I remember well those shoe boxes turned mail holders. We decorated them with red and pink papers, making sure our name was clearly labeled on the outside. It was the popular kids who always seemed to get the most cards. I still remember noticing how few were given to the outcasts of the class.

These days, teachers have students bring in cards for each person in the class, ensuring no one is left out. My son’s preschool class is having a party soon. I head to the store and browse the Valentine’s Day aisle. I look at all the cute gifts splattered with hearts. I read the sayings of love stamped onto sour heart candies and lollipops. The selection of cards with favorite television and movie characters on them is abundant, making it hard to choose.

I think about the people who probably have no one to whom they will give or receive a card. For many, holidays like this only remind them of times they have been hurt by love. I wonder how many walk by the card aisle and flinch as old wounds open up fresh. I consider those who have never even had words of love spoken to them, much less received a card.

Love, as defined and lived out in our world, often leaves hearts empty.

The Bible speaks of love differently. Rather than sweet pithy sayings, it speaks meaningful words that burrow deep into the heart. Instead of making promises that can’t be kept, it reveals repeatedly the ways God has fulfilled each of His spoken words. While the world casually throws words of love around with no corresponding actions, Jesus demonstrates His love through His very life and death.

If Jesus were to write a Valentine card, what might it say?

Perhaps something like this:

To the one I love,

You may think that they day I entered your life was that morning in Sunday School, the year you turned ten. Actually, I loved you before time even began.

I lovingly made you by hand. I know you inside and out. I know your deepest fears, deepest wishes, and deepest hurts.

You may think of love as a prince kissing his princess and awakening her from some terrible spell. I think of love as a great rescue and one that involved death–my own.

I created love to begin with. It’s why you were created–to enjoy the love I’ve always had within the Trinity. We have loved and served one another before all time. This giving and serving one another is like a great dance of perfect love. We made you to be a part of that dance.

I came to rescue you from all that has kept you from joining us in the dance of perfect love. The rescue required that I give up everything I always loved–my relationship with the Father. But I loved you that much, I had to do it. I lived among you, humbly serving and showing the way of love. I gave my own life that you might live and join me in the dance of love. This Valentines Day, I want you to know that there is nothing you can do to make me love you, and nothing you can do to make me stop loving you.

I love you, always have and always will,

Your Savior

God actually did write a love letter. In fact, He wrote sixty-six of them. It is these letters of love that every heart needs to read this Valentine’s Day. Perhaps you’ll share a few of the letters He’s written with someone who needs it most?

His love is the only true and perfect way of love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9,10

Sometimes you need to take a hard fall to realize you’ve gone down the wrong path.

Overwhelmed by life, I am tired and irritable. The littlest things with the kids set my teeth on edge. Tears well up and threaten to break through the dam I try so hard to keep standing. Yet it seems that no matter how hard I try, it’s not enough.

It’s been a few weeks since I identified my verse and word to describe my hopes for this new year.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

This verse and the word “quiet” is what my heart needs most this year. I need to rest in the presence of God. I need to be infused with His love and grace and know this grace at a deeper and deeper level. I need to weed out and purge those things which keep me from being still before Him.

I haven’t made it very far.

As I struggle my way through each day, I face many giants. I worry, get anxious and think I can’t make it through the day. I encounter stressful situations and then take it out on my kids. I get caught up in day-to-day life, trying to juggle all that comes my way. I so easily forget that the Lord is with me in these battles. I forget that it’s not in my own strength that I move forward in this journey to Life, but it’s in the strength of Jesus.

In a recent post, I wrote “Making lists, writing resolutions and creating objectives has no power to change us this year. Rather the power to change, no matter what kind of change we are looking for, comes from the grace of Jesus.”

I need that reminder.

As we begin a new year, looking ahead in our journey with Jesus, we can find that life often gets in the way of our intentions to grow and change. We may even take steps backward. But Paul reminds us that we already are new creations, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Instead of focusing on all we need to change in ourselves and how far we have to go, perhaps we should remember what has already been done.

