Fall Revival

Who doesn’t like October?

It’s the “Andy Griffith” of the calendar months. Everybody likes October: the smells, the tastes, the colors and the cooler temperatures. I like October, too, but for less obvious reasons.

For starters, October marks the end of another long, sweltering, Southern summer. In October, the sun rises later and goes to bed earlier which means more sleep for us all. October doesn’t have the pressure of December nor the disappointment of January. It really is a near perfect month. As if these reasons were not enough, October also offers the best of college football, post-season baseball, earthy soups, knee-high boots, wool scarves and wood-burning fires (just to name a few).

It seems like there is a hardiness to life that falls fresh every October. Some sort of cinnamon-spiced optimism is in the air, a lightness of being, making the season plump and round with hope, like a pumpkin.

So, I ask again, “Who doesn’t like October?”

Well, truthfully, I don’t.

I know, I know. I just went through all the warm and fuzzy reasons why I “like” October only to admit that I really don’t like it all. I mean, I want to like it but honestly, my feelings are a corn-maze of emotions that have nothing to do with mums or hay bales. For me, October is a mixed bag of good and bad not unlike my child’s stash of Halloween candy; right next to the king-sized Snickers is a marshmallow circus peanut.

With October comes an emotional equinox in my soul. The “good” days grow shorter as the “hard” nights grow longer.  In other words, I’m not very happy. After the thrill of ordering my first pumpkin-spiced latte from Starbucks is gone, I begin to feel like the picked-over pumpkin patch at Old Baker’s Farm.

Why?

October is full of anniversary grief. My mother died on the most beautiful day in October. Two weeks later, my dad died. A few years after that, my marriage died on an absolutely, gorgeous October afternoon. It was my husband’s birthday.

Puffed circus peanuts.

The sights and smells of fall bring joy to most but offer painful reminders to me; harvest moons, leggy impatients, pumpkins, candy corn, leaf piles and scarecrows feel more like tricks than treats.

Before my parents passed, both labored for extended seasons in the ICU. I spent the entire month of October at Brookwood Hospital. Day after day, I drove across Red Mountain watching the leaves bleed fall colors. I sat in the ICU waiting room and watched Alabama lose to Tennessee on the third Saturday of that October. A week later, I watched the Red Sox beat my beloved Yankees in the ALCS. My mother died two days after Boston won the World Series.

It was officially the worst October ever.

It was a month fueled by hospital coffee (none of which was fall-flavored) and raw adrenaline. I left in the dark and returned in the dark. Rather than feeling like the sun was doing me a favor with the extra hours for potential sleep, it just seemed lazy. All of life was harder. I had no time to unpack sweaters or scarves once the weather changed. I chose tennis shoes rather than knee-high boots since I often had to run up five flights of stairs taking two steps at a time to make it to my parent’s side after a call from the nurse. There wasn’t a soup or a fire warm enough to comfort my stiff body after 34 days of living and dying in the ICU. The usual gifts of fall were not mine to enjoy that year and truthfully, October has never really been the same.

My mother had a birthday in October, so while she lay dying, I brought her presents. One of these gifts was a ceramic figurine of a happy, little scarecrow holding a sign that read, “Give Thanks.” It was hard to give thanks for a dying mother. It was impossible to give thanks when my dad died and by the time my marriage was gutted like a jack-o-lantern, I was hollow.

Losing both of my parents made me feel like an orphan. Losing my husband made me feel like a widow. The potential for gratitude-sucking sorrow and self-pity was (and is) great, especially this time of year. I am tempted to gorge my victim status like my son stuffs his face with Halloween candy.

But wouldn’t we both feel terrible if we did that…..again?

The word “autumn” means a time of full maturity (especially in the late stages of growth). I have been maturing and would like to believe this is my time to experience some fullness of that growth. I am ready to harvest a new season of hope. Jesus is the cause for this autumnal change in my heart. He is using my grief to do the impossible; making all things new. In allowing me to suffer and experience the reality of my deep need for Him, I have become the person I was always meant to be, my true self, my child-of-God self. He is making my faith complete through sorrow and providing a ministry of His Spirit experienced almost exclusively through heartache.

