daily devotional

A Time to Rest

Guest Post by Mrs. Samantha Nungester

No.

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This is a word I struggle with saying.

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Today, honestly, I was just exhausted. I had a commitment to fulfill that I had already committed to, and zero energy and enthusiasm to go do it. But I did anyways, cause I can’t let anyone down, right?

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While this is admirable, it’s also stupid. Here me out. As I sat there, in a moment of frustration thinking about all the other things I have to get done (the list goes on and on), God spoke to my heart and said, “You know, you can just say no.” I’m sitting here trying to plan how I’m gonna make time here and there to get the Christmas Program at Church organized and planned out, secret Santa gifts bought, and oh yeah, find time to be a wife and mom and God just drops this huge Revelation in my heart. Is it huge? No. But it’s huge to me.

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This isn’t something I’d ever even considered. Saying no… you can do that? As I sat there kind of stunned, He then continued and said, “The root of that is fear.”

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Then it hit me: I’m scared. I’m scared to let people down. I’m scared to be rejected. I’m scared to upset someone. And this had created such a cycle of people pleasing that I honestly didn’t know how to stop it.

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I was rushing home to get ready to head right back out when I turned to my husband and said, “Can I just stay home?” You have to understand, I never don’t go. I never say, “no, I think I’m gonna rest instead.” I’m always the “yes” girl. So this, my friends, was huge for me. And man was it freeing!

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It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to not over commit. It’s okay to not be at every social gathering and your kids not be involved in every little thing and to just rest. And since this is supposed to be a Christmas post, It’s okay to have just a couple of presents under the tree because PRESENCE is what actually matters most.

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So, this is what Christmas is to me this year: a time to rest. A time to celebrate who Jesus is to me and my family and remind myself of why I CHOOSE to live a life dedicated to Him.

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I’m tired, y’all. Tired of trying to be a Pinterest mom, tired of worrying about the perfect gift and tired of being scared of not being good enough. So, I over commit and try and do it all. This year, though, I’m gonna just take a step back and BREATHE. Enjoy Jesus and who He is! Is life ever gonna be less busy than this? No, it sure isn’t. But finding moments of refreshment in the business is possible with Jesus at the forefront.

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Merry Christmas!

Childlike Faith

Guest Post by Mrs. Ashley Post

To have childlike faith…

Sounds so simple doesn’t it? My daughter, Elle, just recently turned three, and the excitement of Santa Claus is REAL this year. Santa’s elf is perched high on our mantle and we even got to visit with the boss himself, Santa (despite the plexiglass window). With COVID you’d think Christmas magic would be in short supply, but not with our little! She is our Buddy the elf- constantly singing loud for all to hear!

Recently, Zak (my husband), was off work, so we took the opportunity to cross off a few things on our Christmas list. While shopping it seemed everyone’s anxiety was high- whether it was the mask-wearing, news of COVID numbers increasing, or just the “holidays” in general, everyone seemed to be on edge. Needless to say, when we finally got back home we were ready for bed.

After baths, nighttime routines, and putting Walker (our five month old) to bed, Zak and I got into bed with Elle. She was already snoozing hard. Zak and I looked at each other with a sigh of relief- “what a day” we thought. All of the sudden, as clear as anything I’ve ever heard, Elle started singing “Emmanuel, Emmanuel!”- one of her children’s program songs for church. Tears immediately came to both of our eyes. She was “dream singing”! With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the magic of Santa, and the stress of finding that perfect gift- God used this simple moment to bring us back to the true meaning of Christmas- the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God spoke to my heart from so simply and sweetly from the mouth of babes. The weight of the day seemed to melt away. Did you know “Emmanuel” translated means “God with us”? *Cue the chills*

I want to encourage you this Christmas season to remember the reason we celebrate and remember your WORTH. The song “O Holy Night” has the lyric “the soul felt it’s worth”, which has never stood out to me until just recently. God loved you so much that he bankrupt heaven to send a Savior to a lost and dying world. For YOU my friend.

Times have been dark this year, there is no doubt. It is said that on the night that Jesus was born, three stars met to create the star that lit the wise men’s’ path. Light was brought to the world. Did you know that December 21st this year we will be able to see this same star on the darkest day of the year? The Christmas star. How appropriate that in this moment in time during the Christmas season, God sends this beautiful reminder that Light has and will step in forever and ever. He makes all things new again. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”- Matthew 1:23

We wish you and your family the merriest Christmas, this year. May God bless you and keep you!

Words

Words are powerful, and boy do I love them.

Every year God gives me a word [or phrase] to use as a compass for the next 12 months. I use this word throughout the year to grow, reflect, and hone in on who God needs me to me be.

My word for 2020 was fly. I didn’t understand at all what that meant or what the year would hold for me. Honestly, it’s December and I’m just now getting it. After all, fly means to move quickly or be hurled through the air.

Don’t they say hindsight is 2020? See what I did there? Moving homes, moving towns, moving jobs, all during a global pandemic definitely had me feeling like I was being hurled through the air. Some days I landed gracefully, and some days I landed gracelessly. But I landed. And boy did I learn a ton.

