Allison Long

Voice of Truth

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Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes

To climb out of this boat I’m in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

Another blog post visiting an old song favorite.  I have been doing this devotional study on marriage.  I just finished up this section on fighting together.  That topic might be for another post in the future, but part of the devotion discussed God being the third party in our marriage. That if I listen to him I or (we) will be unburdened and our marriage will become stronger.  As I read this section, which I enjoyed since fighting is not a specialty I have in my marriage this song just seem to come to mind again.  Allowing God into our marriage intimately and closely can be stepping out of our comfort zone into the unknown since we really love to be in control of our lives.  Scripture does remind us that God can make it easier and our burdens lighter if we join him even in our marriage.  “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:30.

But the waves are calling out my name

And they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times

I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again. ‘Boy, you’ll never win!’

‘You’ll never win!’

Although, I have failed many times in my life and know that feeling the fear of failure and how it will affect my life is just daunting to take the step out of the boat and trust in God.  Yet, I know that God is with me and holding me as I make that leap onto the water.  I Corinthians 10:13 makes this promise, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  Temptation or failure.  God will be there and not allow more than I can handle.  So bringing God close to my marriage and allowing him to see me more deeply even though I know he already sees all.  The scripture also ensures that God is on my side or the side of my marriage vow.  “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Chorus:

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, ‘Do not be afraid!’

The voice of truth says, ‘This is for My glory’

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

If I stop and listen, I hear God’s voice telling me to that my marriage and life will be stronger and more fulfilling if he is in the center.  I hear him telling me to reach out and grab hold of his love and promises.  As long as I have God first he will be glorified. I believe that God will be glorified in my marriage because  he can show me the way to honor and glorified him in all that I do.  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”, 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant

With just a sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors

Shaking in their armor

Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand

But the giant’s calling out my name

And he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times

I’ve tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again. ‘Boy you’ll never win!’

‘You’ll never win!’

Do you hear the giant laughing,  I have heard the giant laughing at me, but I feel the strength of God telling me that I can take the next step in my life and my marriage will be stronger for it.  I can be David before what seems like Goliath!  “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:45.  I walk in the name of the Lord and he will be by my side, so I look to the future may God show me his path that I might glorify him.

But the stone was just the right size

To put the giant on the ground

And the waves they don’t seem so high

From on top of them lookin’ down

I will soar with the wings of eagles

When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus

Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I choose to listen and believe the voice of truth, the voice of my Father and his son Jesus Christ. I will not let my heart worry and my love for him be distracted in this world, but I will know that God is in control.  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1.  I will find my strength in the Lord on his wings.  “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31.  I will bring God to the center of my life and my marriage.  

Closing Verse: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Challenge:  Is God’s Voice of Truth your Center?

Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One.

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Count Your Blessings

Just as I have said in an earlier post about this song sometimes a song just has impact and this one continues to linger with me as I live in a world of turmoil.  We all need to Count our Blessings.  So bear with me as I explore this song once again.  

Just as I have said in an earlier post about this song sometimes a song just has impact and this one continues to linger with me as I live in a world of turmoil.  We all need to Count our Blessings.  So bear with me as I explore this song once again.  

Count Your Blessing

Rend Collective

I was blind, now I’m seeing in color

I was dead, now I’m living forever

I had failed, but you were my redeemer

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

Blessed

If there is one thing I am fully aware of is that I am blessed.  God has given me the time to focus on Him and all he has provided for me.    “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”  James 1:17.   God is Good, and through all his blessings for me he still is asking me to really look and appreciate all that is around me.  Maybe the words “I was blind and now I see in color” reflect one being saved, for me I really see the colors of God’s world.  I see what is important.  I am living and want to continue to live both here and forever with you.  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” 1 Peter 5:6.

