He Came to Die - The Gospel of Luke Challenge Continues

He Came to Die
 --The Gospel of Luke Challenge Continues

Today is December 23, so we're reading and meditating on Luke 23.

(The Gospel of Luke December Challenge is explained in my blog post of November 29, 2017.)

So today in Luke 23 we see Jesus handed over to Pontius Pilot, then to Herod, and back to Pilot.

They found no guilt in Him but let the people decide the fate of Jesus.

They cried out, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" (Luke 23:21).

So Jesus the Christ, who was born in Bethlehem thirty-three years earlier, and whom the wise men recognized as King of the Jews, would now die a criminal's death.

Prophets had predicted it and Jesus had warned His disciples this would take place.

Jesus came to die "for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

Just as Father God had planned, Jesus took the punishment we deserved. Mission accomplished.

Luke 23:44-47

But His mission is not totally complete as we'll see tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, in Luke 24.

Thank You, God, for sending Your dear Son through a humble birth in a stable. Thank You for sending Him to die a humiliating death. And thank you that His story does not end in a grave.

Your comments are welcome.

Thank you for bearing with me during this time I've been without a computer. This is difficult for me, using my phone to post on my blog. 

The main thing is our devoted time with God, in His presence, and in His Word.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

°Connie Wohlford 2017

The Gift – A Christmas-Time Short Film

The Gift – A Christmas-Time Short Film

It’s Christmas Eve Eve and time is just about up−That is time to prep for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities. If you’re like me you’ve not accomplished a high percentage of your wonder-filled Christmas plans. If you read my post last week, you know exactly what I’m talking about. J

Also, maybe a few of you have had an unforeseen family crisis, as we did. Just two days ago my dear uncle unexpectedly went to his Heavenly Reward. This really jarred our family out of our Christmas cheer. But we will be fine.

On the bright side, Uncle Jim is having his best Christmas ever, worshiping−IN PERSON−the One who once lay away in a manger−the ONE for whom the angels rejoiced and sang, Glory to God in the highest−the ONE Isaiah spoke of when he prophesied:

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

Wow, Uncle Jim, it’s almost hard not to envy you.

So, as we ponder the glorious hope of Christmas−the birth of Messiah−I invite you to watch this Christmas-time short film.

The film is heart-warming, and depicts the truth and hope of the Christmas story. You might even want to share it with someone you know who could use a little boost of hope.

I pray God richly blesses you and your family with Christmas hope, joy, peace, and love. Merry Christmas!

I present to you, The Gift:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yND5h69YP0

 

©Connie Wohlford

Our Wonder-Filled Plans for Christmas

Our Wonder-Filled Plans for Christmas

It happens every year. And I know that I’m not the only one who does it.  On November 1^st Thanksgiving plans are well underway. We don’t want to miss a beat in having Thanksgiving dinner as perfect as can be. I love Thanksgiving− taking time to be grateful to God for His many blessings, family gathering together, turkey dinner with the trimmings, college football on TV, and on and on.

BUT, you know and I know that there’s a buzzing bee humming wildly inside our heads, planning and anticipating, thinking and budgeting, for the best Christmas ever. After all, it’s just around the corner! 

Our minds are bursting with wonder-filled plans:  Things like family gatherings where we all get along; we’re all on the same page; and no one−not even one− acts unseemly. And most importantly, we all focus on Jesus and the wonder of His coming. We gaze at the nativity figurines and imagine what it would be like to be in that scene ourselves. We picture ourselves kneeling beside the Christ Child, worshiping alongside the shepherds and wise men−maybe even holding a little lamb on our laps. We see our children and grandchildren joining us there−in the wonder of it all. 

When God looks into our brains, it must look something like Pinterest or the merger of Southern Living Christmas and Focus on the Family.

Our minds are bursting with wonder-filled plans:  Our culinary creations will top all we’ve ever done in Christmas past. It will seem as though we’ve cloned Martha Stewart’s creativity and yes, her pocketbook−and even her staff.  [How much of that do you really think she does herself anyway?] 

Our homes will be filled with aromas of homemade Snicker Doodles, apple & pumpkin pies, fresh baked cinnamon buns, mulled cider & fresh brewed coffee.  Our table and counter tops will be heavy laden with trays of bright colored, perfectly decorated Christmas cookies, mini loaves, cakes, and bundled candies−all freshly made by our skilled and loving hands.  

