God Is with Us by Micca Campbell

You can celebrate Christmas morn with new joy because He—God Himself—has come to be with you. In His magnificent company, though you may be down and out, you are not without.

"'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means 'God with us').'" Matthew 1:23 (NIV)

I woke to the cooing of my 8-month-old son in need of a dry diaper and a bottle. By the time I got to his room, I was fully awake to my reality. It was Christmas morning. Sigh. I had dreaded the arrival of this day.

It was the first Christmas after my husband's death.

Most of my days consisted of loneliness and grief. I knew facing the holidays would be worse. I felt so alone.

My heart was joyless. There was no one to wish a Merry Christmas. No gifts to open. No celebration. For me, it was just another ordinary day of going through the motions. I'd care for my son and try to survive the grief and loneliness.

Have you ever been this lonely? Your situation may not be like mine, but I do know during difficult times God often feels distant. Uncaring. Unresponsive. Unaware. And yet, Psalm 139:7 challenged my feelings that Christmas Day.

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" (NIV)

The Psalmist was clear. God is everywhere. There is nowhere I can go that God is not already there.

As I pondered this truth, hope began to rise in my heart. I am never alone because God is with me in every situation, good or bad.

Isn't this the message of Christmas — God is with us? Isn't this the essence of our faith — God is with us?

Perhaps this is what inspired Matthew to write our key verse: "'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means, 'God with us.')" (Matthew 1:23).

That name, Immanuel, holds great significance for you and me.

This Name tells us Christ didn't come that holy night to say "well done." He didn't come to pat us on the back or encourage us for just a time. He came to stay. God came to dwell among us and to reside within us forever.

Sure, God has always been with us, but this truth took on a whole new meaning when Jesus was born. The astounding truth of Christmas is that God put on human flesh and became one of us. A babe, lying in a manger, was proof He had come and His name was the message. God is with us in human form. Immanuel became one of us and suffered as we suffer so that He might understand our pain. So that He might know how to comfort and help us.

That's not all. This baby Jesus didn't come only to walk among us. He came to deliver us and set us right with God. The coming of Jesus meant God the Father had now sent His Son to deliver the world from sin.

What does this mean for you and me? It means no matter the challenge, you are not alone. Whatever your need — deliverance, strength, hope — Immanuel is present. He is not some far-off God. He is right there beside you this very moment.

My days grew brighter as I looked for God's company amidst my pain. Eventually, I no longer trudged through ordinary days because my extraordinary God met me at my point of need. The secret is this. The more I learned to acknowledge His presence, the more of His presence I experienced. You can, too.

No matter where you are this Christmas Eve, you are not alone.

You may feel alone. It may appear that you are alone. But Christ is there with you. He sees you. He understands. And He can help you.

Tomorrow can be different. You can celebrate Christmas morn with new joy because He — God Himself — has come to be with you. In His magnificent company, though you may be down and out, you are not without. You are not without His love or His all-sufficient strength. You are not without His safety. You are not without His care or provision. And you are not without His presence.

This is the best news of all. Immanuel, God is with us!

Lord, Thank You for your promised presence. I can move forward in faith knowing You are with me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Hebrews 13:5b, " ... because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" (NIV)

Mary’s Magnificent God - Morning devotional from Solid Joys ministry

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46–55)

Mary sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women — one old and barren (Elizabeth), one young and virginal (Mary). And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song — a song that has come to be known as “the Magnificat” (Luke 1:46–55).

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke’s account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most, it appears, and the thing he wants to impress on Theophilus, his noble reader, is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary.

Elizabeth says (Luke 1:43), “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” And Mary says (Luke 1:48), “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”

The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary — people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.

Pursuing God Back

This has been such a fun and encouraging week! I normally don't share my entire day/week with people but this week was INSANE so I had to share it.

Monday night -  I went out with a friend who I haven't talked to in a while and we just shared how good God has been in our lives.

Tuesday night - I went to the bonfire at Rez and spent the night praising God and making s'mores with friends.

