On the 9th Day of Christmas –

God always gives us another option.

Matthew 1:19-21, 24 “Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.”

Years ago, my family decided to completely gut and remodel a home. It was a rebuilding time for us, a new beginning, and during the process I quickly learned that there’s always another option….especially with paint.

When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant he thought he had 2 choices, divorce her quietly or have her stoned, but God came to him in his sleep and gave him another option, marry her. This option would be risky, but Joseph trusted God and decided to follow through with this decision.

Aren’t we all grateful he did!

In life, we all come to a crossroad, where we have to make a decision. Sometimes the options will be few or sometimes like paint there will be 1000’s. But thankfully, God will always provide us with the right and good choice. All we need to do is look to Him for His wisdom and open our eyes to the option He is giving us. Sometimes God’s options are in the most unlikely of places, but are the greatest option of all.

On the 8th day of Christmas –

We must prepare ourselves for the path ahead.

Luke 1:80 “John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.”

It was prophesied that John the Baptist would be the one to prepare the way for the Lord to come, but for John to be ready for his ministry he had to remove himself from all the distractions around him. John would go into the wilderness for years to grow in the scriptures and his walk with the Lord. It wasn’t an overnight, cram for a test, kind of study time. It was years of studying the Word and deep prayer and meditation that would prepare him for the ministry he was called to. This is the same for you and me.

The path God calls us on isn’t always going to be easy, actually it may never be easy, but we’ve always got to be ready. It isn’t going to help us if we just hang on to our proclamation of being saved…we need to be studying the word, praying daily, laying aside our time for His time. We all have daily duties at home and at work, but we also need to set aside a daily time to get in our wilderness and grow in the Lord.

Luke 9:23 “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

This is my battle cry, this is where I found my wilderness, in laying aside my desire to sleep, I arise before the mice, and prepare for the day ahead. Where will your wilderness be?

Prepare the way for the Lord, for He will be coming back again.

On the 7th Day of Christmas –

We are to encourage one another in the way of the Lord.

Luke 1:59-66 “When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!” “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God. Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.”

At the customary ceremony for a new baby, Elizabeth and Zechariah celebrated baby John (John the Baptist) becoming part of God’s covenant nation. All the friends and family came to welcome this baby, and put their 2 cents in on what his name should be since Zechariah had been mute throughout the pregnancy. But as Zechariah wrote his name to be John his mouth was opened and his friends and family were in awe. They didn’t just celebrate him there, they spread the news of the child throughout the whole neighborhood, and they stood in amazement and wonder at what this child would be.

When we hear news, either good or bad, we need to be an encouragement to one another. We need to lift our friends and family up because this news is part of God’s plan. It may be easier to take a back seat, no seat, or rumor seat, but then we are trying to squelch the light of Christ.

No matter the situation, no matter the story, if it is good – be happy for one another, if it is bad – try to be an encouragement, if it is sad – let them lay their head on your shoulder; be there for your fellow family in Christ and help them.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

Who could you be an encouragement to today?

On the 6th Day of Christmas –

We shall respond with Praise!

Luke 1:46-50 “Mary responded,“ Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.”

Mary praised the Lord before she fully knew the outcome of this blessed pregnancy. She praised Him because His Sovereignty, she praised Him because she trusted Him, and she praised Him as an act of Worship.

Some circumstances may seem easier for us to hide and ask Why Lord, but He wants for us to respond to each one of these with Praise.

Psalm 145:1-3 “I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.”

We will praise Him for all He does and for His great love for us. But this takes laying down our ways, giving ourselves fully to Him, and saying through our actions, He is truly Worthy to be Praised.

When the storm clouds seem to be circling around you and the rain starts coming down, Praise His Holy Name. For the storm brings the rain, and the rain waters the fields making the harvest grow. The same goes for the storms in your life, they can bring the rain on you and make your Faith grow, bearing more fruit for Him.

Respond with Praise!

On the 5th Day of Christmas –

God has called you Blessed.

Luke 1:42-45 “Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Mary has been visited by an Angel and impregnated by the Holy Spirit. She trusted God even with the chance of being ostracized by her betrothed and possibly family. And now has run to see her relative Elizabeth to hopefully be comforted in her situation.

Whenever I follow through on what the Lord wants me to do, I still desire to know at least one person with wisdom agrees with the decision I’ve made. But no matter the circumstances or the unrest I might feel, God has called me blessed.

And He has blessed you too!

He has blessed you because you believed what He said was true. He has blessed you because you believe in His Son and that He is the Lord of Lord, Our Savior, and God.

Psalm 23:4-5 “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.”

God has blessed you, His child, more than you could ever count. Whenever you begin to question the path the Lord has you on, remember, He has given you the Promise of His Son. You can trust in Him, and your cup will overflow with blessings, too.

On the 4th Day of Christmas –

Say YES to the call even when it’s so much easier to say NO.

Luke 1:38 “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.”

Mary had so many reasons to say No. Joseph could have turned her away, she would have been ostracized from the community, even stoned. Her parents could have told her to leave, and then she would have had to beg and possibly sell herself into prostitution.

