MERRY CHRISTMAS {to you!}

Michaela, age 12, with her country "stocking" on Christmas day.

"If we could condense all the truths
of Christmas into only three words,
these would be the words:

'God with us."

- John F. MacArthur, Jr.

God with us.  That is something to celebrate!  Our beautiful Savior demonstrates so truly by example how very little He values human pride, human loftiness and human ambition by His birth in a simple stable, with less than credible witnesses, for the purpose of reaching and saving those the Father had given Him. 

As we peer again into the amazing true story of Christ's earthly arrival, our own hearts are moved to shun human pride as well and respond in praise to the One who has loved us so much. 

Lydia, who turned 7 this month, poses with Sarah, age 10.

May you relish anew in the One who has first loved you; who has revealed Himself to you.  So often we see Isaiah 9:6 quoted this time of year:

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;

And the government shall be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace."

And yet, just before these verses we see clearly stated in Isaiah 9:1-2 that God was specific about just where the Christ would be found:  "in Galilee of the Gentiles.  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light."

And we wonder-- again-- how is it that the people of Christ's day did not know He would be from Galilee?  'Can anything good come from there?' they asked.  Many did not see. 

Why? 

Big girls, and best friends, opening their presents on Christmas.

I think the answer is best found in Matthew 16:17 when Jesus said:

"Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,

because flesh and blood did not

reveal this to you, but My Father

who is in heaven."

Yes, faith is a gift of God and if God does not awaken us, we simple cannot see.

Tom, capturing all the fun on video.

How our hearts love the truth of Scripture.  The truth revealed through Christ.  Because I know that I speak to kindred spirits here, I wanted to share this quote by R.C. Sproul that I just loved:

"There are those who think that truth is negotiable or,

even worse, divisive, and therefore should not be a

matter of passionate concern among believers. 

But if we are not concerned about truth, then we have

no reason to have Bibles in our homes."

Little Hailey sporting her dollar store jewelry and feeling like a princess.

Truth.  Love.  God with us.  We are so blessed my friends.

Merry Christmas!

VIDEO LINK


Our girls made this Christmas video to share with our family this year (Grandad and Grammie are serious dog lovers) and I just had to share it with you as well. 

I hope your little ones enjoy it! 

_________________________

Do you wonder if you- or someone you love- is truly saved? 

By Grace Through Faith by John MacArthur:

Salvation is solely by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). That truth is the biblical watershed for all we teach. But it means nothing if we begin with a misunderstanding of grace or a faulty definition of faith.

God's grace is not a static attribute whereby He passively accepts hardened, unrepentant sinners. Grace does not change a person's standing before God yet leave His character untouched. Real grace does not include, as Chafer claimed, "the Christian's liberty to do precisely as he chooses."

True grace, according to Scripture, teaches us "to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:12). Grace is the power of God to fulfill our New Covenant duties (cf. 1 Cor. 7:19), however inconsistently we obey at times.

Clearly, grace does not grant permission to live in the flesh; it supplies power to live in the Spirit (cf. Rom. 6:1-2).

Read more...