Wednesday night- I attended my first Impact 180 small group session and was so inspired by my friend Kim. She truly inspires me to get out and serve in more ways within the youth ministry team.

Thursday night- I went to The Walk, which is basically like a Bible study at the youth
pastor's house for Resolution college ministry. That was so powerful! A youth brought wv awesome word and I got to see friends I haven't seen in forever and talk to them about all the cool things God is doing in their lives.

Friday night- spent some much needed time out with my mama bear. It was nice to do that. I'm excited to see how our relationship grows as daughter and mother.

Saturday - helped paint the youth space at Shiloh and got to know some of the other youth leaders better. I really feel connected to them and the work God is doing in the youth ministry.

Saturday night- Taylor's spread hope dinner. I got to see friends from Rez and The Walk and talk about our passions for the love of God to be shared across the world. We wrote letters to people in Africa that Taylor is going to send off then just enjoyed fellowship with one another.

This has been the most amazing week! Literally, every day I've spent time with some of my favorite people sharing the good news of the most important person! And God willing, I'll be able to end this week with an awesome church service tomorrow!!

Man, God is SO amazing! God is doing amazing things in my life as well as the lives of the people around me. I really just wanted to share this with you all in hopes that in some way it can be an encouragement.

God is so faithful. Pursue him, follow him and he will reveal himself to you! This journey of new friendships and spiritual growth within myself literally started with a prayer.

By grace, I began to have a desire to know God more intimately. I began to go out of my way to try and be around people I knew were on fire for God and were pursuing him just as fervently as I desire to do myself. When you desire God and the things of God and act on it, God honors that.
DISCLAIMER: When it comes to goals and ambitions, you may NOT always get what you pray for. What you think is best, no matter how godly or well intended it may be, may not be the path God wants for you. I just want to put that disclaimer out there. God is not a genie. However, I believe that he will hear the hearts of people who genuinely cry out desperately for his presence.

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." ~ James 4:8

Cry out to him!! He hears you. He's pursuing you. He's offered his love. Pursue him back.

The Danger of Drifting

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

We all know people that this has happened to. There is no urgency. No vigilance. No focused listening or considering or fixing of their eyes on Jesus. And the result has not been a standing still, but a drifting away.

That is the point here: there is no standing still. The life of this world is not a lake. It is a river. And it is flowing downward to destruction. If you do not listen earnestly to Jesus and consider him daily and fix your eyes on him hourly, then you will not stand still, you will go backward. You will float by.

Drifting is a deadly thing in the Christian life. And the remedy to it, according to Hebrews 2:1, is, “Pay close attention to what you have heard.” That is, consider what God is saying in his Son Jesus. Fix your eyes on what God is saying and doing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This is not a hard stroke to learn so that we can swim against the stream of sin and indifference. The only thing that keeps us from swimming like this is our sinful desire to float with other interests.

But let us not complain that God has given us a hard job. Listen, consider, fix the eyes — this is not what you would call a hard job description. It is not a job description. It is a solemn invitation to be satisfied in Jesus so that we do not get lured downstream by deceitful desires.

If you are drifting today, one of the signs of hope that you are born again is that you feel pricked for this, and there is a rising desire in your heart to turn your eyes on Jesus and consider him and listen to him in the days and months and years to come.

Daily Devotional: The Mystery of Marriage

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

When God engaged to create man and woman and to ordain the union of marriage, he didn’t roll the dice or draw straws or flip a coin as to how they might be related to each other. He patterned marriage very purposefully after the relationship between his Son and the church, which he had planned from all eternity.

Therefore, marriage is a mystery — it contains and conceals a meaning far greater than what we see on the outside. God created man male and female and ordained marriage so that the eternal covenant relationship between Christ and his church would be imaged forth in the marriage union.

The inference Paul draws from this mystery is that the roles of husband and wife in marriage are not arbitrarily assigned, but are rooted in the distinctive roles of Christ and his church.

