Devotion for the Week...
I love celebrating Advent. The Christmas season is a busy one, with concerts and parties and shopping and baking and parades and...You know what it's like. It's easy to get overwhelmed, isn't it? The question, "Are you ready for Christmas?" really means, have you decorated and bought and cooked enough? In short, have you done enough? But really, all the hustle and bustle only gets us ready for the earthly side of Christmas, the gifts and family side of the holiday. Celebrating Advent gets us ready for the spiritual side. Lighting the candles in the Advent wreath and reading a short devotion reminds us that there is more to Christmas than presents and parties and stress. Advent helps put the focus back on Jesus.
In the weeks to come, we'll look at Peace, Joy and Love. For this, the first week of Advent, we begin with Hope.
The first person to know of the imminent arrival of the promised Savior was a priest named Zechariah. While Zechariah was in the temple one day, an angel appeared to him, telling him that his wife, who was old and barren, would conceive a son. That son, the angel said, would "make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). As most of us probably would have been, Zechariah was skeptical, and asked "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years" (v. 18). His question seems reasonable, but for his skepticism, Zechariah was struck mute until the birth of his son, who, when grown, would come to be known as John the Baptist. When the baby was born and Zechariah wrote "His name is John" on a tablet, his voice was returned and he began to prophesy about Jesus (who had not yet been born). Zechariah said that He would come "to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days" (vv. 74,75).
That, right there, is our hope.
The religious leaders of His day didn't recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they were looking for a king who would save them from their Roman overlords. They were only looking for someone who would save them from their earthly enemies. Their view of their trouble, and the rescue God would send, was way too narrow. Jesus didn't come to save us from earthly enemies. He came to save us from sin and death, the enemies that keep us separated from God. Romans 8:1,2 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." He has rescued us and set us free!
Once we have been rescued from our enemies, we can then have a relationship with God. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are" (1 John 3:1). We are now able to love and serve Him without fear of punishment because Jesus came to take our punishment for us. We can come before God in holiness and righteousness, not because we are suddenly holy and righteous ourselves, but because we now have holiness and righteousness from Jesus. Philippians 3:9 says we don't have "a righteousness of [our] own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
Without Jesus we have no holiness, no righteousness, and no chance of earning either one. But through faith in Him, we can "serve [God] without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." Zechariah's people had waited over 400 years for Jesus, but because of Christmas, the wait is over!
November 30, 2015
November 23, 2015
Lyrics
Devotion for the Week...
We listen to mostly Christian music in our house. We love Third Day, Casting Crowns, Francesca Batistelli, Christy Knockels, Mercy Me and more. Looking back, the switch to mostly Christian music wasn't a conscious decision. It was simply a matter of finding more and more Christian music that we genuinely enjoyed, that expressed what we believe and is honestly just good music. I know very little about current music outside of the Christian genre, which sometimes makes me feel like I'm weird, like somehow I'm missing an important part of the culture, but mostly it doesn't bother me.
Now, before I go any farther, let me say that I'm not trying to say that Christian music is the only music any Christian should be listening to. Nor am I passing judgement on those who listen to other music. This is just our choice right now. I'm finding there are some benefits to it, and I wanted to share those today, but, please, if you listen to other music, don't feel like I'm trying to tell you you're wrong! Okay, we now return to our regularly scheduled devotion... :)
Nathan seems to pay more attention to the lyrics of the music than anyone else in the house. Lots of times he's playing with his Lego, or drawing at the table and suddenly he'll say, "What does he mean, 'He that is living in me is greater than he that is living in the world?" We've had some interesting conversations about God in the last year as he has tried to understand the lyrics. It's been especially fun when he's confused because he's mishearing the words!
In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people of Israel, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6: 6-9). Now, to be honest, I've always thought that people who followed these directions would be trying to force every conversation to come around to God, trying to relate everything to God's commands. I thought it wouldn't feel like natural conversation. But really, this just means that these things are to be part of our everyday conversations, not limited to when we're inside the church building. Listening to Christian music helps to naturally start those conversations with Nathan because he's interested in what the lyrics say and he wants me to explain it to him.
