Remembering Snapshots of Christmas Past

Joanie Shawhan is such a precious, God-loving, joy-filled woman, and I often smile at what she writes. In this Christmas UPGRADE, she reminds us that the joys of our Christmases only reflect in part the joy of the first Christmas.  "At our family reunion, I shuffled through a stack of old Christmas photos," Joanie said. "Each snapshot told a story—a precious memory captured in still life."

I (Dawn) found myself smiling as I read Joanie's words. I too have precious memories captured in photos. But what I love most about what she wrote is the reminder that any joy we may have in our celebrations pales to the glorious joy of the angels, shepherds, wise men, and Mary and Joseph as they realized the promised Savior had come.     

Joanie continues . . . 

As I looked at the photos, I stared at our beaming faces and wondered if our delight mirrored the expectation and joy of that first Christmas morning.

Memories of God’s faithfulness flooded my mind. Not only his faithfulness to me, but His faithful promise to send the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus.

Snapshots of God’s Faithfulness  

1. God comes to the lowly.

I picked up a photo of me when I was five, seated next to our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It had been haphazardly propped up in a playpen, protecting the sparse branches from my inquisitive toddler brother.

Maybe we could only afford a Charlie Brown tree, but I still received the present I wanted most—a tea set.

Our lowly tree hadn’t deterred the arrival of my gift.

And humble beginnings hadn’t deterred the arrival of Jesus.

Even though he was God, He was not born in a palace like a king, but born in a stable.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:11-12 NIV).

2. God comes with joy.

In another photo, my wide grin revealed two new front teeth. Home-permed hair framed my beaming face as I cradled a new doll.

That Christmas Eve the doorbell chimed. A large box of colorfully-wrapped presents greeted us. Our excited voices rang, “Santa came!”

But on that first Christmas, one far greater than Santa arrived hailed by a multitude of angelic hosts rejoicing and praising God. Jesus came amidst shouts of joy.

Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11 NKJV).

3. God comes with surprises.

One year, my mom surprised me with beautifully-sewn Barbie clothes. She even made matching hats for my Barbie from the med cups she had saved from her last hospital maternity visit.

I treasured this surprise gift.

I can’t imagine the surprise Mary and Joseph felt when magi from the east traveled so far to bring extravagant gifts to their young son.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11 NIV).

4. God comes with sacrificial love.

As clear as a photo, I recalled another Christmas.

That year, my mom pulled out a heavy wooden box filled with sterling silverware she had received as a wedding gift. She said since we didn’t use it anymore, she planned to sell the silver.

Many years later, I learned that her wedding silver paid for Christmas presents the year my dad was out of work.

I’m grateful for my mom’s sacrifice of love. It reminds me of the sacrifice of God’s only Son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV).

5. God comes to dwell with us. 

In a more recent photo of myself, a red beret covered my bald head.

That year, I celebrated Christmas between chemotherapy cycles.

On Christmas Eve, I sat in the balcony under the vaulted ceiling of my home church for our candlelight Christmas Eve service. Flames from our candles danced to the joyous strains of Christmas carols echoing throughout the ornate church.

God reminded me that He had been with me so far on this ovarian cancer journey and He would see me through.

I recalled how God had been with his people throughout the ages, always faithful to His promises.

He had been with me and He would still be with me because He is Emmanuel—God With Us.

'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel' (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:23 RSV).

As I sift through these snapshots from Christmas past, I’m amazed by God’s faithfulness. Not only his faithfulness to me, but His faithfulness throughout the centuries to His chosen people.

I am reminded that the joy I experienced at Christmas was only a shadow of the true joy of that first Christmas when Jesus was born.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old (Psalm 77:11 ESV).

Where do you see God’s faithfulness in your snapshots of Christmas past?