Treasure

I was lost, now I’m found by the father

I’ve been changed from a ruin to treasure

I’ve been given a hope and a future

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Letting go and trusting when I cannot see

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Surely every season you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

God is showing me the treasures he has stored up for me.  “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” Luke 12:33.  I want to focus more on trying to live out this verse.  How do I live for God in order to experience God more and have less to distract me from His Grace and Glory all around me.  He is allowing me to taste heaven here on earth, and I am thirsty for more.  I want to experience more of his beauty and grace.  I want to not just count my blessing but enjoy my blessings.  Luke 12:34 states it best, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Strength

You were there in the valley of shadows

You were there in the depth of my sorrows

You’re my strength, my hope for tomorrow

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Letting go and trusting when I cannot see

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Surely every season you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

I have walked through valleys and across mountain tops and I know that my life will be filled with both.  Yet, I have hope in God’s strength, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”  Philippians 4:13.  As I walk through the life God is giving me and count the many blessings, I know that I continue to need his strength to make decisions to walk his path.  I know that the only strength I can rely on is that which the Lord provides.  Listening to this song, I feel my Lord’s strength which I will need and promised to me in  1 Chronicles 16:11, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

Surely your goodness pursues me

Surely your heart is still for me

I will remember your mercies all my days

Through every storm and gale

Closing Verse: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31.

Challenge:  Count Your Blessings

Songwriters: Gareth Gilkeson / Chris Llewellyn / Bridget Herron / Ali Gilkeson / Will Herron / Steve Mitchell / Patrick Thompson

Counting Every Blessing lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

Good Good Father

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Thanking my Father

 In such a turbulant world that seems to be full of people who are unable to accept each other and their differences more than ever today, I find God’s Word a comfort. I read a devotion this morning about how the things we believe are important, even the fights with have with others are not always honoring to God because it is trivial. I stop and think about fights my husband and I have had and were they worth the effort when we could have been glorifying God with our actions. All that is important is sharing our life and our Lord with others. For some reason reading this brought the song Good, Good Father by Chris Tomlin to my mind. I find that God is where all the answers really lie.  “But test everything; hold fast what is good.”  1 Thessalonians 5:21.

I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like
But I’ve heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night
And you tell me that you’re pleased
And that I’m never alone

Searching for Answers

I walk in a world that can seem fatherless. I walk in a world where so many people are seeking something, but have no idea why they feel empty. I pray that I can be an example of God’s joy and a light for someone’s path. I pray that those who need a Good, Good Father may find the peace of God sooner in their lives.  “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.”  Jude 1:2.

I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching
For answers only you provide
‘Cause you know just what we need
Before we say a word

You’re a good good father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you                                                                                                                     It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

Love Speaks Louder Than Words

Thinking back on my devotion. May I choose the words from my tongue carefully and the expressions from my face in order that God shines through and not my flesh. May Love speak louder than words through my actions. As a former educator, I used to watch students walk through a day with little love in their eyes and in their lives, I knew that I might be the only person to call their name or smile at them that day.  This is a reality for many children. 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”   Oh, it’s love so undeniable
   

I, I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I, I can hardly think
As you call me deeper still
As you call me deeper still
Into love, love, love   Because you are perfect in all of your way                  You are perfect in all of your ways                                                                          You are perfect in all of your ways to us  

You’re a good good father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

Closing Verse:

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    Challenge:  Share the Good Father with those who need Him.            

Addiction is a Worship Problem

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Addiction

As I work my way through a devotion on self image, one morning this line just stuck with me Addiction is a Worship problem. Suddenly I realize that it really is a worship problem for me because I fail to allow Christ and worshipping him to become my addiction in life. If I could center on him then all would probably fall into alignment in my life the way God desires for me. It should be embarrassing to type such lines because devoting to him should be so easy, but I know that this life turns me away from him so easily each day. Scripture assures me that God will not tempt me without providing a means to escape from the worldly temptation , yet I fail regularly to become totally addicted to Him. “ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Temptation

This leads me to wonder where temptation and addiction comes from because deep down I do not want to believe it is my sinful nature, but scripture once again shows me my weakness. ‘But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” James 1:14. The realization of the first sin burns deep within me and it is a fight that I can only hope to win with Christ by my side. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—“ Romans 5:12. As the devil prowls the earth filled with sinful men, I must be cautious of how he uses my eyes, my words, my hands, my whole being to be tempted towards addictions that are not Worshipping my Savior. “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.” 1 John 2:16. And “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8.

