Girlfriends in God- December 24, 2020

December 24, 2020 Held by Hope Gwen Smith Today’s Truth But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19, NIV). Friend to Friend Have you ever wanted to travel back in time to witness the celestial celebration that took place in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born? Now, I’m a bit fussy about fashion, but I’d even consider donning a shepherd’s garb and hanging out with a few sheep for that opportunity! To see angels fill the sky, to hear the voice of God through the cries of a baby. To catch a glimpse of the brilliant Star of David, and to satisfy my curiosity as to what exactly a host of heavenly angels sounds like. To soak in the amazingness of it all. Oh, and to talk to Mary!  Wouldn’t that be incredible to hear what she was thinking as she witnessed, and took part in, the greatest miracle ever known to man? This baby she gave birth to was God-in-the-flesh… a true bundle of perfect love. "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19, NIV). What do you think she treasured in her heart as she took it all in? I’m struck by this thought: As Mary held the Hope of the world, the Hope of the world held her. {Mind. Blown.} The baby born in a stable that holy night long ago is the Hope of the world, the Grace that saves us and the Love that heals us. Jesus is the Hope that changes our worthless into precious, our guilty to forgiven, our hungry into satisfied, our empty into full and our broken into beautiful. Jesus is Emmanuel, our Lord of inescapable presence who is with us and for us. The psalmist David was amazed by this when he wrote to the Lord, “If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:8-10). Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, and it's Him who “holds us fast.” After His resurrection and before His ascension into heaven, Jesus said to His followers, “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).  Emmanuel, always with us.  Always loving us.  Always inviting us to find comfort, refuge, joy and hope in Him. Ponder that! Just as it was with Mary two thousand years ago, Every believer is held by Hope today because we are held fast by Jesus, our Savior who will never leave us or forsake us. No matter the circumstances, not matter the diagnoses, no matter the financial struggle. Our faithful LORD is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and our souls can find peace knowing that in everything we're held by Hope. Let’s Pray Dear Lord, You are my Hope! I join the psalmist today in praying, “Sustain me according to Your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered” (Psalm 119:116-117). I’m leaning into Your heavenly grip today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Now It’s Your Turn  What would it look like for you to allow Hope to hold you today? NEED PRAYER? Friend, I know that as sweet as Christmas is, it will be hard for many of you this year. Pain is no respecter of persons, and loneliness can find us in a crowded room. I pray that you will find comfort in knowing that God loves and sees you. Leave a comment and we would love to pray for you. More from the Girlfriends There are so many voices vying for your attention it can be hard to sift through the noise and focus on what really matters during the Christmas season. The Graceologie with Gwen Smith podcast will help you move from distracted to directed. Directed to hope. Directed to truth. Directed to clarity. Directed to grace. Directed to Jesus. Click here to listen now. © 2020 by Gwen Smith. All rights reserved.   Seeking God? GirlfriendsInGod.com

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Obedience Where We Are

 

Obedience Where We Are [W]e grow in our knowledge of Christ-with-us by, first of all, constant expectation of him in the place where we are, wherever that may be. "The sacrament of the present moment," as it is sometimes called, is from the human side nothing but the invocation, expectation, and receptivity of God's presence and activity where we are and in what we are doing at any given time. Then we steadily grow in graceful interactions with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They gradually take up all of our life into their trinitarian life (John 17:21–24). Among the many misunderstandings Jesus had to counteract in his teaching was the one that held the kingdom to be some gigantic event in some special place. This was human thinking about human kingdoms, which always fit that description. He was constantly faced with people who wanted to know when the kingdom of God was coming. When is the big commotion? He patiently replied that the kingdom of God was not that kind of thing. It was simply God reigning, governing. It is not a special event you could see happening over here or possibly over there. "Now look," he said, "the kingdom of God is right here among you" (Luke 17:20–21, paraphrase). His main sermon line was: "Get a new thought! The kingdom of the heavens is available to you from right where you are!" (Matt. 4:17, paraphrase). From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Copyright © 2009 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

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Dallas Willard Daily Devotional- December 22, 2020

Obedience Where We Are [W]e grow in our knowledge of Christ-with-us by, first of all, constant expectation of him in the place where we are, wherever that may be. "The sacrament of the present moment," as it is sometimes called, is from the human side nothing but the invocation, expectation, and receptivity of God's presence and activity where we are and in what we are doing at any given time. Then we steadily grow in graceful interactions with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They gradually take up all of our life into their trinitarian life (John 17:21–24). Among the many misunderstandings Jesus had to counteract in his teaching was the one that held the kingdom to be some gigantic event in some special place. This was human thinking about human kingdoms, which always fit that description. He was constantly faced with people who wanted to know when the kingdom of God was coming. When is the big commotion? He patiently replied that the kingdom of God was not that kind of thing. It was simply God reigning, governing. It is not a special event you could see happening over here or possibly over there. "Now look," he said, "the kingdom of God is right here among you" (Luke 17:20–21, paraphrase). His main sermon line was: "Get a new thought! The kingdom of the heavens is available to you from right where you are!" (Matt. 4:17, paraphrase). From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Copyright © 2009 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

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Dallas Willard Daily Devotional- December 23, 2020

Worship In worship we are ascribing greatness, goodness, and glory to God. It is typical of worship that we put every possible aspect of our being into it, all of our sensuous, conceptual, active, and creative capacities. We embellish, elaborate, and magnify. Poetry and song, color and texture, food and incense, dance and procession are all used to exalt God. And sometimes it is in the quiet absorption of thought, the electric passion of encounter, or total surrender of the will. In worship we strive for adequate expression of God's greatness. But only for a moment, if ever, do we achieve what seems like adequacy. We cannot do justice to God or his Son or his kingdom or his goodness to us. So we must constantly return to worship. Worship nevertheless imprints on our whole being the reality that we study. The effect is a radical disruption of the powers of evil in us and around us. Often an enduring and substantial change is brought about. The renewal of worship keeps the glow and power of our true homeland an active agent in all parts of our being. In the atmosphere of worship, to "hear and do" is the clearest, most obvious and natural thing imaginable. From Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks. Copyright © 2016 by Willard Family Trust. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

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