The wise men left King Herod in Jerusalem and started toward Bethlehem when they spotted their special star ahead of them in the sky.  Read it for yourself in Matthew 2:9-12.

What joy! The wise men were delighted to see their star, and it lead them to the very house where they found Mary and the Christ Child. They bowed down and worshiped the child and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The wise men’s long journey and faithful search was rewarded as God led them directly to the Christ Child.

A careful reading of these verses tells us that when the wise men came, Mary and Joseph were living in a house, certainly better living quarters than the stable where Jesus was born. And it doesn’t take much reflection to realize that the wise men didn’t arrive the night Jesus was born. They saw the star from their homeland hundreds of miles away. There were no fast modes of travel in those days. We don’t know how long it took the wise men to make this journey. Reading ahead in the Matthew passage through verses 16-18, we find reason to believe Jesus might have been as much as two years old by the time the wise men arrived.

Click here for a video of The Three Wise Men. We love the many beautiful reenactments of the birth of Christ and the events surrounding the birth as they present the traditional story. But if we are serious about communing with God, we will not settle for what we learn from public media and traditional retelling. True wise men will seek God in the Scriptures that have held true through the centuries.

I wrote about Christmas hymns and carols in a post on another blog a few weeks ago pointing out more reasons why we need to trust the Bible instead of public knowledge about matters of our faith. Click here to read the post.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

The wise men traveled to Jerusalem and began asking the people where they might find the newborn king of the Jews. Read about this from the Bible in Matthew 2:1-8.

The wise men had traveled hundreds of miles across rugged country to the land of Judea. They eventually arrived in Jerusalem, the capitol city of the Jewish people where they asked where they might find the young king.

It didn’t take long for the power hungry King Herod to hear about these unusual visitors. He felt threatened with the very idea that a new king had been born. He called a meeting with the chief priests and the teachers of the law to learn where the promised king was to be born. They responded with a quote from the prophet Micah that the ruler would come out of Bethlehem in Judea.

King Herod sent word to the wise men and arranged to meet with them in secret. He asked them to search for the new king and then come back and tell him where he was so that he too might come to worship the child.

But it wasn’t worship that King Herod had in mind for the new king. King Herod was a very jealous man who had already killed his own sons because he considered them a threat to his throne.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

The Christ Child was presented in the temple in Jerusalem when he was eight days old. He was circumcised and given the name Jesus. Two turtle doves were offered for a sacrifice for his purification. You can read about this in Luke 2:21-24.

We learn from the sacrifice of two doves that Mary and Joseph were poor. Had they been wealthy they would have sacrificed a lamb.

Two prophets recognized baby Jesus as the Christ while they were in the temple. One of them was Simeon, a righteous and devout man. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the promised Messiah.

You can read about Simeon in Luke 2:25-35. Simeon took baby Jesus in his arms and praised God. He told them that many people would love Jesus while many others would oppose him. And he told Mary that a sword would pierce her very soul.

The prophet Anna was a very old widow whose husband had died only seven years after they were married. From the time he died, she stayed in the temple day and night fasting and praying. She came along as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph; then she too began praising God and telling everyone about baby Jesus. You can read about Anna in Luke 2:36-38.

These prophecies must have been very encouraging to Mary and Joseph after what they had been through so far. God’s hand was there to reassure them that his promises would come to pass.

(Note: The wise men are still following the star to Bethlehem)

This passage was omitted from the children’s book, The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

Wise men from a distant country from the east saw a bright star in the heavens and believed it meant the new king of the Jews was born. Read about it for yourself in Matthew 2:1-2.

Who were these wise men and where did they come from? The Bible only tells us they came from eastern lands. Many scholars speculate that they may have come from the country of Babylon, the country where the Jewish people lived in captivity for 70 years. Their knowledge of the promised Messiah may have been passed down from the time of their captivity in Babylon more than 500 years before the birth of Christ. The Israelite prophet Daniel, who had been made head of the royal wise men in Babylon, often wrote about the promised Messiah.

