CELEBRATE CHRIST MAS!

Okay i am getting giddy about this month long Christmas celebration...

....it could be the brightly colored lights my boy insisted we hang on our house for Jesus' party....that make me both cringe and laugh with joy when i see them.

...it could be that i know that possibly 60 other families will be praying with us for 25 people groups from around the world that need to know GOD's great love.

...it could be this Christmas Fair coming up this weekend where we are hoping that thousands of dollars get raised to take care of the basic needs of over 250 orphans! Come on out 100% goes to help the orphans!

...it could be the overwhelming realization of who and what we are celebrating this season.....i feel overwhelmed.... do we really get it....the kind of love it took for the HOLY ALMIGHTY GOD to come as a baby in a human body...
overwhelmed to tears....

God, may i take your word literally and may this season put all of us in AWE of YOU!!!!!

overwhelmed

today i left church overwhelmed... overwelmed by my sin... my lack in everything... my effort leads to nothingness....i am limited... i am a failure...but HE is not...

and all day today... running through my head was my minuteness....

and tonight after folding a house full of laundry and listening to the below powerful lesson about the reality of GOD's goodness and mercy.... i am left overwhelmed .. but this time not over my GREAT lack... but of HIS great sacrifice for this great failure (me).

Paul Washer says:  "Where did all of the stars go this afternoon? ......there are still there you just can't see them because of the GREAT LIGHT of the sun..... only against the pitch of darkness can you see them.....You can only see the diamonds of God's grace against the pitch black darkness of our filth. It is then you see the grace of God shining..."

Listen and be overwhelmed with truth....

It is so easy to lose sight of the reality of the TRUTH he speaks of here.... often that clip from that Matrix movie comes in my mind (yes.... i know...lame to compare matters of truth with an action movie... but it is the closest thing i can think of right now to describe what God has been revealing to me) ...

It is like i am still living in a lie - most people seem satisfied to live in this lie - ....wrapped up in so many things - ..... even though i say i believe the truth the reality of WHO Jesus is and what He did in my life.... i really don't or i would be living differently.... right??!?!

..... Yes.... i do believe...  and I know it is not a pill i need to take.... but it is HIS SPIRIT revealing truth to my heart even now.

THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT! HELP ME TO WALK OUT what i say i believe... He me to be your follower... wherever... all of the time....


AND thank YOU for unmerited GRACE....THANK YOU....those words seem so meaningless... they don't hold where my heart is in this very moment.... overwhelmed by YOUR love, GOD.

what do you want for Christmas?

shouldn't the question be what does HE want for Christmas? After all it is HIM and His birth we are celebrating.

Isn't He enough anyway... who needs made up magic when you can have real miracles from God who is truly amazing?!

and not only that but what in the world do we need or want besides HIM... isn't HE enough. (Yes, Jesus, is).....the Lord is my shepherd i shall not want.... right?!

So sweet little lady at the grocery store... don't ask my kids what they want for Christmas... if you do expect and answer from me that they want to celebrate the KING for Christmas.

And so if the question is WHAT DOES HE WANT FOR CHRISTMAS? what is the answer?...

That is exactly what my kiddos and i have been studying over the past year. He wants our praise, our lives, our worship, our focus, our love.... He said when you give to the least of these you give to Him...He said if you have His love in your heart you will show His love to others.. He wants us to show love to the poor and the needy.

Every year we have lots of Christmas Traditions (see here for a few) that don't include the focus on us but on HIM. And no we don't do gifts for each other at Christmas.... never have since the kids have been born and never will...

WHY? 
Life is all about HIM, we don't need or want except for HIM.

"So sad for Children"? ....no....according to Jesus (our Creator)...  very blessed children. And celebrating Him is what we are created to do and FUN!


We do give to the poor the destitute, the needy, because that is what pleases HIM. Check out the GPPD catalog for opportunities to give to HIM this Christmas...

May sound crazy to you... but not to HIM....it is completely biblical... our God is worthy of all our adoration all of the time and this Christmas. We praise HIM for the miracle of coming as a humble man to earth to show us a powerful love that is like nothing this world offers.