Consider

Maylou Holladay for the “holiday” J blog

(I really wanted to write about my favorite Christmas present, my son David, but this is what the Lord has laid on my heart for you.)

Because I loved teaching Latin and “anything English,” words are very interesting to me. I suppose one of my most-used is “FOCUS.” A cousin of “focus” might be the word “CONSIDER.” The etymology of “consider” can be two different things, but both emphasize the importance of the word. It can mean to “sit together” or to “intently study.” The second meaning was used by early astronomers who studied the stars, perhaps those very Magi who followed the Star to find the promised Messiah.

God’s Word encourages us to consider...to observe.

Psalm 37:37: “Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.”

We need to take time to consider why certain friends or family members have peace, have joy. Observe how we can learn from them.  My dear Indiana friend Mrs. Pat Staton and I taught together for years. Our friendship continued after teaching ended and we were miles apart. This past year she went to Heaven to be with the Savior she served for so many years. The Holy Spirit encouraged me to study her life long before she passed away. I could write pages on how she encouraged others. What a great example! I could list so many other precious people who have blessed me. Do you have someone like that in your life?  Watch them, emulate them, pray for them, and thank them!

Hebrew 10:24: “Consider”. . .spur each other on. . .not to aggravation  :) . . . but to love and to good works.  Remember this: YBH? (Yes, but how?) We must CONS IDER the importance of such a task, and then ASK THE LORD TO MAKE US ALERT to ways we can encourage others. . .be outwardly focused.

Isaiah 41:20: This is a verse I often pray for my children and grandchildren: “So that people (my family) may see and know, may consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this...” Four important verbs....how do they progress? Think about that! Mediate on those powerful words. Consider what God’s Word is saying to observe as God works. It is more than just seeing what God has done.

Hebrews 12:1-3: (Read this on your own.) Verse 2 encourages us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” Verse 3 uses our word: “Consider Him.” WOW! Consider Him...not any “him” but JESUS! Why consider Him? You count the ways today in your own life. Why do you need to fix your eyes on Jesus? Verse 3 reminds us that if we will, we will “not grow weary and lose heart.” He is already in 2017. What a Savior!

Sundown

Are you afraid of the dark? I am.

When the sun goes down sometimes I feel anxious, restless, and full of dread. The world closes in on me. Normally, I’m tired, so all the problems in the world loom large. My thoughts turn dark. I feel my life doesn’t matter – that I’m contributing nothing. I feel old. I think of my mom’s death and imagine that’s ahead for me. (I told you it was dark.) At the first sign of dusk, I start turning on lights. I burn candles too. The dark days of winter will soon come and compound my gloom.

Sigh.

Some might think I need mental help, but I decided to examine these thoughts and feelings in the light of day – to take these thoughts “captive” to the Lord Jesus. I wrote them in my journal and asked the Lord for a verse to help me. It wasn’t long before the thought came: “I am the Light of the world.” Jesus’ Spirit lives within me! I’m never in the dark! Jesus has taken control of death and the darkness of sin. He is the Creator of light.

These are the verses He gave me: 

John 8:12, “…I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Another: Psalm 89: 15-16, “Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your face, who exult in Your Name all the day and in Your righteousness are exalted.”

I must share this one! Psalm 104:1-2, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.”

One more (these are so good!): Micah 7:7-8, “…I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.”

If you struggle with darkness or gloomy weather, turn to the Light. Meditate on His attributes. We all enjoy the sunshine, but the One Who made the sun lives inside us! He is enough.

joyce hague

Have Yourself a Wonder-full Christmas

I have a confession to make: I love to record and watch the cheesy, sappy Hallmark Christmas movies! From what I hear, I am not alone. As I have watched them this Christmas season, I have noticed that many of them have children in them who help the main character see the joy and wonder of Christmas and miracles. Even the ones that don’t have children still focus on the same spirit – usually the main character has to rediscover this spirit. They often start out with a hardened or hurt heart, or perhaps they are just too busy to notice the beauty and wonder of the season. But as the movie progresses, they are reminded to enjoy the season and look for the joy and wonder in it and to enjoy family and friends.

