"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call HIS name JESUS, for HE will save HIS people from their sins." Matthew 1:21
"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped HIM in swaddling cloths, and laid HIM in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
You were so very kind to be so happy for my son and his new bride to be, and for our family. What a journey it has been and such a joy to see GOD open the heart of his beloved. Thank you so much for all your encouragement and for being a part of this journey by praying for our family and loving us. If you missed the email last week about it, you can read about it and see the pictures i posted at http://mitzi-hisgraceissufficient.blogspot.com/2011/12/whose-heart-lord-opened-acts-1614-our.html .Thank you for sharing your lives with me and giving me the privilege of praying for you. It is an honor for me to pray for you and your family.
We were blessed to celebrate Hannah Beth's 20th birthday last night as a family and again i am reminded of GOD's graciousness in HIM sharing her with us, and delivering her from an early death. Hannah Beth almost died twice as a little baby with a growth across her windpipe. We thank GOD for delivering her from death and blessing us with the exuberance of her life these past 20 years. We met our son, and a friend of HB's at Outback to celebrate her birthday, and surprised her with a cake. I was proud of myself for remembering she didn't like chocolate and made sure I got the right icing...it never dawned on me the cake was chocolate inside! I either had a senior moment, and i'm not technically a senior yet...or blonde moment, and i'm not even truly blonde...mine comes out of a bottle. Oh well, my family is used to these shenanigans from me...they happen on a regular basis. Hannah Beth was very gracious... she said it just kept her from eating too much cake!
We were blessed to celebrate Hannah Beth's 20th birthday last night as a family and again i am reminded of GOD's graciousness in HIM sharing her with us, and delivering her from an early death. Hannah Beth almost died twice as a little baby with a growth across her windpipe. We thank GOD for delivering her from death and blessing us with the exuberance of her life these past 20 years. We met our son, and a friend of HB's at Outback to celebrate her birthday, and surprised her with a cake. I was proud of myself for remembering she didn't like chocolate and made sure I got the right icing...it never dawned on me the cake was chocolate inside! I either had a senior moment, and i'm not technically a senior yet...or blonde moment, and i'm not even truly blonde...mine comes out of a bottle. Oh well, my family is used to these shenanigans from me...they happen on a regular basis. Hannah Beth was very gracious... she said it just kept her from eating too much cake!
This CHRISTmas, we will be celebrating CHRISTmas on my side of the family at our restaurant which will be a first for our family. My Mom has not been feeling well enough to have us all, nor have i. My dear sis in law had us for Thanksgiving and her sweet son offered to have it at his house, but it was easier on my Mom and us to go somewhere closer. I really appreciate my husband offering the restaurant to us and I appreciate my nephew offering to have CHRISTmas for our big family at his house this year. Mom and Dad have worked really hard making the Brunswick stew and they will be bringing it to the restaurant, which will be closed for CHRISTmas. I'm planning on making a birthday cookie for JESUS which is one of our family traditions, and others will bring desserts and side dishes to go with the stew...along with all their family and the presents. The CHRISTmas trees are set up so we will have CHRISTmas at Greenbrier this year. I am so thankful for the LORD JESUS and all HIS blessings in our lives this year and that Mom and Dad are still with us as well as our whole family. When you lose so many loved ones in a year, including my dear Daddy in law, and one of the dearest friends i've ever known, Darlene Anderson who died in Sept. it reminds how blessed we are to all still be together. We were so blessed to have a surprise visit from Darlene's family this morning and we all got to visit with each other. They are hurting as you can imagine, but GOD is holding them, and sustaining them. The location where we meet to celebrate the birth of our SAVIOR doesn't matter. Meeting at the restaurant reminds me of that "imperfect," CHRISTmas that JESUS came into the world to be born into...our circumstances change from year to year, but JESUS is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and HIS love for us is steadfast and unchanging. CHRIST coming to dwell in the dirty manger of our sinful hearts, transforming them into a treasure for HIM to shine through and drawing others to HIM that is the message and the hope of CHRISTmas.