This past Sunday God gave me my word for 2021, and I’m pretty pumped about it. My word is FOCUS which is a lot less scary than FLY.

1. Focus on God

2. Focus on Family

3. Focus on Rays of Sunshine

I’m pretty excited to see where this takes me. I’m excited to make the above three things my true center of attention. I’m ready to hone in, dig in, and hopefully not be hurled through the air anymore. 😆

What’s your word?

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105

From Heavy to Hope

Heavy.

I was trying to think of a word to best describe certain events from this past year, and that’s the word that I kept coming back to.

Heavy.

Webster’s Dictionary defines heavy as difficult to lift or to move.

Yup. I know that feeling.

In Greek the word heavy, or ademoneo, means to be troubled and is used to describe the Lord’s sorrow in Gethsemane.

Although we’ve all had events in 2020 that could only be described as heavy – we know that with that heaviness comes hope. We see that hope in an empty tomb just a few days later.

The heaviness is hard, but the heaviness keeps us humble. After all, we are called to be humble, but that can only happen when we are fully dependent on God.

So maybe parts of 2020 were heavy. Maybe parts broke us into pieces and brought us to our knees.

But maybe that’s where we found God. Maybe that’s where we found the hope we’d been longing for.

And maybe – just maybe – the hope that we obtained on our journey to Jesus will be the very same hope that someone on that path needs.

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” Psalm 16:9

Christmas

Guest Post by Mrs. Christle Jenkins

CHRISTMAS, a cozy time of year, where we get under a blanket, drink hot chocolate, watch Christmas movies, all while our Christmas lights are twinkling all around us.

We stay busy decorating Christmas trees, shopping for gifts, and celebrating with family. When I think of the true meaning of Christmas and what we are celebrating, I think of God sending us His Son, Jesus. He is the reason for the season, but sometimes all the distractions of the holiday tend to blur out Jesus, our Savior!

There are so many times I have dreaded Christmas because my mind goes straight to the shopping, the money that will be spent, and the weeks of busyness. I must stop and remind myself that Christmas is about Christ and God’s love for us!

I also think about how God chose a virgin, Mary, to carry His Son. Can you imagine what Mary must have thought? She was favored enough by God to be the mother of Jesus, her firstborn son, and He would be the Savior of the world.

“She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

Today is my firstborn son’s birthday. This leads me to think about and realize just how much of a sacrifice God made, but also Mary. God trusted Mary enough to handle her son’s purpose in this world. It is unimaginable to me to know that my son, who would be sinless and blameless, would be born to die for the sins of the world. I can tell you with all honesty that my faith would waiver at that moment, but Mary shows a true testament of her faith. She trusted her Lord with her Son. She had to watch him be ridiculed, hurt, beaten, and crucified and keep her faith that He was carrying out God’s purpose.

As a mom I want to try to control and protect my children in every circumstance they face. I want to keep them from hurt, pain, and having to deal with any obstacles that would come against them. But these are the moments that God uses to mold them and help them become who and what He wants them to be. That is where I need to remember the faith Mary had.

I can only teach them to seek the Lord with all their hearts and then have faith that God has their future in His hands. God loves our children more than we do and they belong to Him. He has placed them on this earth to fulfill His purpose for them. They will face adversity, hurt, pain, etc., but we can strive to have the faith Mary had, and God will handle the rest.

Did She Know?

Guest Post by Mrs. Bridget Kirby

Mary, Did you Know?

As a Christian since the age of 7, I have been blessed to experience many Christmases knowing the story of Jesus and how he came to this earth to be my Savior. I have done the “Hanging of the Green” and participated in candlelight services and Christmas pageants. And I have believed. But, it wasn’t until the Christmas of my 30th year on this earth that I truly and irrevocably understood the true “reason for the season.”

It was a Christmas like none I’d ever before experienced. As a new mom, I had a cranky 9-month old baby, crying like he did nearly every minute of every day. What I now know was severe inner ear issues were–at the time–evidence of my failing as a mom. As he dug into all of my christmas decorations with his food-sticky hands and shoved glitter-covered decorations into his mouth, I fought to put the tree up and adorn it with ornaments. I was frazzled, hair in a knot on top of my head, picking up and putting down a crying child, fighting the urge to cry. I wanted this Christmas to be the best of all for my son, but I couldn’t get it all done. What kind of mother couldn’t even get her Christmas tree up for her baby? I had seen all the fabulous Facebook pictures of fabulous moms and their fabulous Christmas decorations in their fabulous matching Christmas outfits. Surely, I wasn’t cut out for motherhood. It was hard. Too hard. The postpartum depression consumed me to the point I almost couldn’t breath. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough.

And that’s when it happened.

Hanging another glass ornament (Don’t worry…I’ve learned my lesson and long since abandoned the glass ornaments!), the background Christmas music filtered through my anxiety-ridden thoughts. “Mary, Did You Know?,” a song I was hearing for what must have been the millionth time, and yet it felt like the first time. I remember staring into the lighted tree as the words began to pour over me and tears began to fall.

And I began to understand.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.