Several hundred miles of the Arabian Desert extends between Bethlehem and Babylon and the other countries east of the Israelite lands. When these wise men started out on their trip they knew they had to prepare for many months of travel. They probably followed the trade routes that went around the northern edge of the desert.

Written for younger children: The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

On the night Jesus was born God sent an angel to the shepherds in the fields. You can read about it for yourself in Luke 2:8-20. The angel told them that the Messiah, the Savior of the world had come to earth.

Why did God choose shepherds to hear this message? In Jesus’ time, most people thought shepherds were among the least important people. It was a dirty job for the youngest son. Shepherds were not allowed to appear as witnesses in court because their testimony was not seen as believable. But in God’s unique wisdom he chose the shepherds to be the first people to hear about the Messiah’s birth. It brings to my mind the Scripture verse that says “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.” See Matthew 20:16. God values the lives of all people, not just the privileged few who seem to be in charge of everything.

The mighty angel frightened the shepherds as it glowed with God’s glory. But the angel calmed their fears and delivered a message that boggled their minds. Read Luke 2:8-20 again. What was the message? Good news! Great joy! The Savior – the Messiah had been born! And where would they find the baby? In a manger in Bethlehem!

Shepherds may not know everything, but they would know where to look for baby Jesus. They would know where the cattle and donkeys were kept in the village of Bethlehem. But before they had time to think about that the sky filled up with legions of angels all praising God together saying “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:14 NLT) And then the angels returned to heaven.

Can you imagine the shepherds’ astonishment? The village people wouldn’t bother to make conversation with them, but God sent his angels to give them this amazing message! In no time they were hurrying to Bethlehem to look for the baby Jesus, and they found him in a manger, just as the angel said.

Can you imagine what was going through the minds of the Shepherds as they peeked into the manger? The grubby stable wouldn’t likely bother them much, but to get close to a baby… and not just any baby… this baby was God Himself!

After the shepherds left the manger they told everyone they could about the wondrous things they had seen and heard. We are left to wonder whether the village people believed the shepherds or not as the Bible doesn’t say. Then the shepherds returned to their fields to care for their flocks.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

Read the two short verses that tell about Jesus birth in Luke 2:6-7. Joseph and Mary had to make do with the only shelter they could find in Bethlehem. Tired and exhausted, young Mary gave birth to the Christ Child and wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth. Then she laid baby Jesus on a manger bed which was probably filled with straw or hay for the animals to eat.

We have many unanswered questions about what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph that night. What kinds of animals shared the shelter? What kind of shelter was it? Many Bible scholars believe it might have been a cave. How clean was it? What might it have smelled like?

But a better question begs to be asked: What was it like for Jesus? Jesus didn’t come into existence on the day he was born in Bethlehem. Jesus has existed since before the beginning of creation. Jesus was the Creator of all things. (See Colossians 1:16) He was there with God from the beginning of creation. But now, the God who created life itself found a way to squeeze himself into a tiny infant, and accepted the physical limitations of being human for thirty three years. He left his home in heaven with God (See John 6:38) to be born in a manger – where the lowly animals lived.

God came to earth as a tiny baby to grow up in a family with brothers and sisters and to live on our planet earth for a time. Mary and Joseph gave him the name of Jesus as the angel told them, but we are also given several other names in the Bible for him as well. One of them is Emanuel, which means “God is with us.” Another is Savior because he came to save people from their sins.

How tired Mary and Joseph must have been that night, weary from travel with no comfortable bed to sleep in. Did they get any sleep, or did they simply marvel at the miracle they had just witnessed in the birth of Jesus the Christ child – God Himself, sleeping in a manger?

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

Tired and weary from their long journey and final steep climb from Jericho to Bethlehem Mary and Joseph see the busy town of Bethlehem ahead of them. Because of the census, travelers were everywhere. When they found the inn they learned that it was full – there were no rooms available.

Where would they sleep?

