What Does it Mean to Offer God a “Sacrifice of Praise”?..Debbie McDaniel

 What Does it Mean to Offer God a “Sacrifice of Praise”? (Hebrews 13:15)

By Debbie McDaniel

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. – Hebrews 13:15

We have so much to praise God for every day, there's great power in giving honor to Him. The Bible is filled with examples of praise and worship when we see His power released, life-changing miracles, dramatic stories of the enemy being halted or defeated, hearts being changed and drawn closer to Him.

Yet the reality is that way too often, daily struggles or constant life demands can crowd out our praise and worship to God. We might check the “go to worship” box at church and somehow think we’re good for the week. And yet, all the while, with souls distant and cold, we sing words, we listen to music and words, and then we go home. Unchanged.

Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise. We may not feel like it. We’re struggling. We're weary. Or maybe, we feel like God has let us down. He may seem distant to us, like He doesn't really care about what we’re struggling through or worrying about. Painful life blows and losses may have recently sent us spiraling. We’re still trying to get our feet on the ground and put broken pieces back together again.

Here’s what can make a lasting difference. When we make that decision to fix our eyes on Him, and daily give Him praise, no matter what's staring us straight in the face, we suddenly realize that God has already begun to release the grip those struggles can have over us.

We have a choice every day in this life. We can choose to live absorbed in worry and stress, on the fast track of busy, focused only on what surrounds us, and tuned into the roar of the world.

Or we can ask God to help us take our eyes off all that may be swirling around, our problems and mess, and the voices of others. We can look up to Him, the One who holds it all together, and who holds us in His hands.

God desires our whole heart. He waits for us to return if we’ve drifted away. He longs for us to know the power of His presence in and through our lives. He desires to bless us more than we could ever imagine. His Spirit urges us onward, calling us closer.

May He help us to look up again today, to remember His goodness and power in our lives, and to offer Him worship and praise.

A Prayer for the Grieving Heart This Holiday..Alicia Searl

 A Prayer for the Grieving Heart This Holiday

By Alicia Searl

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

As beautiful as this season is, there is also this emptiness and uncomfortable sadness that, no matter how hard I try to push down, keeps bubbling back up to the surface. It happens at the oddest of times, bringing on a sting of tears and a rush of heat throughout my body, making me want to hide or scream at the top of my lungs.

Reminders of her are everywhere. Everywhere I turn, I see her. I hate it and love it at the same time. It sometimes brings on glimmers of hope and a sense of peace, then other times, it stirs within me a concoction of emotions that don’t make any sense. This Christmas, as we gather around the table, we will take notice of that empty seat and try to put on a brave face. We will share stories and try to enjoy our time together, but the void will cause us to slip into different pockets of grief.

This is the first Christmas without my mom. The first Christmas when her beautiful smile and contagious laughter won’t fill the room. The first Christmas where we won’t hear that gentle knock on the back door only to find her juggling dishes of yummy goodness. The first Christmas, where she won’t be dragging in piles of gifts to place under the tree. The first Christmas, she won’t be crying during the candlelight Christmas Eve service, saying just how beautiful it is.

This Christmas will be different and difficult. Maybe you find yourself in a different and difficult Christmas season as well.

Oh, how I wish I had the right words to comfort you. If I could, I would meet you up for a cup of coffee, offer you a warm hug and tell you just how very sorry I am that you are carrying this weight too. Because I know how lonely grief can be.

But, where my words and actions are fallible and will fall short, God’s Word is perfect and always brings us hope. The verse above has given me so much comfort the past few weeks that I offer it to you. 2 Corinthians 1:3 gives us the opportunity to praise God even in our pain because He is the One Who comforts us in our times of trouble and need.

It’s so encouraging to know that we serve a God of compassion, A God that meets us where we are and extends His love and mercy in the midst of our suffering and grief. Just knowing that He sees us and that we are never forgotten should give us a sense of peace.

Going further into that verse, 2 Corinthians 1:4 tells us that God can and will use our pain and suffering for His will. Knowing that the heart of God is pure love, He extends that gift of compassion and love to us, and in time, as healing comes, He makes a way to be moved by the Holy Spirit to share that love with others. Love. It is what heals us as we receive and give it.

If you find yourself just managing to put one foot in front of the other this Christmas, remind your wounded heart of this simple truth - as believers, we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  In this broken world, we will “see” devastation all around us in the form of death, loss, suffering, war, and sin. Yet, Christ tells us in John 16:33 that while we will encounter troubles in this life, we should take heart because He has overcome the world! God’s love heals and saves us from the sins of this world.

If you are carrying the heavy weight of grief this holiday, will you lay it at Jesus’ feet today? Let Him comfort you in the way that only He can. Let Him love on You. Open your heart to His love for You today, and let it prompt You to share your heart with others in due time. God’s love and healing - What a lovely gift to unwrap this Christmas!

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father,
You are such a loving and compassionate God, and we are thankful that You see us in the midst of our sorrow and grief. Please draw close as we go into this holiday season and be ever present with us as we seek to find peace and joy in this holy and beautiful time of year. Lord, I invite You into the pain of our weary hearts. As memories resurface, bending and swaying us, leading way to tears or longing for solitude, meet us in that need. Grant us strength to embrace Your compassion and love in our deepest sorrows and remind us of Your precious promise to be reunited with our loved ones again.