This past Sunday, our pastor preached on the different characters in the CHRISTmas story. Of course, one of them was the Inn Keeper who told Mary and Joseph that there was no room for them to stay in the Inn, but they could stay in the stable. Our pastor said, it could actually have been more like a cave that JESUS was born in and he wondered if the Inn Keeper had known WHO was being born that night if he wouldn't have made room for the KING of KINGS to be born inside the inn. It is an amazing thing to think about JESUS, the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE, our CREATOR, coming to earth, not with pomp and circumstance, but HE chose to be born to two young Jewish teenagers, in a dirty manger, where they wrapped HIM, GOD HIMSELF, in some rags they found lying around a place where the animals were kept. It just amazes me and comforts me to think that JESUS, my SAVIOR chose to be born in the most humble of conditions. Our old manger scene on the front porch, pictured above, with the cow's ear missing, doesn't light up anymore. The paint is scratched on the characters and it reminds me of my life that is tattered and torn and the humble circumstances that JESUS was born into save us from ours sins.
My Daddy has always had a barn, and still does. His barn is not a large one like my Granddaddy's was and we jumped out of the hay loft when we were kids, but it's still a barn. When we were growing up, he always kept a milk cow, and some calves for us to raise for meat, and for my older brothers and sis to show in 4H, and we had a few chickens from time to time, a horse for a short time, a Shetland pony, kittens, beagles, etc, that all shared the barn at one time or another. Our barn, no matter how much the manure was shoveled out of it, was still a barn, and usually smelled like a barn. It wasn't a place that i would choose for my son or daughter to be born, but it was the place that GOD chose for HIS SON to be born. I am so glad HE did, because i know that JESUS, though HE was the perfect SON of GOD, sent to be the propitiation for your sins and mine, dwelt in circumstances about as imperfect as you can get: "He became the SON of Man that we might become sons of GOD. Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, child of a peasant woman. He had neither wealth nor influence, neither training nor education; yet in infancy he startled a king; in boyhood HE puzzled the doctors. In manhood He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for HIS services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books that could be written about HIM. He never wrote a song, yet HE has furnished the them of more songs than all song-writers combined. He never founded a college, yet all the colleges together cannot boast of a many students as HE.
He was rich, yet for your sakes HE became poor." How poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another's manger. He cruised the lake in another's boat. He rode on another man's ass. He was buried in another man's tomb. He was buried in another man's tomb."
While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against HIM. HIS friends ran away from HIM. One of them denied HIM; another betrayed HIM and turned HIM over to HIS enemies. HE went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon the Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for HIS coat. Yet, all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man as powerfully as has this one solitary life!
Great men have come and gone, yet HE lives on! Death could not destroy HIM! The grave could not hold HIM!
"If thou seek HIM, HE will be found of thee." I Chronicles 28:9
FIND HIM!