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

 If Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, how did it happen that baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Read Luke 2:1-5.

Old Testament prophecies had to be fulfilled. The prophet Micah (See Micah 5:2) foretold that the ruler of Israel will come from Bethlehem. This might be an insurmountable problem for people, but not for God.

The Roman emperor sent out a command that all people must return to the towns of their ancestors for a census (some Bible translations say they went to be “taxed” which may well have been a key component of the census taking). Since Joseph was descended from King David, Mary and Joseph were required to travel to Bethlehem, the city of David, for this census. It is worth mentioning that Mary too was a descendant of King David.

Again, Mary had a long trip ahead of her - close to 100 miles. This time Mary was “great with child” and very close to her delivery date, but she had to complete this journey to fulfill the law. The last part of the journey was a long steep climb that would be difficult with or without the help of a donkey. The Bible doesn’t say if Mary and Joseph even had a donkey, so they may have walked all the way.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

Joseph had made up his mind not to marry his pregnant fiancée Mary. He would divorce her quietly. (See Matthew 1:18-19) But God’s hand was on Joseph and Mary and the baby she carried. Joseph went to sleep thinking about what he would do when God sent an angel to speak to him in a dream.

Read about it in Matthew 1:20-24. The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, and assured him that her baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was told to name the baby Jesus because he would save people from their sins.

The writer of Matthew also tells us that Isaiah foretold this hundreds of years earlier when he wrote that a virgin would have a son and the people would call him Immanuel which means “God is with us.”

Joseph believed the angel’s message and took Mary as his wife, but he did not have sexual relations with her until after baby Jesus was born.

One must admire Joseph’s courage. People would surely draw their own conclusions about what might have happened between him and Mary concerning their first child, but he would stand by her and her baby.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

Luke 1:56 states it simply, “Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.” We are left to our imaginations to get an idea of what might have been running through Mary’s mind on the long trip home.

She was likely traveling with strangers or people she didn’t know well – whoever might be traveling to Nazareth at the time. She had been staying with her elderly pregnant cousin for three months, sheltered from prying eyes, from people who knew she was engaged but not married. As a young teenager, her pregnancy was probably becoming obvious. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to be aware of the kinds of questions people might ask her simply making polite conversation on the way to Nazareth. When is your baby due? Who is your husband? Did she answer that she wasn’t married yet?

Even if no one pressed her with questions, she had plenty to think about on the long journey home. What would Joseph say when he saw her and realized she was pregnant? What would all her friends and relatives say and think? Would they believe her if she said she was carrying God’s baby? What would she tell them?

When she finally arrived in Nazareth she had to face the people she knew, and she surely felt their stares and whispers. Joseph was not pleased. We can read what Joseph wanted to do in Matthew 1:18-19. At least he wasn’t planning to have her stoned, though he could have done that. Joseph decided to divorce her quietly.

Divorce sounds odd to us because Joseph and Mary weren’t yet married. But in the Jewish culture of that time, the legal commitment had already been made and a divorce would be needed to break it.

We have to admire Mary’s courage. Mary had to cling ever so tightly to the words the angel Gabriel had said to her: “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!” Luke 1:30 (NLT)

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

You are invited to follow the posts that tell the events leading up to and following the birth of Christ here on this blog. The posts are spaced a few days apart to help develop the feel of advent as well as to give the message time to settle on our hearts a little at a time as we re-experience the wonder of the birth of Jesus the Christ. A few posts are already up, so you may want to click here to find the first post. All posts are short so it won’t take long to catch up. Some of the posts come much closer together, so to catch each post when it first come out, you may find it helpful to subscribe to the blog through your email using the sign-up window at the right.

Most of the illustrations come from the children’s book The First Christmas by Janice D. Green and illustrated by Violet Vandor. These posts are written with older children and teens in mind and include additional information that was omitted from the children’s book. These extra pages may have other illustrations or may go without.