When God looks at me, He sees me as already perfect. He no longer sees me as a sinner separated from Him. Rather, He sees the perfect life of Christ, lived for me.

Maybe what I really need to do this year is to be who I already am.

Every time I fail, every time I stumble into sin, every time I think I can’t go one step further, I must remember who I already am because of Christ. I am a beloved child of the King. I am a new creation. I am completely forgiven. And I am not who I once was.

Jesus has promised that He is making all things new. It is in His strength and through His grace that we are being changed and transformed. While we stand before God as perfect because of Christ’s work for us, we continue to struggle with the sin that still lingers in our hearts. The Lord is refining us and purging us from that sin, day by day and bit by bit, to prepare us for the day when all of creation will be made new and we will see Him face to face.

I forget that this Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. It’s a long journey and much needs to be done to prepare for the day when I stand before Him.

When we think that nothing is happening and nothing is changing in our lives, Jesus is at work. Even now, Jesus is interceding for us to the Father. Our messed up attempts at prayer are translated by Jesus into words that the Father accepts as perfect. When we can’t even form words to the cries of our heart, the Holy Spirit speaks them for us.

As this year begins, let us not despair when we stumble. He will lift us up. Jesus is always at work in us and continually intercedes for us. Each time we fall, may we return to the Word and be reminded of just who we are–new creations and already perfect in the eyes of God.

So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! (from Romans 6 in the Message)

I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.” (from Revelation 21 in the Message)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

The desk is the one I bought at an antique shop while traveling in Tennessee. My heart loves old things. I love to imagine who used it and the letters they may have penned to love ones while sitting at the desk. Not long after I purchased it, it fell over in the back of my van. It seemed to have broken at every joint–at every place where one piece of wood joined another. Looking like a jumble of puzzle pieces, I didn’t think it would ever be whole again. That Christmas, my husband and father-in-law spent the day gluing and securing the desk back together, one piece at a time.

I walk by these words each morning after I awaken. I look at the desk and it reminds me that all things broken can be made whole.

Each night before I rest my head on my pillow, I am already forgiven for all that’s happened during the day. When I awaken the next day, God has fresh mercy ready and waiting for me.

New mercies each day–a gift each morning; an opportunity to start again. Like fresh fallen manna to fill the stomach, His mercy drops fresh each day to feed my soul.

By the end of each day, I am weighed down by all that’s gone on. The times I raised my voice, the times I grumbled and complained about my life, and all the times I didn’t love bare down hard on my soul.

What if I lived life in the strength of mercy and grace rather than my own?

What if I rested in the promise that He makes all things new?

Each day is a new day and a new opportunity to live in the grace we’ve been given. When I awaken and recall that all I’ve done the day before is thrown as far as the east is from the west, I begin anew with a heart full of gratitude. As I go about my day, remembering how much I am loved by the Father, it strengthens me to live for Him. Each time I stumble and fall, I remember what Christ did for me and that I am completely forgiven. There’s nothing I can do to make Him stop loving me or stop Him extending rich mercy toward me.

God has mercy and grace in so much abundance to lavish on us that He gives it anew each and every day. His love and forgiveness for us is beyond measure. May this truth fill the hunger of our souls each morning as we awaken and strengthen us throughout whatever the day brings.

Do you take this gift of mercy extended to you each day?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3: 22-24

“To grasp the old faithfulness of God anew every morning, to be able–in the middle of life–to begin a new life with God daily, that is the gift that God gives with every morning.” Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions? Have you looked back over the past year and found areas in your life you want to change? Perhaps it is to get organized. Or maybe you want to lose the weight gained over the holidays. Spiritually speaking, maybe you want to read through the Bible this year. In writing this post about the new year, I contemplated writing about setting goals. I considered sharing how to set broad goals followed by specific objectives and then determining the practical steps needed to take to reach those goals. Then I realized, everyone is writing about setting goals. Blogs, television, social networking sites, and twitter are all abuzz about making resolutions for this new year.