Springs in the Valley, Dec. 20
I can really relate to things being imperfect in my circumstances, and i am sure that you can too. It's been a rough year for our family...the loss of my Father in law, another close family member who worked at our restaurant, the loss of one of my dearest friends, my health taking not only an unexpected turn, but a very uncomfortable turn, and many other circumstances and situations that have challenged my peace. Yet, JESUS came that we might have peace with HIM, and peace in the midst of our difficult circumstances. He promised us HIS peace that only comes from our hearts being fully open to HIM and surrendering our lives and our circumstances to HIM. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:33
I was at our local CHRISTian bookstore earlier this week to look for a few more last minute CHRISTmas presents. The book, JESUS Calling, by Sarah Young has really ministered to me through these latest health trials i've had, and reminded me over and over how much JESUS loves me, and HE is in the midst of my circumstances. I was drawn to that book in May right before all these things started happening with my health and it's really sweet to me, how the LORD knew the path i was about to go down. HE led me to that book to encourage me in this rough and steep path i've been on with my SHEPHERD. My daughter told me there is another book Sarah Young wrote called, JESUS LIVES, Seeing HIS LOVE IN YOUR LIFE. When i was in the bookstore this week, i was drawn to it too, realizing so much of this painful journey i've been on the past several months, has been about me seeing HIS love in my life in the midst of painful circumstances. In fact, i know that GOD has enlarged my heart for HIM to make more room for HIM in the midst of these circumstances, as i have clung to my SHEPHERD to help me. I was really ministered to in the introduction of the book, when i read that Sarah Young herself had health issues, and her health really deteriorated during the time she was writing JESUS LIVES. She said she had to really rely on GOD to write that book. It encouraged my heart, as i know in my life and yours, GOD does HIS greatest work in us and through us when we are at our weakest. Oswald Chambers says, "The weaker the better," and JESUS says, "MY grace is sufficient for you for MY power is made perfect in weakness," II Corinthians 12:9. I really recommend the devotion books, JESUS Calling, JESUS LIVES, and I noticed they had a JESUS Calling Study Bible and a Kid's Version of JESUS Calling. Talk about GOD being strong in our weaknesses...GOD has really used Sarah Young's struggles to bless so many others including me with her relationship with CHRIST. I wondered what kind of trials Sarah Young had been through to enlarge her heart to hear the LORD as she does and record the thoughts from our MASTER that she does in her devotion books that are written as if JESUS is speaking directly to your heart and to mine. It gave courage to my own quivering heart that GOD could somehow use my weaknesses as HE has hers...He promises to do that, and I praise HIM for the trials HE allows in our lives to make room in our hearts for HIM.
Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers preached about making room in our hearts for JESUS, this ONE WHO loves us so much that HE came as a tiny baby, born in a feed trough, and died on a wooden Cross for your sins and mine.
Charles Spurgeon: Room for JESUS
As the palace, and the forum, and the inn, have no room for Christ, and as the places of public resort have none, have you room for Christ?
“Well,” says one, “I have room for him, but I am not worthy that he should come to me.” Ah! I did not ask about worthiness; have you room for him? “Oh! but I feel it is a place not at all fit for Christ!” Nor was the manger a place fit for him, and yet there was he laid. “Oh! but I have been such a sinner; I feel as if my heart had been a den of beasts and devils!” Well, the manger had been a place where beasts had fed. Have you room for him? Never mind what the past has been; he can forget and forgive. It mattereth not what even the present state may be if thou mournest it. If thou hast but room for Christ he will come and be thy guest.
Do not say, I pray you, “I hope I shall have room for him”; the time is come that he shall be born; Mary cannot wait months and years. Oh! sinner, if thou hast room for him let him be born in thy soul today. “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation . . .” (Heb. 3:7–8). “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Room for Jesus! Room for Jesus now!….
My Master wants room! Room for him! Room for him! I, his herald, cry aloud, Room for the Savior! Room! Here is my royal Master—have you room for him? Here is the Son of God made flesh—have you room for him? Here is he who can forgive all sin—have you room for him? Here is he who can take you up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay—have you room for him? Here is he who when he cometh in will never go out again, but abide with you forever to make your heart a heaven of joy and bliss for you—have you room for him?
’Tis all I ask. Your emptiness, your nothingness, your want of feeling, your want of goodness, your want of grace—all these will be but room for him. Have you room for him? Oh! Spirit of God, lead many to say, “Yes, my heart is ready.” Ah! then he will come and dwell with you.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2008) p. 63-64. Excerpted from a sermon titled: “No Room for Christ in the Inn” given on December 21, 1862.
Beloved, JESUS' hearts desire for you and me this CHRISTmas, and everyday is for HIM to dwell in our hearts in HIS fulness. Only HE can woo us with HIS HOLY SPIRIT to make room in these hard, stony hearts...and often times that comes through pain. "No man can come to ME, except the FATHER which hath sent Me draw HIM." John 6:44. HE chooses us, like my Son, chose his bride last week, and asked her to marry HIM. He is ever wooing us, and inviting us to be HIS BRIDE, and HE even makes the room in our hearts for HIM...as he opened my son's fiance's heart to him.