I turned my gaze to my messy baby, crawled over to him, and cried as I scooped him into my lap. And in that moment, my heart was Mary’s heart. For the first time, I truly understood the love and faith in her heart. And the fear she must have felt. She had been given the greatest gift and greatest responsibility of any person in this world–she would give birth to and raise the Messiah, the Savior. She would deliver a child who would deliver nations through his sacrifice——an earthly mother carrying the Son of God. God had entrusted her with his greatest gift. In Luke 2:19, after the shepherds went far and wide to spread the word of God’s promise made truth in the birth of Christ, we are given a small glimpse of Mary as a new mother. God’s Word tells us, “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” In another version of the same verse, it says, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Mary pondered what it would mean to be a mother to Christ. She treasured it. And I imagine she worried like any mother would. She knew she would struggle. And that she would fail. Often. And yet, even with knowing how many hard days were coming and what sacrifices she would have to make, even in times when she wondered about her adequacy as a parent and as a human, she had faith that her Father’s promises would carry her through. Because she had the unconditional love of the Father. A Father who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

As I sat clinging to my 9-month old, sticky-fingered baby in front of the Christmas tree that day, I saw the truth of Christmas. It wasn’t in the beautifully-decorated tree or the cute outfits or even in the candlelight services at church; it was in the heart of a mother. Like Mary, even with knowing how hard motherhood would be, how many sacrifices that would need to be made, how many tough days there were on the horizon, I had never known a love like I felt for my baby boy. The same love Mary had felt for her baby boy. But even more than the love of the mother, was the love of our Father who sent his Son to save us all.

https://youtu.be/ifCWN5pJGIE

Hope in the Hurting

There is hope in the hurting.

There is.

Im not trying to spit out a cliche. It’s not just a frivolous quote slapped on a coffee mug in a cute font.

It’s the truth.

It’s truth backed up by the Bible. Backed up by a God that sent His only son to die for me – a shameful sinner. Backed up by a God that knows what hurt is.

The holidays are often filled with hurt, and without God in your midst the lingering emptiness and pain has the potential to strangle you.

If you’re hurting this holiday season, please know that there really is hope.

You have to search for it.

You have to pray for it.

And while you’re looking for that hope, I urge you to serve somewhere.

Because in the midst of serving, you may just find the hope that you’ve been searching for.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Struggle Bus

Let’s be real for a minute.

We are all struggling – somehow, someway.

It doesn’t matter where you are in life. What age or what stage – the struggle will always be real.

I think about the women in the Bible and can’t imagine the daily battles they struggled with. From Sarah to Tamar to Rahab to Mary – they were women just like us. Women that messed up. Woman that cried out to God. Woman that made a difference. Woman that God believed in.

God’s bigger than our struggles, y’all.

He wants to walk through them with us.

He wants us to battle well.

He wants us to shine for Him.

So whatever you are struggling with today just remember this – you have a God that’s with you each step of the way.

And your God wins.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

May We Be

May we be an instrument of Christ.

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:9-10 NLT

We are living in a world that is anything but peace. I grew up being told “hate the sin but love the sinner”. I struggled with that. I still do.

I believe as Christians in this world we are hungry for peace. This scripture is a reminder of what brings us peace, and how we should act to promote the peace that we desire. It reminds me that I am also the sinner, but Christ forgives and loves me.

If you’re like me and want to see peace overcome this world, first learn to forgive. Demonstrate the love of Christ so that others can experience His love and forgiveness. Hate what is evil, love what is good. At least make an effort to live at peace with everyone.

Many things that our heart desires, a relationship with Christ delivers. As we approach the ending of 2020, may we be an instrument of peace. If we are called to serve others, may we serve them well. If our gift is to encourage, may we be encouraging. If we smile by giving, may we give generously.

Be the good. Be the instrument in the world that gives a glimpse of Jesus. Although it takes much time and discipline, offer your life back to God. Allow him to steer you through this world. Nothing should compete with the Father.

Lastly, this world is full of evil. We see it each day. In Romans 12 Paul shares with us a reminder to not allow the evil of this world to conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Amen.

Draw Near

Guest Post by Miss Harley Perkins

In Luke 15 starting at verse 11, Jesus tells a parable of the lost son who decided to receive his inheritance early and go spend it on wild living to soon lose it all. When he came to his senses, he realized the only place he could find comfort and care would be in his father’s house.

The wave of emotions that came flooding in were doubt, worry, and shame for the son, much like the feelings we face when we become distant with God. But the thing we need to remember no matter the things we’ve done or the trials we’re facing, the Lord is running to us with his arms wide open filled with love and compassion.

Luke 15:20 says, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

Jesus isn’t waiting for you to have it all together. He’s just waiting for you to turn to him and say, “I need you.” In the presence of Jesus, you are loved more than you can imagine and you don’t have to have your life spit shined and polished.

The father ran to his son after he had been living with the pigs. He didn’t care what he smelled like, looked like, or the fact he had wasted his entire inheritance with foolish choices. All he cared about was his son was home.

Run home to Jesus. Run into his arms and let Him love you and fill you with joy and peace to conquer anything the world throws at you. He doesn’t care what your life looks like or what your past may hold. Draw near to him and he will come running to you.