Joanie Shawhan shares true-life stories, offering her reader an eyewitness view of the action. Her Selah Awards Finalist book, In Her Shoes: Dancing in the Shadow of Cancer, reflects the value of “Your story plus my story become our stories.” An ovarian cancer survivor and registered nurse, Joanie speaks to medical students in the Survivors Teaching Students program. She co-founded an ovarian cancer social group: The Fried Eggs—Sunny-Side Up. Publishing credits include: Guideposts Divine Interventions, Snapshots of Hope & Heart, Wit, Whimsy & Wisdom, Life Repurposed, and We May Be Done But We’re Not Finished. Follow Joanie at www.joanieshawhan.com.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Marina Abrosimova at Pexels.

How to Trust God with Unanswered Prayer

Debbie W. Wilson is not only an exceptional Bible teacher, she is a life coach who applies scripture in practical ways. In this Prayer UPGRADE, she addresses a topic that sometimes causes Christians to question the Lord.

Debbie asks, "Have unanswered prayers ever shaken your ability to trust God?"

I (Dawn) know I have had many unanswered prayers. I wondered, "Isn't my faith strong enough?" My focus was all wrong, regardless.

Years ago, a movement named Promise Keepers called men to faithfulness. But this article is about the faithfulness of God. Debbie is calling people to the Faithful Promise Keeper.

Debbie continues . . .

My friend and I prayed for her teenaged sons who were rebelling against her faith and values. Nothing she did seemed to reach them.

One day while reading the Bible she came across a Bible passage that resonated with her.

^"This is what the Lord says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the Lord.

‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,’ declares the Lord. ‘Your children will return to their own land’” (Jer. 31:16-17 NIV).

My friend believed this was God’s promise to her.

She repeated “they will return” to herself when their behavior worsened. This word from God boosted her faith whenever she was tempted to worry.

Abraham and Sarah, an Old Testament couple, also found hope in a promise from God. This couple tried for decades to have a child with no success. Sarah was infertile.

Imagine their surprise when God approached Abraham when he was pushing 100 years to say the time had come. Sarah would give birth to a son next year.

“As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her” (Gen. 17:15-16 NIV).

Sarah was at least 89. If she couldn’t conceive during the normal childbearing years, how could she hope to conceive a child now?

When their circumstances contradicted God’s words, they focused on the promise.

Their placed their hope in His ability not in their circumstances.

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:18-21 NIV).

Abraham didn’t live in denial.

Neither was he a Pollyanna.

He considered his “good as dead” body and Sarah’s dead womb and laughed. God sure had a sense of humor to bring a son from them—now!

At age 100 Abraham held his infant son in his arms. At age 90 Sarah sang lullabies as she nursed her newborn.

God ALWAYS keeps His promises!

God fulfilled His promise to my friend too. Today, both of her children walk with the Lord and are raising their children in the Lord.

How do we trust God when our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears?

1. Ask God for His will and perspective and then expect to receive a word from Him. It may come from your regular Bible reading, a sermon, or what the Holy Spirit brings to mind.
2. Focus on His promise—not on what you see or don’t see. Memorize it and say it out loud.
3. Trust God’s timing. Some of God’s promises—like Abraham being the father of many nations—are bigger than our lifetime.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1 NIV). 

God always keeps His promises.

Has He given you a promise, but you can’t see anyway it will be fulfilled? Trust Him. He is the Promise Keeper.

Debbie W. Wilson—drawing from her walk with Christ and decades as a Christian counselor, life coach, and Bible teacher—helps women give themselves a break so they can enjoy grace-filled lives. Based on Hebrews 11, her most recent book, Little Faith, Big God, shows people how to live strong and finish well. Debbie enjoys a good mystery, dark chocolate, and the antics of her two standard poodles. Refresh your faith with free resources at debbieWwilson.com.

4 Ways to Turn Intentions into God-honoring Action

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson encourages action! Intentions are great, but they don't change the world.

"You can't build a reputation," Henry Ford said, "on what you are going to do."

That's not just true of a reputation; it's also true of anything important to us.

Whether it's in ministry, writing, a professional career, marriage, parenting, finances—whatever—intentions are only a starting point, not a means to build anything lasting or worthwhile.

