Beth Moore "Drive-Through Religion"

I could not have said it better myself!!!

 My prayer for youis that you would draw closer to The LORD and not settle for anymore drive-through religion.

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John Piper - Christian Womanhood

Hey friends, this is a great four minute video from John Piper on Christian Womanhood.

 Some key points-
A woman in Christ knows her bible, knows her God, and gains strength from hoping in God.
She laughs
She is fearless
She is not naive of the things to come
She is aware of suffering

Some things to think about as the new year begins.
What do you think?

A First Snowy Christmas

This Christmas was very unique. For the first time I can ever remember it snowed on Christmas day.  It never snows in the south so to have it snow on Christmas day was unbelievable- a real delight! Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

 

Snow that accumulated in a 24 hour period on the deck railing. Not much but a little. Truly an unexpected gift at Christmas.

The World's Joy

Hi friends! I have had a much needed break from blogging but not by my own choice. I am currently recovering from a nasty sinusitis. Yep, during Christmas I was ill. Couldn't taste a thing on Christmas day. Ughh! And I didn't feel like opening my computer one bit and I didn't!!!!!

I had taken this picture right before Christmas and was going to blog about it but it didn't happen. Thought it was too good to pass by so here are some thoughts about it.

Webster's Dictionary says this about the noun joy: "the emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: DELIGHT.

The verb joy says this: To experience great pleasure or delight.

So the McDonald's bag goes along with the noun definition of joy- the McCafe coffee is what I want to possess and it will bring me the emotion of joy when I taste the "magic little beans." Right! Well kind of but not really. This is how the world thinks of joy. Yes, there are many things I "enjoy" in life. I enjoy a cup of coffee, a new haircut, time with my family and friends, and a nice warm bowl of comfort food .But the joy that a believer possesses is way better than the worldly definition of joy. Think about it, the coffee I drink from McDonald's becomes empty. Then I need more of it. So it leads me to an endless trek on possessing things I desire. A joy that is unattainable because it has to be possessed over and over again.

The Greek word for joy is Chara  and it usually comes after a great sorrow. Holman's Key Bible Words says this, "The great sorrow heightens the sense of happiness." (pg. 314) A stark contrast to the world right!

Joy in Jesus is forever. It doesn't have to be refilled. But it does have to be treasured. Because the world doesn't have this kind of joy they look for things to make them 'happy' that give them 'delight' only to find they never fill. They need more.

I am reminded of the scene in "Narnia" when Peter ( I think that was his name) is welcomed into the Snow Queens sleigh where she offers him "Turkish Delights." His eyes dance at the sight of them. He takes a bite and eats them- all of them. He is not satisfied by one. There the desire to have them again begins. His desire to possess them again leads him to sneak into the Queen's castle where he falls into a trap. He then finds the Turkish delights don't bring him delight. They enslave him. His desire to possess them leads him to become enslaved by the Queen.

That's the joy of the things of this world. Things we desire to possess only leave our hearts hungry.... aching for more. They never fill. They can even enslave us. The new shirt gets old. The delectable meal gets eaten. The dream vacation comes to an end. But the joy of Jesus is forever. Always there. Always with us.
Praise God for His forever joy!

Keeping Christ in Christmas- Dec. 22- God with Us

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I love the fact that God is "with us." Matthew 1:22-24 says,
 ^"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife."

The cross reference to Immanuel is Isaiah 7: 14 says, "

^"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

God promised through the writings of the prophet Isaiah that Mary would be a virgin and give birth to a son called Immanuel- God WITH US. Don't you love that! I treasure it! It's easy to overlook this familiar name of Jesus- God with us.I love that Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus except the fact they were to obey God. God orchestrated it all. Down to every detail.

Mary surrendered her body to God to carry and give birth to Jesus. Joseph obeyed God and took Mary to be his wife despite the reality that she was with child. The shepherds saw the star and heard the angels declare the birth of Jesus and went and found Jesus in a manger. And of course, the wise men brought gifts to Jesus and heeded the Holy Spirit by not traveling back to Herod who was plotting to kill Jesus (unknown to them).

Friend, treasure the truth that God is with us.
With us each and every day.
With us forever.

