Category: Advent

Mary, Looking to God

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We will leave Zachariah and Elizabeth for a bit and turn our attention to Mary. Mary was a young woman who was pledged to marry a Jewish man named Joseph. Like Zachariah, Mary was visited by an angel with a specific message for her. Here is the first part of her story, Luke 1:26-33.

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary was visited by the archangel named Gabriel, the same angel who had spoken to Zachariah. We are given times and places where this event occurred. In the sixth month refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Jesus and John were to be close in age. The place Nazareth was located in the region of Galilee and where Mary and Joseph resided. Joseph, her betrothed, was in the line of David which was very important as Messiah was to come from the line of David. Actually both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. After greeting Mary, the angel first addresses her fear and proclaims she is favored by God. What an amazing message the angel gives to this young unwed girl. She was to have a child, but she was not married and had not known any man. She was perplexed about this but asks her questions of the angel with showing doubt towards God. The encounter continues in Luke 1:34-38

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary does not doubt God’s ability to perform this miracle within her and radiates confidence and hope in her response. She is humble and obedient towards God.

What do we learn about God in this encounter? God shows himself and his power through the angel Gabriel. He appeared to her personally and reassured her that all would be well with her. When given momentous tasks to perform, God attends to the details and gives us reassurances that it will succeed. Maybe it is a complement from a coworker, an unexpected gift or money to see the job done, support from a friend, prayers directed to uplift you by other believers, peace in your mind or heart or an encouraging passage from His Word to motivate you. God uses all those around us to do His bidding and support us. Here he used the miraculous and given the mission, it is an encounters that will last a lifetime. God know exactly what Mary needed to reassure her, and He knows what you need. We just have to be open to His encouragements and looking for them expectantly. God was a personal God to Mary and is personal to you and me. He cares about each of us. Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:7 that God encourages us to give Him our anxieties and worries because He cares about us. “Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” Good words for Mary as she was told to trust God and good words for us today.

Linda

Thankfulness, After the Long Wait

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The angel spoke to Zachariah and told him, much to his disbelief, that he and Elizabeth would have a child who would be used mightily by God. What of Elizabeth’s response? Did she say, “Oh, No, that can’t be as I’m well advanced in years?” “What do you mean I’m going to have a child, after all this time? Are you kidding?” Remembering that she was described as a godly woman who sought to serve the Lord, let’s consider her reply. Luke 1:23-25.

23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. 24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”

Elizabeth was accepting of God’s gift of a child and filled with thankfulness. She deemed God’s actions toward her, causing her to be with child, as an act of great kindness. Here we see that the stigma of not being able to have a child had been a burden and a cause for great sorrow in her life. Instead of questioning the why’s of her situation, she accepted it gracefully and gave thanks. Because of her age the 5 months in seclusion were probably precautionary incase of miscarriage and to keep tongues from wagging on her behalf.

Think about your own life. How have you reacted to a long awaited person, place or event in your life? Do you say, “Well finally!” or Do you accept the timing and move forward? We see grace from Elizabeth. She accepted the favor and kindness from the Lord and used the opportunity to give thanks and glory to God. Does this resonate with you? Is your first response one of gratitude. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about gratitude for Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:15 speaks to us about why we need to respond with gratitude for God’s hand in our lives. “All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.” Our gratitude is pleasing to Him and brings Him glory.

What do we learn about God from Elizabeth’s story? God is compassionate and desires to bless us. His timing is not our timing and we need to trust Him. God wanted this specific child, John, to be born to Zachariah and Elizabeth at just this time prior to His own son’s arrival. He wanted a godly couple who would love and care for this special child, and He chose the timing of his arrival. Zachariah and Elizabeth were blessed as they waited upon the Lord in their lives and when the timing was right, God gave them a child. Here we can see the reason for God’s timing but that is not always the case. As we go through life and experience God’s timing, we grow in faith and learn to trust Him more.

Linda

P.S. Like Elizabeth, I waited 14 years for the arrival of my Elizabeth. God’s timing was perfect for her to enter our lives. As I look back, I see that had she arrived earlier we would have struggled mightily. God knew when it was just the perfect time for us to have a child. It helped me to grow in faith and see His timing as a blessing.

God of the Impossible, for Real!

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How do you react to startling news? Do you deny it is even possible? Do you accept it with grace and just absorb it quietly? Do you jump up and down shouting for joy? Each of us reacts to situations in our own way. Zachariah was no different. He had heard and seen the angel. He heard the angel tell him that he and Elizabeth would have a child in their old age and that their son would have a mission for God. But seeing and hearing didn’t register belief. Here is Zachariah’s response to the angel, Luke 1:18-25.