Don't get me wrong. Plans and intentions are wonderful. They're necessary for success. But plans are, in and of themselves, fruitless. We have to move beyond intentions to action. 

Words are important, but ultimately, our lives are measured by what we do, not what we say.

So how do we turn our good intentions into actions that please the Lord?

I would suggest FOUR STEPS.

1. Examine Your Intentions

Good intentions aren't always good. Sometimes good intentions can be used to justify sin.

I laughed at a cartoon of a burglar before a judge. He told the judge, "Yes, I robbed the bank, but I had the best of intentions."

We see this justification of intentions in the life of Paul as he, thinking himself righteous, persecuted the church (Acts 23:1; 26:11-12). We also see misused intentions in the life of King Herod. He thought he was doing the Jews a favor—he had good political intentions—but he ended up imprisoning Peter (Acts 12:1-4). As Christians, we must examine our intentions before we move ahead.

Be sure your foundation for intentions is solid and biblical.

2. Count the Cost.

Jesus counseled His followers to "count the cost" before moving forward in a big project (Luke 14:28-30). On the surface, it appears He advocates careful decision-making.

But His counsel goes beyond our decisions to our discipleship. Masses of people followed the Lord for many reasons: free food, the miraculous healings and other miracles. But Jesus knew their hearts.

His counsel about counting the cost is part of a larger passage (14:26-33) that laid out what it meant to be His follower. While eternal life is free, discipleship "costs" us something.

It means recognizing He is Lord, and transfering the ownership of our lives and all we have to Him.

This changes the concept of our "intentions," doesn't it? "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps" (Proverbs 16:9).

Surrender every good intention to the Lord and His plans.

3. Fight the Flesh

I recently read an article that addressed humans' "internal guidance system," claiming we have "two brains: primitive and intellectual." The primitive brain or guidance system, the author suggested, was not evolved and it worked against our intellectual brain. So, accordingly, we know what to do, but our actions don't always synchronize with our intentions, because sometimes we are controlled by the primitive brain.

I smiled, suddenly "hearing" Paul's words in Romans 7:19: "For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do."

Rather than a "primitive brain" and an evolved "intellectual brain," I think we are really battling sinful flesh. It is the sinful nature we inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12; 7:14-24; Psalm 51:5). With deceitful hearts, we struggle with the "deeds of the flesh" (Jeremiah 17:9; Galatians 5:19-21).

There are consequences to our sinfulness. One of the consequences is, the flesh can really sidetrack us in our best intentions!

Through God's grace and walking in the Spirit, we can overcome the flesh (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:11; Galatians 5:16; Romans 13:14; Psalm 119:11).

We can starve out it's influences in our lives (1 Timothy 6:11; 1 Corinthians 9:27; Colossians 3:5; Galatians 5:24; Romans 6:6).

Fight the flesh to give your good intentions a fighting chance!

4. Check Your Obedience.

Many times we are sincere about our intentions, but we don't follow through.

At the Bema Seat of Christ, it will be our obedience that stands strong in the face of judgment—our good works after salvation, not our intentions (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

I have often heard this passage preached:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21)

We can have lots good intentions as Christians, but if we are not obedient disciples, committed to honoring God with righteous thoughts and behavior, we will not be seen as one who has borne fruit for the Kingdom. We will, in fact, suffer loss (1 Corinthians 3:9-15).

One of the deceiving things about intentions is they can tempt us to rest in a false sense of confidence and security. Sometimes we think because we have already "decided" to do something, we're moving forward.

Deciding is not doing.

In the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-31a), Jesus taught about intentions versus obedience. When a father asked his first son to work in the vineyard, he refused, but later thought better and obeyed. When he asked the same question of the second son, the son said, "Sure, I'll go"—but he didn't follow through. He didn't obey.

The first son did the will of his father because he acted in response to the Father's will.

Many of us have heard clear instructions from our heavenly Father—perhaps during a time of prayer or Bible study, at church or in another gathering. Our hearts were moved. We may have intended to obey, but have we?