Those of us who are married need to ponder again and again how mysterious and wonderful it is that God grants us in marriage the privilege to image forth stupendous divine realities infinitely bigger and greater than ourselves.

This is the foundation of the pattern of love that Paul describes for marriage. It is not enough to say that each spouse should pursue his or her own joy in the joy of the other. It is also important to say that husbands and wives should consciously copy the relationship God intended for Christ and the church.

I hope you will take this seriously whether you are single or married, old or young. The revelation of the covenant-keeping Christ and his covenant-keeping church hangs on it.

Desiring God by John Piper, page 213

Daily Devotional: Love’s Greatest Happiness

No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Ephesians 5:29–30)

The union between Christ and his bride is so close (“one flesh”) that any good done to her is a good done to himself. The blatant assertion of this text is that this fact motivates the Lord to nourish, cherish, sanctify, and cleanse his bride.

By some definitions, this cannot be love. Love, they say, must be free of self-interest — especially Christlike love, especially Calvary love. I have never seen such a view of love made to square with this passage of Scripture.

Yet what Christ does for his bride, this text plainly calls love: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church . . . ” (5:25). Why not let the text define love for us, instead of bringing our definition from ethics or philosophy? According to this text, love is the pursuit of our joy in the holy joy of the beloved.

There is no way to exclude self-interest from love, for self-interest is not the same as selfishness. Selfishness seeks its own private happiness at the expense of others.

Love seeks its happiness in the happiness of the beloved. It will even suffer and die for the beloved in order that its joy might be full in the life and purity of the beloved.

This is how Christ loved us, and this is how he calls us to love one another.

Desiring God by John Piper, pages 206–207

Confessing Sin - Jay Sanders

Are you frustrated with your sin?
When we recognize that we have a thought, attitude, or action that dies not line up with the word of God, we must confess it!
1 John 1: 9

When it comes to MY sin, am I willing to open my mouth and confess it??
Here's the thing, God already knows what you did. No one can run from the presence of God! He knows everything.
Until you confess your sin, you will be frustrated because God is omnipresent.
Pray that God will humble your heart, so that you're able to speak to those who have been offended and ask for forgiveness. God did not create us to live a life full of deceit and disobedience. Sin separates us from the fellowship we have with God by faith through Jesus.

Unconfessed sin creates
1) A loss of fellowship
2) A loss of joy (John 15:11)
3) A tear in your witness as a believer of Jesus Christ

But the awesome thing is this: God IS faithful! When we say the same thing about our sin that God says about our sin, the Bible says God will forgive you. God will forgive me. There is no sin that's so deep that God's grace can't reach. God sent his son down as a sinless man to die a sinful death and we ought to be grateful. What Christ did on the cross us big enough to cover your sin if you would just put your faith in him.

The church, as the body of Christ, has an obligation to uphold the standards of our holy God by living righteously. We don't get the privilege of living in sin like the rest of the world. God has called his children to be set apart, holy, to represent him and proclaim the gospel to the ends of the Earth.

How can God use a church who is unwilling to confess their sin? Can he use a church that refuses to humble themselves and repent? More personally, Are YOU useable?? Is God able to use you as a vessel to glorify him and win souls for the Kingdom? I pray that God will prick our hearts and cause unrest in our spirits until we confess all sins to him. We can't grow in Christ if we are holding on to sin. Let go.

Notes on John 2-3:15

John 2:13-18
1 Corinthians 6:9-
Don't put yourself in situations where you are tempted to indulge in sexual immorality
Parallel between 2 John and 1 Corinthians 6 - your body is the temple. Jesus is cleaning the temple in John.YOU are in the temple. What is in YOUR temple that Jesus needs to be cleaned?