It’s a terrible privilege.

Part of my commitment to living “naked and unashamed” before God and man requires honesty. The purpose of honesty is not to be unapologetic but to expose my unbelief. The exposure will hopefully lead to repentance which makes fertile soil for fresh faith and freedom. However, it demands a discipline of grace to plant these seeds of faith. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

A harvest of peace.

Wow.

I am ready to rediscover and reengage the beauty that is in and all around me. Since I am new at this, I’m not sure what naked honesty and unashamed living looks like. Remember, I am learning how to throw off my metaphorical fig leaves and return to the garden of my desires. Maybe living naked and unashamed will be a quiet introspection of my soul, a meditation on the miracle of mindfulness or a serious study of the Japanese Maple ablaze in my front yard. I have a feeling, though, it will not be that serious. I think living naked and unashamed will look more like jumping into a leaf pile, waking up to the first frost with wonder, thanking the leggy impatients for her endurance, drilling three holes into a pumpkin and bowling for gourds, gloating on the third Saturday of October, bullying a Red Sox fan and howling at a harvest moon (maybe Manny will howl with me).

I am going to learn to like October again.

Will there still be pain? Yes. Will I be tempted to feel like an orphan? No doubt. A widow? Before the day is over but rather than allowing it to lead to despair, I hope instead to invite Jesus to use my sorrow to reveal my design and satisfy my deepest desires for intimacy with Him.

I read this yesterday in Streams In The Desert: “Dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God and will sustain you and bring you through….God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings.”

He lavishes me with these choice cordials. In the fires of my afflictions, I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. My palette is refined for that of Christ alone and nothing else will satisfy; nothing.

I am as brilliantly changed as the leaves on the trees.

For this, I can give thanks.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18.

“For your Maker is your Husband – the Lord Almighty is His name.”- Isaiah 54:5.

For Reflection:

1) Do you have a season of "anniversary grief"? If so, could it be time for Jesus to redeem and harvest a new season of hope during this time?

2) Can you with honesty bring your hurt, anger and disappointment to Jesus without making yourself feel anything other than your grief?

3) The purpose of honesty is not to be unapologetic but to expose unbelief. What may the the Holy Spirit be attempting to expose in you that could lead to repentance and fresh faith?

4) What "choice cordial" has God lavished on you in your seasons of suffering? Thank Him for these gifts and His tender-loving care.

http://thenakedprotestant.com/2012/10/10/fall-revival/

Michele is a freelance writer. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her five children. Michele can be reached at michelebbullock@yahoo.com.  

draw near

A new understanding of the gospel and grace is gradually infiltering places in my life where doors have been closed tight for years.  One of these areas - a big one - is my prayer life.  In my daily walk prayer has just been another check box, that when it was checked off I felt good about myself and when the box was empty, of course, I felt guilty.  Last week we heard a sermon on prayer in the gospel and I was so moved. The pastor said,

"Waking up to God's love for me and resting in that fosters a much greater prayer life than working at it."  Gordon Bals

Then a friend challenged me to sit in God's presence for 10 minutes without filling the time with words and thoughts....just meditating on being in His presence.

"Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love."  Richard Foster


You see, as Milton Vincent (Gospel Primer) puts it, believing the gospel, what Christ has done for me first and foremost, is the engine that drives an intimacy with God in my prayer life.

p. 36  "God is radically committed to my life of prayer.  He shed the blood of HIs Son aso that I might be cleansed and rendered fit to stand before Him in love.  He also permitted the brutal rendering of His Son so that I might now have a way into the Holy Place through the torn flesh of Jesus.  ”Draw near,” He say in Hebrews 4; “draw near,” he says in Hebrews 10; “pray without ceasing,” He urges  elsewhere.  How can I not feel the infinite sincerity of these invitations, especially when considering the painful lengths that God has endured so that I might enter His presence in prayer?"



For reflection:
~Believing that God is radically committed to my life of prayer read and meditate on the following scriptures. 

Look for JESUS as you read. 