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” 21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

Mary and Joseph had questions for the angels that appeared to them too but their questions did not present doubt in God’s ability to follow through. Zachariah could only think in human terms and knew he and Elizabeth were too old to have a child. He focused on the impossibility of the situation not on the power of God. If he had just thought for a moment before speaking, perhaps he would have remembered Abraham and Sarah who had a child in their extreme old age. Abraham was 100 and Sarah in her 90’s when they had Isaac. God is the god of the impossible and Zachariah forgot that in the moment. The angel rebuked him for his unbelief and said he would not be able to speak until John was born. I think that was probably a long 9 months for Zachariah as he waited expectantly to meet this child God was sending to them. As confirmation that something amazing had happened to Zachariah, the people noticed he was different in addition to not being able to speak. They saw by his demeanor was different and they concluded he had had a vision or an encounter with God. I’m sure Zachariah was able to tell them somehow of his angelic vision and the message he had received.

How big is your God? How capable is He? Do you rule out miracles or pray with faith for divine intervention? Consider the words of Isaiah 40:28-30

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

The God who caused Zachariah to not be able to speak, who created a new life in old bodies for both Zachariah and Elizabeth and Abraham and Sarah is the God who brought Jesus as a babe to bring us unto Himself. God is the god of the impossible. In Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Jesus was talking about being saved from sin. Only God could make that impossibility possible and He did it by sending Jesus.

Thank you Lord for this season filled with hope that reminds us that you are the God of impossible things.

Linda

WOW! Message from God to Zechariah

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The Levites took turns serving in the temple in Jerusalem. Here is what happened to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, when it was his turn to serve. Luke 1:8-17

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Wow! The angel brought Zechariah heavenly news. Zechariah was afraid as often angelic messengers brought bad news and they were spiritual beings which would frighten anyone. Zechariah was told that he and his aged wife would have child. At their age, this would be a lot to take in and believe as they had tried for many years to have a child. Now at their age, it would be a miracle. This son was to be called John, he would be a joy and a delight- good news to any future parents. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. In Old Testament times, the Spirit of God came upon people for a certain period of time and then would leave. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes upon the believer and indwells them forever. So being told that John would have God’s Spirit from birth was an amazing fact. They were also given information about his future mission for the Lord. He would go out in God’s power and call people to repentance. John was to prepare the way for the long awaited Messiah.

I can’t even imagine getting this news. Zechariah was a devout Jew that loved and served God. The joy Zechariah experienced in knowing he would have a part in God’s plan through his son must have been both humbling and exhilarating. Today I focused on the message the angel brought to John as it speaks of God’s Omniscience and compassion for all mankind. God’s plan of redemption was made and carried out through Jesus because He loved us and desired that we be reconciled to Him. Our sin separates us from Him and there is nothing we can do to remedy this situation. Only God could reconnect us. He sent John to proclaim the coming of Messiah and the message that repentance was needed. They had strayed from God and John was to be the wakeup call to stir the Jewish conscience towards faith once more.

Let this Advent season be a wakeup call of your own to turn to Jesus. Seek Him with a repentant heart and let the words of Ezekiel 36:26 resonate in your heart and mind. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ask God for that new heart, renewed faith and openness to do His will in your life. You will be renewed, rejuvenated and experience renovation in your life as never before.

Linda

‘Immanuel’ Revealed in the Prophecy Candle Today

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During this time of year, we remember specifically different aspects of the Christmas story each Sunday of Advent. The four Sunday’s leading up to Christmas Eve are celebrated by the light of a candle remembering part of the Christmas story. The first is to be lit today. It is the Prophecy candle proclaiming the coming birth of Christ, Isaiah 7:14, and it represents hope. The second is the Bethlehem candle highlighting the manger and coming Christ child, Luke 2:12, and it represent love. The third is the Shepherd’s candle highlighting the announcement to the shepherds of Christ’s birth and it represents joy, Luke 2:8-11. The fourth is the Angel’s candle which represent peace from Luke 2:13-14. The last or center white candle is the Christ candle. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve and represents the arrival of our savior who came to cleanse us from sin, Isaiah 1:18.