 

Our minds are bursting with wonder-filled plans:  Our homes will be brilliantly decorated with holiday lights and homemade décor that even Martha would envy.  All the lights, yes every single one, will actually work and burn brightly in just the right spot, casting just the right shadows, in just the right places.  It will all be just right. The fragrant fresh greenery, colorfully styled with perfectly harmonized ribbons and bows, intermixes the air with the cinnamons and spice. Umm, we smile, close our eyes, deeply inhale and hold for a moment just to soak it all in.  

Our minds are bursting with wonder-filled plans:  The family will all be together at the community parade and tree lighting ceremony, after which we’ll enjoy hot chocolate while we chat and laugh together. Off to church we’ll go on Christmas Sunday* and joyfully sing all our favorite Christmas carols. Each heart will be thrilled again by the Christmas play. We’ll worship the new born King and joyfully say, “Merry Christmas,” to each of our church friends. [*Christmas Sunday is defined as the Sunday just before Christmas day. I had to explain that term to some of my grandchildren.] 

Our minds are bursting with wonder-filled plans: We’ll give and receive delightfully simple and meaningful gifts this year. We won’t spend more than we can afford. And best of all, everyone will appreciate−really appreciate−the gifts we give. As they carefully open each one, their eyes will sparkle with anticipation.

Then they’ll look into our faces and gleefully say, “Oh thank you so much!  I just love it! It is just right!”  Then we’ll receive that big hug of gratitude and smile as we sweetly say, “You’re welcome, Honey.  I love you so much.” 

So- our wonder-filled plans are brilliant, indeed. Our imaginings can flit and float to impeccable holiday thrills. But—really now, let’s do be real. When our families consist of human beings, we’ll deal with human frailties. We, ourselves, are not the picture of perfection, you know.

Let’s begin our plans with a prayer to the One we celebrate and ask for His leading as we set our sights on Christmas. After all—it’s His birthday.

AND let’s do what Proverbs 16:3 wisely tells us: Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

Please leave a comment and share ways you manage to maintain focus and composure during your Christmas planning and follow-through.  Merry Christmas!  

"Our Wonder-Filled Plans for Christmas" has been published in the December issue of the free on-line magazine, "Refresh." To read more delightful and inspirational Christmas related articles please see the December issue -> http://lighthousebiblestudies.com/refresh-bible-study-magazine .

©Connie Wohlford

Is your head spinnning yet?

Is your head spinning yet?

Was your Thanksgiving Day perfect? ---Mine was not.---  BUT I will say it was a blessing for my husband and me, as well as for others around us.

And I don’t know about you, but for me life is standing in the way of most of my wonder-filled Christmas plans thus far. But I’m grateful for life and I know God’s gift of His Son is all I need for my Christmas holiday to be wonder-filled. As for the trappings, I’ll do what I can as I can.

Speaking of which, for my blog post today, I’m inviting you to read and even subscribe to the new FREE on-line Christian magazine, Refresh. The article that I wrote which was to be my blog post for this week was selected to be published in the magazine. (That’s very exciting to me!) I’ve not included any pictures here because Refresh has magnificent Christmas pictures for you and me to enjoy.

So please download Refresh Christmas Issue and read my article titled, “Our Wonder-filled Plans for Christmas,” on page 16. Then you’ll have read my blog post for this week and you will also have the opportunity to read the other fabulous articles in Refresh.

Below is the intro and link to the December issue of Refresh. Please read the information right below the link to help insure success in downloading. I believe you’ll enjoy Refresh and hope you’ll share it with friends. Here you go:

Merry Christmas!

It's that special time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we're excited to present you with our Christmas issue.   

Click this link to see the magazine:

Refresh Christmas Issue

We have everything from relieving stress to recipes for a Christmas latte and a Jesus cake. And best of all, celebrating the great love that God gave us 2000 years ago--Jesus Himself!

The magazine will open as a PDF in your browser. It will take a couple minutes to load. You can download it and open it in a special way, so that the pages flip from the inside out. Just save it to your computer, open it from your Downloads folder, and allow the file to open in "full screen." Otherwise, you can view the magazine in your browser and scroll through the pages.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas season and a great start to 2016! God bless you and your family.

©Connie Wohlford 2015