What might you have done if you were Mary and just received the news that you were going to give birth to God’s Son? Who would you have wanted to tell about what had happened? Mary went to see the one person she knew would believe it - her older cousin Elizabeth. Read it for yourself by clicking on this link: Luke 1:39-56. (If you missed my earlier post about Zachariah & Elizabeth, click here.)

This was no small trip for Mary. Elizabeth lived in a “small town in the hill country of Judea.” Although no one can say for certain which town she lived in, that region was about 90 miles south of Mary’s home in Nazareth. She probably traveled with other people who were going that direction, possibly walking much or all of the way.

On the day Mary knocked on Elizabeth’s door, the two pregnant women shared news that no one else in the world would understand. Even Elizabeth’s unborn child recognized the excitement of that moment and leaped in her womb.

Mary burst into song with joy as she sang what has become known as The Magnificat – Mary’s song of praise. Read it for yourself at Luke 1:46-55. You can choose more than one translation to read if you like. Mary’s song proclaims how God exalts the lowly and humbles the proud and haughty.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Simple math tells us she may have stayed until John was born, since we know Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Mary would have been a big help to her aged cousin during her last three months of pregnancy, and staying with her in a distant place gave her a temporary escape from the public eye as Baby Jesus grew inside her.

by Janice D. Green, author of The First Christmas, illustrated by Violet Vandor. 

About six months after Gabriel delivered God’s message to Zachariah, he came to earth again. This time he appeared to Mary saying “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Seeing the angel must have been alarming as he next calmed he by saying “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”

Gabriel then told Mary that she would give birth to the promised Messiah and that she should name the baby Jesus. You can read this account for yourself in Luke 1:26-38.

Wow! What a message for a young teen to receive. The Bible doesn’t give us all of the details, but it is generally believed that Mary was likely in her early teens when Gabriel came to give her this special word from God. The angel’s statement, “You have found favor with God,” intrigues me. I wish I could have a window to see into Mary’s heart. What was it that set her apart as the favored one? All we have to go on are these few verses.

Even though Mary questioned how she could have God’s baby, she wasn’t challenging Gabriel to prove it as Zachariah had done. She was only seeking understanding. Perhaps this glimpse is telling.

How many times do we question God with a spirit of “How could you let this happen?” How willing are we to let God be God? Do we accept what comes in our path, whether we like it or not, and trust God to “have our backs?”

As Mary faced the world in the next few months – a pregnant virgin – I’m sure the angel’s words, “Fear not, you have found favor with God” came to her mind quite often. Knowing that she had found favor with God surely must have given her comfort that no one else could give her. Life as the Mother of Jesus was obviously not going to be a picnic, not because Jesus was an unruly child, but because the world would not accept him.

If we are true believers in Jesus, we too can cling to that sense of security as God’s children, and trust that he is watching over us through everything we must pass through.

This post corresponds to the third mini-story in The First Christmas by Janice D. Green. It is available here.

Welcome to the Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway!

December 7 – 11, 2015

Thank you for visiting my blog. Today, I am participating in the Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway. From December 7 to 11, a group of Christian authors will share their thoughts on writing for the Christian market. “Hop” to each blog where there will be a chance to win great prizes. 

Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway Schedule

December 7 - The Children’s & Teens’ Book Connection

December 8 - Books by Corine

December 9 - Midnight Fireflies

December 10 - Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, and Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC

December 11 - Cheryl’s Christian Book Connection

Questions for Janice D Green, who blogs on
Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, and
Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC

Please tell our readers a bit about yourself.

I am a retired elementary school librarian, a wife, mother, and grandmother, and a child of the King - the God who created the earth and the universe. I enjoy God’s great outdoors, music, sewing, and many kinds of crafts. My husband and I hope to build a small, modest home using our own tools and the timber and other materials from our own property.

How long have you been writing for the Christian market?