Today’s verse from Isaiah was given hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. It is such a specific prophecy that it is amazing. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” From this the Israelites were to expect their Messiah to have a miraculous birth and he would reveal God to them, as his name means ‘God with us’. Since he would be born, he would be a human child, but He would reveal himself as God. He would live with them and it would be as if God himself was with them. I can’t imagine how hopeful and yet confused they must have been to read this over the centuries. As time elapsed, they knew that God had promised them a flesh and blood representative to reveal God among them. It was a hope-filled message for them and for us. Today as we know Jesus came revealing God to all mankind. He died to redeem and reconcile us to God. His resurrection frees us from the bondage to sin and promises eternal life to all who believe in Him.

Today we learn that God is a god of HOPE. He wants us uplifted from our everyday lives with His blessed hope provided in Jesus. Jesus came to bring us hope so we would know ‘Immanuel’, God with us.

May you experience His hope today as you worship Him on this first Sunday of Advent.

Linda

The Blessedness of Waiting

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There are many Old Testament prophesies about the coming Messiah. One that leads directly into our story is that of John the Baptist. He was born just prior to Jesus to the aged parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. His coming was foretold in Isaiah 40:3-4. His was to be a voice proclaiming the Messiah to come.

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain. The poetic words of Isaiah tell of one that will be proclaiming and preparing the Israelites that were willing and ready to listen for the coming of Jesus.

John’s lineage was from the line of Aaron as his father was a priest. The story of John’s conception and birth was a miracle to this older couple. Luke 1:5-7 gives the beginning of their history.

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

These 2 servants of God did everything right. They followed God with their hearts and souls and they were observant doing what God commanded in their daily lives. In those days, being childless or barren was considered a curse from God. They might have felt that they were not doing as God desired for their lives, were sinning or perhaps they felt their ancestors had sinned. I’m sure they felt forgotten by God. However, it did not dampen their ardor or love for God. God knew their true hearts and their devotion to Him. Scripture sets the story straight that they had not sinned against God and were being punished by not having children but it was His timing for them to have a child in their old age. This sets them apart from others and makes the appearance of John, God’s messenger, all the more marvelous.

How often have you felt God is forgetting about you and your needs? Have you prayed fervently for your hearts desire and yet God seems not to hear. Perhaps, in your case as in that of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the timing is not yet right. God has a plan and His timing for events is always perfect. We do not see all the circumstances that surround our requests. We do not know all the people and things that are involved. Elizabeth and Zechariah prayed for a child and left the timing and the happening to God. They were blessed either way.

Take heart from the story of this godly couple and present your requests to God and then continue serving with all your heart and soul. God sees and God knows and God listens. Today’s truth about God’s is that His timing and ways are not our own and that requires us to TRUST Him with the details. God declared in Isaiah 55:8-9. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.“

As the story unfolds we will see the great blessing that came to Zechariah and Elizabeth because of their willingness to wait upon the Lord.

Linda

An Unlikely Start to Advent, but A Necessary Perspective

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As we begin the month of December, we turn our focus on Advent and the birth of our Lord and Savior. Each year for the last 10 years I have written each day in December to help bring myself closer to His celebration and truths instead of focusing on the world’s obsession with buying, gift giving and making or saving money. I pray that my blogs will stimulate your thinking and help you to focus on Jesus with your heart, mind and soul. As I look at the various players in the story of the Lord’s coming and His birth, I want to reflect on God and what the story shows us about His character and especially his great love for us.

Today’s thought about God is that He set His Redemptive Plan in motion when sin entered the world. Only Sovereign God could accomplish this for us. He did it by sending His son Jesus.

The story begins in Genesis 3:14-15. Eve had been enticed by the serpent (the devil) into eating from the tree of good and evil which God had forbidden them to eat. She ate and then gave some to Adam so they both were guilty of disobeying God. God spoke to them- the serpent, Eve and Adam and told them the consequences of their actions. So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” These words are the first hint in scripture that there will be trouble between the offspring (Jesus) of the woman and those that do not believe. God is saying that regardless of the problems, Jesus will crush him (Satan and his minions). This will come to a conclusion when Christ returns and all are held accountable before Him. Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place  and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father.”

All history is about this struggle over sin and its desire to lure, entice, bind and overcome us so that we will not follow God. The original sin that started in the garden overshadows mankind. That is why when Jesus says in John 8:12  “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He is showing us a way to leave the darkness brought on by our sin and to walk in His light. Through Jesus, God provides a way for us to be reconciled to Him and get out from under the bondage of sin. Paul exhorts us in Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Faith in Christ frees us from slavery to our sins. John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

So the arrival of Advent bring Christians a time of reflection on all of God’s goodness and the hope of redemption provided by Jesus. We see God’s great love in sending Jesus to save us from our sins. We were in a hopeless state before His coming as there was nothing we could do to get ourselves right with God and erase our sin. We could not be ‘good’ enough to earn God’s favor.

