The Day After

Merry Christmas Day After! :)

Watching "The Night in the Toy Store" for the tenth+ time with my baby nieces (3, 2, & 4mths) and trying to help my sister clean before round 4 of family comes through today! I laughed when the oldest, Marion, who I had just dressed up in her new Snow White costume .. stopped in her tracks in front of the TV when she heard them say Christmas is about Santa and gifts.  She shouted "No it's not!!  Christmas is about Jesus!"  (Before they got to the part of the story to correct the toys who were wrong about the reason for the season.. ) :)

It's easy to get distracted with all that the holiday grind entails and I read a couple of books this AM that helped me refocus.  Below are some excerpts from Jennifer Kennedy Dean and Sarah Young. 

Be blessed and enjoy the last six days of 2010!

Your gift comes in such creative wrapping.
Yesterday morning, Christmas day, beautifully wrapped gifts were piled around the Christmas tree.  With some of the gifts, as much thought had been given to the wrapping of the gift as to the selection of gift itself.  Sometimes the wrapping was meant to disguise the gift so the surprise would be all the greater.  A small gift being wrapped and hiding inside a big box.
Yesterday the artistry of the wrappings made the anticipation of the gifts greater.  The wrappings invited us into the gifts.
Today, the wrappings are gone and the gifts are the main focus.
You wrapped Your gift in flesh and blood.  The wrapping was such that it invited us into the Gift.  Had You sent Your Son unwrapped, we could not have seen Him because the brightness of His countenance would have blinded us.  Like the Israelites of old, we would have hidden our faces from Him in fear and shame.
The angels know Him wrapped in eternal glory and royal robes.  They saw Him before He took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.  The angels saw His triumphant return to the glory He had before the world began, and see Him now in His exalted form.
But we see Him in the flawless beauty of His humanity.  We see the grandeur of His Incarnation, when He demonstrated the enormity of His love for us by wrapping Himself in flesh and blood so that He could destroy that which held us captive.  Seeing Him, we are blinded by His beauty to anything other than Him.
We will someday see Your indescribable Gift as the angels see Him.  I know that sight will be a different beauty than I have ever known.  But I cannot imagine that it will be more breathtakingly beautiful to me than the King of kings wrapped in flesh and blood for my sake.

*Seeing You, I am blinded by Your beauty to anything other than You.*

("Pursuing the Christ")

~ I AM THE GIFT that continuously gives -- bounteously, with no strings attached.  Unconditional Love is such a radical concept that even My most devoted followers fail to grasp it fully.  Absolutely nothing in heaven or on earth can cause Me to stop loving you.  You may feel more loved when you are performing according to your expectations.  But My Love for you is perfect; therefore it is not subject to variation.  What does vary is your awareness of My loving Presence.

When you are dissatisfied with your behavior, you tend to feel unworthy of My Love.  You may unconsciously punish yourself by withdrawing from Me and attributing the distance between us to My displeasure.  Instead of returning to Me and receiving My Love, you attempt to earn my approval by trying harder.  All the while, I am aching to hold you in My everlasting arms, to enfold you in My Love.  When you are feeling unworthy or unloved, come to Me.  Then ask for receptivity of My unfailing Love.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on judgement day, because in this world we are like Him.  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:15-18

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me.
Psalm 13:5-6

("Jesus Calling")

***

love, hailey

Tucson Sunset

Perfect Timing!

What He Desires Most -- the Heart

Stay ever so close to Me, and you will not deviate from the path I have prepared for you.  This is the most efficient way to stay on track; it is also the most enjoyable way.  Men tend to multiply duties in observance of their religion.  This practices enables them to give Me money, time, and work without yielding up to Me what I desire the most -- their hearts.  Rules can be observed mechanically.  Once they become habitual, they can be followed with minimal effort and almost no thought.  These habit-forming rules provide a false sense of security, lulling the soul into a comatose condition.

What I search for in My children is an awakened soul that thrills to the Joy of My Presence!  I created mankind to glorify Me and enjoy Me forever.  I provide the Joy; your part is to glorify Me by living close to Me.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for men.

You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your

Presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Deuteronomy 6:5, Colossians 3:23, Psalm 16:11

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

Kyria Blog: Hope in Advent

Kyria Blog: Hope in Advent

The Winner's Circle .. and Your #1 Fan

Happy December! 

Catching up on a couple of Max Lucado reads as I am in between work cases ... These are from "Grace for the Moment" which my grandmother gave me .. it's a compilation of excerpts from books he's written. 

The first one comes from "When Christ Comes" which Carolyn Butler also gave me in high school! 
And the other from "In the Grip of Grace." 

I read from a variety of authors and like Max because several of his books have been gifts from Nannie!  And because I find his writing simple, inspirational, and applicable. 

Hope you're blessed today by these words.

The Lord will reward everyone

for whatever good he does, whether

he is slave or free.

Ephesians 6:8

For all we don't know about the next life, this much is certain.  The day Christ comes will be a day of reward.  Those who went unknown on earth will be known in heaven.  Those who never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers of angels.  Those who missed the blessing of a father will hear the blessing of their heavenly Father. 
The small will be great.  The forgotten will be remembered. 
The unnoticed will be crowned and the faithful will be honored.

The winner's circle isn't reserved for a handful of the elite, but for a heaven full of God's children who "will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:12).

He will rejoice over you.

You will rest in His love; He will sing

and be joyful about you.

Zephaniah 3:17

God is for you. 
Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run.  Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps.  Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. 
Too tired to continue?  He'll carry you.  Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up.  God is for you.

God is for you. 
Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled.  If He drove a car, your name would be on His bumper.  If there's a tree in heaven, He's carved your name in the bark ..

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" God asks in Isaiah 49:15.  What a bizarre question.  Can you mothers imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, "What was that baby's name?" No.  I've seen you care for your young.  You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over.  Can a mother forget?  No way.  But "even if she could forget, ... I will not forget you" God pledges (Isaiah 49:15).

***