The Christmas book you'll be reading all. year. long.

Oh hey, strangers!

Truth... my (emotional) life has been a little out of whack recently. I'm slowly getting it together (you know, in a "who really has it together, though?" kind of way.) Here's a quick snap shot into the December moments that are reminding my heart to smile BIG this season:

That's our Advent Wreath from JoyWares, and y'all... it's my favorite Christmas tradition. This is our third year walking Mary and her donkey around this circle of light and each year has been sweeter and sweeter. 

And then there's The Christmas Promise.

Y'all, I realize it's December TWELTH and at this point it's a little laughable to recommend a book to read with your kids before Christmas... but y'all... ORDER THIS BOOK TODAY.

It's the perfect Christmas addition to the Tales that tell the Truth series, and again, beautifully illustrated by Catalina Echeverri. It's fun to read, it's engaging, easy for little listeners to grasp and love, and written with the same repetitive methods in The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross that keep my two SWOOSHING (obviously) and remembering the amazing truths in these pages about their Forever King... and since my face and my voice cannot stop doing bizarre things every time I open this book, I'm just gonna go ahead and copy and paste the excitement from this post: Alison Mitchell "has successfully achieved the telling of this story in the style and language that spirited parents use when we talk to our spirited kids. Excitable little family that we are, that just makes it so. much. fun. to read! You cannot read these pages without TONS of animation on your face and in your voice."

Probably going to be a year-rounder at our house (sorry Chris [not sorry]). It will live by our year-round nativity and I'll just keep trying to read it to the kids every. single. day.

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Division, Confusion, and Jesus - john chapter seven

This post is part of a weekly share of gleanings from the book of John. Click here for more information, and read to the bottom to join the conversation! 

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This chapter!
It's about the people who heard Jesus speak when He walked the earth.
It's about the people who hear about Jesus today.
It's relatable, it's today's personalities and today's realities.

"There was a division among the people over Him..." (John 7:43)
...and is there not still a division among people over Him?

Some thought He was a good man (Jn 7:12), some thought He was a prophet (Jn 7:40), some thought He was the Christ (Jn 7:41), many were just confused (Jn 7:15, 27, 35-36), and others misunderstood His birth story, leading to a belief that He did not fulfill the prophecies of the coming Messiah (John 7:41-42). Others feared believing and following him, as the result of such belief would most definitely be rejection (read ahead --> Jn 9:33-34. also NICODEMUS, guys! Jn 3:1-21 & here in Jn 7:50-52), and a verbal flogging by angry hypocrites who called anyone they couldn't sway by peer pressure (Jn 7:48) "accursed (Jn 7:49)" and "deceived (Jn 7:47.)"

Y'ALL! This. Is. Today.
I mean, I could share so many real life stories of students and friends in my life who were fearful of the fallout with peers and sometimes even family if they openly confessed Jesus as their Savior... Yes, persecution still exists and is flourishing around the lives of Christians today, sometimes even to imprisonment and death. Guys, I could have written this whole post on Nicodemus and his fear. I love that guy, because I am so much like that guy! ...but I'll save that for another day. What really stood out as I read through this is how it speaks to the exact. same. world we live in today! Right?? Some folks think He was a good man, or a prophet, or a "great moral teacher"... SO many are just confused and, lacking any real desire to understand, can't bring themselves to believe what He says about Himself. Others misunderstand the prophecies and thus believe He cannot be who He says He is.

Let's keep in mind that Jesus is a historical human who walked the earth. His humanness is written about in multiple historical sources outside of the Bible, and His existence is even defended by A LOT of atheist scholars on the subject.
So who did this very real person, Jesus, say that He was?
He says He IS God. (John 8:56-58, John 10:30-33, John 12:44-46, John 14:6-9...)

And LET'S BE REAL for a sec... if Jesus wasn't who He said He was, then... well, I could never put it in better words than this guy did:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

He HAS to be who He says He is if we want to believe He is good or Godly in any way.

He has to be God.
And He is God.
And He cries out to this divided world today the same way He did at this feast all those years ago... to a confused, angry, hypocritical, prejudice group of sinners who would reject and persecute Him to His death:
Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37&38)

He invites the thirsty to never thirst again. He turns hearts toward Himself and changes eternity for His children.

These are the pieces of this story that stood out to me, and tonight I'm responding to the words in this ninth chapter of John in prayer... that in all of the growing division and confusion about who Jesus is, my children will always desire to learn and will never stop asking questions and seeking clarity when that confusion strikes. And I'm praying for a spark of curiosity to light up in others who have not understood the Gospel of Jesus. I'm praying that my own understand would grow in depth and discernment, and that the Spirit would bring and lead conversations and hearts. Ultimately, I'm thanking God that, despite any confusion, or lack of desire and curiosity, and despite my own many failures and mistakes in walking and talking the Gospel, HE is a God who turns the hearts of His children toward Himself, crying out for each of us by name, and filling our thirst eternally. 

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If you're journeying through the Gospel of John with us (or if you'd like to!), click below to download your guide through chapter eight!

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YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

• God speaks and the hopeless are healed. - John chapter five
• Non-perishables in a perishing world - gleanings from John chapter three
• Remember it, believe it - gleanings from John chapter two
• Busy mamas, let's read the Gospel of John together!

Jesus doesn't provide "enough." - john chapter six

This post is part of a weekly share of gleanings from the book of John. Click here for more information, and read to the bottom to join the conversation! 

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John 6:8-13

"One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten."

John 6:16-21

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

My head has been a little stuck in a couple of really tough weeks. 
There have been tears... and worries... and frustrations...

And when I haven't known what to pray, or how to stop crying, or where my actual sanity is... God has reminded me of these truths in John 6... that Jesus didn't just provide enough bread for the 5,000. He provided an abundance of bread! ...and friends, Jesus doesn't just give bread... Jesus IS the bread (John 6:35). Jesus gives the fullness of Himself in abundance. Grace upon grace upon grace.

...and He has reminded me that Jesus didn't just walk on water in order to calm a storm. He came to a place where nobody thought He could possibly be --three or four miles out, in the darkness, in a storm-- and He got in the boat!  Friends, Jesus doesn't just calm storms, He gets in the boat with us, He brings the fullness of His presence in abundance. Grace upon grace upon grace.... 

...and my heart finds comfort in those truths.
Yes... totally still crying, but deeply grateful to be loved by a God who is always present, even when I least expect Him... and who is always providing the abundant grace of His fullness: "the food that endures to eternal life." (John 6:27)

I pray that His words bring comfort and peace to your hearts as well, as you look ahead to whatever the day and week may bring. Soak up His fullness, friends... the abundance of His grace upon grace.

“And now I have done another miracle for you. I have shown you that in the dark, in the storm, I will let nothing separate me from you. I will walk on water to be with you. And when you take me into your boat with joy, we will arrive at our desired haven.
​​​​​​​So whether the story is about being rescued from hunger by making bread, or being rescued from wind by walking on water, the point is: I don’t just give bread; I am bread. I don’t just make the wind stop; I get into the boat.”

— John Piper, Twelve Baskets of Bread and the Walk on Water

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If you're journeying through the Gospel of John with us (or if you'd like to!), click below to download your guide through chapter seven!

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Don't miss a guide! Subscribe to receive future posts in your inbox.

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YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

• God speaks and the hopeless are healed. - John chapter five
• Non-perishables in a perishing world - gleanings from John chapter three
• Remember it, believe it - gleanings from John chapter two
• Busy mamas, let's read the Gospel of John together!