Worship

What I have learned is that I need to worship God more! I need to focus on my relationship with Christ more deeply and let this desire and love overcome any addiction that the world puts before me. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:12-15. God is not tempting me but the world is and I must put on my shield of faith and protect my soul. “ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” Ephesians 6:16. Protecting myself for the return of my savior and the hour of great worship and exaltation upon his return. I want my addiction to be strong when he returns. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4: 23-24.

Worshipping with Christ

I am preparing to worship one day with my savior just as God has promised. I am preparing for the greatest worship service of all where I will proclaim Christ and he will know my name. “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! …” Psalm 150: 1-6.

Closing Verse: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” John 4:23.

Challenge: Do you have a Worship problem? Check on your addictions.

YOLO – You Only Live Once!

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No Excuse for Knowing God

As I begin this new experience in my life, which is full of new adventures everyday that always include seeing God’s creation in action.  I have had the privilege over the past several months to experience something new in God’s universe that I have never seen and I begin to understand why people choose this type of life.  I have watched dolphins play in the wake of our boat, I have seen manatees peek at us from just below the surface, and I have seen curious alligators linger around our boat.  I have watched eagles soar, osprey hunt, and loons dive. I have felt the strength of his winds and waves and the warm sun shine upon my skin.  I have watched the sunrise and the sunset.  I felt the stars almost touch my face and the moon shine over the ripples in the water.  God has blessed me.  “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20.

YOLO

Recently, while visiting Captiva Island, Florida there was this logo everywhere – YOLO which I finally found out means You Only Live Once! And I realized that this is what my husband and I have decided to do. To go and live like we do not have tomorrow. God does not promise us tomorrow so we have chosen to live for today. My life was never just routine, I mean I worked in a middle school, but I did leave for work, come home, eat, go to bed on a pretty regular routine. Now, I live a day that may begin before the sunrises or maybe I will sleep in just a bit, but either way I have no idea what adventure or things I will see in God’s creation when I wake each day. Each day is full of surprises, awe struck moments, and even disappointment, but I can that I am living the motto of YOLO. “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 27:1.

No Regrets

I do not look back on my life and have regrets.  I am a wife married to the same man for almost 30 years – give us a few more months.  I am the mother of two beautiful daughters who are strong independent women today.  I had a career that I will always cherish and sometimes I really miss the love of middle school students in my life.  Although, I have had some great adventures in my life because my husband and I have chosen to experience life, but I do wonder now if we should have just gone and lived sooner rather than later. Some people in our lives now might think we have started sooner but I can tell you from just a few months that their is so much to see and experience.   “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9. 

Go!

I write to anyone who is pondering their life and wanting to see more of God’s Creation.  My advice is don’t wait but go.  Go and see all that God has done.  Go and experience different adventures.  I am just getting started and know that I have not even begun to see and experience all that God has created and has in store for me.  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.

Closing Verses:  

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

“We love because he first loved us.” 1John 4:19

Challenge:  Don’t wait to go and see what God has made.  Find time to go and meet him in his creation.

Believing in God Through the Water

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June 30, 2017

Back in June of 2017, I wrote a post about Water(link).  This post grew out of walking along the The Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.  Since this post, I have spent so much time in on the water, but tonight as I looked out at this sunset near Cedar Key, Florida.  I was flooded with the peacefulness of water in God’s creation.  

Sunset on the Water

Sunsets are my favorite, but whether it is sunset or sunrise over the water it always takes my breath away.  This evening in Cedar Key was no different, but tonight my thoughts drifted to God’s creation.  The beauty of the water rippling under the sunset is a perfect example of why I believe there is a God.  Romans 1:20 reminds us that God has left no doubt in why we should believe in Him, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.”  Man is without excuse, yet today we busy ourselves with the hustle and bustle that allows our lives to slip through our fingers and then is gone.  Did we see God?  Did we find God? Did we stop and smell the flowers?  Watch Sunsets?  Listen to the Water?  In a blink it is all gone.  So stop and listen to God.  Proverbs 3:6 reassures us, ” In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Sunset Challenge

If you are reading this my challenge to you is to stop reading now.  Pray.  And start looking beyond your day to day life and what you normally see and search for God in your surroundings.  Look deeper into the Water.  

