lord is coming again for us one happy day, and we are rejoicing in our hearts that one wonderful day our family will be whole again in the presence of our Savior. 

~~~***~~~

We don’t know what the future holds, nor what the purpose of our past is until the Lord uses our story to bring glory and honor to His name. Be joyful in your life, you don’t know who is watching or what testimony you are leaving behind.

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Incorruptible Crown

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

This crown is given to believers who faithfully run the race, who crucify every selfish desire in the flesh and point men to Jesus.

Our lives are the race. Each and every day spent barreling towards the finish line, knowing that at the end is Jesus. But how we run the race is just as important as crossing the finish line.

I have struggled with writing this blog for nearly a month. I wanted to begin the new series with the New Year. And I can't quite put my finger on the reason, be it discouragement, priorities out of order, or because my boys were sick for a very long 10 days. I just haven't been able to sit down and put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard. I desire your prayers very much. I have been doing my best to balance my school work with our ministry, with being a Momma and wife, with being a faithful church member and a devoted daughter and granddaughter, my Momma and I directed our church Christmas play, I've recently begun leading monthly Women's Meetings for my church, and I've taken on the Easter Cantata, not to mention the baby quilt that I am trying to help embroider for my very first great-nephew. 

I have been trying my very best to run my race the best way that I know how and it has suddenly dawned on me that my best is simply not good enough. I can never do all of this on my own. There are just too many obstacles on this race track that is my life. By doing it all on my own, I've corrupted my crown. 

You see, He never meant for me to do it alone or to try to do it all. He wants my devotion, my faithfulness, my very best, but He wants me to let Him carry me when the terrain is too steep or too rough. 

There is a selfish desire within us to prove to the world that we don't need anyone's help, that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds on simply by willpower, that we are self-made men and women. It is a selfish desire to want the world to look at us and only see our accomplishments, only see the trophies we've won in the many races we've run. It is a selfish desire to do a service for our Lord just to see our name in lights, just to get the glory and recognition for ourselves. We think that the service in itself is enough for God, that our doing good works for Him is all He needs. What we fail to realize is that it's not our service or our works at all that God desires, but our desire to do the work for Him with the glory and honor going all to Him. We should have a servant's heart because it pleases Him, because in a servant's heart others are pointed to Christ, because in a race run by Christians desiring to see God glorified there are no losers, only receivers of Incorruptible Crowns. 

So as we run the race of life, we must be faithful and trusting that our Lord and Savior will be there to lift us over the hurdles, to carry us when we become weak, to catch us when we fall. He is there, the beaming Father in the stands, cheering us on, encouraging us through His Word, the Holy Ghost coaching us, molding us, and He is there with open arms when we reach the finish line, holding in His nail scarred hands this Incorruptible Crown that we've run so hard to receive. 

 These last few weeks, I've neglected my heart, I've neglected my race. But although I may feel like I've sidelined myself, I'm not stuck on the bench. I feel Him in my heart and I know I've got a race to finish, a crown to receive, a Savior to glorify and honor. 

I'm dusting off my running shoes 

~~~***~~~

The neglected heart will soon be a heart overrun with worldly thoughts; the neglected life will soon become moral chaos. -A.W. Tozer

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: Sneak Peek

The Incorruptible Crown

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

This crown is given to believers who faithfully run the race, who crucify every selfish desire in the flesh and point men to Jesus.

We run the race to win. But why do we want to win? Is it to glorify God or ourselves? Do we want to win so that others can see us and our accomplishments or do we want them to look through us and see Jesus? Our lives are the race. My own teaching Sunday School and writing the blog…am I faithfully doing these things for the right reasons, the incorruptible reasons or corruptible? If I didn’t want to be recognized why would I put my name to the blogs? And I think that it is ok to be recognized for the work we do for the Lord, as long as we remember it is Him we do it for, it is Him that we owe our blessings and our very lives to. If what we are doing isn’t bringing glory and honor to him then we are running the race for incorruptible crowns…

The Crown of Rejoicing

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 

20 For ye are our glory and joy. 

This crown is given to those who faithfully and joyfully are witnesses to the saving grace of God and whose lives point men to Jesus.