God's grace is bigger than your sin
You don't have enough will power to keep yourself from sinning
If you feel like you can lose your salvation, that means you're currently trying to keep it now on your own strength and think you're doing a good job
John 2:23-24 Parallel to
Genesis 22 - jahova jira my provider,  believing God for a sacrificial lamb for atonement, not to give people materialistic gain.
Jesus in these verses was talking about the kinds of people we see today. People who can quote scripture back and forth  and very religious, but couldn't tell you if there is a Trinity, who's in the Trinity, what's the gospel, etc. Jesus says he has turned himself from these people because these people only trusted in God and did good things for miracles
Nicodemus is NOT dumb. This (john 3) is a new saying that jews have not heard before. He was genuinely baffled for a man can't be physically born again.

The Parable of the Marriage Feast

The Parable of the Marriage Feast.

The king sends out invitations to this elegant feast. When no invited guests accepts the king's invitation, he commands his servants to go out and invite passing strangers to the feast. When a stranger arrived in improper dress, the king had the man bound and cast into darkness. The parable ends with the words, "many are called, but few are chosen. "

What an incredible way to depict the gospel! A man and his daughter saw me writing in the museum and asked me to share my thoughts on the piece. I told them what the artist intended to illustrate through each section of the painting, but I was also able to go into further detail and share the gospel with them! It was so random, but I thank God for creating so many opportunities to share himself with others. Needless to say, I chose this piece for my essay. What better topic than the gospel!

Fearing God

I think that as Christians, sometimes we lose sight of what it actually means to fear God. We are so desensitized by the downpour of sin in our media, that we don't bat a single eyelash when the obscenities of this generation light up the screen. To fear God is more than simply following his precepts. Fearing God also encompasses the act of revering God for who he is and all of his perfect qualities. This week, let us strive to turn our backs to the sin in our lives by filling ourselves more with the presence and words of God. We must be the light for the world, but we can't do that if we're constantly dimming our flame to blend in with the darkness around us.

New Beginnings at Work

Today, I returned to work after a long four week vacation from the organization for which I work. I was so happy to be back and to be reunited with my work family. I play a new role this year; one that is full of uncertainty, but also full of lots of opportunities to grow as a leader. I'm really excited to see where God uses me in this organization, and how much of an impact I can have in the lives of others through him. This is only day one. I pray that as the days continue to pass, I don't lose sight of why I love what I do.

Keep Christ first even in the work place.

Desiring God

         Today was one of the first days in a long time where I actually had free time on my hands - a LOT of free time. I slept in; I didn't have to dress up at all- I really enjoyed that part! I did a little bit of work and spent quality time with loved ones. But if I may be honest, I slept most of the day. I slept for so long that I lost track of what day it was. I would even wake up, motivate myself to do something productive, then go back to sleep from exhaustion (I guess my brain was still operating in weekend mode). The few times I did get up were to utilize the bathroom or to satisfy my midday munchies.
         We all have days like this right? Thank God for breaks from our busy schedules! It's good to be able to relax and have no worries at all. However, I am sure that God would have liked a bit more of my time today. I spent time with him, but not nearly as much as I could have or should have. With all of the obligations that are piled on my plate each day, having hours upon hours of time to do nothing but spend time with God rarely happens. So when I have a day like this, why is it so hard to get totally emersed in the presence of God? Even now, as I write this, I am struggling to maintain my focus and not check my phone for texts or updates from social media. It's very frustrating. The one thing I really want is the one thing I'm keeping myself from - rest.
         True rest. Only God can give us that. We can only know this peaceful rest if we have a personal relationship with him. We build that relationship with God by saturating our spirits with prayer, but most importantly with his word. That's where we learn the character of God, the heart of God. We cannot neglect our studies of God and his word. It is in those moments where we haven't fed on much scripture that the daily bread is greatly needed. We want to be prepared.
        Reading my Bible is not always the most exciting thing on my radar. There are times where I don't feel like reading at all because by nature, my flesh doesn't desire to be in the presence of God. It seems like when I want to read, so many other things immediately come to mind that jump to the top of my priority list. Every day is a constant battle of the mind. A close friend told me, "When I don't feel like I can read or pray, I pray and then I read anyway!"