Closing Verse:  “ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  Psalm 63:1

Challenge:  Find God in his creation ~ Don’t Miss Out!

Looking Forward

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Looking Toward The Future

God’s 2019 Plan

As I begin the new year and finish a holiday season that has been different yet exciting, I pause to ponder what God has in store for me in 2019. I know before it even begins that it will be different for me in so many ways. Looking back I see God’s work so I look forward knowing that he has control.  I guess as I begin this new year so differently than any other year, I have to stop and wonder why he has chosen to bless me.  For many looking at my future, God is not visible just my own plan for a future, but I see God.  My husband and I have prayed and researched the lifestyle we wanted to seek.  We both see new ways to serve the Lord and explore the beauty of God’s creation.  At times, we did try to push this plan and God, but each time he did not allow things to work out until now when everything just seems to be falling into place.  It can only be God.  In the words of Dabo Swinney after his big Win this past Monday night,  “If we can do it, anybody can do it”.  Dabo Swinney believed God blessed him not just on Monday night but many other nights leading up to Monday night, so why can’t I believe that God is blessing me in this new adventure in my life.  How can I serve and seek him this year in new and different ways?

Thanking God

As I begin this new year, I will be thanking God for all his blessings and provisions for my life.  I will do this first by studying His Word and seeking a closer relationship with Him.  Verse 105 from Psalm 119 comes to mind this time of year. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  I want to find my path by shining His Light.  I just finishing watching the movie The Case for Christ based on the true story about and written by Lee Strobel.  I read this book quite a few years ago, so watching the movie was just a great reminder of the price Christ paid for my sins and how thankful I should be as I begin not just a new year, but a new chapter in my life.  Walk with me Lord, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9.  

Following God

So I walk into this new year with Lord providing the path.  I will find that path through Jesus because he is my way. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.  I can honestly share that following God’s plan is so much easier and better.  Contentment and Happiness can only be found in following Him, so I will seek the Lord’s Plan as Jeremiah states, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11.

Living for God

I am so excited to be able to live for Christ in 2019.  I am looking toward the future and know that God will provide me with opportunities to see and share His Glory.  I am ready for God’s Will are you?  

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

Closing Verse:  ““Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Challenge:   Stop and Listen.  What is God’s Plan? If you have not read or watched the movie, The Case for Christ, then I challenge you to choose one and dig in!

Christmas Traditions

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This blog was first posted on December 8, 2017.   Over the next 5 weeks as the holidays and my life transitions, I will be sharing some of my favorite Christmas time post.  I hope you will enjoy these past post over the holiday and the new year – 2019 will bring a new life and new post of God’s Blessings.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Christmas Season

Christmas music is playing now everywhere I go and the lights are shining bright.  The season is here.  I want to enjoy more and stress less as Christmas day approaches.  I want to remember why we celebrate this season.  I always find myself this time of year thinking about the past. Thinking about Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my girls.  The fun, the laughs, the surprises, and most importantly the family traditions we have created together and continue to create over the years.  I believe that traditions are important for families and can be past down to the next generation.  Paul reminds me of the importance of traditions in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”

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Family Traditions

My family has a few old traditions like the mouse calendar countdown to Christmas.  Our girls would almost fight to get to move the mouse each day.  They loved for the one whose turn it was to forget, so later in the day the mouse would secretly be moved. This simple purchase so many years ago has brought so much joy to our family.  Even now my husband takes pictures of Harley moving the mouse and sends it our now grown daughters.  It is a special memory and tradition in our home, and one I hope continues in the homes of our daughters one day with their children.

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Jesus Birthday Cake

Another great tradition for our family is baking Jesus’s Birthday Cake and singing Happy Birthday to him on Christmas Day.  Today my girls bake the cake and decorate the cake together instead of me, but I enjoy watching them back home together in the kitchen having fun carrying on our family tradtion.  We still gather round the cake on Christmas afternoon and sing and eat his birthday cake!  This is definitely one of my favorite Christmas memories and traditions!  “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

Jesus Birthday Cake
Even the Cake Decorations are important to our family.