But instead of taking the easy way out, she trusted the LORD and said YES, I am the Lord’s servant and willing to accept whatever he wants.

When God asks us to do something out of our comfort zone or even something that may seem like it will cause us harm, it definitely can lead us to disregard His request. However, the Lord will still get the job done, it may just be through someone else. For His reasons and His plans He desires YOU. He wants you to give your all, no matter the cost.

In my 20’s, I was living quite comfortably, but God had been working on me for a while. He had another plan for me, one to grow me, and I completely felt, heard, and knew the CALL. But I thought I could do that plus what I was already doing.

In my finite view, it would be to hard for my family if I quit what I was doing, we would struggle, But God wouldn’t let me go. So I quit my job and I began to wait, and in the wait we began to lose everything that we thought meant so much. But my Testimony GREW.

Over the years, He has provided for us in more ways than I could have ever imagined, one YES at a time, one step at a time. As I look back at my sweet little family from that time, I think, was it worth it? Yes, absolutely YES! For, I am the Lord’s Servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants.

Esther 4:14 “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Are you ready to say “YES”?

On the 3rd Day of Christmas –

Nothing is Impossible with God.

Luke 1:34-37 “Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Here’s sweet Mary, betrothed to her one and only Joseph, yet they haven’t consummated their vows yet. She’s so confused and rightly so, but God sends her an angel and assures her that this is only possible because God and the Holy Spirit will be the one to come upon her.

Sometimes when praying I know immediately that the Holy Spirit just moved within me. Lliterally move me and go to whatever or whomever I was praying for. The Lord hears and answers all my prayers how He sees fit, but sometimes He just answers in the immediacy of the moment and I feel it. For me, I trust it’s the Holy Spirit that’s abiding in me and moving me, just like the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and raised Jesus from the dead.

Romans 1:4 “and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”

15 years ago I began really noticing the Holy Spirit move as I lay begging the Lord for a child. You see, I had miscarried our “Hosea” at about week 12 of our pregnancy a couple of months before. During my pleading I felt the Holy Spirit move, I did a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I would have only been 3 and a half weeks along but I wanted to see my doctor because I was so afraid of miscarrying again.

After he checked me out, the doctor said, “Kristen, I really don’t think your pregnant. I think this was a false positive from hormones left from your last pregnancy, but you can come in tomorrow for a sonogram so we are sure.” And boy was the doctor surprised when the tech said, “Here’s baby #1 and Here’s baby #2.”

All things are Possible with God!

On the 2nd Day of Christmas –

God fulfills His Promises to us.

Luke 1:32-33 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Many years before Jesus came to us as a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, He was promised to King David by God.

2 Samuel 7:13 “He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

And when the Israelites again began to fall away from the path God had for them, He sent a Prophet to remind them of this promise.

Isaiah 9:7 “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Once His time came, God fulfilled this promise through Christ our Savior.

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

Through our trust and belief in Christ, God promises to give all of His children our hearts desire. However, sometimes we may not realize the desire is until we’re holding it in our hands.

It was many years ago on Christmas Eve, that God revealed to me a desire of my heart. I had 3 precious children on earth, one in heaven that I had never seen, and one on the way. I wasn’t ready for another child and sadly wasn’t the least bit excited to be pregnant again. But on that very night, God whispered into my heart, This child is a gift to you, a promise to you, he shall be named Emmanuel, meaning God with us. A peace and joy fell over me. Satan new that this child was going to be special and from the day I gave birth to that little boy, Satan was after his life. Yet what was meant as harm from Satan, God meant for good and lives were Saved.

Now, Over the Christmas season and throughout the year, I’m reminded by little signs everywhere of God’s Faithfulness!

Hold onto God’s promises, for He will fulfill each ONE!

On the 1st Day of Christmas –

God didn’t call the qualified, He qualified the Called!

Luke 1:26-31 “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”

In her eyes, Mary, had nothing going for her. She was a young, poor virgin from a small town in the middle of nowhere. She was looked down upon because she was female, and had no reason to be anything special…that was left for the men.

But God saw something different…a sweet, humble, female, who trusted Him and would be perfect to give birth to His Son.

Like Mary, I’m so imperfect in so many ways, just ask my family. I’ve gone through multiple periods of time of feeling worthless (which that ugly snake has been tries to rear its head over and over again). But God, He chose me to be His child and His follower, a light to others to see Him.

Even though my parents named me, I believe He put that name on their hearts because Kristen is a form of Christian, the word meaning, “a follower of Christ”. And when I’m feeling completely unqualified for something He has spoken in to me or called me to do and even when I think there are others that seem so much more qualified than myself, I must remember I haven’t qualified myself, God did.

When God looks at us He doesn’t see what we see, He sees what He created, He sees the purpose He put on our life, and He sees the little wrapped package that when ignited by just the tiniest bit of fire will turn into a beautiful bright masterpiece in the darkness of the Night!

So remember, on this first day of Christmas, God qualified Mary to give birth to His Son. What has He qualified you to do this Year?