Category: Christmas

Indulging in Joy and Forgiveness This Christmas

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‘Tis the season to splurge, right? From our favorite Holiday foods and lattes to decorations and shopping, there are certainly temptations to live more lavishly than normal. And if you’re like me, it’s easy to justify our excesses as we vow to do better starting in January.

But there are a few extravagances in which we should indulge, especially during this season of thankfulness and giving. What if we indulge in:

Relishing God’s abundant love and mercy toward us.

Forgiving and offering grace toward everyone we encounter.

Seeking His peace, wisdom, and strength.

Loving others in word and deed.

Praising God for who He is and all He does.

Sharing a smile or a hug.

Listening well and building a bridge of understanding.

A great list of indulgences, wouldn’t you agree? There are a few items that would be best to restrict from our diets during this time of year. Here’s my recommendation of habits to curb:

Grumbling

Gossiping

Anger

Bitterness

Let’s choose to make it a joyful Holiday Season, not because of the outward fluff of food, gifts, and decorations, but rather the inward qualities of a Christlike spirit. Let’s indulge ourselves in Him.

In Him we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of sins,

in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

that he lavished on us.

Ephesians 1:7

Photo by Diliara Garifullina on Unsplash

25 Days of Praise

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During this most wonderful time of the year, let us turn our hearts upward as we focus on the glorious majesty of our God. This month I want to provide you with a daily attribute of the Lord on which to meditate throughout your day. May this give your heart a reason to rejoice and your mind an opportunity to praise His glorious name throughout the holiday season.

  1. He is our Creator. In the beginning God create the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
  2. He is God Most High. I cry out to God Most High to God, who vindicates me.       Psalm 57:2
  3. He is our Shield. Do not be afraid…. I am your shield, your very great reward. Genesis 15:1
  4. He sees You are the God who sees me…I have now seen the One who sees me. Genesis 16:13
  5. He is the Great I Am. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Exodus 3:14
  6. He is our Redeemer. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. Exodus 6:6
  7. He is our Strong Defender. The LORD is my strength and my defense. Exodus 15:2
  8. He makes bitter waters sweet. Moses threw the piece of wood into the water and the water turned sweet. Exodus 15:25
  9. He sanctifies I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Exodus 31:13
  10. He is Holy. Be holy because I, the LORD your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2
  11. He is Faithful and True. He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9
  12. He is a Defender of the downtrodden. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow. Deuteronomy 10:18
  13. He has a Mighty Hand and a Powerful Arm. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Deuteronomy 26:8
  14. He is our Rock. He is the Rock, His works are perfect. Deuteronomy 32:4
  15. He is a Generous. Take possession of the land the LORD our God is giving you for your own. Joshua 1:11
  16. He does Amazing Acts. Tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you. Joshua 3:5
  17. He is our  Peace. Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The Lord is Peace. Judges 6:24
  18. He Restores.  I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. Joel 2:25
  19. He is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. I Samuel 17:45
  1. He is Omnipotent. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6
  2. He is our Shepherd.  The LORD is my shepherd, I have all that I need. Psalm 23:1
  3. He is our Guide. He guides me down the right path bringing honor to His name. Psalm 23:3
  4. He is our Salvation. The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1
  5. He loves us with an Unfailing Love. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. Psalm 89:2
  6. He is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7

I hope you have a wonderful Holy-Day season. May these verses lift your spirits and turn your heart toward Almighty God. Starting on Dec 26, I will begin posting specific attributes we see in Jesus, as we worship Emanuel, God with us.

 

 

Follow me on Instagram as I provide a colorful reminder of these daily attributes – @karolladd

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

 

 

Lavished!

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During this Christmas week, let’s turn our eyes to the love God lavishes on us. Last week, we looked at the beauty of God’s love as expressed in the Hebrew word, Hesed.  This unique term portrays the Lord’s love for us in such a gracious and powerful way in the Old Testament, yet in the New Testament (which was written in Greek) we see another descriptive word identifying God’s love.

The Greek language has several different words for love: eros which is sensual or passionate love, philia which represents brotherly love, and storge denotes a natural affection. Yet it is the term agape which expresses a strong, altruistic and sacrificial, God-type love.

The apostle Paul elaborated on agape love in his first letter to the Corinthians. Perhaps you are familiar with his description, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” What a beautiful picture of how we are loved by God!

Now we tend to throw the word love around to mean all sorts of frivolous things:

“Oh I love your new outfit!”