Ephesians 1:7

Romans 5:9

Hebrews 10:19,20, 22

Hebrews 4:16

I Thessalonians 6:16-18


~Write out the verse that most impacted you in your 

own words in your journal.  

~Pray and watch the Lord change your prayer life.  

REST.


Pray, "Father, I want to fall deeper in love with You, my Father and ask You to enable me to do away with a methodical prayer life that is rote and turn it into a continual conversation with the One I love and the One who loves me perfectly. In Jesus Name (because of the gospel) I pray, Amen."

Deciding to Believe

Deciding to Believe

Author: Beth Broom 

When I meet with someone walking through difficult circumstances and ask her how she has tried to work out her problems, that person will often tell me that she has tried many of the prescribed methods of the church, such as prayer, Bible reading and deeper biblical community but is still struggling with the collision of her faith and broken life. She tells me that she believes the truth of God’s Word yet doesn’t feel that truth in her heart.

"This is the disconnect for so many of us with an abundance of scriptural knowledge: We know what we’re supposed to believe, but we have never experienced a crisis in which we must decide to believe. When entering a crisis, we often panic because of the crash between faith and circumstance. However, we need to look at the crisis as opportunity for the Lord to drive His truth further into our souls, shaping us and pushing us toward Him.

So I often ask myself and others three questions when struggling with a crisis: “What truth do I fail to believe about God?” “What truth do I fail to believe about myself?” and ”What truth do I fail to believe about this circumstance?” Ultimately, every situation in which we struggle requires us to decide what we believe about God, ourselves and our circumstances. Unfortunately, we don’t realize that we are  deciding to believe lies instead of truth in those moments. We’re not engaging in meta-cognition, the act of thinking about what we’re thinking about.

This is what Paul means when he admonishes us to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). We must think about where our minds automatically go in a crisis. I often realize that I automatically think, “God is not trustworthy,” or, “I must handle this on my own.” These are thoughts I must take captive, claiming truth instead of lies.

All this, of course, must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. When I try to stop feeling anxious about my circumstances, I just begin to feel anxious about feeling anxious. But when I lay my crisis before the Father and admit that I am failing to trust Him and trying to handle it on my own, He fills me with strength to forsake striving in my own flesh. He causes my heart to decide to believe through my desperate clinging to His Spirit for all that I need."
         

for reflection:

how are you struggling this day?

write out how you feel in the struggle.

write out the following questions about your struggle and answer them with scripture.

“What truth do I fail to believe about God?” 
“What truth do I fail to believe about myself?” 
”What truth do I fail to believe about this circumstance?”

Pray:  "Father, help me to look at the crisis as opportunity for You to drive Your truth further into my soul, shaping me and pushing me towards You."

Stress in My Life and the AntiPsalm 23

The Great Causes of Stress in My Life and the AntiPsalm 23

A couple of weeks ago in the midst of studying through Hebrews 4 and the concept of rest I was reminded of a series that I did a few years back called BreakOut. As we concluded that particular series I told you that our lives are a process of Jesus teaching us to live as free people. In order to do that, we have to find our identity in Him, look to Him as ultimate satisfaction, trust in His grace alone as our basis of acceptance, trust Him completely with our future. This is what God was teaching to Israel as He satisfied them with manna in the wilderness

I read this in an article by David Powlison and it touched me very deeply because it touches on all the dysfunctional places in my life that cause me so much stress, pain and worry. Ultimately it boils down to still being enslaved to myself with all of my “blind, misplaced devotion,” and not having found the freedom in knowing Jesus as my sole Master.

Powlison contrasts Psalm 23, which describes what it’s like to be free in Christ, with its ‘antipsalm.’ I found it cripplingly revealing. The antipsalm first:

Antipsalm 23

I’m on my own.
No one looks out for me or protects me.
I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.
I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.
It’s a jungle — I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert — I’m thirsty.
My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.
I stumble down some dark paths.
Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want.
But life’s confusing. Why don’t things ever really work out?
I’m haunted by emptiness and futility — shadows of death.
I fear the big hurt and final loss.
Death is waiting for me at the end of every road,
but I’d rather not think about that.
I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen.
I find no lasting comfort.
I’m alone … facing everything that could hurt me.
Are my friends really friends?
Other people use me for their own ends.
I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back.
No one is really for me — except me.
And I’m so much all about ME, sometimes it’s sickening.
I belong to no one except myself.
My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty.
Disappointment follows me all the days of my life.
Will I just be obliterated into nothingness?
Will I be alone forever, homeless, free-falling into void?
Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”
I have to add, “Hell is also myself.”
It’s a living death,
and then I die.