I submitted my first manuscript/story to the United Methodist Publishing House in 1970 and was elated to see it published in a take-home Sunday school paper. I wrote a few more stories, but was sidetracked with family concerns so that I only submitted a few more times and stopped. I recently wrote and self published two Bible storybooks, The Creation and The First Christmas. I have written a manuscript for a picture book about Jonah, and I am also working on a middle grade novel that has an underlying Christian theme.

Name one challenge facing Christian writers today.

A serious challenge for many (myself included) is getting manuscripts submitted. It takes a lot of courage (or guts) to decide the manuscript is ready and put it in the mail. An author can spend hours poring over the Writers Market deciding who to send the manuscript to. And then the odds of getting the manuscript accepted is extremely low, especially for first time writers. We need to learn from our rejections, polish up our manuscripts and/or start new manuscripts and keep trying.

Do you write for other markets?

I have written several newspaper articles as a correspondent. I have also written an alphabet book in rhyme about nature, and a few children’s stories that might work in the secular markets, though they are not published. I am also working on a middle-grade novel. Over the past few months I have been doing more blogging than writing for publication, as I have been re-thinking my goals for future writing projects.

What is one thing you would like readers to know about you or your writing?

For the most part, I write to build up self confidence in children and youth, as well as to encourage their faith in God and in the Bible. I am writing Bible Bites 4 Teens because I remember how difficult the teen years were for me. I have many personal regrets concerning my teen and young adult years, and I believe if I had been taught to take the Bible more seriously at that age I would have avoided many of those mistakes. I feel I have so much to share, though I’m still trying to find my voice.

My Bible picture books are The Creation and The First Christmas. My key goal in writing these books was to tell the events in a way that helps the child understand that they really happened, and they are not myths. They are also written in a way to promote discussions between the parent and child to help them remember what they learned. These books are available on Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC.

One more thing… When I write picture books about the Bible, I encourage and provide instructions on a way to make Bible quilts using coloring pages that correspond to the pages in the picture books. Learn more about my Bible quilt ideas and how easy it is to make a crayon colored Bible quilt on my blog Bible Quilts.

Win a Blog Hop Giveaway Prize!!!

Terms and conditions to enter for prizes:

• You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
• Contest starts on 12/7/15 and ends at 11:59 pm EST on 12/13/15.
• Winner’s names will be announced at each blog hosting a giveaway.
• Additional restrictions may apply. See individual blogs for details.
• VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

I am offering a book to one reader through a random drawing of all readers who qualify by leaving a comment on this post according to the contest dates above. To qualify you must say which book you would like to win and why. Additional chances will be given for each comment relevant to the post on any blog post on: Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, or Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC. Crude or derogatory comments will be removed along with the usual spam comments and will not be considered.

The winner may choose one of the following books for his/her own prize:

My first book, The Creation, retells the account of the seven days of creation as well as what happened with Adam and Eve in the Garden as recorded in Genesis 1-3.

My second book, The First Christmas, retells the events that preceded and followed the birth of Jesus the Christ child. The accounts in both the book of Matthew and the book of Luke were used to create this narrative.

Sowing Seeds: Writing for the Christian Children’s Market was written by Kathleen M. Muldoon, former writing instructor at the Institute of Children’s Literature. This book is a resource treasure for anyone interested in writing for children and teens from a Christian perspective.

The winner for today’s Blog Hop Giveaway will be announced on this blog on December 12, 2015.

God sent his angel Gabriel to tell Zachariah, an elderly priest, that his barren wife Elizabeth was going to have a son in her old age. Read the story yourself in Luke 1:5-25.

This son would grow up to become John the Baptist. He like the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah. The angel Gabriel told John how his son would prepare the Israelites for the coming of the Lord.

If you read the passage from Luke above, you know that Zachariah didn’t really believe Gabriel at first. For this reason Gabriel told Zachariah that he wouldn’t be able to speak until after the baby was born. Everything happened as Gabriel said it would, and John the Baptist became a great prophet who led the people to repent of their sins and to prepare their hearts for the coming Kingdom of God. You can read more about the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1:57-80.