Since this site’s audience is intended for Christian stay-at-home moms, our thoughts on a new year ought to be a bit different from the world’s view on making resolutions. Don’t misunderstand, it’s not as though Christians don’t set goals. It’s not as though we shouldn’t strive to be healthy or get organized. (I know that I for one ate more chocolate during December than I did the rest of the year.) It’s just that we know where the power and strength comes from for producing change in our lives.

Making lists, writing resolutions and creating objectives has no power to change us this year.

Rather, the power to change, no matter what kind of change we are looking for, comes from the grace of Jesus.

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1

In His abundance, Jesus showers us with grace that strengthens us to become ever increasingly like Him. It’s this undeserved love and affection He has for us that fills our hearts up to overflowing, empowering us to make changes in our lives. When we try in our own strength, we will inevitably fail.

The world will make its resolutions. They will try their hardest to keep them. Yet very few will keep any of those resolutions. It is likely that many will become discouraged because they couldn’t maintain their resolve.

One goal worth setting for this year, is the goal of apprehending more and more the grace of our Lord. Through prayer and time in the Word, we can be reminded of our status as children of God. It is this status that tells us we are worth dying for. We are loved more than we could ever imagine. We have been changed and are perfect in the sight of God. The fact that God looks on us and sees the perfect life Jesus lived, should cause us to pause in wonder and amazement. It’s this amazing grace that frees us from having to do life in our own strength.

I may not get organized or resist the temptation to eat chocolate. I most certainly will experience failure and perhaps even discouragement this year. However, when I remember the grace of Christ, it frees me from discouragement. It then strengthens me to get back up and live life in the strength He gives.

Peter was only able to walk on water when he kept his eyes on Christ. It is when he looked at the wind around him that he began to sink. What encourages my soul the most about this story is the response of Jesus. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31) Jesus’ love and grace was ever abundant as He reached out His hands to catch Peter. Even though Peter’s faith in Jesus faltered, causing him to sink, Jesus still reached out to help him.

When I fail this year, it is because my eyes have turned from looking at Christ to looking at what is going on around me. I can rest in the fact that Christ will always be there to pick me back up. He doesn’t reject me when I fail, rather He extends His love, grace and mercy to me. Whenever I get discouraged or feel despair, I need to raise my eyes to the cross. It’s there where grace and healing are found. It is there where I find strength and true change occurs in my heart.

Have you found this strength that comes only from Christ? How have you seen Him change you?

Ornaments are packed and stored away for next year. The Christmas cd’s are placed back in their cases. Those cute hand towels dotted with snowmen are folded and placed in the back of the linen closet. Christmas is past and a new year has begun.

I love new things. I always loved getting a new pencil box before a new school year started. I also love the feel of a new book, whose cover has never been opened. There’s something about the newness of something brand new that holds anticipation for all the possibility it holds. The pencil box with newly sharpened pencils holds great possibility for all that’s to be learned. A new book promises a new adventure either in learning or with new characters.

With a new year upon us, there can be great expectation and possibility there too. A new year brings with it an opportunity to start over, to make changes and begin afresh. What does this new year have in store for you? Perhaps new goals? Hope for change? Adventures to anticipate?

Take advantage of this opportunity to start afresh. Like a new book, placed on a shelf and forgotten, don’t let this new year begin without considering the possibilities that lie ahead.

While most of society and marketing companies want us to focus on getting physically fit (and signing up for a gym membership), consider and take inventory of your heart as well. Where are you in your journey with Christ? Do you need to get back on the narrow path that leads to Life? How are your relationships with others? Do you need to extend forgiveness and grace to anyone? Do you need to step outside your comfort zone and share your life with someone else? How about your relationship with your children? Are your interactions with them pointing them to Christ or way from Him?

While our Christmas decorations may be packed away, may we not pack away the Advent’s eager expectation for our Savior. The anticipation and excitement that comes with something new reminds us that one day everything will be made new at the second Advent. Until then, may we all begin this new year in prayerful consideration of all that God has in store for us this year. May we take a heart inventory, and through His grace, draw ever closer to our Savior this year.

What have you considered for this new year?

Have you ever been emotionally wounded by someone you know? Perhaps someone close to you–a friend or family member?

