Well the season of Advent is officially over, and once again Christmas has come and gone. And while a rare few people are glad it's over because now they can get back to their routines, most seem to feel a bit depressed today with the post-Christmas blues. We were high on the excitement and the buzz, but now it's over (my daughter Kayla even tried to convince me last nigh...

Hi ~ me againstill thinking about 're' words! But this time it's 'rebirth'. I love Christmas music. In high school (almost 100 years ago) I was part of the Concert Choir and we learned countless Christmas songs in 4 part harmony of course! My brain still remembers each song and alto part. I can't wait for the radio stations to go 'All Christmas' right around Thanksgiving...

Luke 2:7 - "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger" For Christmas Eve I chose to focus on this simple verse describing Jesus' birth. This is such a plain statement of the most significant and most divisive moment in human history. Think about how the everyday act of a child being born (a poor child at that) changed...

...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. -John 10:10 Jesus came to give us abundant life. That word life in this verse comes from the Greek word Zoē which is eternal life. Zoē life is the very life and nature of God. Eternal life is not something you receive when you get to heaven, as a child of God you have eternal life now in ...

Each year at Christmas time as the Christmas songs play on the radio and the conversations about family drown out every other conversation, I'm struck with a heavy sadness. The sadness surrounding family members that I've lost seems to become so much bigger, and everything else so much smaller. I don't think that weight of sadness is what God had in mind when he sent his S...

The first Advent devotional I wrote about was the birth of Jesus - His first Coming. Humble, gentle, serving. In contrast, His second coming - His return to earth to reign completely as Sovereign King - is spoken of in greatest detail in Revelation 19:11-16, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With jus...

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever" Revelations 21:4 Sometimes I feel like every day is a battle with the enemy! Whether he is pouncing on our family's period of grief or whether he is poking at my own self-doubt. He is always lurking around pondering how he can trip us u...

Matt 26:6-116 vNow when Jesus was at wBethany in the house of Simon the leper,1 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and xgiven to the poor." 10 But yJes...

I love the reason for Christmas: the promise of a King wrapped up in a baby boy, the hope of a Savior to rescue us from sin! But here's the truth, lately I find myself so caught up in the bedlam of my schedule, that I forget that in everything God is with me and that this is what the Christmas is all about! There's shopping to be done and presents to be wrapped. Cookies ne...

John 14:27- Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. It's really hard to imagine peace sometimes... especially now with this busy season, so many things going on, so many things we worry about, so many hard and sad things happening. But the Lord reminded me that He came a...

Jesus came into the world as a demonstration of God's Love. 1 John 4:10-11 This is love: not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved is, we also ought to love one another. Believing includes belonging- We are all called to belong, not just believe. We are created for community, fellowsh...

'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' John 1:14 What an awesome truth that over 2,000 years later we continue to celebrate with amazement. There is so much love wrapped up in those 9 words. Our Savior, our Creator, our Lord, chose to leave the perfection of Heaven so that He could dwell among the sinful and broken. Knowingly went to the cross to be tortured and ...

Take It Personally It may not be a popular thought at Christmast-time, but the very fact that Jesus came assumes something about us as individuals. It assumes we ares sinners in need of him coming. It assumes we are sinners in need of a Savior. And that need never ends. We don't pray a prayer one day in church and then have that need met once and for all. Yes, we are for...

One of the things I enjoy the most during the Christmas Season is the music!Not so much the silly stuff, although that can be fun if I'm baking or doing things around the house. But, if I'm driving or just sitting quietly, there's nothing like reflecting on the words to a song that draws me closer to a place of awe and worship for the One who came to give His life for me! ...

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (I John 3:8b) Jesus appeared to destroy the devil's work the Bible tells us. What is the devil's work? 1. Spiritual death Because of sin, mankind is separated from God. His spirit is dead and disconnected from God. Jesus came to pay the price for our sins that we would be made new creations by the power...

Matthew 25 is about awaiting the second coming of our Savior. It starts with the parable of the ten virgins awaiting their bridegroom. We are told that the bridegroom was delayed and when he returned, five virgins were prepared having a vessel filled with oil and five had run out of oil and were unprepared. We are instructed in verse 13 "So, you too must keep watch! For yo...

Trading Crowns "If you wear a crown, you can't look down." DJ Holliday I have this thing about crowns. I love the sparkle and the majesty, but mostly, I love what they symbolize....authority, position power. I suppose it began with the paper tiaras on my birthday and progressed with my Miss America obsession. A young Jersey girl, sitting with her stove-top Jiffy Pop...

Isaiah 9:6 "For to US a child is born, to US a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. As a young girl, I was always enraptured with the "real reason for the season" at Christmas. My mom would put out a Nativity set and I would look at it, play with it and ponder...

Matthew 9:10-13 Later Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house. Many tax collectors and "sinners" came. They ate with Jesus and his disciples.11The Pharisees saw this. So they asked the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"12Jesus heard that. So he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a doctor. Sick people do. 13Go and learn what t...

Next week is my Gram's birthday. She will be 89 years old. She has been such an integral part of my life. One of my most vivid images of her is, and always has been, how she worships Jesus. She praises Him with her entire self, standing there with her arms raised to Him for what seems like hours. She has always done this, and never seems to get tired doing it. I would get ...

Each Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He came as a baby into this world so that we could be saved from sin - from all evil, desperation, and despair. We play Christmas hymns, decorate Christmas trees, and buy lots of presents. But how often do we really stop to think about the reality of what this means for us? Do we really let ourselves think about the fa...

Today beings the Advent season (it always starts the 4th Sunday before Christmas). The English word "Advent" is from the Latin word "adven- tus," which means "coming." The Advent season is a Church tradition that calls us to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, and to patiently long for the 2nd coming of Jesus. In the midst of a chaotic and busy time in our culture, Adven...

Advent is a special time in which we celebrate God's first coming, in the form of His son Jesus wrapped in a baby body. He came to where we live, exactly where we are.from heaven to earth, from the presence of God to the presence of man. He came so we could be intimate with God exactly where we are and encounter a little piece of heaven on earth each day. This was made pos...

'Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.' Revelation 22:12-13 At Christmas time it is common to focus on Jesus' first coming, as the baby in the manger. The very power of God Himself wrapped up within a helpless infant. It'...

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are neededor indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." - Luke 10:41-42 The above scripture is the story of Mary and Martha having Jesus actually visit them in their home, and how the two of them reacted very differently. Martha ...

" For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." When I was a little girl, Christmas time, to me, truly was the most wonderful time of the year!Each day I couldn't wait to open up o...

Last Sunday my sister-in-love, Fiona sent a text to my daughter Marjorie and me. It started with Psalm 94:19 Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer. (TLB) Marjorie responded with something so profound and deep and this is my Advent devotional. She said "Re" is my favorite prefixit means again. Renewed hope ...

"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5: 15 As I was reading Romans 5, I realized that I am the one that received a gift on the day of Christ's birth. It is an unimaginable gift of love, sacrifice, obe...