Today we would do well to remember John’s message and prepare our hearts anew to meet the Christ Child in a spirit of repentance. How do you prepare your heart to draw near to Christ Jesus? Before we can truly enjoy fellowship with Jesus, we need to confess and turn away from any and all known sins in our hearts and lives.

This post corresponds to the second mini-story for children in The First Christmas by Janice D. Green. It is available here.

Long before the Christ child was born the Jewish people had been looking for their promised Messiah. The Jews hoped the Messiah would deliver them from the oppressive Roman government and restore their nation.

The first reference to the Messiah’s coming is found in Genesis 3:15 when God reprimanded the serpent in the presence of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Micah 5:2 identifies Bethlehem as the place from which the Messiah would come. Several references in Genesis identify the line through which he would come, that of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Judah, and King David. For more prophecies of Jesus as Messiah click here. It was no secret that the Jewish nation was looking for Messiah, yet when he arrived they did not recognize him.

The Christian church today views the days of December 1 through December 24 as a time of advent – a time to revisit their years of waiting, a time of anticipating the coming of the Christ. We need this time of preparation if we are to fully appreciate the birth of the Christ Child and everything that it represents. If we truly respect the holiness of this event, we will be careful not to let the clamor of Christmas shopping and preparations drown out the awe and sense of worship that Christ’s birth deserves.

James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Let’s take deliberate steps to draw near to God in Bible reading and prayer each day. Read the first few chapters of the books of Matthew and Luke several times this month. If you have the opportunity, watch the movie The Nativity Story:The Journey of a Lifetime, a Story for All Time. It can be ordered through Amazon or YouTube.

–by Janice D. Green, author of The First Christmas, illustrated by Violet Vandor

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

Do you find it hard to be thankful at times? I know it is for me. It doesn’t make me proud to admit this, but in my heart I know it is true. I’ve had a healthy share of disappointments in my life, and perhaps you have too.

But in spite of our circumstances, God’s will for us is to give thanks, even when it doesn’t come naturally. …it could be because doing so helps us to keep things in perspective. After all, Jesus the Christ – the Son of God – left his home in heaven to come down to this earth as a baby to grow up and to live his final years on earth as a homeless person. He came to teach people to love God and to help them (and us) to understand how much God loves us all. He came to show us how to live in joy and peace with God.

We might think we have it tough, but Jesus’ circumstances were as far from easy as one could get. He had his moments of glory followed by the rejection of the religious leaders who set out to ridicule, torture, and kill him on the cross because they were too jealous to accept him and his love. Even Jesus’ Twelve Disciples – his closest friends – deserted him as they ran out of fear of the Roman soldiers who arrested Jesus.

Jesus suffered through all of this and more because he wants to forgive our sins and to be my/your best friend. Kinda mind-boggling isn’t it? He could have left us to flounder in misery and watched from his home in Paradise, but he chose to come to our rescue.

When I remember what Jesus did for me, it helps me to feel thankful, no matter what my circumstances. The Apostle Paul (the first missionary in the Bible) wrote in a letter “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12 (NIV) 

Pray with me that God will help us keep our hearts and minds filled with gratitude and thankfulness for every day and every experience. May our lives be filled to overflowing with joy and thanksgiving so that others will want to know Jesus as Savior and friend as well.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (Proverbs 3:5 NIV)

Quite often I start my day doing a Sudoku puzzle when no one else is up. I work these puzzles to keep my mind sharp, and at my age this is important.

But what are my actions saying when I start my day with Sudoku? Am I saying it is more important to invest in my mind (self-sufficiency) than to invest these precious first moments of the day with my God inviting him to direct my steps and my thinking. I feel under conviction and am considering steps to put a Bible or devotional material along side the puzzles especially for those early morning moments. The puzzles aren’t bad, they are simply not always the best choice.

What are the things that tend to crowd God out of your life?

What is the most important thing in your life?

What are your goals?

What do you need to make your life better?