"Watch for all you are worth until you hear the BRIDEGROOM's voice in the life of another. Never mind what havoc it brings, what upsets, what crumblings of health, rejoice with divine hilarity when once HIS voice is heard. You may often see JESUS CHRIST wreck a life before HE saves it."
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for HIS Highest, March 24
A friend of mine shared this devotion this morning from Dr. Adrian Rogers about our Bridegroom choosing us to be HIS Bride:
A Bride Is Chosen; A Son Is Given
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Ephesians 1:4
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The church, as the bride of Christ, was in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world. In the same way, Abraham sent one of his servants to find a bride for his son Isaac and she didn’t even know anything about it (see Genesis 24).
There she was, not dreaming that two very important persons were holding a conversation about her. They were making plans for her. And in Genesis 24:14, we learn that she was divinely appointed. She had already been chosen in the heart and mind of God. I like to call this the predetermination of the bride.
In the secret counsel halls of the Almighty, a conference was held. A bride was chosen. He set His affection upon us. Isn’t it wonderful that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world? And the plan to send the Savior was already in place.
ACTION POINT:
On this Christmas Eve, thank God that He chose you to be a part of His bride—and on Christmas Day, that He sent to Earth the Bridegroom!
“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Ephesians 1:4
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The church, as the bride of Christ, was in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world. In the same way, Abraham sent one of his servants to find a bride for his son Isaac and she didn’t even know anything about it (see Genesis 24).
There she was, not dreaming that two very important persons were holding a conversation about her. They were making plans for her. And in Genesis 24:14, we learn that she was divinely appointed. She had already been chosen in the heart and mind of God. I like to call this the predetermination of the bride.
In the secret counsel halls of the Almighty, a conference was held. A bride was chosen. He set His affection upon us. Isn’t it wonderful that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world? And the plan to send the Savior was already in place.
ACTION POINT:
On this Christmas Eve, thank God that He chose you to be a part of His bride—and on Christmas Day, that He sent to Earth the Bridegroom!
Beloved, if you haven't surrendered your heart to JESUS, this CHRISTmas, HE invites you do just that...it doesn't matter how much you've sinned, HE died to forgive you and me all the sin we have ever done and to bring peace in our relationship with HIM, and with others, and in our hearts. HE loves us with an everlasting love, Jer. 31:3 and HE kisses us with the kisses of HIS mouth...Song of Sol. 1:2 For those who reject HIS great love, they are condemned to burn in hell forever and ever and there is no peace for them. The SAVIOR is waiting to enter your heart, why don't you let HIM come in?"
For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON, that whosoever believeth in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life."
I read a fascinating article http://www.
I hadn't planned on using "How Deep the FATHER's Love Is," but as i write i feel overwhelmed with HIS love as i think of the depth of HIS love for us to come to earth as our Bridegroom and give HIS life for us. Listen to this beautiful song sung by Sarah Sadler...http://www.youtube.
I hadn't planned on using "How Deep the FATHER's Love Is," but as i write i feel overwhelmed with HIS love as i think of the depth of HIS love for us to come to earth as our Bridegroom and give HIS life for us. Listen to this beautiful song sung by Sarah Sadler...http://www.youtube.
I did plan to use the song, "Away in a Manger," sung by Casting Crowns and thought it was very appropriate for what GOD led me to write about this week. This is a beautiful version that reminds us of the humble conditions that our SAVIOR came into the world because HE loves us so very much. I pray it will be a blessing to you as you listen to it....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnVorT14i4I I hope and pray you and your loved ones have a wonderful CHRISTmas...wherever you are in your circumstances as you celebrate HIS birth. You are so very dear to HIM and I thank GOD for the great blessing you are to me and my family.
With all HIS love and Merry CHRISTmas,
mitzi
"But GOD demonstrates HIS love for us in this: while we were still sinners,
CHRIST died for us." Romans 5:8
CHRIST died for us." Romans 5:8
"Is There Room In Your Heart for HIM?"
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