Thank you Jesus for coming.

Linda

Black Friday=Greatest Gain for You and Me!

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I was thinking this morning about the designation ‘Black Friday’.  It seems that since the 1950’s the day after Thanksgiving has been called ‘Black Friday’.  It began as a term to describe the crowds,  like the street was black with pedestrians.  It then became a day  to retailers signifying when they began to turn a profit and moved from the ‘red’ into the ‘black’ as the volume of their sales increased.   In the Bible the blackest Friday would be the day of the crucifixion. It was the day when the skies turned black and darkness covered the land.  “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.  Luke 23:44-46   The blackness of that Friday is a picture of the sin that Jesus bore on the cross for you and me.  His death on that darkest day brought the greatest profit for us.  John 12:46 puts it in perspective for us as to why that blackest of Friday’s had to happen.  “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

risen

Even on that blackest of Fridays, the people were rushing around preparing for their Sabbath.  Since they could do no work on the Sabbath, they hurried to get Jesus down from the cross,  buried and settled in a borrowed tomb.  Mark 15:42-47 describes these events done in haste.  After the Sabbath was over, several women came back to the tomb to anoint Jesus with spices as his burial had been done in such a hurry they felt they had not been able to treat his body properly on that Friday.  “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.”  Mark 16:1  Their walk to the grave site was done in sadness but their return was joyous as the learned of Jesus’ resurrection and defeat of sin and death.  An angel spoke to them when they got there, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”  What joyous news they had to share!

colossians 1 ;21

That blackest Friday brought death to Jesus and  burial brought the greatest profit to you and me.  Colossians 1:21-22 explains where we were on the black Friday and where we are now because of it.  “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”    That was the the biggest gain or profit for mankind ever in history.  Christ reconciled us to God so that we can be in communion with Him and have our sin’s forgiven.   We are free to live a life in Christ that is pleasing to God and that is free from the penalty of death brought on by sin.  That Black Friday was the best one in history for you and me.

As you venture out today to do some shopping, think about that blackest of Friday’s and how much you gained through Christ.  Praise Him as you do.

Linda

P.S. I have posted this piece several times on Black Friday. It is a message I need to remind myself of especially before the Christmas Season. It helps to keep my focus on Christ and not on the world. Hope it helps you too.

A Reminder of What Christmas Brings…

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This blessing shows us what having Christ in Christmas does for you and me.

His Spirit brings us peace. John 14:27 “ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” His peace dispels all fears, removes our heart troubles and calms us in a chaotic world.

His arrival brings us hope for forgiveness, mercy and redemption. Colossians 1:13-14 “ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” 1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead“. Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

He brings warmth into our lives with His love. 1 John 4:7-9 speaks of God’s love for us. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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.” God is love and He sent Jesus as proof of that great love. John 3:16-17 “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.“

May the Peace, Hope and Love of God fill you day.

Merry Christmas,

Linda

A Journey towards Freedom and Joy!

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My journey though the Christmas scriptures has brought me to Christmas Eve with a humble and open heart. I know I did not get to the Wise men or aged Anna and Simon yet, but the Mary, Joseph and Jesus did not meet them until after his birth. Anna and Simon were encountered in the temple when Jesus was circumsized after 8 days, as was their custom. The wise men saw the star when Jesus was born and followed it, arriving in Bethlehem about 2 years after his birth. The gifts they brought provided monies for Joseph, Mary and Jesus when they had to flee in the night to Egypt to avoid Herod’s executioners. I’ll continue with their parts in this story next week. However, the journey thus far has given me renewed hope in the Sovereignty of God. He was then and is now in control of all things. God has a plan which is to bring as many people to himself as are willing to come. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” All the details before, during and after the birth of Jesus shout of His sovereign power to bring about the impossible.

This Christmas Eve, meditate on the delivery of all mankind from the power of sin and the freedom revealed in Jesus’ birth. Power over sin- Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Freedom- 2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Lastly, take time to rejoice in the Savior. He is worthy of all our praises and brings joy for you and me. Romans 5:11 “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

Have a blessed day remembering how God led us in the journey, delivered His promises and provided unending joy for all mankind through the birth of His Son.

Linda