“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:16-20

The word Advent means coming or arrival of something long anticipated. The Messiah had been long anticipated for thousands of years. No wonder the excitement of the shepherds!

The season of Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas Day. It is a time to slowly consider and meditate on the wonder of the plan of redemption beginning in a stable. Remember the promise God made to Abraham and confirmed throughout the Old Testament. Read again about His faithfulness and love for His people. Meditate on the glorious truth that God became man. Be humbled as Mary was that God uses broken, imperfect people to fulfill His plan.

Waiting doesn’t come easy to most of us. In fact, it’s become an obsolete skill these days. This time of year it is even harder to quiet our hearts. Be intentional about meditating on the story of Christmas and expect your soul to overflow in joyful response.

This Advent, be filled with wonder and amazement as the shepherds were. Take the time to “treasure up all these things and ponder them” in your heart.

For additional study: Luke 1:46-55, Luke 1:68-75, Colossians 1:15-20

Copyright © 2011 Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved

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“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

Is the Lord your delight or is your relationship with Him more of a chore? Do you desire and seek to be in His presence or are you just going through the motions?

When our faith is brand new, it is exciting to be in His presence. Like a young couple in love, we can can’t bear to be apart from God. We read His word, drink it in, and can’t seem to get enough of it.

But then the details of life get in the way. Our private and corporate worship becomes dry. We put all our energy into our responsibilities in our daily life and little is left over for God. Half hearted prayers are spoken. Like a couple who have been married for years and have forgotten the joy they once had when first dating, our relationship with God can become dull and boring.

How to return to our first love?

The psalmist knew how to find joy in the Lord–by saturating himself in the Word. David says in Psalm 119, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (vs. 97) Focusing on God and His Word each day brings Him front and center. When God is placed at the center of our daily life, He becomes the focus and purpose for all that we do. We can then delight in Him while folding laundry, doing dishes, taking care of kids and all the other responsibilities of day-to-day life. These activities can in fact become an act of bringing glory to our Creator because we do it for Him.

When we soak up His word, we come into His presence. God speaks directly to our souls through His Word. A soul saturated by the Word of Truth will ooze joy from its pores and the aroma will sweeten everything that we do–including laundry, cooking and cleaning.

The Word is powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12). It changes us from the inside out. The more we read, the more we desire to read. The more we are exposed to His Word, the more we see the grace of God, and the more we delight in Him. This transforms our personal worship, our corporate worship and our day-to-day lives.

For more opportunities to taste and see: Psalm 42:1, Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 100 and Jude 1:24.

Copyright © 2011 Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved

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I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

Often our heart and motivation to do something can be wrong.

A lot of times we can be motivated by our fear and desires, rather than our motivation to serve others and God. When we are motivated by our fear or our desires to do something the result often leads to control, anger, and frustration. We may even lose the trust of those around us. But what else can we expect when we ourselves do not trust in god?

Being a wife and mother takes a lot of faith. So often we feel the call to be perfect, but God never asked us to be perfect. In Ephesians 4:2 it tells us that in order to have the right motivation when it comes to answering our call we need to keep a humble heart. In other words it’s OK you’re not perfect, that’s the whole point!

Recently I have been noticing where I am weak. Often I like cling to my successes and forget my failures. But now I see where I fail God succeeds. If we are ever going to live a life where we are being led by the Holy Spirit we need to embrace the truth, and the truth is we are weak. However the good news is that when we are weak we are also humble, and the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives. Then we are motivated to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Sometimes our motivation isn’t always right, but humility comes when we are able to confess that our motivation is wrong. Humility doesn’t try to make things better or perfect, humility surrenders their weaknesses to God. Humility opens our heart to be motivated every day by the Holy Spirit…

Prayer:

Dear God, Thank you for bringing me to a place where I can recognize my weaknesses and surrender them to you. Even though I know bringing me to this point is never easy. Lord I will continue to seek You so that truth will always be revealed to me. Sometimes all I have is my love for You that brings me to the point of seeking Your truth, and I am thankful for You always being by my side, teaching me, and guiding me. Lord be my strength where I am weak. I pray this in Jesus’ name. – AMEN!

Copyright © 2011 Heather Bixler, All Rights Reserved

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