As for me, I find that a lot of the time the music is just in the background and I'm reading, or making supper, or playing games or whatever and not consciously paying attention to what I'm hearing. It sticks in my head though, even if I'm not paying attention. I'll play Bart Millard's CD Hymned Again while I make supper one evening and then the next morning in the shower I find "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" running through my head.
Sometimes, too, when I haven't been paying attention to the music, I'll catch a line like "Even what the enemy means for evil, you turn it for our good, you turn it for our good, and for your glory" from Aaron Keyes' "Sovereign Over Us". What a great line! And what a great thought to have catch my attention. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Listening to music that focuses on God is one way to keep those things front and center in my mind, and the minds of the whole family.
There are a lot of influences in the world, trying to take our attention away from God. I love using Christian music to keep my attention where it should be.
Do you listen to Christian music? If you do, who are your favourite artists? I'm always up for listening to someone new!
We listen to mostly Christian music in our house. We love Third Day, Casting Crowns, Francesca Batistelli, Christy Knockels, Mercy Me and more. Looking back, the switch to mostly Christian music wasn't a conscious decision. It was simply a matter of finding more and more Christian music that we genuinely enjoyed, that expressed what we believe and is honestly just good music. I know very little about current music outside of the Christian genre, which sometimes makes me feel like I'm weird, like somehow I'm missing an important part of the culture, but mostly it doesn't bother me.
Now, before I go any farther, let me say that I'm not trying to say that Christian music is the only music any Christian should be listening to. Nor am I passing judgement on those who listen to other music. This is just our choice right now. I'm finding there are some benefits to it, and I wanted to share those today, but, please, if you listen to other music, don't feel like I'm trying to tell you you're wrong! Okay, we now return to our regularly scheduled devotion... :)
Nathan seems to pay more attention to the lyrics of the music than anyone else in the house. Lots of times he's playing with his Lego, or drawing at the table and suddenly he'll say, "What does he mean, 'He that is living in me is greater than he that is living in the world?" We've had some interesting conversations about God in the last year as he has tried to understand the lyrics. It's been especially fun when he's confused because he's mishearing the words!
In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people of Israel, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6: 6-9). Now, to be honest, I've always thought that people who followed these directions would be trying to force every conversation to come around to God, trying to relate everything to God's commands. I thought it wouldn't feel like natural conversation. But really, this just means that these things are to be part of our everyday conversations, not limited to when we're inside the church building. Listening to Christian music helps to naturally start those conversations with Nathan because he's interested in what the lyrics say and he wants me to explain it to him.
As for me, I find that a lot of the time the music is just in the background and I'm reading, or making supper, or playing games or whatever and not consciously paying attention to what I'm hearing. It sticks in my head though, even if I'm not paying attention. I'll play Bart Millard's CD Hymned Again while I make supper one evening and then the next morning in the shower I find "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" running through my head.
Sometimes, too, when I haven't been paying attention to the music, I'll catch a line like "Even what the enemy means for evil, you turn it for our good, you turn it for our good, and for your glory" from Aaron Keyes' "Sovereign Over Us". What a great line! And what a great thought to have catch my attention. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Listening to music that focuses on God is one way to keep those things front and center in my mind, and the minds of the whole family.
There are a lot of influences in the world, trying to take our attention away from God. I love using Christian music to keep my attention where it should be.
Do you listen to Christian music? If you do, who are your favourite artists? I'm always up for listening to someone new!
November 19, 2015
Flower Box Mini Top
I have the Flower Box blocks put together into a 24" mini quilt top. I love how those corners come together in the center. I think this design would look great made into a larger quilt too, but I only had enough white lying around for four blocks!
I also love how the stitching looks on all of the flowers, but especially on the yellow one. The simple black outlining really helps those yellow petals stand out from the white.
I have the quilt basted together now and I'm hoping to get started on the quilting later this evening. I'm still trying to decide what to quilt in the white...either a tight stipple or a combination of swirls and pebbles. What do you think?
I also love how the stitching looks on all of the flowers, but especially on the yellow one. The simple black outlining really helps those yellow petals stand out from the white.
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