Is God in the picture as you answer these questions?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7 NIV)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” –Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Are you reluctant to trust God with your life because you fear he will push you to do things you don’t want to do? I remember experiencing an element of fear as a teen – a fear that I would be captured in some kind of spirit led trance and made to look foolish. I don’t know where the fear came from, and now more than 50 years later I can honestly say that I’ve never been sucked into doing anything I wasn’t willing to do at the time. A wise lady once told me that the Holy Spirit was a gentleman and would never make me do anything I didn’t want to do.

That probably isn’t the same kind of thing you fear. More likely you fear God will cause you to give up some things you do for recreation with your friends. Some fear God will ask them to become missionaries in outer Mongolia or in Africa. Others fear God will turn them into weirdos. This kind of thinking is shortsighted when we stop to consider just who God is.

God knows us better than we could ever hope to know ourselves because he created us. He gave us our hopes and dreams, our likes and dislikes, our abilities and our circumstances. He also created a beautiful world and universe where everything from the greatest galaxy to the smallest microbe works together. God knows what works and what doesn’t work.

God understands human nature because he created it. He understands what it takes to make harmony and what causes discord in our lives. Not only that, God sent Jesus his Son to be born as a human being and to walk with people on this earth over two thousand years ago. He experienced first hand what it was like to be human, to face temptation and peer pressure. Jesus gets it. Today Jesus sits with God pleading for us when we goof up.

What are your fears when it comes to living for Jesus? You can talk to God about anything and everything. Are you angry with God? You can even talk to him about that. After all, when Jesus was dying on the cross he prayed “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” Your anger for whatever the reason can’t possibly be worse than the torture Jesus went through that day.

So let it all hang out and talk to God about whatever is on your mind. Any good relationship must begin with honesty and openness.

Romans 1:20 tells us “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Misguided individuals often consider themselves to be too intelligent to believe in a God they can’t see, touch, hear, feel, taste. They may not be able to prove God exists through their five senses, but neither can they prove that he doesn’t exist – unless they have been everywhere in creation to prove he isn’t there they have no basis for their evidence.

Disbelief in God is not an intellectual decision, it is an act of the will. When we live in this awesome universe that is so beautiful, intricate, and diverse… immense beyond our wildest imaginations… to say it just happened requires more faith in nothingness than the intelligent conclusion that it was created by a God even more awesome than this universe we live in.

The first sin committed by Adam and Eve, was a rebellion against God’s one and only commandment at that time. When we choose to go our own way instead of believing in God, we are following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve. Disbelief is an act of the will.

If a friend demanded that you explain why you believe in Jesus Christ, would you have a good answer, or would you have to hedge a bit by saying “I grew up that way” or “Doesn’t everybody?” Can you support your belief from your understanding of the Bible or out of your personal relationship with Jesus? Or might your answer reveal that you might not be sure yourself.

I recall a time (many years ago) when I was in high school and I along with another Christian friend was trying to witness to our close friend. The friend demanded to know what was so special about being a Christian, and I answered, “Because Christians have that something extra.” “Like what?” she demanded. I had no answer and I felt intimidated and embarrassed.

It isn’t easy to share one’s faith. It’s much harder today than it was when I was in high school. In my time, the general public embraced the values of the faith if they believed in Jesus or not. Today everything is being challenged including our right to live the faith we believe. So it is more important now than ever to know what we believe and why, or we risk being swept away with the crowd who deliberately chooses to ignore the claims of the Christian faith – even to their own eternal peril.

1 Peter 3:15b tells us, “And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

I am going to attempt to write brief posts in the weeks and months ahead to help you define and support your faith so you will have an answer when a friend (or enemy) might challenge you. I invite you to write in the comments some challenges you may have heard against the Christian faith or some questions you may have about things that bother you concerning the Bible and how it fits life today.

