LETS BREAK BREAD
OUR ADVENT WREATH!
AND YES WE LIKE TO DRINK OUT OF JARS!
OUR MANGER
Christmas comes to those who wait for the whisper, who look for the little, who seek the small signs of the every-where presence of God.
The only way to see the Savior this Advent is to see the small and wise men find ways to slow the season down.
I want to share another friends Blogpost with you today. She does not put Christmas presents under the tree for the family. Wow, this amazed me a bit.
Her post title stated this:
"When Christmas Gets Radical: Whose Birthday Is It Really?"It’s been over ten years of nothing under the Christmas tree here.
I will be honest, I struggled with this and felt like a terrible christian compared to her to be brutally honest.
Take time to read this post today and then stand amazed and maybe a little convicted over the culture of Christmas.
I sit today pondering the our families personal Christmas and ask God how I can CHANGE our Christmas each year to bring in more of HIM. I am sad at how selfish I have become.
Click below to read the post, she is an amazing author!
Anne Voskamp
Last night our family Advent devotions was focused on this verse:
"shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him…” Isaiah 11: 1-2
JESUS HAD ROOTS AND WE CAN TRACE THEM ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT FROM THE STUMP OF JESSE.
Out of the broken off and impossible, a shoot sprouts.
The beginning of my roots with Christ came from a broken, amputated season in my life. My roots do not go way back into past generations but truly started when me and my husband accepted Christ. We pray to pass our faith along.
God buds from the impossible.
Our Savior comes as a sprout from a stump.
Our salvation comes by way off the small, breaking through the dead ends.
Last night around our advent wreath we talked about the roots of Jesus and His family tree. We read together Isaiah 11:1-3 and then discussed our family tree and the importance of the future family members and their roots.
Trust me, as cute and nice as this devotional time sounds we are still 100% normal. The kids got in an argument, dad had to raise his voice, mom was trying to keep everyones attention and my youngest started to cry over something. YIKES!
But my point is...we still got the devotion in and managed to have some great discussions. We all walked away understanding God is wanting to do great things with our family tree and roots. We need to anticipate the coming of Gods presence in our family. That is the spirit of advent.
What are your families Christian roots?
What would that family tree look like?
What Christian traditions do you celebrate at Christmas to make Jesus the reason for the season?
God always can make a shoot from a stump. It is never to late, God wants you to grow strong branches and bear much fruit.
MAKE THIS YOUR PRAYER TODAY:
Dear God, when we find our hearts distracted by the busy-ness of this Christmas season, enamor us with the glory and joy of your presence. Let us understand why the birth of Jesus was "good news and great joy." Help us to find our roots in you. allow us to nourish our roots by the watering of your word so we may grow strong personally and grow the faith of our families.
BE REFRESHED FRIENDS,
