5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Crown of Glory

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.

One of the greatest blessings about having children, is watching them learn about the Lord and His love for them. Seeing the smiles on their faces as they boldly and proudly proclaim that Jesus lives in their heart is one of the most joyous moments in a parent's life. To a child who is pure and innocent, there's no need to wonder about why they can't see Jesus because they can feel Him, they trust in Him, and they love Him. My boys are only 2.5 and 4 years old, and even though they don't quite understand what Salvation is, they are preparing their hearts for Him to move right in. But there was a time when I feared my boys would never know the truth of Jesus. 

One of the hardest things for me after Kieran was born was the worrying I did about how to teach Him about the Lord. Brandon and I were at odds over the ins and outs of religious doctrine and faith. For years there was painful tension anytime the Bible was brought up. So even though I went with him to "Bible study" with his family, I ignored what was being taught and I studied on my own. I hated getting into debates with him about doctrine and theory. We would just argue in circles, neither of us giving in. And we would finally just call it quits with "as long as you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins that's all that matters."  I never doubted Brandon's Salvation, just his upbringing. 

So for the whole first year of Kieran's life I worried. And I did my best to keep us out of "Bible study." I believe the Lord had a hand in Kieran's naptime being precisely when study began, and me being a vehement believer in never waking a sleeping baby. But I had no idea what the solution to the problem was. I was terrified that taking Kieran to church would mean the end of my marriage. So I didn't bring it up. I didn't talk about taking him to church, I didn't sing Jesus Loves Me to him, I didn't pray with him, I didn't teach him from the moment he was born about the Man who gave His life to save his. I failed Kieran. I failed him miserably because I was afraid of the fight it would be to take him to church. 

I will thank the Lord everyday from now until I die, that I never had to have that fight and that my boys never had to face a future without Jesus. Just after Kieran turned a year old, and I was 5 months pregnant with Devlin, God moved in such a mighty way in our lives. Within a week, our life had been completely transformed. Yes, we lost a lot in the transformation, but we gained so much more. My boys may have lost one set of grandparents but they have gained the chance to learn about and accept eternal life, a chance that they likely would not have had. 

It has been 3 years since we have rededicated our lives to the Lord. 3 years of being back in church, growing in the Lord, and living a Christian life. So many things have changed in the last 3 years. Brandon answered his call to preach and is preaching his first revival in less than a week. He is a Sunday school teacher and he sings in the choir. He founded Help The Hurt Ministry and supported me in starting this blog. Now the only argument we have about the Bible is who gets to lead the family devotion at bedtime. 

Not only do our boys now have parents united in a love for Jesus but they also have a whole host of extended church family. They are surrounded by people who love the Lord and who love them, who teach them and minister to them. They are excited to go to church, and not just for the snacks Nanna Sharon brings them in Sunday School. Devlin loves to sing about Calvary and even though Kieran is shy and won't stand up in front of the congregation to say his Bible verse, he is listening and paying attention while the Pastor preaches and he is learning. They have relationships within the church with strong Christian men and women that they never would have had if God had not moved and worked in such an astounding way. They have a relationship with their Nanna and Poppa that I am so thankful for. There is a bond and a love there that grows each and every day. They will never lack for love.

So I may be wrong but I do believe that Crown of Glory 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 who are doing a service each and every day for the Lord, the men and women that my boys look up to, learn from and love. 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, who make the chaotic and stressful trip to church with infants and toddlers and sullen teenagers because it matters, because even at 3 months, 3 years, or 13 years they need Jesus to permeate their lives. For the grandparents who pray unceasingly for the lost and backslid in their families, who love the unlovable, and who teach simply by living for Jesus. For the older generation in the churches who are teaching the younger generations what hard work means, what faithful and long lasting marriages mean, what living a testimony for Christ means. 

Each and every one of us have a ministry in our lives and it is up to us to faithfully and intentionally live out Christ’s love for us for the world to see Him in us. As C.S. Lewis says, we must shine, not so that others can see us, but so that others can see Him in us.

  

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.