Advent Day #13- Humble Beginnings

I have always loved the story of young David turned King of Israel.  He was the least likely candidate... the runt of the litter... the shepherd boy.  And God chose HIM to be His representative to His people... their King.... and through this King, all humanity would be blessed.

Why I love this story is because it speaks to all of us.  So many times I have felt undeserving of God's blessings, under-qualified to do His work...

And yet He whispers to us... through David's story... that NO ONE is too small, too weak, too uneducated, too broken to be used by Him for His glory.  David's faith is what drew God to choose him.

David's heart is what mattered.  And His heart was like God's heart.

And Jesus too was the unlikely choice in the eyes of the religious leaders of His day.  He was a carpenter, the son of Joseph, born in a manger in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth...

He was poor and homeless.. He ate with sinners and hung out with tax collectors.

But Jesus' humble beginnings led to a life of humility which led to a humble death on a cross... for us. For you and for me.

No matter how many times I hear that, I am always humbled that He would choose ME!

Just as God chose David... He chose Jesus. Jesus represented all of us as He went to His death for our sins.

And just as God chose David.... He chooses us.  We are His representatives to the world. We are called to point others to Jesus.

May we use the season of Christmas as an opportunity to introduce people to the True King, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I'm DONE! Advent Day #12- Darkness and Light!

I'm DONE!

Now, before you think our family is leaving the mission field, or I'm throwing in the towel on homeschooling or cooking or laundry (all three of the latter things I have seriously considered being done with on bad days (I must confess!), but thankfully God's mercies are new every morning!)... I better explain...

I am officially DONE my first semester in my Masters Program!!!!  I can't even begin to explain how great it feels to have completed my first 3 courses.  It has been a TON of work, required lots of grace from my husband and kids, filled my mind with an overwhelming amount of information... but it has been WELL worth it!  (Now... just 6 more semesters to go!)

Thankful to all of you who have been praying for me and for our family through this busy time these last 8 weeks of school. I have felt it! (keep 'em coming!)

Today we can also say that we are DONE our first semester of the 2014-2015 school year here at Emmaus!! It has been an awesome year so far.  I am getting more and more excited about teaching next semester and having the opportunity to get to know our third year class more intimately!

 (You can be praying for that too, please!)

The next couple weeks we are going to TRY to rest and catch up on house stuff and family time... very much looking forward to that!

On to our advent journey...

Today, we moved from the story of Rahab and her family in Jericho, to the story of Ruth.  If you have never read Ruth, I really encourage you to sit down and read it.  It is a short but powerful book!  It foreshadows the coming Redeemer in a beautiful narrative.

This story highlights Ruth's faithfulness to her mother-in-law Naomi, and to God, and includes the famous words, "Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live.  Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God." Ruth 1:16

God miraculously leads Ruth, a Moabite women, into a situation where Naomi's family is redeemed and their land restored.  He places Ruth in a wheat field to glean... and this is where she meets Boaz, the man who would be her kinsman-redeemer.  

It is a love story that reminds all of us of the love story God is writing in our lives.  HE desires to be our Redeemer!

When Naomi thought that all hope was lost... when she was in her darkest times... God brought light. And that light redeemed.

Just like in our lives.  When He sent His Son Jesus, He was a light in a dark place... 

And He redeemed us.

Today we were reminded of how the darkness makes the light seem so much brighter. If there is any season that is more filled with lights in the darkness, that is more able to reveal this truth to us...

its Christmas! 

We should thank God each day for being our Light!

Christmas Festivities at EBS!... and Advent Day #11- Red Reminds Us

BOY!  Today has been FULL!

We had the annual Christmas party... which was a blast, as is ANY get-together with our students!

(Musical Chairs!)

And then this evening, after baking LOTS of cookies and gathering decorations and blowing up balloons, and putting together fun little presents, we gathered at the Ayars house (where Stacey spent the last two days working hard decorating and wrapping and baking!) for our Staff Christmas Party!  And THAT was a BLAST!

Starting with an opening prayer and thanks from Matt, we moved into a time of games!  

We opened with an always-exciting-and-very-active balloon game... which ended with Simeon and Maxi on the floor!!

And then we moved to the Limbo, which was a HUGE hit!!!

The Winners!  (Lucner, Haylie and Junior)

We closed with a present game (white elephant) that was super exciting too!  

And took a big group picture with everyone! (...sad that FanFan, Claudin, and Belony couldn't be with us- we missed them!). 

I am SO thankful to have the opportunity to serve alongside of these amazing people!!! 

Because I am SO tired, I am going to keep the devotional part short... but I certainly couldn't leave it out, because today's story is really good!

Today, we looked at the story of Rahab, the prostitute who put her trust in God and helped the spies Joshua sent into Jericho to spy out the land.  Because of her belief and trust in God, she and her whole family were spared... 

by placing a red rope out her window, Israel knew not to hurt her family...

and Rahab becomes part of the very lineage of Jesus.  NOT the person one might expect, huh?

What this story reminds us is that God has the power to turn ANYONE'S life around.  He asks us to put our faith and trust in Him and allow His Spirit to do the work in our lives.  

That red rope was a symbol of Rahab's trust in God... that He would save her.  That red rope reminds us of Jesus, our lifeline (our red rope) that leads to salvation, if we would just trust in Him!

Whenever you see red this Christmas (which is OFTEN!), let it remind you of Rahab and her faith in God. May it encourage you to continue to trust Him and encourage you to share the Good News with others... remembering that God is powerful and, like Rahab, He can change anyone's life and redeem even the darkest of circumstances! 

Advent Day #10- That it Might Go Well...