The Real Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Powlison says, “Can you taste the difference?”

~JD Greear

For Reflection:

Write out Psalm 23 in your journal.

Can you still recite it?  

Pray it each morning this week before you get out of bed.

explicit gospel

is the Gospel explicit in your life?

"Is the gospel assumed in your relationships?  Or is the gospel explicit?  I have been thinking about this distinction for a few days now.  Those who live life under the banner of an assumed gospel simply navigate the waters of life with an underlying foundation that is personal and meaningful.  An assumed gospel often means that a person deeply values the gospel and tries to live life according to the gospel.

The issue with an assumed gospel is that it is often too personal and, therefore, becomes private.  People who live under the assumption for the gospel often know how it relates to their life, but nobody else does.  Their kids never see how the gospel effects decisions, arguments, finances, etc.Their neighbors never hear of the hope within.  Their coworkers are alert to wonder about what makes them different.  Those who live under the assumed gospel often find it awkward to bring it up and talk about the work of Christ.  Why?  Because they never bring it up and learn to articulate the implications of Christ's atoning work and their life.

On the contrary, those who are explicit about the gospel in their relationships have a different effect.  By living out the gospel and speaking about the gospel and working through the gospel(verbally), they are helping to connect the dots for those around them.  Their kids hear how the gospel relates to the family finances or time or relationships or arguments.  Their neighbors hear about the hope within.  Coworkers are privy to the reality that this person is not simply a moral guy or girl, but one who is forgiven and transformed by the death and resurrection of Christ.  

I want to encourage you to begin and, with some of you, continue to make the gospel explicit in your relationships.  Don't  waste life by living an assumed gospel; rather, flesh it out and connect the dots for yourself and those around you.  Talk with your spouse about how Christ's person and work relates to everything.  Pass this on to your kids.  Mention Christ.  Talk about Christ.  Point to Christ.  Relate to Christ.  Oftentimes where the gospel is assumed, it is quickly lost."

Josh Patterson 

(appendix in The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler)

Who Rescued Who?

early a.m.

woke up down, discouraged, purposeless and unmotivated.

know where refreshment is but have trouble even getting to the well to drink.

what will today be like?...unsure...unpredictable

muster up a faint voice to speak to HIM.

where can i go for help?  for rescue... show me...

quiet...no noise...sip coffee...think

pray a little, write a little, read a little

humid outside on the porch, unrefreshing air reminds me of my spirit...seeking, wanting more for this day than what's ahead, blah

YOU send a breath of fresh air in a friend

a friend to visit who feels the same way...

needs rescue, vision and purpose

we speak of our souls, empty and fragile

who will rescue who?

talk continues, still no breeze on the porch

sighs, stares into space

a moment of truth, a reminder comes forth

where does my help come from?

from the MAKER

Oh yeah, we begin to remember...

remember gospel truth - we speak it to one another

iron sharpening iron

there you have it...the well springs forth

a little short psalm, the day begins

damp spirits gone... thankful HE sent a friend

Ephesians 4:25
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (unbelief).

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

This week:

~  Think of a friend or family member who lives out the gospel explicitly rather than assumed. Call them and set up coffee or a meal, or maybe a walk to speak truth to one another. 

~Rejoice and thank God for the gift of community that we so often neglect.

Mention Christ.  Talk about Christ.  

Point to Christ.  Relate to Christ.

“I believe; help my unbelief!”