The pain of hurtful words seem to hurt more when done by a friend than a foe. I’ve experienced these wounds a few times over the past couple of years. The unkind words spoken cut deep and occasionally, still if picked at and pondered over, still bleed fresh.

Wounds that haven’t been cleaned can become infected. I’ve had heart wounds that have become infected and spread straight to my mind and soul. The thoughts in my mind about past wounds suffered by friends are like invasive cells. They spread lies quickly, feeding off my wounds. Each thought builds upon another as even older wounds from long ago injuries spring to mind. The lying thoughts and beliefs about myself resurface saying, “You’re no good. Why would anyone want to be your friend?” Like a deadly bacteria that travels the blood stream, threatening a person’s very life, believing these lies can cause serious damage to my heart.

As with physical wounds, heart wounds can cause even deeper damage. I may begin to amputate myself from current friends, fearing they too will eventually pierce my heart. Isolation will only bring despair and depression.

Deep wounds require strong medicine and prolonged medical treatment. Wounds of the heart require the deep cleansing that can only come from Jesus.

When I come to His word for comfort, I pause and remember–wasn’t He deserted by all His friends?

Didn’t His friends leave wounds so deep, the scars are still there on His hands?

And wasn’t I one of them? Didn’t my sins also cause those scars?

I’m humbled when I remember all He did. He was the Man of Sorrows. He understands my sadness, the ache in my heart. For He felt it too. Yet He said, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.”

Jesus’ very last hours show me the way of humility. To be deserted by friends, those with whom He had just shared a meal. Those whose feet He had washed, turned and walked the other way. His best friend denied He ever knew Him. Yet it was for those that hurt Him that He died.

The way of humility–not caring for your own pain, your own loss, but faithfully loving and serving. Remembering the Suffering Servant, how He washed the feet of even the one who betrayed Him, gives me the strength I need to let go of my own pain. His love for me is a strong, yet soothing balm that heals my wounds. His own act of humbly serving gives me the freedom to humbly let go of old wounds and in humility serve even those who hurt me. Knowing I am loved by the Creator of the universe fills my longing for acceptance. No matter what anyone does or says to me, I know what my heavenly Father thinks of me. And that’s all that matters.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Humility is a difficult topic to write about. Once you think you know something about it, then you begin to lack it. The only way I can begin to understand the concept of humility is in light of the gospel of grace– for there it plays a very significant role.

Humility is the exact opposite of what Israel expected of its Messiah. Humility is the opposite of our heart’s natural bent. God likes to do things beyond what we expect and He uses means we would never imagine.

Jesus was born, not in a palace, but in a manger. His first disciples were simple, uneducated fishermen. He ate meals with sinners and tax collectors. Unlike the foxes and birds He created, He never owned his own bed. He washed feet and taught His followers to turn the other cheek.

He, though perfect in every way, carried His cross up Calvary’s hill. With meekness, He accepted the sneers, the spitting and the calling out curses.

Because humility is the way of love.

A holy, righteous, perfect Son of God paved the way of humility. It’s His love that planned for the Great Rescue to be not one of dominance and military might, but of humble sacrifice. It was the grace of God that loved us so much that He sent His own Son to die in our stead. At the cross, He not only freed us from our sin, but He also enabled us to follow in His humble steps.

When we experience this love, when we realize how much we’ve been forgiven, when we’ve been humbled by His grace, we too can walk the same road as that of our Savior. Living a life of humility isn’t something we can do by following a step by step methodical program. Humility comes as a natural heart response from the love we have for the One who humbled Himself for us.

Being humbled by the depth’s of God’s love for us frees us to humbly love others. Remembering the undeserved love of God for us is the only way we can respond to others in humility. For true humility has its source in the gospel of grace.

Have you seen this humility in our Savior? How does it stir your heart?

