In those days Cesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
(KJV) Luke 2:1-14
As you read the verses above ,you realize Jesus was not born in a luxury hotel; but an inn with animals around.
The time of Jesus birth was a treacherous time, a census was going on so Joseph and Mary were seeking shelter away from Augustus.
I raise my hands in adoration, and I bow before the new born King. Baby Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for my and our sins.
I worship you Lord, I give you praise and I honor you. Today, December 25th may not of been Jesus birthday; but this is a day that Christians recognize the magnificence and thankfulness that God gave his Son for us.
I bow before you Lord! Merry Christmas!
This is a wonderful day, however we should celebrate Jesus everyday!
Celebrate Jesus!
This is a favorite song of mine by Amy Grant. Enjoy!
I am blogging about Unity from the Live Second Devotional book written by Doug Bender.
(Day 7: Unity on page 51)
My husband and I have been heavily involved in our church’s Christmas program. We have a production team and a host of actors, lighting crew, computer crew, directors, lighting crew, stage hands, parents, seamstresses, make up artists, and a host of others making up an intricate team.
Being behind the scenes made me look at how each person in this Christmas program has an important part to play to make it successful. I work as part of the computer ministry in my church. We make sure that the narration slides are up and incorporate videos on the big screens to make sure that there no black holes shown during transitions of actors going on and off stage. The program was a great success because everyone worked together like a hand fitting in a glove.
When you are a part of a team it’s not about me it’s about us. Sometimes we don’t agree on everything but we always try to work it out so that everyone agrees. It’s not easy but that what unity represents, it represents working together, caring and having concern.
For example, I would not say I want the transitions to be this way, if the director would like to have it another way. The director has a vision and it is my job to make that vision work. If I think advice can be made to enhance the vision, then I will say so.
God’s love engulfs us and never leaves us or forsakes us.
In the Live Second devotional, this scripture is so revealing of how we have to be unified to truly be effective in the body of Christ.
My prayers is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one-I in them and you in me-so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
(John 17:20-34)
I have to be loving to everyone I meet, with love because my actions speak louder than words. If I do not treat my husband and family with love how can I be kind to a stranger?
I am late with the Live Second post. I had a Christmas program at church that I was a part of that I had to devote my time to. It turned out awesome and really done well. The invitation for people to give their lives to Christ was so wonderful.
The Christmas Program made me think about what I wanted to discuss from the Live Second book.
Session Two, Issues
Day 3 Love
It’s easy to love someone who loves you back. However it’s more difficult to love when a person doesn’t show love in return.
I remember if someone hurt me or treated me wrong or said the wrong thing to me, I would never have to speak to them again.
Isn’t it my right to treat them the way they treated me?
No, it’s not right.
In the book, the scripture in the book says
“The most important commandment,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 29-31
Love Thy neighbor as thyself
If some one says something unkind to me, for me to say something back unkind would make me just like them. I want to continue to see blessings flow in my life. In order to be blessed, I have to be a blessing. With God’s help I have turned situations around because I reacted in a kind loving matter than retaliate.
Is this easy to do? No! I have to pray everyday to act in kindness and repent if I miss the mark. I am a work in progress. The beautiful thing about God is that if I happen to miss it, I can ask God for forgiveness and repent in Jesus name and it’s a fresh start.
Live Second is a daily devotional book that makes me take action on having a better relationship with God and truly live an awesome life for Christ.
I wanted to discuss the section of the book entitled, Undeserved.
God gave His son so I am already forgiven.
All our sins were forgiven when Jesus died on the cross; He already paid for our sins.
Why are we forgiven?
Romans 10:9 says
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Once I gave my life to Christ, it is up to me take hold of the gifts that he has given me. I have to reach out and grab it.
There is no sin to little or to big. All sin is equal in God’s eyes. Please do not get caught up in condemnation. If you feel you have sinned, repent and ask God for forgiveness In Jesus Name, and don’t look back. You are forgiven. It seems to be too simple, that there has to be something more. But that is the way God has designed it. It is so simple that anyone can take part in it.