The Root Of All Sin
Temptation is a false promise–a promise that doesn’t deliver. When we give into temptation, we are believing a lie. In the moment that we’re being tempted to do something, say something, or believe something, there is a deeper temptation happening under the surface. This may come as a surprise to you, but temptation has more to do with belief than it does behavior. Every temptation to sin (going all the way back to the Garden of Eden) is, at it’s root, a temptation to disbelieve the gospel. Gerhard Forde puts it this way:

The sin to be ultimately expelled is our lack of trust, our unbelief.

When we are being tempted, we are being enticed to purchase something we think we need in order to escape the judgement of emptiness. On the surface, the bait might be lust, anger, greed, self-pity, defensiveness, entitlement, revenge, having to win, and so on. But the only reason we take the bait is because we think it will satisfy our deeper hunger for meaning, freedom, validation, respect, empowerment, affection, a sense of identity, worth, and so on.

So, here’s the connection between sinning (the fruit of the problem) and unbelief (the root of the problem): our failure to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles is the direct result of our refusal to believe in the rich provisional resources that are already ours in Christ–we’re not believing that, by virtue of our Spirit-wrought union with Christ, everything we need and long for, we already possess. John Calvin rightly said that, “Christians are in perpetual conflict with their own unbelief.”

This is why when Jesus was asked in John 6:28, “What must we do to be doing the works of God?” he answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him who he sent.” Jesus was making the indisputable point that unbelief is the force that gives birth to all of our bad behavior and every moral failure. It is the root. While the disciples located godliness in something they must do, Jesus pointed them back to himself–the One who came to do for them what they could never do for themselves. “Believe in me.”

In the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans, he writes:

…only unbelief is called sin by Christ, as he says in John 16, “The Spirit will punish the world because of sin, because it does not believe in me.” Furthermore, before good or bad works happen–which are the good or bad fruits of the heart–there has to be present in the heart either faith or unbelief–the root, sap and chief power of all sin. That is why, in the Scriptures, unbelief is called the head of the serpent which the offspring of the woman (that is, Christ) must crush, as was promised to Adam in Genesis 3.

Believing that “it is finished”, that everything we need in Christ is already ours and therefore we need nothing more, is the hardest thing (so much harder than modifying our behavior) because we are all seasoned “do-it-yourselfers.” Self-salvation engineers (that’s all of us) find it much easier to make a moral “to-do” and “not-to-do” list and try to live by it, then they do trusting, believing, and resting wholly in the work and provision of Another.  “To be convinced in our hearts”, said Luther, “that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing” because “the sin underneath all sins is the lie that we cannot trust the love and grace of Jesus and that we must take matters into our own hands.”

Failing to believe the gospel leads to slavery because now finding peace, joy, meaning, and satisfaction is up to me. I’m on my own. This is why we give into temptation–we’re desperately looking under every rock and behind every tree searching for something to make ourselves happy, something to save us, something to set us free.

The gospel declares that I don’t need to save myself, defend myself, legitimize myself, justify myself, free myself, or in any other way, ensure that the ultimate verdict on my life is pass and not fail. The gospel frees me from the obsessive pressure to avoid the judgement of joylessness, the enslaving demand to find happiness. Walker Percy has described humanity as waiting for news. Christianity announces that the news has come: I’m not on my own. It’s not on me. We all know that “further, better, and more aggressive living” on our part isn’t producing life for us, and so the gospel comes as good news to those who have crashed and burned. What I need and long for most has come from outside of me–from “above the sun”–in the person of Jesus.

Real freedom in “the hour of temptation” happens only when the resources of the gospel smash any sense of need to secure for myself anything beyond what Christ has already secured for me.

Like the father of the boy with the unclean spirit in Mark 9, let us cry out daily, “I believe; help my unbelief!”      

Tullian Tchividjian


For Reflection:


~Pray and ask the Father to show you your unbelief.


~After He has revealed an area to you, write about it and all the emotions you have when thinking about this.
  
~Ask Him to help you believe and write out your position in Christ when you believe the gospel.


