Good morning, Hope you all are having a blessed Christmas season so far. Running a bit late so will keep this short. Prayers for our families, our nation, our world... and for each and every person who stops by here... prayers that God will meet you where you are at and help you see HIM and only HIM this Christmas season. Have a blessed day!
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Good morning, We are having one of those yucky weather days that make me want to curl up under my nice warm blanket and not go anywhere... but sadly, I must go to work. And it promises to be a busy day... as the days leading up to a holiday break always are for me. Good morning to really focus on finding the peace of Jesus during this lovely Christmas season. Nothing like letting Linus.... and Sidewalk Prophets remind me of what Christmas is all about... just to put a smile on my face. Have a blessed day! Good morning, Was there ever a story of true redemption more so than the fictional story of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Do we have any fans of Charles Dickens and this wonderful classic tale? Ebeneezer Scrooge, a miserly, mean old man who needed to come face to face with the ugliness in his own heart in order for him to see what a fool he had become to not treasure his family and those around him with all the love and compassion he could muster up in his heart. I think we could all learn a valuable lesson from Ebeneezer's story. If there is redemption and grace for one such as Ebeneezer Scrooge, there surely is redemption and grace for everyone. All we have to do is say YES to JESUS. Have a blessed day! Good morning! Go TELL it on the Mountain; That Jesus Christ is born! I think I'm going to do a deep dive on the music of this Australian born duo. I really like them a lot. If I'm not mistaken, For King and Country, are the ones who gave us that lovely song.... "God Only Knows". This song speaks to my soul. "God only knows what you've been through. God only knows what they say about you. God only knows... the REAL you. There's a kind of love that GOD ONLY KNOWS. " Inspired words. Balm to my spirit. It gives me comfort to know that God understands what is at the bottom of anything I'm going through, or any strong negative reaction I have about anything, or any tear that I cry before I even understand it myself. But they also have some wonderful renditions of Christmas songs. Another one from The Chosen's Christmas movie from last year. Go Tell It on The Mountain, over the hills and everywhere. go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night, behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. Go Tell It on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere. go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born The shepherds feared and trembled when lo! above the earth rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior‘s birth. Go Tell it on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere. go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born, and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn. Go Tell It on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere. go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born And speaking of mountains... if you didn't make it to the first episode of Season 3 of The Chosen on Sunday, never fear. It is available on the app and even still on YouTube, I think. It took me a couple of watches through to really get my head around it all. The Sermon on the Mount and what it would have been like to be there... on that lovely mountain 2000 years ago to hear Jesus give this amazing sermon. Amazing to think about. Have a blessed day! Remember decades ago, when one of the traditional Christmas shows that aired on Network TV was "The Little Drummer Boy"? I do. I loved it when I was a kid. It was, along with The Charlie Brown Christmas, one of the few that honored the Biblical Christmas story. I haven't seen it mentioned for a long, long time. It's a shame. The other classics from that era play every season. "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer". "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town". Frosty the Snowman". But the only one that truly gave honor to Jesus has been forgotten. It's a shame. Thankfully, Jesus has inspired For King and Country to give us this rendition of the song.... it gave me chills when I watched it just now. I've always loved this song. And I loved that 30-minute special that told the Christmas Story of the night of the birth of Jesus. This might be the coolest version of this song I've ever seen.
Have a blessed day. Good morning, "Christmas season is not about the presents, not about the fun... but instead, it is about JESUS being lifted up over all the earth." Heard this quote this morning during Church! Right before the singing of.... O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem Come and behold Him Born the King of Angels O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord! Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning Jesus, to Thee be glory given Word of the Father Now in flesh appearing O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord! Ohe of my absolute favorites... Rewatching the Pilot called The Shepherd, followed by Messengers, last years short released in Theaters with a concert and four monologues from cast members, the theme was that.... People MUST know!... the Shepherd, The Chosen. So what is it that People Must know? That Jesus is KING? That Jesus has come to Redeem the World. To Save US. To teach us. To give us Hope and a Future. WE are the Messengers now... People MUST Know.... Highly recommend a watch of the full Global Livestream of last year's Messengers Christmas movie in which you will hear some wonderful music and some beautiful messages of just what it is that People Must Know. (213) Christmas With The Chosen: The Global Live Event - YouTube The following is one of my favorite's performances in the movie. Hope to see you all tonight for the Season 3 Premiere of "The Chosen". The Chosen - Season 3 Begins! Sunday, December 11th at 7:00 the Global Livestream Begins on The Chosen App - Entertainment Good For The Soul (weebly.com) Have a blessed day! Good morning! Going to keep it a short message because I have quite a lot I need to accomplish today but once again... prayers for our Country. Prayers for the Nations of the world. Prayers for those who are doing their best in a world that has gone mad to do the RIGHT things according to GOD'S values that we all know and try to observe in our own lives. The world HAS gone MAD (and for Christians, we KNOW who is