Have you ever heard of someone leading another to Christ by being ill and hateful, grumpy, whiny, crying and carrying on about how miserable they are? Me either. We know good and well that Christian life is not always a walk in the park. We know it and we expect it. But we rejoice at what is coming, not at what we’re living in presently. Don’t sit and stew about what happened in the past. Don’t sit and worry about what is going to happen tomorrow. Live in the here and now with Jesus and rejoice that He has saved your soul! We don’t know what the future holds, nor what the purpose of our past is until the Lord uses our story to bring glory and honor to His name. Be joyful in your life, you don’t know who is watching or what testimony you are leaving behind.

The Crown of Life

James 1:12

12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

Revelation 2:8-11

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan. 

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

This crown is for those believers who endure trials, tribulations, and severe suffering, even unto death.

Our only purpose in this life is to point others towards Him, in every thing we do, in every season of life we are in, no matter what that may be. Did I ever believe that losing my children would somehow bring gory and honor to my Savior? No I didn’t. I never thought for a second while I was in the midst of my first miscarriage, or when I was burying my son, or when I looked at that ultrasound screen nearly a year ago expecting to see the flutter of a healthy heartbeat and instead saw black emptiness, that I would ever use my life, my loss, to tell others about Christ. But here I am and I have learned that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. And I can only hope and pray that I am doing good in the lives of others, that I am following His will and purpose, that somehow, somewhere in the lines of my blogs that I am pointing others to Jesus. Because if I am not it will be me, that has caused my loss to be for naught, to be in vain. Not Him.

The Crown of Righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

This crown is for those who look for the appearing of Christ, who anxiously await and look forward to the day when He will return for His saints. It is given to those who have lived a good and righteous life for God while here on this earth.

Advent is the preparation of our hearts for Christ’s coming. It is generally celebrated in the four weeks leading up to Christmas but truly Advent should be celebrated year round. We should continually be preparing our hearts for Him, looking for His coming, and love knowing that just any minute He could appear. We should be like kids waiting for Christmas morning.

The Crown of Glory

1 Peter 5:1-4

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 

3 Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

The Pastor’s crown; it is given to the ministers who faithfully feed the flock of God and possibly includes all those who teach the Word of God in their respective ministries.

I may be wrong but I do believe that this crown is not only given to the God called preachers who have faithfully served as Pastors but also to the “elders” in Christian life. The deacons, the Sunday School teachers, the Song leaders, missionaries, evangelists, young preachers. I also believe this crown is for those Mommas and Daddys who may not hold a position in their church but who teach their children and nurture and raise them in the admonition of the Lord, for the grandparents who pray unceasingly for the lost in their families, for the older generation in the churches who are teaching the younger generations. Each and every one of us have a ministry in our lives and it is up to up to faithfully and intentionally live out Christ’s love for us for the world to see Him in us. We want them to want what we’ve got! And we want them to get it!

Advent Scripture Series: Week 4

Advent Scripture Series

Week 4

This Christmas, more than any other, I have tried to intentionally focus my heart on Christ. It has not always been easy. Life gets in the way of good intentions all too often. But I have tried to be in His Word every day, seeking out scriptures for this very series. And I have felt my heart changing, moving old bitterness aside, throwing worry out, and letting love take up the space, preparing the way for Him. It gets so stressful in the last few days before Christmas, don't lose sight of what the season is about now.There was no room for Him in the inn so long ago, don't let the same happen to your hearts. Make room for Him, prepare Him a place.

God's love was manifested towards us in that He sent His only begotten Son that we may have life and live through Him. He did not send His Son for us to forget, to deny, to reject. He sent Him because He loved us, because we were dying and heading straight for the hell we deserved. But He sent us His Son that starry night, to worship and adore. True Love born in a stable.

Every year since my oldest was born, I have read to them The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. This year was no exception. And last night, as they lay peacefully sleeping, I finished reading the last few pages of the story of the Herdmans. 6 wild and rowdy children, who had never even heard the Christmas story. Not so much unlike my own boys would have been if God hadn't intervened and changed our lives so completely. This verse came to mind as I read. Herein is love...not that we loved God, but that He loved us. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to reconcile our sin, a debt that we could never ever repay otherwise. I finished reading the story in tears, as usual, but each time I read it, it means a little more.