         That is my encouragement to anyone who may have found themselves in a similar place in your walk with God. Pray, then read anyway! We don't always like to go to school or work. We don't always like to clean or cook. There's a list of things we would much rather do than the very things we know we ought to do. But just like we have to train ourselves to do certain things, like waking up early each morning, we must train our spirits as well. Reading the Word feels like veggies to a toddler at times- it doesn't always taste good to our prideful, unrighteous spirits. However, as we continue to grow and cry out to God to give us a desire for his presence, it will stop feeling so much like a chore and more like an undeserved, glorious privilege to come before the throne of God through the reading of his Word.
        May this be your prayer today. If you are struggling to get into your Bible, pray that God helps you to see the beauty and power that lies within its pages then READ! You'll never increase your appetite to want to read more if you never read.
         Be encouraged!
  

Soul Searching

         I believe there is a time, or several times, in every person's life where there's a need for some serious self-reflection, or "soul searching". The way people come to the realization of this fact varies, depending on the situation. For example, many realize the need to reflect and restructure their lives after undergoing tragedy or life-altering events, such as the birth of their first child or moving to a new city. Soul searching may come in the form of a New Year's Resolution. It may come as a formal contract drafted by a judge or probation officer. Whether it be voluntary or forced at the time, I believe that every human being "soul searches". We naturally strive to better ourselves.

         So... What exactly is "Soul Searching "? Below are a few good definitions that I found:

         Soul Searching [sohl-sur-ching]; noun 

1. Deep and anxious consideration of one's emotions and motives, or of the correctness of a course of action (Dictionary.com)
2. Examination of one's conscience especially with regard to morals and values (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
3. Deep and careful attention to private thoughts, especially about a moral problem (Cambridge Dictionary) 

        Used in a sentence: After much soul-searching, he decided it was wrong to vote in the elections.

         I really like the last definition - "Deep and careful attention to private thoughts, especially about a moral problem". Soul searching is more than a quick five minute evaluation of your current circumstances. Anyone can brainstorm a laundry list of things that need to be changed in their lives. It's deeper than that. Soul searching happens in those quiet moments we have in our bedrooms where no one can hear us crying; those moments when you lay in bed all day, wanting to do something but lacking any motivation to go out and accomplish it. People will ask if you're okay and you're forced to say yes, because saying no would require an explanation that even you are unfamiliar with. On the exterior, life seems ordinary. No apparent issues seem to be causing your life to crumble. Yet there's an emptiness in your heart. Deep down our hearts are longing for something; there's a void that needs to be filled. That, I believe, is the moral problem.
       
         That void, that emptiness comes from the fact that we have been separated from the love of God because of sin in our lives. However, by grace, God has offered a solution to this moral problem. Jesus. However, knowing that Jesus is the solution is only half of the battle. Do I believe it? Do I truly believe that God sent Jesus, a part of himself, down to be beaten and killed for my sins? Do I truly believe that God will hear my heart if I cry out to him declaring that I have faith in his son? These are questions that we must answer for ourselves.

        I answered these questions, and my response was yes. I do believe that I am saved by grace through faith alone. Nothing I did or will ever do can compare to the work done on the cross. Salvation is a gift, meaning I can't work to get it and I can't lose it. However, I now work because I have this gift. See the difference? Working because you're eternally indebted to someone is a much different feeling than working because of the love that person has shown you. Yes, you can never repay back the love and grace shown to you, but by the blood of Christ through faith, God sees you as he sees his son - totally blameless. How amazing is that? So what does this mean in regards to soul searching?

         It means that going through the motions simply won't cut it anymore. I want to be consumed by God's glory! I want to see his love and his word come alive in every single aspect of my life. I can no longer settle for mediocrity in my walk with Christ. I'm either hot or cold, Jesus spits out the lukewarm. So I'm burning hot! I'm searching each day to discover more and more about the heart of God and his unwavering character. It is in this relentless search for God where I truly find myself.

         "But from there you will seek  the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul"
 ~ Deuteronomy 4:29

         This is the journey of Soul Searching.