Determine to follow through on wise, biblical intentions... obey the Lord!

Good intentions, like New Year's resolutions, are only as good as the results.

In summary:

1. Be sure your foundation for intentions is solid and biblical.
2. Surrender every good intention to the Lord and His plans.
3. Fight the flesh to give your good intentions a fighting chance.
4. Determine to follow through on wise, biblical intentions ... obey the Lord!

We will not be perfect in our follow-through. We are still sinners. But sinners saved by God's transforming grace have the empowering Spirit to help us fight our battles and obey the Father.

The blessing to my heart is a wonderful truth: Our heavenly Father is "the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness"  (Exodus 34:6). When I am not faithful to my Lord, He is still faithful to me (Romans 3:3; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Hebrews 10:23).

God sees the believer's heart and know every intention; and He is a compassionate and faithful Father. 

What are some good intentions you have that you have yet to act upon? Would any of these points help you follow through?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for Revive Our Hearts and a writer at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in Southern California and have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

How to Trade Away Your Fears

Author Rebecca Barlow Jordan loves to paint encouragement on the hearts of others; and in her Day-votions® book series by Zondervan—Day-votions® for Women, Day-votions® for Mothers, and Day-votions® for Grandmothers—that’s exactly what she does. In this UPGRADE Your Attitudes post, she encourages women by showing them how to trade away their fears.

“One of the most prevalent areas where women need encouragement is with fears,” says Rebecca: “Will my marriage fail? Will disaster befall my family? Can I really parent my children successfully? How can we ever meet our growing financial needs?" 

When I was a young girl, I (Dawn) struggled with fear. I thought my fears would leave after I got married. But they didn't. It wasn't a matter of growing out of my fears, but rather, of growing up into Christ.

Rebecca continues…

Fear is no respecter of age or season of life. As women, we’re challenged with fears daily.

 The reality is that some of those things could happen to any of us. Our world is changing daily. Instead of living in fear, I’ve learned—and am still learning—to choose another option.

A fear that used to plague me was that somehow I would reach the end of my life and not accomplish all God wanted me to. Then one day I read a familiar Bible verse in a new light: And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:6, NLT).

I discovered that it was God who began the “good’ work in me, God who would continue it, and it was God who would finish that work, regardless of my fears.

When?

On the day Christ Jesus returns.  

Long after my life has ended—if I die before Christ comes back—the work God began in me will keep on going.

Yes, that means my salvation, but also everything God envisioned for my life. I can trust Him to finish it. He’s faithful!That’s when I decided to trade away my fear.

Here are some steps that might help you to do the same:

1. List your actual fears on a sheet of paper: every phobia or nagging fear that tries to steal your joy.

2. Confess those fears to God. You may even want to do a Scripture search to find a “faith-filled” Bible verse to place beside each of those fears, or several verses that remind you not to fear, like Isaiah 41:10, NIV: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Keep your list handy, and refer to those verses often, each time a new fear arises.

3. List times in the past when God helped you through a fearful situation, times when you can honestly say, “God was faithful to bring me through that.” You might even do you own Scripture search regarding the “faithfulness” of God.

4. Instead of focusing on your fears, trade away your fears for God’s faithfulness. He is trustworthy! Tell God you are trading away your fears, and invite His help to do so.

I love these encouraging words from the Psalms about God’s faithfulness: He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart (Psalm 91:4, NIV).

What are your greatest fears? Will God’s faithfulness reduce your fear? Only you can answer that. He will if you let Him.

I do know this. There is no end to His faithfulness: For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies (Psalm 108:4, NIV).

Rebecca Barlow Jordan is the author of 11 books, including the Day-votions® women’s series, and 40 Days in God’s Presence. She has also written over 2000 articles, devotions, and greeting cards and writes an encouraging weekly blog. As a minister’s wife she lives in East Texas and has two grown children and four grandchildren. Find out more about Rebecca at rebeccabarlowjordan.com.

Rebecca adapted this article for UPGRADE with Dawn from her previous post.