Sharing Traditions

As an educator, I could not help but wonder about the traditions of my students, so I asked them to share favorite Christmas traditions with me on a Chalkboard in the school library.  It is special to hear them talk about the little things their families do together that are important to them.  Here are a few from this years board:

  1. Enchiladas for Breakfast on Christmas morning.  Why?  Her family is from Guatemala and this is just something her grandmother has always done.
  2. Crab Legs for Christmas Eve.  This student was super excited to share how much the night means getting to eat the crab legs!
  3. Lights.  One student just shared how much she enjoys lights and lots of lights.  She and I have that in common.
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These are just a few shared on the board and in discussions with my students.

Over the years I have heard some wonderful traditions that families share.  Some I wish I had even thought of.  Some that brought a great laugh but was still so important to the student.

  1.  One tradition that I wish I had known and started is only receiving three gifts for Christmas.  “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”  Matthew 2:11
  2. Several years ago a student shared that on Christmas Eve they had to eat their meal with a different utensil from the kitchen.  This was a long family tradition and brought lots of laughter around the table.  Who knew what you would get?  How do you eat with a whisk?

The Gift of Jesus

Traditions are important in families and even school communities.  God shows us how to celebrate him Everywhere.  This is a like a tradition.  Praise the Lord in all that we do as Psalm 150:1-6 exclaims, “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!…”

During this  Christmas season with traditions being shared and even created remembering the reason we have this season is the most important.  God loved us so much that he gave us the greatest gift of all.  He gave us His Son.  He gave us Life.  ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.

Closing Verse: “Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.”  1 Corinthians 11:2

Challenge: During this Christmas Season full of traditions don’t forget God’s traditions and gifts in your life.

Christmas Lights

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This blog was first posted on December 1, 2017.   Over the next 6 weeks as the holidays and my life transitions, I will be sharing some of my favorite Christmas time post.  I hope you will enjoy these past post over the holiday and the new year – 2019 will bring a new life and new post of God’s Blessings.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

The tree is up and the lights are beginning to glisten and shine on homes around the neighborhood.  Homes and business are beginning to show signs of Christmas with lights abundantly shining.  There have been times in my past where this time of year would bring anxiety to my life, as my to do list just seemed to grow and I had no idea what to buy or give as gifts.  A few weeks ago when God first touched me with the song “Trust in You” by Lauren Daigle, ​​​​​​​I was sitting at a stop light and reading a church sign on the corner.  It seems funny to me that I can’t remember what the sign said because I love church signs, but only the feeling that this would be a season of enjoying and not worrying.  Maybe it was the darkness full of lights around me as I was driving, that made me think of Christmas and the coming season of lights, but I felt an excitement for the coming Christmas season and the light of Christ that we celebrate this time of year.  I am going to make the lights important this year. I stop and enjoy each new one home that lights up.  I become mesmerized in the beauty of the lights which are reminding me this year of Jesus and his words in John 14:6, “‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The Star

I love the Moravian star.  If I had one I would probably leave it up year round, so this time of year I get to see the star again.  Have you stopped to really look at one and see all the crosses that come together to create this star?   I imagine this is the unusual star in the heavens above the manager.  Matthew 2: 9-10 shares the joy of the wise men when they found Jesus, “After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”  As I enjoy the stars of Christmas, I realize that the stars we admire in the heavens are created by God.  Psalms 147:4 reads, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” Each star including the one that rose over Jesus’s birth is named by God, the Creator.

Christmas Season

Let’s all slow down this Christmas season and enjoy the lights of Christmas, find God’s peace, and His blessings in the lights.  Let go of the chaos this time of year can bring and stop and enjoy what is important.  Stop and remember that God brought his only Son as a baby to walk in our footsteps without sin.  Jesus knows us and understands our walk.  Stop and walk with him through this season.  I know peace will be found if stop and will be infinitely better than the hustle and bustle.  For as John 1:5 reminds us all, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Closing Verse:  Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Challenge:  Stop and Walk with Jesus through the Christmas Season.

Thankful

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Family

As Thanksgiving passes once more, my family realizes that this maybe one of the last Thanksgiving that will not be a homecoming.  So, I am thankful we were all together to share in each others lives as our children have grown into wonderful young women.  God is Good!

Closing Verse:

Courtesy of Youversion

Challenge:

Count Your Blessings, I am counting mine.