With us when we're at home, doing laundry, when we are spending time with our children. He is with us at work when we have difficult people to deal with and challenges to overcome. God is with us when we are experiencing financial difficulties, waiting for a new job, and when we are waiting for a doctor's report. God is with us when our families are experiencing tension and decisions have to be made, with us when we are unsure of the next step in life.
With us.

And because God is with us, we cannot be shaken. We might wobble a little, but never can be shaken.

2 Chronicles 32:8
"With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said."

Psalm 46:7
"The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Genesis 28:14-16 says "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

I could go on and on about how many times the bible mentions God is with us but the treasure for us to hold close to our heart this Christmas is that God is WITH US!

Rejoice friends! Rejoice that God is with us. It's worth celebrating!

Keeping Christ in Christmas- Dec. 20-Happy Birthday Jesus Cake

I forgot to tell you that we had the kids bring a gift to Jesus- money for Lottie Moon's Christmas offering that goes to foreign missions. We raised more than $75 dollars the night of the party. What could be a better gift to Jesus than to give back to His work around the world. Teaching our children how to give to missions begins when they are young. (I believe the earlier the better.)

Did you know the goal for 2010 is 175 million dollars. That is a lot of money! We can help reach the goal by giving to Lottie Moon Christmas offering. You and I can get in on building God's kingdom when we give. If we can't go, we can still give. Did you see the unreached people groups....that's a lot of people who still haven't heard about the saving power of Jesus Christ. We also can pray for these people groups if we don't know about them. We can pray for opened doors to reach these people and for the money to go to where it needs to go so these people groups may be reached.

To read more about who Lottie Moon was, click on this link on the International Mission Board's website.
http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5524&LanguageID=1709

It's Monday and as usual I am praying for you all today!
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. "James 1:17-19 

Keeping Christ in Christmas- Dec. 18- Happy Birthday Jesus Party



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I've had good reason to be away from Joy Treasure this weekend. As I am writing this post my feet are still throbbing because we've been going, going, and going. One of the ways to celebrate the joy of Christ is to make much of Him at Christmas. To make Jesus the focus of the Christmas season, you don't have to do anything elaborate. Throw a Happy Birthday Jesus Party! Make Him the focus of the celebration. Lead kids and adults to remember why we celebrate "Christmas."

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS PARTY

Our Sunday School class had a bday party for Jesus on Saturday night. As I was washing my hair a few weeks ago, (which for some reason a lot of good ideas come to me when I wash my hair!!!!) the idea came to me. I was remembering how I used to go play games, eat pizza, and hear the Christmas story at my home church when I was a little girl.  Those are memorable times to me even now-they are just as vivid to me today as they were then. I wanted to teach my son that Jesus is why we celebrate Christmas. I was going to make a cake with him and then I thought, "why don't we all have a party together with our class and celebrate Jesus!" We ended up having almost fifty people from our class come and the kids had such a great time. Thank you God for opening my eyes to a simple way we all can make Jesus the focus of our Christmas season! 

This cardboard house from Hobby Lobby was a big hit. Inside the house are a few kids hiding!

This was a fun activity that kept some of the kids occupied while waiting for the food.

 We had let the kids play, then ate pizza, and read the Christmas story from the Jesus Storybook Bible.

After we the Christmas story, we had Birthday Cake. (I will post a picture of the cake later.)

To end the night, we had a hayride. Just a couple of bales of hay in the back of my husband's truck. It was a huge hit!The kids loved the entire night.

Here is the empty plate to show for the piece of cake I ate! yum yum.

I had this idea to make a shepherd's pouch as a party favor holder for candy. Here is how they turned out:

I am not a seamstress but this is so easy. Just buy felt sheets and fold in half. Cut the shape of your palm. Sew together. Then make two holes at the top and place wireless chenille stem through the holes and tie.

The night was a success because the focus was on Jesus. This was the first Happy Birthday Jesus party so I have lots of ideas for next years party, but my prayer is that every year we throw a Happy Birthday Jesus party, more children will come and be a part of the celebration. I pray they will remember Jesus' birthday and that they would treasure Jesus more and more each Christmas.