Listen to song #4 on the following website.  It is called "When Darkness Falls".  We heard Jenny and Tyler at a concert in Atlanta last year.  This song is from their new album and it reminded me of our gospel journey.  (Sorry I can't give you the usual link to watch on youtube, but its too new and there is no youtube video for it.)  Make sure and listen to the full version of the song and not just the intro.
http://radarradio.net/blog/jenny-tyler-prerelease

christmas in july

Our friend, Laurin Makohon, was here all weekend from Atlanta to help Julie and I write the workbook for Idol Addiction.  We had a great weekend and got a lot accomplished.  To God be the glory and thank you for praying for us.  I just love Laurin's heart for Jesus.  Today's blog takes us back to a devo Laurin wrote back in December.  It blessed me and made me feel so special as a child of the King who came to earth to save me.  As you read, put yourself in the place of the one He came to rescue.  Thank you, Laurin, for bringing your heart and gifts to the Idol Addiction project.  

Merry Christmas, child of the King!
Today we celebrate most audacious move of all: The King of the Universe coming to earth. The Creator stepping into His creation. All because of His great love . . . for you.
Like the lyrics in "O Holy Night," may your soul feel its worth this Christmas Day. God wanted you, so He came to earth. I hope that sinks in today and every day. And as it does, may your richly-loved heart rise up to praise our beautiful Savior.
You are loved by the deepest of Loves, child of the King.
May you and yours have a very merry Christmas. :o)
Laurin
Here's this week's devo:
When Jesus tabernacled among us, He unveiled a piece of God's heart. Child of the King, you are incredibly precious to Him.
[READ] Only a couple of people have seen the Lord in Heaven and returned to tell the tale. God allowed the apostle John to see His throne room, the place where His glory dwells. And what John saw was overwhelming.
Revelation 4 tells us that a rainbow glistening like emeralds circles the Lord's throne; from the throne comes flashes of lightning and peals of thunder; before the throne is a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. Surrounding the throne are magnificent creatures proclaiming:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8).
The throne room is the place that's worthy for God to dwell. Everything in the throne room is perfect, as it should be for a holy and perfect God.
Yet when God Himself was born, He was wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a feeding trough for animals. It was a long way from His throne room.
[THINK] Why would God exchange His throne for a manger? Why would He leave beauty, perfection, and glory for the messiness, the humanity, and the earthiness of Earth?
Because He loves us. God left His throne room and came to Earth to rescue us because He knew that if He didn't, we would live forever apart from Him. He loves us too much to ever let that happen.
Our books and movies are filled with stories of heroes who go to great lengths to rescue the ones they love. The heroes encounter tremendous obstacles, fight dangerous battles, and even lay down their lives for the sake of rescuing their beloved. And when we read or see these stories, our hearts light up. Something in us rises up and responds.
Why? Because there's something incredibly beautiful about being loved that deeply. We long for someone to see the beauty and value in us and to be so passionate about us that they're willing to do anything to be with us. We long to be that seen, that known, that adored.
Child of the King, that story is your story. You are the Beloved who the Hero loves so deeply that He went to great lengths to rescue you. All of those lesser stories are arrows pointing to the Greatest Story, the Truest Story. Your story.
Scripture tells us that God did all of this for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2). The joy set before Him was the joy He'd feel when the two of you were reunited forever, never to be parted again.
[LIVE] In the Christmas carol O Holy Night, the lyrics say: "Long lay the world in sin and error pining/'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth."
As you hear Christmas sermons and Christmas songs this season, let your soul feel its worth. You are deeply, intensely, passionately loved. Your God sees great beauty and value in you. You are so valuable to Him that He left His perfect throne, surrendering Himself to the limitations of a human life, surrendering to a plan that would lead to His death and your rescue. You are deeply loved, child of the King. May your soul feel its worth this Christmas.

For reflection:
 Look up the lyrics to O Holy Night and spend some time worshiping the King who left His throne to rescue you.

Write phrases from the song that speak to you in your journal.

Praise Him for rescuing you every day when you cry out, "Who will rescue me?"  Ask Him to help you stop trying to rescue yourself!

If you want to know more about Laurin here is a link.  And by the way, if you have kids the age of 12-20 her email devos from youthwalk magazine are wonderful!  

http://www.walkthru.org/our-team/711-editorial-team