“I love cake-mix-flavored frozen yogurt with sprinkles on top.”

“I love the beach.”

“I love this new book!”

What we typically mean is that we really, really, really like something or feel a type of surface-level affection for it. Sometimes we equate love with how we’ve been treated by a parent or a friend or spouse. But God’s love is beyond what we see in human affection. When we examine the definition of love that Paul gave us, we see a love defined beyond this world. We can scarcely comprehend the depth of God’s love. Earthly comparisons of altruistic love leave us lacking in the understanding of the height and breadth of the love of God.

Unfathomable love! John, the disciple who called himself “the beloved one,” wanted Christ’s followers to know how wonderfully loved they are by the Father.  To God’s beloved children (that’s you and me) John wrote:

 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  I John 3:1

 

Lavished! Did you catch that word? Lavished; bestowed profusely. God is not guarded or stingy when it comes to His love for us. His love pours out in generous measure. Stop and drink this truth from John into your heart. Allow it to permeate your being. You are lavishly loved with the sincerest, most powerful love imaginable.

That’s what Christmas is all about, God lavishing His love upon us by sending His only Son Jesus into this world, so that He could offer His life for us. What great love! What an unspeakable gift! Thank you Lord for your agape love for us! We celebrate you this Christmas!

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This blog is an excerpt from Unfailing Love. To learn more about this book and the $5 special this month click here.

Unfailing Love

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Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the skies.
 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
   your justice like the great deep.
Psalm 36:5

 

The unique and beautiful term David used in this Psalm to express God’s love was the Hebrew word  Hesed.  This is a very rich word; rich with depth and meaning and truth. Hesed  is considered one of the most important terms in Old Testament theology and ethics. It has three basic meanings which all interact together: strength, steadfastness, and love.

The word Hesed cannot be fully understood unless all three of the meanings are incorporated. Generally the word “love” carries a bit of light hearted, fluffy affection, but when we put love together with steadfastness and strength we understand the enduring nature of God’s Hesed – type of love, even toward those who seem weak or undeserving.

Hesed implies loyalty, mercy and generosity. It also infers personal involvement and commitment beyond what the law requires. For example, a husband and wife are legally bound to each other, yet their relationship transcends the legal document and represents a bond and commitment to each other. The prophet Hosea spoke of the Hesed between God and His people, “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD,” Hosea 2:19-20.

Not only does God demonstrate this enduring love and kindness, He wants us to know and  understand His hesed love for us. Consider the words God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah saying:

This is what the LORD says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness (hesed),
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:23,24

This Holiday season, my prayer for you is that you will experience the comfort and joy of His Unfailing Love for you.

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This blog is an excerpt from Unfailing Love. To learn more about this book and the $5 special this month click here.

 

Photo at the beginning of this blog is by Chris Meads on Unsplash

 

Light of the World

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Many years ago when I taught science, I enjoyed teaching my students about the spectrum of light and the rainbow of colors that appear when light is refracted.  Whether it is a rainbow, a sunset, a prism or cut glass, refracted light always reveals the same order of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet (Roy G. Biv). It’s unchangeable and consistent.

Isn’t it interesting how many of the characteristics of light seem to reflect certain attributes of God?  Just as the spectrum of light is unchangeable, so our glorious God is immutable and unchangeable. The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” It’s no wonder that the beloved disciple John uses the metaphor of light to describe God.

 

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

 

Darkness can’t overtake the light, but light drives out or dispels the darkness. Throughout scripture, light refers to holiness, purity and truth, while darkness is compared to evil and sin. God is completely holy and represents absolute purity. There is no sin in Him, not even the smallest portion. Darkness is a place where things are hidden, but when God shines His light in our lives, He not only reveals sin, but He also offers forgiveness through Jesus. He opens our eyes to see things we may have never seen before and guides us down a new path.

 

He lights up our spiritual eyes to see.

 

May we bask in the radiance of His love, as He lights our paths and guides our way through this dark world. This Holy season points us to Jesus – the Light of the World. As we enjoy the lights and splendor of Christmas let us joyfully reflect on the One True Light and turn our hearts toward Him.

 

Praise you Light of the World. Thank you for the warmth of your love and the light of your wisdom. Continue to lead us and guide us along Your path. Shine your light on the dark corners of our lives. Help us to shine your light so that others may know your love.

 

Photo by Charlotte Coneybeer on Unsplash

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A portion of this blog is an excerpt from my book Unfailing Love.