"It suddenly occurred to me that this was just the way it must have been for the real Holy Family, stuck away in a barn by people who didn't much care what happened to them. They couldn't have been very neat and tidy either, but more like this Mary and Joseph (Imogene's veil was cockeyed as usual, and Ralph's hair stuck out all around his ears). Imogene had the baby doll but she wasn't carrying it the way she was supposed to, cradled in her arms. She had it slung up over her shoulder, and before she put it back in the manger she thumped it twice on the back.
I heard Alice gasp and she poked me. "I don't think it's very nice to burp the baby Jesus," she whispered, "as if he had colic." Then she poked me again. "Do you suppose he could have had colic?"
I said, "I don't know why not," and I didn't. He could have had colic, or been fussy, or hungry like any other baby. After all, that was the whole point of Jesus -- that he didn't come down on a cloud like something out of "Amazing Comics," but that he was born and lived...a real person."
--The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

My niece is almost halfway through her first pregnancy. Her little tummy is starting to round out and she is beginning to show. And today as our family gathered around the Christmas tree to open our gifts, her tiny, 8oz unborn son was not forgotten. In fact he was lavished in gifts. One might ask why, considering he is not even born yet. But Uriah Luke is loved beyond measure already. He has been hoped for, prayed for, and is anxiously awaited for. Again, one might ask why? Why do we love this tiny person who is entirely dependent on his Momma, who can serve us in no way, who will truly only bring many tears and heartaches during his life, who could be seen as a burden and a hindrance. We love Uriah because we love his Momma, we love his Daddy. This baby is one created in love and one who will bring so much joy and happiness to his family. This baby is one who was not created for serving but one to be served, to be looked after and cared for, one who will never have to worry about parents being angry and bitter about late night feedings and changings, a baby who will never lack for arms to hold him, to rock him, to hug him. Uriah who was created in spite of the burden, the tears and the heartaches that accompany us all in life, he was created because of the love, the joy, and the tears of happiness and full hearts he will bring. And he will love us because we love him so mightily.

You might be thinking of another baby this Christmas season, one born of entirely different circumstances. A baby born by miraculous, immaculate conception. Born to take on the sins of the world. Born to carry our burdens, count our tears, mend our broken hearts. Born because no service we could ever offer His Father would cover the sin debt that we owe. Jesus was a baby born because He first loved us, not because we loved Him. He loved us before we knew Him, even loves us as so many of us reject Him now. He loved us in spite of our shortcomings, our failures, our total dependence on Him. And He gave the greatest gift we could ever imagine...Salvation. He gave Himself.

And we love Him because He first loved us.

Advent Scripture Series: Week 3

Advent Scripture Series 

Week 3

As we drive ourselves crazy this Christmas trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on our list, let's remember the greatest Gift of all. The Gift that was given out of so much love. The Gift that was one of a kind, no duplicate to be found. The Gift that truly keeps on giving, eternally. The Gift that was given one starry night, in a little town called Bethlehem, to young parents thrust into parenthood by the Holy Ghost and entrusted by God with His only begotten Son, a Gift given so that we may have everlasting life.

Do you ever wonder why the Angel of the Lord appeared to a bunch of shepherds in a field, tending their flock of sheep? Who better to understand the significance of a perfect lamb? These poor shepherd boys has sheep coming out of their ears but the likelihood of finding a single one, without spot or blemish, perfect in every way, was probably next to none. I imagine they were bone weary and sleep deprived, having traveled far and wide to keep fresh food and water for their flock, keeping watch at night to protect them from predators and fighting them off when the need arose. But then the angel appeared, scared them to death, and delivered the most glorious news. A Savior had been born. A babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger, a lamb of God, born to take away the sin of the world. The shepherds understood and they made haste to Him. They saw Him and then made known abroad what they had seen. They returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. 

Glorify and praise Him this Christmas season. Don't let the significance of the Lamb of God go unnoticed. Don't let Him be overshadowed by tinsel and twinkling lights. Understand and make haste to Him.

