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During the time of preparation for a baby, Mary and Joseph were on a journey. It was unexpected for both of them. They probably had their life planned out a little differently how things were going. They made their way on this long journey to Bethlehem, to do, of all things, pay taxes. Didn’t anyone know how inconvenient it would be for a pregnant woman to travel on a donkey during her 9th month of pregnancy? Joseph and Mary weren’t quite prepared for this, but this was their reality. This was not in their hopes and dreams for their family. I’m sure all of us have had our plans changed unexpectedly, but none quite this dramatically. Our earth journey is really preparation for heaven. Earth really is very short, and heaven is really very long. What we hope for in heaven is way beyond what we can imagine with our finite minds. What the young couple on a journey to Bethlehem was hoping for, with God’s own son living in their home, was way beyond what they could have imagined. But they made room for Jesus. And when they did, God gave them a taste of heaven on this earth. When we make room for Jesus, He does the same for us. God’s desires that His will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:10) The very presence of God, His life, His nature, and His ability resides in us, empowering us to make our earth life, a little bit of heaven. Jesus gives us foretaste of things to come. What hope that brings.

Our God is the God of all hope. How amazing it is that Jesus came down and became hope manifested to the world. Heaven came down and kissed earth, and we got caught right in the middle of the smack! Jesus was the kiss of heaven! He brought hope that would change history with his story! The story of Jesus is all about hope for the world. There doesn’t have to be darkness and despair, the light appeared. As the darkest season of the year, even the light of a small candle can make darkness flee. Jesus came! Everything is better with the light of Jesus shining on it! What does hope do to the human heart? It reveals a future that is bright. It fills us with joy and peace in believing (Romans 15:13). Hope overflows in believers through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we know the plans God has for us are filled with hope, we can live life knowing that our future is going to be awesome.

So my prayer for you today is that you know the God of all hope. That he would fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him, and that you will overflow with hope, and it will spill onto others who are all around you. You can be a hope infuser to your world! The light has come and He lives in you.

Sometimes you don’t just get what you expect, you get more. That would definitely apply when it comes to the birth of Jesus. When Mary was told that she would be the birth mother of a holy child named Jesus, she probably had no idea of what that all meant. The “world” was looking for and expecting a Savior, and she was expecting baby, still cradled in her womb. This baby was the darling of heaven delivered to the earth. Heaven came DOWN! He was sent to bring hope to the world! She had great expectations for this baby, yet I am sure her wildest imaginations were exceedingly, abundantly, surpassed.

The phrase that Mary spoke when the angel first told her the news of her impending pregnancy was, “Be it unto me, according to your Word. May it be just as you have spoken.” That phase should be the hope filled theme of our life. Whatever you want Lord, be it unto me, according to your Word. The Bible has both the plan and the process for us not only to know and love God and His Word, but it has the revelation knowledge of the path and provision for a life filled with His hope.

Jesus gave it all. He gave up heaven for an earthly home. He willingly made a way for us to have hope in abundance. He brought heaven to us, and made a way for our relationship to be restored to perfect intimacy with His Father. Salvation certainly is exceedingly, abundantly above all I could have ever asked or expected! Hope has come. Heaven Came Down!

Uncommon hope. In our world today, it isn’t uncommon to see people without hope. If we look only to the natural realm, things haven’t looked that hopeful. The economy is suffering, many are jobless, and people everywhere are looking for an answer. During the season of Christmas, things can seem even more desperate for those without hope. One thing we know is that the answer won’t be found in the natural realm. In other words, the government won’t be the answer, a new relationship won’t be the answer, even a new job, or better job won’t be the answer. Jesus is The Answer. He was The One the world was hoping for 2000 years ago, and He has arrived! Because of Jesus, hope should be common! As believers, especially those who know the truth, and live in truth, we should have hope in abundance. The advent season is a reminder of hope for the whole world. When it seemed the least hopeful, Hope arrived. When it seemed like circumstances were overwhelming, God will make a way. When relationships bring disappointment, we are reminded that God never fails. I hope that encourages you today to be more hopeful than ever. Everything we see in the natural realm is subject to change, but we serve a God who never does. He is always faithful. He gives us reason to be full of uncommon hope. As you light the first candle today, let the flickering flame remind you that hope has come, when Heaven Came Down.

Word for the Day: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 …

So much has been written about the power of praise. We know from Bible examples that God will put a new song in your heart. He sings over us, so there are songs all around us. It really is amazing to think about. So, how is your praise life? Are you taking time to praise and worship God everyday. If we want to rise above the circumstances of life, we will need a song in our heart. The cursed earth can suck life out of you, you renew your strength in God’s presence….reading His Word, singing His praises, or just breathing in the Life of God. To stay full, we get to take every opportunity we have to spend time with God. Each day we don’t, we are telling God that we can do life without Him. Yikes!!! I want to rely on Him more today than yesterday, so instead of less time with Him, I want more. Often it seems like the times that we need more time with Him is when we have less time in the natural because of raising children, or job schedules, running kids around, or whatever keeps us busy. Those are the times to get creative. Take a praise and worship cd with you, or listen to great Christian music on the radio. Listen to uplifting podcasts. Turn off the TV at home, and enjoy the silence, or listen to some uplifting music. Be creative and make the most of every opportunity to get refilled. It is the only way we can rise above circumstances of life….stay filled up with the power of God. Let His song, bring hope to your life.