I know that my worst critic is me. If I wanted to really feel undeserving of anything in life, all I would say I am never good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not small enough. Why did I eat that? , Why did I say that? It was negativity because I felt that no matter what I did, I was never good enough. My husband told me you have to stop that because you are so hard on yourself that you can’t see the grass for the trees. Lack of self confidence, Lack of self worth was me. It was me.
I prayed, “Lord I cast this care on you, I am somebody I am formed in your image.” I had to repeat those positive affirmations to myself everyday and I still do.
God’s word says that I made you perfectly and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
When I would be undeserving of myself, it was as if I told God that He messed up when he made me.
God loved me (and us) enough that He gave His only Son.
I replaced those negative thoughts with God’s word. When that negativity creeps in, I have to cast those imaginations down because that is not of God.
I am honored to be given the privilege to blog about the inspiring book, Live Second: 365 Ways Of Making Jesus First. This book, written by Doug Bender, makes a deeper look at my relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In his book, Bender writes about ways, one for each day of the year, in which a believer should live his or her life; with God and Jesus as the number one priority. Please check back on Monday, Thursday and Friday of this week for additional posts on living a life second to God.
Release
Have you every held on to an emotion, even though you knew deep inside it was bad for you? For me that emotion was grief.
The scripture in the Live Second book says,
Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? (Matthew 18:32-33)
I have to forgive myself?
For a long time, I had felt that I that I never “fit in”. I often used the analogy of a “square trying to fit into a circle.” No matter how I tried, I was never the popular girl. I was always different than everyone else. One thing that set me different than others was the fact that it was my responsibility to take care of my parents at such young age. As the only child, I had to help care for my mother who battled cancer. While the other girls in my class were going off to prom and school parties, I was taking care of my mother and the house and working on homework. When it was time for me to graduate from high school, instead of selecting an out-of-state college, I picked one in my home town. That way I could stay at home with my parents. My mother depended on me to be there to care for her needs. My daddy worked hard to provide for his family, so he could not be there to care for my mother. I believe it was a part of God-given my purpose here at a time when my parents needed me the most.
My mother battled cancer for a long time. Some days were good days and some days were not so good days. I prayed for my mother to be healed and made whole, however she went to be with the Lord in 1994, the year I graduated with my master’s degree.
I would ask the Lord, “Why why did she have to leave me?” She was not only my mother she was my best friend. I knew in my heart that the Lord did not take my mother. This was an attack from the enemy. I was so angry with myself because I was being blamed for my mother’s death. At this most challenging point in my life, I almost shut myself down from the grief and the anger. I had to release those emotions and cast my cares onto the Lord. My daddy was still here and I had to live to fulfill God’s purpose for me.
Soon after I married my best friend in 1999, my daddy started showing signs of dementia and was frequently falling. It got to the place where I could no longer pick him up. I had to make the decision have him move into an assisted-living facility. That was one of the hardest decisions I had to make in my life. I felt as if I was throwing my daddy away even though my husband and I visited him everyday. The assisted-living facility could only did so much. He started falling more, so we had to find a good nursing home for him that could provide a higher level of care. My husband and I found a place where he had his own private room.
As time went along, my daddy became more unresponsive and not knowing who I was. One night at the nursing home he suffered a major heart attack. I was not there with him? I was not by his side? He’s gone! He’s gone!
Feeling of emptiness and alone, not having any earthly parents here with me.
But God. Yes, but God.
My parents are always with me. They both accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, so to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I know I will be reunited with them in Heaven. I had to get that in my heart and to release the grief and anger. I asked God to take that feeling from me and He did just that. I miss my parents, however I had to change that anger and grief into thankfulness that I have God loving parents who instilled in me the word of God.
I am so excited about the I am Second blogger launch which officially starts tomorrow. I am a part of a great group of bloggers blogging our way through 4 Days of the Live Second book during the Week-of-Second: December 9-15. I will be posting Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Please come by my blog and follow along while I post with other I Am Second bloggers about how I am Second.
I am including a link to a video from the I Am Second Website of an inspiring testimony from Tony Dungy.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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