You are a good Father, and we know that You have a plan and purpose for our lives. Use our story to touch the hearts of others in Your will and time. We ask all these things in Your Precious name. Amen.

Grateful for Christmas..Meg Bucher

 Grateful for Christmas

By Meg Bucher

“Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!” - 2 Corinthians 9:15 NLT

The holiday season kicks off with a reminder to be thankful. Gratitude is a powerful mentality. When we force a smile onto our faces, it actually triggers positive thoughts in our minds! The world is a difficult place, but God is bigger. His faithfulness gives us strength. God loves us so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to save us.

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NLT

To this, let us force our faces into a smile if we have to this holiday season, in gratitude for:

Forgiveness 
“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 NLT

Jesus has the authority to forgive sin. We cannot remove the guilt and shame that the world and our enemy heaps on us for everything we are acutely aware we miss the mark on. But God doesn’t see us that way. He chooses to view us through the filter of forgiveness we receive through Christ Jesus. When we confess our sins, we are forgiven. The weight of guilt and shame have no power over us. 

Hope
"All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’).” Isaiah 7:14 NLT

Immanuel …God with us. We are never alone. Jesus came to earth, born a baby in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. He grew up experiencing humanity similar to the way we do! Though we cannot live the sinless life He did, He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us, always. “To the end of every age …” Scripture proclaims. In Him, we have a hope which will never cease. The reality of who Jesus is gives us hope in who …and Whose …we are. 

The Word of God.
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 NLT

The Bible is not just a collection of amazing stories; it contains the history of God’s people and His plan to redeem and restore them. Christ was there in the beginning. Jesus is the Living Word of God. In Him, we find the peace of prophecy fulfilled and powerful wisdom to guide us in our daily lives in the purpose we were always meant to walk in. 

Peace 
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:14 NLT

The moment we receive Christ Jesus as our Savior, peace rushes in with His Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul wrote, the peace of God surpasses all understanding. The powerful peace we possess as we follow Jesus grows alongside the other fruits of the Spirit in our lives. Daily, His peace is with us. When we embrace and operate in it, we bring glory to God as our lives were meant to.

Salvation
“The Savior- yes, the Messiah, the Lord- has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” Luke 2:11 NLT

Salvation is the surrender of our lives into the hands of our Lord Jesus. He came to earth, to live out the will of God, and sacrifice His life for the forgiveness of our sins. When we welcome into our hearts, we are new creations! “The old has gone, the new has come,” the Bible says! Salvation is new life, in Christ. Life replete of shame and guilt, and overflowing with freedom. 

God’s Faithfulness
“And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” Luke 2:6-7 NLT

God is faithful. “Great is his faithfulness;” Lamentations 3:23 proclaims, “his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Every day, we wake to the tune of God’s sovereign plan for our lives. The dictionary defines faithfulness as lasting loyalty and trustworthiness. The verses above from the Gospel of Luke demonstrate why the Lord can be trusted. Jesus’ birth was foretold and fulfilled, leaving no doubt about who He is …or who sent Him. 

Intersecting Faith and Life:
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NLT

Christmas is a time to reflect on God’s love for us. He is not concerned with our failures and flaws as much as He loves us for the people He created us to be—each unique and specifically purposed. No one is accidental. God knits every person together and knows the number of hairs on each head. We are loved.

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” James 1:17 NLT

Let’s let the power of gratitude flip our perspective this holiday season. Christmas is a season that proclaims peace and hope. Jesus came to earth, so we would understand how to live to the fullest …by following Him. 

Further Reading

Luke 2:1-7

Matthew 1:18-25

What Christmas Can't Do..Greg Laurie

 What Christmas Can't Do

Greg Laurie

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 nkjv).

As the Christmas season descends, we’re seeing countless commercials of things we’re supposed to buy.

The implied promise is that if you give this, or if you receive that, then you’ll be happy. Certainly, there’s a rush of excitement in receiving a very special gift. But for the most part, you probably can’t remember what you got for Christmas last year, even though it seemed so important then.

It reminds me of the husband and wife who went Christmas shopping at the mall. The husband wandered off, so his wife called him and asked where he was.

“Remember that jewelry store we went to 10 years ago?” the husband asked. “You saw that beautiful diamond necklace, and I said that I couldn’t afford it then, but one day when I had a little more money, I would buy it for you.”

“Yes, I remember,” his wife said, trying to catch her breath.

“Well, I’m at the donut store next door to it.”

Christmas, commercially at least, cannot live up to the promise, to the standards we’ve set in our minds. At best, Christmas is a promise of greater things to come. However, it’s not Christmas that will give us life; it’s Christ.

Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 nkjv).

I have found that the greatest moments of Christmas are not the ones we get psyched about. Rather, it’s those in-between moments. Like the moments we spend with family—not only our actual flesh-and-blood families but also the family of God.

So slow down this season. Enjoy it and take it in. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to bring life in all its fullness.