at the bottom of all the madness). Listening to Thursday's Flashpoint (if you are not listening to Flashpoint on the Victory Channel, you should be), Wow... evident how MAD the world has gone. Spiritual WARFARE - we ALL need to understand and learn how to pray for our nation and the nations of the world with the understanding of just what it is we are praying against. Let us all engage in prayer for our nations together. Have a blessed day! Didn't really mean to get on this "spiritual warfare" tangent. So lets also remember the season we are in . Have a blessed day! And Merry Christmas! Good morning, This might be less a Devotional and more a Public Service Announcement. Because I am REALLY excited about the release of Season 3 Episode 1 of The Chosen, this Sunday night, December 11th at 7 pm! This weekend marks the release on The Chosen app of the first episode of Season 3. I can't think of a better example of "Entertainment Good for The Soul" as this beautiful production of the life and ministry of Jesus seen through the eyes of HIS disciples. From the first watch of this, I was hooked. With catch phrases like ..... This entire series gives us a more loving and relatable Jesus then most efforts of its kind and I think that is because the hand of God is all over this one. It IS different. It IS beautiful. It is amazing. I will be doing a page on the official "The Chosen" blog page (there I will post all the streaming options) and hope to find a few who might wish to join me in a chat for Episode 1. Will do that tonight or tomorrow morning. Out of time now... but let me know if you want to be included in the tag list and please... invite anyone you might know who might have an interest in participating with us. Yes, they do have a chat with the Global Livestream but so many participate, you could miss the entire show trying to keep up with the comments. I'd rather do a smaller chat with plenty of time before and after the episode to make comments. Hope to see you all there. Good morning, Still on the Christmas song theme, Phil Wickham might be becoming a real favorite of mine. His version of "Away in a Manger", with clips from that short from Dallas Jenkins called "The Shepherd" which focused on the night of Jesus birth. During this week leading up to The Chosen: Season 3 becoming available to all, I'm enjoying all these "Chosen" focused videos. This one is truly beautiful. I wish I had more time to really try to find interest. Work takes over my life during the week. But still would love to have a fun night Saturday night with the Christmas focused projects from The Chosen. Then, of course, a watch party for the Season 3 Episode 1 premiere. Maybe I'll go ahead a do a couple of pages tonight, then try to find a couple of strategic places to post them. Also, wanted to mention Pureflix again. Now, it is a subscription entertainment which is fully Faith and Family focused. The cost is $7.99/month. A discount if you pay the annual, which I do simply to support them because I so respect their attempt to provide a positive, Christian/Faith focused alternative to families and children. I noticed this morning that they have already added the Great American Family movie "A Christmas.... Present", a Candace Cameron Bure project. A truly lovely, faith and Christ-centered Christmas movie which premiered a couple of weeks ago. They also have recently added "Lifemark", a Kirk Cameron project; a movie I haven't seen yet but really want to about the beautiful choice of "adoption". The late 80's/90's had a couple of teen stars. Candace Cameron Bure and Kirk Cameron, both of which have grown up to be committed Christians in the entertainment world, and both ruthlessly attacked for their faith and strong stand on biblical family values. This only makes me want to support them both. They aren't the only ones. Willie Ames, the teenage son on the TV Show "Eight Is Enough", grew up to be Bibleman for Christian kids for a couple of decades. I know Hollywood has its issues but there was something positive brewing back in the early 90's, and we are seeing the fruit of that today. I know for Candace and Kirk, they are truly living the "“If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you (John 15:18).” scripture. I'm sure they have more fans than critics, but those critics sure know how to make a lot of noise and do a lot of damage. I don't really want to get into all of it here, but my message is pray for both of these warriors in the Entertainment world, that their ability to share Christ with their audience would not be hindered by those who want to hurt their message. The Entertainment world needs more like them, willing to stand firm in their faith despite the firestorm of controversy surrounding them. Have a blessed day! I love Christmas Carols. More specifically, the ones most would consider Hymns. The ones the share Jesus, that is. I have quite a few favorites. If you go beyond the first verses to read the entire lyric, you will find some beautiful poetry all pointing to the one who we celebrate Christmas to honor. Jesus. Hark! The herald angels sing Glory to the new born King Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled Joyful all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem With angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem Mild He lays His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of Earth Born to give them second birth Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate deity Pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Immanuel Pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Immanuel Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace Hail the Son of righteousness Light and life to all He brings Risen with healing in His wings Christ the highest heaven adore Christ the everlasting Lord Come desire of nations come Fix in us Thy humble home I have always loved this rendition of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" that Amy Grant did on her first Christmas album many years ago.... But then last night, I stumbled into an airing of "The Chosen: Messengers", long enough to hear this rendition of "Angels We Have Heard on High" from Phil Wickham. Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o'er the plains And the mountains in reply Echoing their joyous strains Gloria In Excelsis Deo Gloria In Excelsis Deo Shepherds why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? Say what may the tidings be Which inspire your heavenly song? Gloria In Excelsis Deo Gloria In Excelsis Deo Come to Bethlehem and see Him Whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King Gloria In Excelsis Deo Gloria In Excelsis Deo See within in a manger laid Jesus Lord of heav'n and earth Mary, Joseph lend your aid With us sing our Savior's birth Absolutely gorgeous. I might have a new favorite. Have a blessed day! Good morning! I am deeply short on time today. so I will just say hope you all have a blessed day. Prayers for our families, our friends, our nation, the nations of the world. God's protection on all who serve him boldly and are willing to speak truth in a world where lies are being spouted as truth on a daily basis. For me, I trust Jesus first and foremost. I really don't know how anyone survives without Jesus. It's marvelous the peace I feel every day just having the assurance of the love of Jesus in my heart. God's blessings to you all this Christmas season. Enjoy one of my favorite Amy Grant songs of all time which was used as the theme of a Hallmark movie over the summer. Starring Kevin McGarry and Kayla Wallace, spanning over four Christmases, it is the beautiful story of a Military Captain and the woman he meets, falls in love with and eventually wants to marry but his service to his Country keeps them apart. The sacrifice. The disappointment. But eventually the joy of a love that runs deep between them. The two leads are actually married to each other in real life so you can imagine the chemistry between them was beautiful. Highly recommend. Good morning! Mondays are difficult. Trying to find something encouraging to say while wishing I could just stay home and take some time to really find inspiration but knowing if I putter around too long, I will make myself late to work... this is my problem every day. If I were smart, I'd do this page the night before when I actually have the TIME to really pray about it; one day I'll get smart. Until then, I do the best I can and pray the whatever ends up on this page is encouraging to someone. One devotional I read this morning was all about TRUSTING GOD even when it feels like GOD'S solution to our issue is not really what we think we need. How many of us have been THERE. I know I have. I guess that's why in the book of Proverbs, we are given this instruction. To TRUST in the Lord and LEAN NOT on our own understanding is hard at times. Just look at the example of those who were alive in the time of Jesus. They were expecting a KING, a Warrior to present themselves as the Savior of the World but instead, they had to wrap their head around the fact that the Savior of the World was born in a stable in Nazareth, lived his life as a Carpenter, and approached "saving the world" in a way far different then the way they had been expecting. We might be experiencing something akin to that today. Funny that I found this quote from "The Chosen"... referring to those who understood about Jesus being the Messiah back during the days of his Ministry here on earth. A common phrase we hear today, referring to those who are "awake" to the spiritual battle that we are facing, not just in this country, but around the world. So, let's trust in the LORD with ALL of our hearts and know that HE has our best interest in mind even if the path being taken to win this spiritual war seems long and hard and, at times, hopeless. Remember, our HOPE is in Jesus. Have a blessed day! Good morning, Hope you all are well this morning. So much to do this Christmas season. Already feeling behind on everything but I refuse to stress out. I refuse to get anxious. I am committing myself to enjoying the season without letting myself worry or stress over it all. Somewhere in MY Silent Night... all is well, all is calm, all is bright. Jesus is LORD of all. Have a blessed day! Sorry to be getting such a late start this morning. It's a Saturday. I do tend to do things at my own pace on Saturday's. Not sure I'm particularly inspired to focus on one specific thing as I was yesterday. So, I will just take this moment to say hope you all have a wonderful weekend. And remember Jesus IS the reason for the Christmas Season; however, we should celebrate Jesus every day of the year because he is WORTHY to be PRAISED! Have a blessed day! Good morning! My response yesterday to the question of whether or not to allow the pagan origins of Christmas to be openly discussed here resulted in me finding a Kindle book entitled "In Defense of Christmas" in which its author, Steve Lagoon, addresses each and every concern on the subject. Haven't started it yet but will do so over the weekend. To understand my reaction to that question though, you must understand this. My family was deeply wounded by a "cult" many years ago. Not me... but a family member who had become deeply entrenched (but is free of it now and serving Jesus with her and her family). It LOOKED like a normal, non-denominational, Jesus loving and serving Church, but it's Pastor was an evil man who is now serving time in Prison for his crimes against his Community and the good people taken in by His deceptive teachings which caused many to lose all their money and savings; the children in the Church's Day care and school to be abused by its staff. I could go on, but I won't. THIS Church was the one that convinced my family member that Christmas should not be observed by true people of faith due to its Pagan origins. I know of one pretty well-known Religion that spouts this same teaching; one that most consider to be a cult as well. For me, it's a "what the enemy meant for evil, God has turned into GOOD things". Do I think that sometimes people get off track and focus on the wrong things at Christmas? Sure, I've been guilty of that myself. Especially when your kids are small, it's so easy to get focused on the "fun" stuff like Christmas parties and presents and Santa, etc. But when you take a quiet moment to consider what you are truly celebrating when you celebrate Christmas... the birth of our Savior which was so important to the world it caused time to be reordered as "before Christ" and "after Christ", you come to the conclusion that this is something worth celebrating and speaking loudly to the world. "JOY to the World, the LORD HAS COME; Let EARTH RECEIVE HER KING!" JESUS IS the only reason why anyone should celebrate this SEASON. It's not about the presents. It's not about the parties. It's not about the tree. Though I see nothing wrong with those things. It is about JESUS our KING! So, I suppose I apologize if my reaction seemed a little bit closed minded and I certainly don't wish to censure anyone's viewpoint. But I won't apologize for loving this season and for celebrating the birth of MY JESUS. JESUS is worth celebrating every day of the year! Have a blessed day. |
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