You can do this with your children too. Hope you enjoyed our party!

My top five favorite Christmas Recipes

This post is just for fun. No deep thought whatsoever! It's about one of my favorite topics too- FOOD!

I will post a few of my favorite recipes before Christmas. When you see these sweet little deer picture, that means its another recipe that's been posted to the blog.

 Okay. So here is my first recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Drain green beans. Pour beans into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with garlic salt. (I like to actually put them in a bowl first and coat them with garlic salt.Then I pour them into baking dish.) In a separate bowl, mix sour cream and soup. Spread over green beans in baking dish. Cut cheese into thin slices and place on top of the soup mixture. Take 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers and crush them in a bowl. Melt butter and pour over crackers and stir to get butter on all pieces of the cracker. Spread buttered ritz crackers over the top of the casserole.
Bake uncovered at 375 degrees until hot, about 30 minutes. Serves 8-10.
(Recipe comes from The Cotton Country Collection pg. 187- by Mrs. Steve Nichols)

This recipe is great because it doesn't use the fried onions which a lot of people might not like. Also it's not soupy. You can actually taste the green beans!

Keeping Christ in Christmas- Dec. 16- Giving Around the World

One of the ways I keep Christ in Christmas is by giving to Operation Christmas Child. So many children in the world need to know Jesus. I look forward to giving to the mission project each year. It's more than giving toys, it's an opportunity to share Christ.

Operation Christmas Child comes under the umbrella of Samaritan's Purse headed by Dr. Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham. His heart to continue the message of hope through Jesus around the world is inspiring. Although I am unable to go to the places where the shoe boxes are sent, I can still fill one and send it.  You simply fill a shoebox or plastic container with toys and essential items like toothpaste, t-shirts, and socks and then take it to one of the drop off places. This year, Operation Christmas Child has something new called "Build-A-Box." If you don't have time to go and get a box you can go online and make one. They are $35. Here is direct link to build a box. You simply click on the age of the child, what you want to fill the box with and then pay.
 http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/

Last, these are pictures from Sudan of children receiving Christmas shoe boxes. The pictures will penetrate your heart. Click below to see the Sudanese children and their boxes. Unforgettable.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/In_Pictures/photos/operation_christmas_child_spreads_hope_in_sudan/

We have more than we can ever imagine in our country. The best thing we can do with our money is to give to building God's kingdom. Opportunities are all around us. I am in no way affiliated with Samaritan's Purse. I just wanted to share with you how this mission project continues to bless my heart each year. Pray you will get involved with this great organization if you haven't already contributed.

Keeping Christ in Christmas - Dec. 15- Pondering Bethlehem



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I don’t know what it’s like to physically travel to a city to be counted for a census. Here in America, we send in our paperwork to be counted and that’s it. It’s simple. But it wasn't that simple for Joseph and Mary. They had to physically go to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4).

As far as I can tell through some research, the mileage from Galilee to Bethlehem was around 70-100 miles (A three-four days journey). Today we don't consider the difficulty of traveling by horse or donkey through rugged terrain. We're so used to getting in our car and traveling down the road to our destination. We miss grasping part of the birth of Christ because we don't understand the rugged terrain Mary had to endure on her way to Bethlehem.

"According to Roman law, all country people were to be registered in their 'own city'- meaning thereby the town to which the village or place, where they were born. In so doing, the 'house and lineage' were marked. According to the Jewish mode of registration, the people would have been enrolled in tribes, families or clans, and the house of their fathers."(The life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim, pg 129) Jesus' birth was distinctly noted through the recording of the census.

Old Testament Prophecy Announced: 

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans^[ of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

Old Testament Prophecy Fulfilled:

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[ ” (Matthew 2:5-6)

 “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,..”

(Luke 2:4-6)

As I ponder the birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem, I stand in awe of how perfect the scriptures are in that what God promised in the OT came to fruition in the NT. Friends, God is a God of promise. He can be trusted. His word is true. He doesn’t lie. The bible is proof of that.

This Christmas season I thank God for proving through history that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and that his family was from the line of David. Our King has come and one day will come again.