I know I need this constant reminder in my own life. I may not usually have a hardened heart or a love of success and money that has distracted me, but I can often get caught up in the mundane details of life or even get distracted by personal desires for comfort and pleasure. But of course, as believers, our reminder runs much deeper than just a child-like wonder of Santa and the ‘magic’ of Christmas, but it is the wonder of an awesome God who sent His only Son to become like us to live as a servant and die a horrible death to save us from the same fate and give us new life – eternal life. This beautiful season is to celebrate the greatest love that any of us has ever known. But the theme of child-like wonder is something very biblical and much needed in our stressed out, busy lives.

Mark 10:14-15 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

So what does that look like? Well, as is frequent right now, Lee gives me a perfect example. He loves people; he loves to move and play like a wild man. He can be so distracted by people and things that it is hard to get him to eat or sleep. But when his daddy is in the room, he is zeroed in on him. He wants to be in his arms, doing what he is doing, and receiving proud looks from Daddy. It is much the same with us. We can get so distracted by this world – the joys, the hurts, the frustrations, and even the gifts that God gives – that we lose sight of the One who gives us the very gift of life and a reason to hope despite difficult circumstances.

Hebrews 12:1 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

I have another confession to make. I have certainly been distracted, frustrated, and tired by this busy season. I have taken my eyes off of Jesus and let the cares of this world overwhelm me. At times, I have also been so enamored with the gifts of God – my husband, my precious little boy, etc. – that I have neglected the giver of them. Perhaps you have had one of these struggles or another one. This Christmas season, let us look around at all the gifts God has given us – His beautiful creation, the fun decorations of Christmas, the gifts we receive, the family we have – and let us praise the Lord and be outspokenly grateful to Him for His provision. Let us look around with the wonder of a child to enjoy the simple and grand joys. Let us give to and love others in the same fashion that God has given to us. Let us delight in the true reason for the season in our precious Savior laying aside His kingdom, His comfort, His Father, and more than we could ever imagine to become a tiny, vulnerable, common baby. He was probably teased and hurt as a child, and we certainly know He was ultimately rejected by those He came to save. He gave His life as a ransom for ours, but thankfully, He conquered the grave and rose from the dead!

Let us fix our eyes on our dear Father and Savior Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Let us surrender our time in this busy season to be a blessing to others – to be Jesus to them. Let us thoroughly enjoy our family and friends and the fun of giving and receiving gifts as well as the food and many other pleasures of this season, but let us do so with our eyes and lips fixed on praising and serving our Savior who gave everything for us. I pray a blessed, relaxing, and wonder-full Christmas for you all, as we serve and praise our Savior!

--Judith Graham

A Christmas Prayer

As I sat down three days ago for some time in the Word, I decided to start with a prayer from the book The Valley of Vision.  This book is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotionals, and as my husband Kelly wrote in the front of the book when he gave it to me as a gift while we were still dating, it truly does “assist me in expressing my adoration to my Savior.” I find that even though on my own I am not able to express myself as eloquently as these Puritans did, my heart feels deeply the words that they wrote, and that I, in turn, pray to God. Though I had put the book aside for a while, I decided to pick right back up where I had left the bookmark. And that was a prayer entitled “The Gift of Gifts.” It is one that I am passing on to you, dear reader.  Can I recommend reading it out loud? Not only is it beautiful; it helps in the understanding of it. May this be our prayer this Christmas season. 

--Amy O'Rear 

O Source of all good,

What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,

      thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,

      my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,

      his self-emptying incomprehensible,

      his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:

      he came below to raise me above,

      was born like me that I might become like him.

Herein is love;

      when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,

            to raise me to himself.

Herein is power;

      when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart

      he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.

Herein is wisdom;

      when I was undone, with no will to return to him,

            and no intellect to devise recovery,

      he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,

            as man to die my death,

                        to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,

                        to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

Oh God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds and enlarge my mind;

      let me hear good tidings of great joy,

            and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,

            my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,

            my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;

      place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,

            to look with them upon my redeemer’s face,

            and in him account myself delivered from sin;

      let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,

            embrace him with undying faith,

            exulting that he is mine and I am his,

In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.