Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Advent(Dec. 8): Climbing Up

He(Jacob) had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
Genesis 28:12-16

"Jacob dreamed - of a long, long ladder that stretched on and on - and angels going up and coming down." 

"For us the real amazing dream is that there is nothing to climb up because Jesus is the Staircase, the only One who becomes the step to take you there Himself - because He loves you just as you are.
"He allows for us to ascend to speak to God whenever we like - 
- to commune with God in joy, in trial, in need, in thanks. 

But, because we are human, and weak, and often flawed in the choices we make in our own free will, sometimes we forget to take our good moments and especially our weak moments to God. We feel lost, alone, hurting, confused, and afraid. 

And it is in those moments God will come down the staircase to speak to us in our despair and remind us that “The Lord is definitely in this place,” even when we forget to look for Him. 
Then, like Jacob, we see that this sacred place is beautiful and awesome when we are looking up the staircase at God."(source)

"Jesus is our ladder who wants to give us the gift of letting Him carry us up, no matter how far down we've fallen.

I have been a long-time fan of  the group "Point of Grace"
One of their first albums has a song called "The Great Divide".
Below is the video and lyrics to this song. I felt it was fitting for this post.(Even though they are singing about a bridge, nstead of a ladder/stairway)
Silence
Trying to fathom the distance
Looking out 'cross the canyon carved
By my hands
God is gracious
Sin would still separate us
Were it not for the bridge
His grace has made us
His love will carry me
There's a bridge to cross the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father cost His son his life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
God is faithful
On my own I'm unable
He found me hopeless alone
And sent a savior
He's provided a path
And promised to guide us
Safely past all the sin that would divide us
His love delivers me
There's a bridge to cross the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
The cross that cost my Lord His life
Has given me mine
There's a bridge to cross the great divide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
There's a bridge to cross the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
There's a cross, there's a cross to bridge
There's a cross, there's a cross
There's a cross to bridge
There's a cross, there's a cross to bridge
There's a cross, there's a cross
There's a cross to bridge
There's a cross to bridge the great divide

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 9 of the Advent Calender...
in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.
To view the whole series on one page, go HERE


You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Monday, December 7, 2015

Advent(Dec. 7): Here I Am

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac,and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together.
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,“Abraham! Abraham!”
Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.
Genesis 22:1-2, 6. 11-14
Abraham answered when God called him.
Here I am,” he replied.
(which is another way of saying, "I love you.")

The Bible tells us that this whole thing was just a test of Abraham’s faith.  

 While Abraham walked by faith under the command of God, God was preparing a meeting on the top. God was preparing a ram. This ram had no business being in this area. 
Abraham’s problem and God’s solution were coming up the same mountain, but the problem couldn’t see the solution until it paid the price to reach the top.”(source)

And the Bible says, “Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

"God will provide is that He has provided a lamb for us
 God sacrificed Himself in the form of His Son Jesus."

"And because God has provided a lamb for us, we can take to His cross all of our baggage; all the anger, pain, and guilt from a lifetime of misunderstandings and betrayals can be washed clean in the only solvent that breaks down every sin – the blood of Jesus."

God provides all of your needs...
But the most important thing God provides is freedom from the sins we have committed and the sins committed against us; we have a cross to put them on because God has given us a lamb for our salvation just like He did for Abraham.(source)

Do we worry? 
"Worry is always belief gone wrong. Because you don't believe that God will get it right."

It is not our job to question how God will work out circumstances in our life. Just know that with whatever promise he has given he has already made the provision. (source)

"Peace is belief that exhales. Because you believe that God's love is everywhere = like air."

Have we been ready and willing when we hear God calling us?
Do we readily answer Him, saying "Here I am", which is another way of saying, "I love you?"

"God wants all of His miraculous children to be living presents to Him, to be living sacrifices, living gifts. God wants all of his children to say every day to Him, "Here I am" - which is another word for "I love You".

"What would it look like to trust God with your whole heart today?"

I think of one of my top verses - one that I am always quoting, as a reminder to myself.
"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." (Philippian 4:6-7
Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 8 of the Advent Calender...
in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.
To view the whole series on one page, go HERE


You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Advent(Dec. 6): The Gift of Laughter

 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 
Genesis 21:1-7

While Abraham laughed in shock, Sarah laughed in unbelief when they were told they would have a son.

"When Abrahan was one hundred years  old, Sarah had a baby boy, Isaac.
Sarah held Isaac and her laughter was changed to joy to the heavens. "God has brought me laughter!"
This story teaches us that the joy of the life of faith comes from obtaining what only God can do; the pain comes from separating from what I can do in my own power. 
'Because of Jesus, the miracle Child who came to us, laughter comes to us, too. And we get to hold the wonder of it close to us.
No matter what happens today, Jesus is the last word, and we rejoice and rejoice again and re-joy again — because grace is our oxygen now!"
"God brings us the gift of laughter for our hearts!
Joy is the gigantic secret gift that God gives us and we never stop unwrapping."
I will smile today, I will laugh, I will enjoy Him, and now and amazing grace, because God brings the weary people laughter, Laughter is His gift to me — oxygenated grace!"
If you feel inclined, play the video and sing along!!
Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 7 of the Advent Calender...
in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.
To view the whole series on one page, go HERE


You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Advent(Dec. 5): Count the Stars

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12: 1-4, 7

  • In Genesis 12:2-3, God made a covenant with Abraham that continued far beyond this patriarch’s lifetime. The covenant with Abraham included the following promises: multiple descendants, fame, divine protection and that Abraham through his descendants would be a blessing to all people. 
"And God said to Abram, "Leave everything - because I love you more than anything....trust Me with everything you have, and you'll have everything you need, because I will be with you."
  • As Abraham obeyed and grew in faith, God continued to reveal to him the blessings he and his descendants would receive.
"...Abram tried to count all the ways - the thousands and millions and billions of ways - as many as the stars in the heavens - God loved him, and it made him dance in awe with the stars, with God"
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you.(Galations 3:9)

"I will bless you", God said once, keeps saying now. "I will give you the greatest gift of love."
So a belief, or a faith, in Jesus Christ and an understanding of these promises enable us to be heirs of the promise to Abraham!(source)
"The greatest gift God gives you is Himself - God blessed all families through a Child who would be born under one enormous, blazing, brilliant star."

"And God promises even more:"I will make you a blessing to others. I will do more than give you a gift of love - I will make you into a gift of love!" You get to be the gift and smile for someone, you get to be the gift and laugh for someone, you get to be the gift and love someone who is needing a gentle touch."
You are blessed!
You get to bless!


10 Ways to Bless Others During Christmas

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 6 of the Advent Calender...
in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.
To view the whole series on one page, go HERE


You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 


Everything is Blooming!!

Well, if it wasn't evident in my last post, it’s definitely very evident this time around!! Spring has sprung!!! We’ve been keeping so ...