Today, we looked from Joseph to Moses.  After 400 years of slavery in Egypt, God's people were able to leave, and through one miracle after another, God brought them to Mount Horeb, where He gave His people the 10 Commandments.

These 10 commands were God's way of showing how we could love Him and love others.  In fact, as Jesus said, all of the commandments are summed up in those two things.

So often we forget how good boundaries are for us... we don't like to be told what to do... we don't like to feel confined...

We forget that God created these commandments "so that it might go well with them and their children forever." (Deuteronomy 5)

The 10 Commandments are God's way of showing us how much He loves us and desires to protect us.  These laws are truly a gift, if we would just learn to see them that way.

Take a look at them in Deuteronomy 5... and as you read, ask yourself how they reveal God's love to you... you will be surprised at how much they express love when you stop to think about it!

And... the only way that Jesus was able to be a perfect sacrifice was for Him to live a sinless life.  What that sinless life represented was a HUGE offering of LOVE for us! Praise God that He sent us His Son, Jesus!!!

Advent Day #9- God Intended it All for Good!

Yesterday's devotional reminded us that Jesus carries us through difficult times, and that He will never leave us.

Today, as we continued looking at the life of Jacob, we came to the story of Jacob's son, Joseph.  We are told that Jacob loved Joseph very much, and to show his love he gave Joseph a special, colorful coat...

This gesture of love made Joseph's brothers very jealous, and they decided to sell their own brother into slavery and convince their dad that he was dead.

Many years later, after years of prosperity, mixed with times of hardship, Joseph ended up second in command to Pharaoh.  When a famine came upon the land, Joseph's brothers went to Egypt for help and were once again united with the brother they had gotten rid of.

When his brothers beg for forgiveness, Joseph responded with these famous words, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good." Genesis 50:20

This lesson is a great reminder to us that God desires to take our difficulties and turn them into good. He wants to use the struggles and trials of life for His glory in our lives... we just need to trust that He will.

As we come closer to Christmas (16 days away!!!), may we remember this truth and that the ultimate reality of it is found in baby Jesus.  The world was at one time perfect, and when sin entered in, it shattered that perfection...

BUT, God would turn everything around, He would defeat sin by sending His very own Son, as a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, into the world to save it!  Christmas is the perfect expression of bringing good out of bad... bringing light into darkness!

May we thank God today that He always work things out for the good of those who love Him! (Romans 8:28)

Our Jesse Tree is looking good :)

Advent Day #8- The Lord is in this Place!

Today as we looked at our advent devotions, we moved to the story of Jacob, Isaac's son.  One night as Jacob is sleeping, he receives a vision from God- a ladder from heaven, with angels descending and ascending.  In this dream God makes a promise to Jacob, similar to Abraham, that He will have numerous descendants and that he will receive the land that God has promised...

But the words that stand out so boldly to me are these: God said, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go... I will not leave you..." (Genesis 28:15).

When Jacob wakes up from this dream, he knows that God's Presence is with him, and always has been... he declares:

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." (Genesis 28:16)

What this vision reminds us is that God is with us, just as He was with Jacob.  He is watching over us and He will never leave us!

Christmas is a time of great celebration and joy because of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ... but I am not unaware of the reality that Christmas is also hard for those same reasons.

Maybe you have lost someone close to you this past year... or maybe you are without a job and that makes Christmas difficult this year... or maybe you are battling an illness or awaiting test results... or maybe you are feeling an overwhelming amount of stress because of family situations.

If celebrating and living joyfully is difficult for you this season, because of hard times, let this story remind you that Jesus is right there with you, watching over you.  He will NEVER leave you!

May you have full assurance and peace that He is carrying you this Christmas season, and that even though there is struggle, He has come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest... we can take heart- because He has overcome the world! (John 16:33)

Advent Day #7- The Lord Provides

"Abraham named the place 'The Lord Provides'." Genesis 22:14

Today we continued reading Abraham's story and came to the climax of his faith journey... when God asked him to take his only son Isaac and sacrifice him.

I cannot even imagine how difficult that must have been to hear... the son that he waited decades for... the son that he understood to be the blessing that God promised.

And the craziest part about the story is that Abraham said "yes"... and he took his son up the mountain, built an altar, and was ready to do what God commanded when God stopped him.  God stopped him and said that He could see that Abraham's faith was genuine.  He could see that Abraham truly put his trust in God.

And then there, in the bushes, was a ram.  He provided a ram for the sacrifice and Abraham, in turn, named that place "The LORD provides".

The phrase that stands out to me and is repeated in the story is "Here I am".  When God called out Abraham's name, he responded with those three words.  When you look all throughout the Bible, this phrase is repeated over and over again... and what it is saying under the surface is so much more than just here. I. am.

Those three words represent a willingness to come to God, to trust Him with what He is about to ask, to respond when he calls.

When we say "here I am" to God, we are offering ourselves as living sacrifices (like Abraham did when he was willing to take his son to the altar for God)... it's saying to God "I trust you, even when I don't understand."

How often do we say these words to God?  I believe that God doesn't just ask for this type of commitment in certain circumstances, but in EVERYDAY life.  I think that God wants us to commit every day to Him, being willing to say "Here I am" today... "I am trusting you" today... "Whatever your will is for me" today... "No matter what"... today.

As we celebrate this season of Christmas, and surround ourselves with decorations, songs, events, gifts, lights, people... may we also be reminded that all of this is about something SO MUCH BIGGER.

Let's take the time to thank God for HIS provision... for the MANY ways that He has blessed us and provided for our needs...  BUT may we also be sure to remember that the greatest provision God has given us is Jesus.  He has provided a way of salvation.

He is THE lamb that became OUR substitute.

What a humbling and awesome gift!