By: Julianna Merry Christmas, guys! I just wanted to pop in real quick and tell you about something super cool! Are you ready? Julianna has been writing some amazing advent blog posts on her blog Whole Hearted! I highly encourage you to check them out after reading this repost from her series of advent posts. You can find them here. Happy reading! - Chris V
Search the entire world, and you will find no love comparable to the act of the incarnation: God Himself suffering as a man in order to reconcile those who hated him. And yet, I am often oblivious. It’s not that I don’t know about God’s love as put on display in the Christmas story, but that I haven’t let the reality of it sink in. Or more often, I’m allowing the busyness of life to keep me from dealing with the nagging questions of doubt: If God is sovereign and he loves me, why hasn’t he fixed this problem in my life? Why is He giving others what I don’t have? Those questions—questions I am learning to identify as lies—cannot be shoved aside or buried beneath the accumulating pile of life. It takes courage to bare my soul before God, face these questions as the temptations they really are, and then wrestle with God until He enables me to fully rest in both His sovereignty and love, even if circumstances never change. My encouragement this advent is to come face to face with God—and refuse to let Him go until you’ve come away with a deeper understanding of His love. It is far too easy to be caught up in the busyness, all the while what started as a few nagging questions becomes lies that take over our hearts. God’s love has been poured out abundantly through His son coming to earth. Not only that, but for those of us who have looked to Christ for salvation, His love has been set specifically on us. Christ’s coming, the baby in the manger whose story surrounds us at Christmas, is proof of that love. The original blog post appears on Julianna's blog Whole Hearted. You can check it out at https://juliannawrites.blog/2020/12/16/day-18-advent-and-gods-love/.
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By: Chris V Once upon a time in a small town not so far away, there lived a Christian girl named Janna. Janna absolutely loved Christmas! Seeing the lights, smelling festive candles, wrapping Christmas presents, watching Christmas specials, and of course, drinking as many peppermint mochas as she could made Janna feel very happy. Most important of all, Janna loved to celebrate Jesus's birth with her family and friends. Everything seemed perfect, except... wait, where was Prince Charming? Janna wished she had a guy to do fun, romantic Christmas things with, like she saw in the Hallmark Christmas special she watched the other day. Soon, Janna started to focus on- no, obsess- over wishing she had a boyfriend to spend the holidays with. Janna became so obsessed with wishing she had a boyfriend, she started to lose sight of the purpose and real reason for the Christmas season: Jesus Christ. Are you able to relate to Janna? Have you ever become obsessed with wishing you had a guy to spend Christmas with, so much you've started to lose sight of Christ during the Christmas season? We've all been there at one point in our lives. So how can we girls keep our thoughts on Christ this holiday season instead of the guy under the mistletoe? Check out the five ideas below! 1. Listen to Christ-Centered Christmas Music It's hard to keep your mind off romantic daydreams when all you can hear is "All I Want For Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey. Instead of listening to Christmas music filled with romance and longings (ex: "Last Christmas", "Underneath the Tree"), swap it for Christ-centered Christmas music. Some ideas are For King and Country's album A Drummer Boy Christmas, Mandisa's album It's Christmas, and TobyMac's album Christmas in Diverse City. 2. Avoid Romantic Christmas Movies 'Tis the season for Hallmark marathons! (I'm going to be honest, I'm one of those people who makes fun of these predicable, sappy romance movies.) Unfortunately, instead of keeping our minds off Christmas romances, watching romantic Christmas movies do the exact opposite. Instead of watching the newest Hallmark Christmas romance this year, swap it for fun, non-romantic movies like The Star, The Polar Express, and A Garfield Christmas Special. 3. Spend more time in God's Word! Spend more time in your Bible this holiday season! Take the time to read the Christmas story at the beginning of Matthew and Luke. (Check out the December Bible reading plan post from a few weeks ago here for ideas on where to read in your Bible.) Also, don't limit yourself to what areas you read in your Bible this holiday season! 4. Spend time with gal friends Even though you may not be able to have an in-person Christmas party, you can still have one over Zoom with all your gal friends! Some fun ideas to do for a Christmas Zoom party is an ugly sweater contest, unmuting your mics and singing Christmas hymns, and sharing favorite Christmas memories! 5. Spend time serving others! When you're focused on serving others, it's hard to keep your mind on yourself! Not only that, but Jesus came onto this earth "...not to be served, but to serve..." (Mark 10:45). What better way to show Christ's love to others than to serve them this holiday season? Some ideas are:
Spend time this holiday season focused on Christ- the real reason for the Christmas season. We'd love to hear from you! What are some other ways to keep your mind on Christ instead of on guys and romance this holiday season? Tell us in the comments below!
By: Julianna Merry Christmas, guys! I just wanted to pop in real quick and tell you about something super cool! Are you ready? Julianna has been writing some amazing advent blog posts on her blog Whole Hearted! I highly encourage you to check them out after reading this repost from her series of advent posts. You can find them here. Happy reading! - Chris V The Christmas story—the overflowing inn, the manger, the shepherds—would be just another historic tale if it weren’t for the message of the gospel it embodies. The gospel is a reality that is an actual event in history, a birth, life, death, and resurrection that occurred in real space and real time. But it is also a present reality that rescues us from bondage to sin, brings hope, and continues to strengthen believers every day of their lives. Without the gospel, Christmas is just another day off work, time with family, or excuse to party. Without the gospel, Christmas leaves us unfulfilled, empty, searching for the next thing to satisfy. Without the gospel, Christmas means nothing. The gospel is ‘good news,’ but good news that begins with the stark reality of our identity as fallen, rebels at enmity with the God we were created to adore. Nor is this merely a collective identity—it eats away at the core of who each one of us are. We are unrighteous, without understanding, and with no desire to seek after God (Rom. 3:11). Nothing we do is good, for our very best actions are tainted by sin (Rom. 3:12). In short, “all of our righteousness is as filthy rags,” there is nothing we can do to repair our broken relationship with our Creator, and our state of rebellion against a holy God merits nothing but his eternal wrath (Rom. 6:23). But God stepped in. Before time began, he planned to send his Son into the world—God made flesh—to live a perfect life, die in our place, and rise again, promising us new life. He took our sin upon Himself, taking all the wrath of God poured upon him for our sin and crediting us with his perfect righteousness. No longer do we have to endeavor to work our way to please God, for the effort is impossible. Every religion of the world boils down to man creating systems to make himself right with God, but the gospel is the direct opposite. Instead of man reaching out toward God through prayers, church attendance, pilgrimages, penance, and a host of religiosity, the gospel declares that man is dead in sin and doesn’t even want to know the true God. But by God’s grace, his Spirit chooses to work in our hearts, awakening in us the ability to look to Christ’s finished work on the cross through faith, repent of our sin, and fully trust in what He has done. This message—the gospel—is profound enough to spend a lifetime pondering but simple enough for a child to grasp. It’s a reality that in an instance rebirths the sinner into a new person, a child of God with a new heart and new desires. But it also gives hope, strength, and transformation every day of our lives. This Christmas, embrace the gospel. Whether for the first time or for the thousandth, its beauty will never grow old, its balm never less applicable. I’d encourage you to take a few minutes to watch this powerful reminder of the gospel’s effects: This original post can be found on Julianna's blog, Whole Hearted, at juliannawrites.blog/2020/11/30/day-2-advent-and-the-gospel/ .
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