Photo Copyright: ferli / 123RF Stock Photo

The Case for Grace: Student Edition: A Journalist Explores the Evidence of Transformed Lives 

Author: Lee Strobel
Board Book: 132 pages
Language: English
ISBN 13: 978-0-310-73657-8
List price: $9.99

Reviewed By: Janice D. Green

Rating:     

In The Case for Grace, author Lee Strobel bares his own soul as he shares his personal struggle with accepting the Christian faith, and more specifically understanding how grace is freely given to ALL who come to God in a spirit of repentance. Several different personalities are represented including backgrounds of extreme neglect, bitter rebellion, do-gooders oblivious to how they are missing the faith, and even from the most despicably sinful backgrounds imaginable, yet they all found grace and new life in Christ. This book is powerful, written for teens and addresses the kinds of concerns that are real to them.

But don’t let the fact that it was written for teens prevent sharing it with adults as well. I felt it stirring my heart – and I’m a senior citizen who struggles to read long books. As I read this book, I considered adults I would like to send it to – adults who might not be willing to read any Christian book I gave them. The simplicity of this book makes me think maybe they would read it through.

I received a free copy of this book through the BookLook review program by Zondervan. I was in no way required to give a positive review.

Does God seem distant to you? Others claim to have a relationship with God, but somehow you can’t seem to find those fuzzy feelings.

Philippians 4:6-7 tells us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.“ (NIV)

Giving thanks can be difficult at times, especially if you feel like you have been slighted in life for one reason or another. Feelings of resentment can creep in and steal your joy. When we keep looking inward it only makes these feelings all the more intense as we seek justification for our negative attitudes.

But if we will lift our eyes to God, the one who created us and who knows us through and through, he will meet our needs and fill our spirits with his joy. But we must believe he can and will. We must know in our hearts that he wants to help us.

Jesus has come down to us in love, leaving his home in heaven, to suffer and die on a cross. Then he was resurrected to prove for all time that he is indeed One with God – just so you and I could be forgiven and could know him and believe in him. This was no small favor, he sacrificed his life through the most gruesome death man had ever contrived, leaving us no reasonable doubt concerning his love for us.

This is why it helps to look to Jesus. The struggles you and I may deal with may seem huge, and I don’t mean to trivialize them, but when we compare our troubles to what Jesus went through to reach down to you and me when we were still in rebellion against him, it truly does help us to gain some perspective.

Read Philippians 4:6-7 again for the remedy to our anxious thoughts. We are to pray with thankfulness in our hearts. Perhaps it is our rights to cling to our grievances that we need to sacrifice to God, to free our spirits so they can soar in thankfulness and praise.

Hebrews 13:15 tells us: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” (NIV)

Psalm 100:4 says “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (NIV)

What is the gate we are use to enter God’s presence? Thanksgiving and praise. Let us seek to grow in this area and to offer thanksgiving and praise in every situation we find ourselves in.

Confession… I’ve just preached a sermon to myself.

Father God, help us to cast out of our hearts any and all negative spirits that steal our joy. May we sacrifice our rights to be first in . . . and to get our way. Fill us to overflowing with thanksgiving and praise. We are willing to step out in faith in this area. Thank you for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amen

 We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise sung by Mana International Ministries

The tomb is empty! Christ is risen from the dead! Hope is given new birth!

Who can tell the story straight? The women were the first to go to the tomb and to learn that Christ was risen. The Disciples didn’t believe them.

The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are all linked below so you may read as much as you like. Don’t let it throw you that they don’t agree on every detail – the discrepancies lend credibility to the mass confusion that was caused by this event that will never see its equal.

One thing is absolutely certain – Christ rose from the dead and appeared to many people.

Matthew 28
Mark 16
Luke 24
John 20

I am compelled to share Sandi Patti’s video, “Was it a Morning Like This?”

Image credit: gracel21 / 123RF Stock Photo

Yesterday was Friday, but Sunday’s coming……

Just a reminder…

A video you don’t want to skip:

S.M. Lockridge’s sermon combines with footage from The Passion Of The Christ for this powerful video: Sunday’s Coming