Have you ever had someone take the blame for something you did? Has anyone ever stepped in and taken your rightly deserved punishment? I loved my little brother and my friends growing up but I'm nearly certain I never volunteered to get a whoopin' for any of them, unless perhaps I could somehow use it to my advantage. I never willingly or selflessly stood up and copped to a crime or broken rule, I didn't commit. To do so, takes a love so intense, its nearly unfathomable. As Mommas and Daddys we can understand though, that this love is real and true. Its the love you have for your children. Its a desire to want to keep them from all harms way, even if it is a rightly deserved punishment. That old saying "This is gonna hurt me a lot more than it hurts you" is all too true. 

But the love that it takes to let your only begotten Son, GIVE HIMSELF, as an offering and sacrifice, to atone for the sins of ungrateful and undeserving wretches like me, is simply boundless, immeasurable, infinite.

Focus on His love this Advent and prepare your hearts for His coming.

Wednesday night at Christmas play practice I could feel myself getting overwhelmed, quick and in a hurry. For those of y'all who direct your church play every year, God bless your hearts. This is my first year and may be my last. More than once I've found myself on the verge of tears, thinking "is this really worth it?" For a split second tonight while I sat trying to recite my lines and direct curtain closings and openings, songs ending and beginning, and characters entering and exiting, all while my babies sat and cried for me, I seriously considered just throwing my hands up and quitting. It was too much. But then as Mary began to read her lines and tell how overwhelmed she was when Gabriel appeared to her, how terrified she was, I began to calm down. As I sat there and listened to the characters run lines with each other I realized that He was there with us, just as he had been that long ago night in Bethlehem. Just as He was on Calvary.He was there, comforting, calming, consoling. He is with us each and every moment of every day, never leaving us, never forsaking us. So instead of getting overwhelmed, panicking or complaining, I'm going to remember that God is with us, and that the purpose of this Christmas play is to bring glory and honor to His name and nothing else. I'm going to remember why I started this in the first place, not because I knew it was going to be easy, but because I wanted to do it for Him. It's just a small thing really, it could never measure up to what He did for me on Calvary, but it is because I love Him and that is all He asks of me.

My boys are rough and tough, wild and rowdy. They drive me to the brink of crazy on most days. But they are the joy of my life. They are my true blessings from the Lord. And they are night and day different from one another. Kieran is my thinker, he can be quiet and shy, very sensitive, a leader. Devlin is noise with dirt on it, fearless, stubborn and outspoken, fiercely protective. I love them each to distraction. And I love that my God made each of them just the way they are. He knew exactly the personality and qualities they would possess. He knew exactly which buttons of mine they'd push and which nerves they'd fray. And He knew exactly how to use them to prepare my heart for His coming.
I wonder sometimes, how Mary felt as she raised Jesus, as she nursed Him in infancy, taught Him to walk, to talk, doctored boo boos, combed His hair and mended His clothes. Did she know that one day He would walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead? Did she know that one day He would calm the storms with His hand, rule the nations, save mankind? He was the Lord of all creation this babe in swaddling clothes. He was the perfect Lamb of God this toddler running around her feet. And every time she kissed Him, she kissed the face of the Great I Am.
My boys may not be perfection but they are mine. God sent them to me just as He sent His Only Begotten Son to Mary. He had a reason, a purpose, a plan that only she could fulfill.
The Spirit of God made them, the breath of the Almighty gave them life and placed them in my womb. I will fulfill my plan and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, preparing their hearts always for His return.

God. Is. Love. Let that sink in a minute. Love is a word that is tossed around and used for everything in sight. But if we are really honest we ourselves and with each other, love is about more than a favorite song, or sweater, or snack, it is about more than just stuff. Love is an emotion from deep within, one that is hard to express with mere words. It needs to be felt, to be seen, to be heard. Don't forget to express your love for those around you this Advent season. Don't get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday and forget what we are truly celebrating, God's immeasurable love for us. Dwell in love this Christmas. Dwell in Him.

He didn't just come as a baby in a manger, to stay a baby in a manger. He didn't just decide to have the "human experience" simply for a change of pace. He became God in the flesh and walked among us with a purpose. That purpose was Redeem us!
"Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
Buried He carried, my sins far away.
Rising He justified, freely forever,
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day!"
-Casting Crowns