We have a family that loves to sing. We sing in the shower, sing in the car, on the riding lawnmower, and around the living room. We love to sing together. What we really love to do is sing praise and worship songs. We have instruments all over our house, pianos, guitars, a cello, a couple of baritones, a banjo, a mandolin and we recently added a saxophone and an accordion. So, not only do we use our voices to praise God, we use instruments too. There are great examples in the Bible of David in the Old Testament and Paul and Silas in the New Testament singing their way through a storm. Their storm landed them in jail. Different kinds of storms come to everyone. Things don’t always go perfectly, and when that happens instead of getting upset and worried, we can sing. We can tell our soul to bless the Lord, we can just rejoice in the midst of any situation. What the enemy wants for our destruction, Jesus can turn around for our good. So to get through hard times, begin by praising God. Sing out loud, sing a song you know, or one that you make up. Some of the most beautiful and meaningful songs come from a heart that praises through the storm. So open up your mouth and make a joyful noise….you are going to make it, and God is at work within you. Be encouraged today, hope is on its way.

As we celebrate Thankgiving today, I encourage you to …..Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not all His benefits it says in Psalms 103:2. The Message Bible says it this way:
Oh my soul, bless God
From head to toe, I’ll bless His holy name
O my soul, bless God
Don’t forget a single blessing.
He forgives your sins – every one
He heals your diseases – every one
He redeems you from hell – saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy – a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness – beauty eternal
He renews your youth – you’re always young in his presence
God makes everything come out right, he puts victims back on their feet.
What a great writing! I love to read the Message Bible, it gives such a great perspective on verses that we might just pass over in our reading. Soul…..bless the Lord! We can tell ourselves to bless God, and then not to forget a single blessing. I know that there have been many blessing I’ve received from God that I have forgotten, and probably never even thanked God for.

Today, my desire for you is to be a person who remembers God’s faithfulness. Be thankful, be grateful for all that God has done for you. There is great power in remembrance. In the Old Testament, God established days for feasts just to remember different times in the Israelites lives. As New Testament believers, we are called to do that every day! My prayer is that as you remember what God has done for you in the past, all His wonderful benefits toward you, that you will be strengthened and encouraged. What He has done before, He will do again. Let’s Give God the thanks that He deserves.

Are you needing joy and peace in your life today? Be encouraged – if you’re a believer, joy and peace live in your inner man. Are big challenges facing you today? You can abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, believing that God is at work on your behalf, and joy and peace in the Holy Spirit are yours. Sometimes we just need to shake ourselves out of our stupor and realize, the God of the Universe is our peace. He not only brings peace, which is the word shalom, that means nothing missing and nothing broken, but He is our peace, who has broken down every wall. There is nothing that is too difficult for you. You have the Power of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you and you will overcome. Whatever you face is not bigger than the God who lives within you. If you start to think you’re not going to over come, or make it through, begin believing that you will. Capture any thought that is against God’s plan for your life. If you think defeat, capture that thought and fill your mind with scriptures about victory. Rehearse your past victories, and remember what God has done for you in the past, He will do again. Keep sowing good seeds; with your thought life, and with your words and actions. Keep on doing what is right and you will reap if you don’t grow weary, and if you don’t give up. The joy and peace you are looking for are within you! Jesus is the joy of our salvation, and He gives us peace that passes all understanding. Your day is looking brighter already. Those mountains just became molehills, and you are going over, not under. You have what it takes to overcome….it is within you. Your future is filled with hope!

Often when things aren’t going as smoothly as we hoped, we doubt God’s Word, or doubt our ability to hear from God, or doubt that what we have believed in the past is still the truth. But as believers, we need to stand firm and not be shaken. We can abound in hope that what God has said is still what He means. We are still His sheep that still know His voice, and that we will stand strong and continue to believe and feed our faith, and starve our doubts. When our faith becomes weak, we begin to believe the deception of the evil one, and our faith can waver. That causes confusion and we know who the author of confusion is – the devil. What is necessary is that we continue hearing and being saturated with the Word and strengthening our faith, so that we can experience joy and peace in believing. In Romans 15, it talks about bearing one another’s burdens, and living selflessly, living in unity, with one mind and one mouth glorifying God the Father, which are principles we live by as believers. Paul talks about encouraging one another, and that when he did come to Corinth, he would come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. We as believers want to fulfill our mission on the earth (like Paul was doing on his travels), which is to lead as many people as we can to Christ. So our believing needs to be such that we know that we know that we know, God’s Word is true. Then we can abound and overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can accomplish all that God has called us to do – no doubt about it! That is hope filled living!

Set your grace pace. Each of us are in different seasons, with different priorities,
and are running at a different pace. I am in a very different season right now.

Life is a little discomb

obulated; we spent 2 months living in a 30’ trailer while our house is being built. I just became a grandma – what a wonderful new season!
Our youngest son is a sophomore in high school, and will be driving soon. That’s a new season for us. My mom had sarcoma surgery the day we signed on the sale of our old house, and it began a new season for me as a daughter.

Life brings us unexpected challenges, and the enemy certainly doesn’t give up trying to mess up our lives. We cannot let the enemy push us around. He uses shame and guilt to try to make our lives miserable. Jesus is not a bully, but the devil is. Jesus is gentle, the devil is pushy. The devils MO is to hand out guilt and shame like candy. Don’t take it. Instead of shame on you, shake shame off of you. And then, run your race, in your lane, at your pace.