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:21-24

Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]> http://csahm.com/christian-walk/humility-and-the-love-of-the-gospel/feed/ 1 http://csahm.com/christian-walk/freedom-in-humility/ http://csahm.com/christian-walk/freedom-in-humility/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:11:50 +0000 toshowthemjesus http://csahm.com/?p=6309 Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]>
Humility is a frequent topic discussed around our house. My oldest is quite bright and that brightness combined with being the elder sibling, creates a combination widely known as a “know it all.” Not only does he boss around his younger brother, but he corrects adults as well.

Humility is hard for all of us. We all want to be viewed by others positively. We want to see ourselves as better than others. It’s the core of our heart problem. We want first place. Lack of humility made Eve desire to be like God. And its been a human problem ever since.

My son doesn’t understand why he can’t correct adults. In his mind, if something is not correct, you tell the person they are wrong. The thing about teaching humility to our son is not that we want him to pretend to be dumb. Humility doesn’t involve degrading ourselves or being a doormat. Rather, it’s strength under control. It’s an act of intentional submission. Humility requires that we submit our pride to the control of God. We give him all our strengths and submit them for his glory.

When we remember who we are in Christ, we don’t need to be number one. Since we are adopted children of God, we have access to a greater inheritance than anything money on earth can buy.

Jesus demonstrated that we are loved more than we could ever understand or imagine when he died for our sins. Therefore, we don’t need admiration from others.

Because Jesus’ righteousness was given to us, we don’t need to rely on our own strengths. We are free to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.

Humility is freedom. It frees us from reliance on ourselves. It frees us from the expectations of others. It frees us from the pride that enslaves us. The more we submit our pride to God and live through his strength, the greater our humility. Though we live our lives on earth in humility, in the end, we are promised to inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]> http://csahm.com/christian-walk/freedom-in-humility/feed/ 1 http://csahm.com/christian-walk/how-jesus-demonstrated-faith/ http://csahm.com/christian-walk/how-jesus-demonstrated-faith/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:12:36 +0000 CSAHM http://csahm.com/?p=5971 Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]>

When we think about examples of faith in the Bible, the very first example to come to mind should always be Jesus. Jesus’ very life is an example of how God’s divine plan for our lives can unfold in such an unexpected way. There are many examples of ways that Jesus demonstrated faith during his time on Earth.

As Jesus traveled, taught, and performed miracles, not only did he demonstrate his faith by performing the miracles, but he served as a testimony of the power of God in the land. Jesus’ faith to do what God called him to do helped many who doubted to believe that he was indeed the Son of God.

Click here to finish reading this article at Bible Study for Her…

Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]> http://csahm.com/christian-walk/how-jesus-demonstrated-faith/feed/ 1 http://csahm.com/christian-walk/on-humility-and-christmas/ http://csahm.com/christian-walk/on-humility-and-christmas/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:55:20 +0000 toshowthemjesus http://csahm.com/?p=6245 Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]>

If you were of royal blood, a king perhaps, and you were sending your child to live somewhere else, what kind of home would you choose for him? Whom would you choose to take care of him while he was there?

I would venture to guess that most of us would choose a grand estate with lavish decor–similar to the home he is leaving. We would also probably choose the best in care– the most experienced, intelligent and highly qualified care taker.

This month, we are looking at the topic of humility. As we begin this season of Advent, this is a timely subject. The story of Christmas is a story of humility.

The King sends the Prince of Peace to leave His kingdom to come to earth as a baby. His mother is a young, poor girl–not at all what one would expect for the mother of a prince. He was born in a stable of all places and spent his first night lying in a feeding trough. The first people told of his arrival were smelly, dirty and despised shepherds.

The humble beginnings of Jesus’ life on earth were just a foretaste of his life of humility. For his mission, his reason for coming to earth, was the greatest act of humility that could ever have happened–the perfect Son of God dying on the cross for the sins of His people.

As we go about our normal Christmas preparations and activities, let us not lose sight of the humble nature of the Christmas story. Let us pause and reflect on what the story says about our God and His character. How does the humility of the baby Jesus pierce your own heart and soul?

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Download TODAY! ==> Desire of My Heart - A Devotional eBook on Psalm 37:4
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

]]> http://csahm.com/christian-walk/on-humility-and-christmas/feed/ 4