It has been so easy for me to get caught up, in the hustle and bustle, of the Christmas shopping and preparing for Christmas. I have just read in Isaiah 29. Read with me the following verses and the footnotes, for these verses. (13-14) “And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.’ Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
(here are the footnotes) “The people claimed to be close to God, but they were disobedient and merely went through the motions; therefore, God would bring judgment upon them. Religion had become routine instead of real. Jesus quoted Isaiah’s condemnation of Israel’s hypocrisy when he spoke to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. We are all capable of hypocrisy. Often we slip into routine pattern when we worship, and we neglect to give God our love and devotion. If we want to be called God’s people, we must be obedient and worship him honestly and sincerely”
Father, forgive me for taking my eyes off of you and focusing on the things that really don’t matter. I give you praise, honor, and glory, this Christmas season. May you truly be the “reason for the season”, in all our hearts.
“I Am, the Rose…of your heart. Pause and enjoy ME!
thedailylily.com 
Thank you Needles for blowing the trumpet and warning us to not have our holiday without the honored guest, Jesus, the Christ. Hustle and bustle makes me think that I have faith just enough to believe that Jesus Christ is my puppy and He will just follow me around anywhere I go. I think it best we ‘follow Him’ and all things will work together for our good.
Yes, Jesus, I want to be like the Psalmist whom paused, Selah, and thought about YOU! Psalms 4:4 “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”
Selah, in my general thinking says, think about Jehovah and when you do you will praise Him. I will pause and think about Your greatness and Your love to me and the world and give you ‘praise, honor and glory, as Needles has encouraged me to do.
Thanks for the Rose to remind me of how I love this Christmas song,
Lo how a rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As men of old have sung
It came, a flow’ret bright
Amid the cold of winter
When halfspent was the night.
Isaiah ’twas foretold it
The Rose I have in mind
With Mary we behold it
The virgin mother kind
To show God’s love aright
She bore to us a Savior
When halfspent was the night.
O Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air
Dispel with glorious splendour
The darkness everywhere
True man, yet very God
From sin and death now save us
and share our every load.
http://www.christmas-songs.org/songs/lo_how_a_rose_ever_blooming.html
Sara outlined for us in church Sunday that God has a plan for us but that Satan has a plan also and asked what plan do we have?
She said Satan’s plan was to cause us to: doubt God, discourage us, defeat us, delay us and divert us.
The ‘hustle and bustle’ Needles wrote about looks like diversion and delay.
Jesus had to remind Martha years ago where the real focus should be and that her sister Mary had found the spot.
Luke 10:38-41:”As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Martha was caught up in the hustle and bustle. She was diverted and delayed from focusing on Jesus and listening to hear what he had to say.
Mary stopped to worship and smell the fragrance of the Rose.
Thanks Debi, isn’t that the song you play on your guitar and sing so thoughtfully. “One thing is needful and that is to sit at His feet.
I heard another song similar, have you heard it?
“One Thing Is Needful
One thing is needful, O my Father,
One thing is needful, O my God;
That I sit at your feet and pour out my love,
This thing is needful, O my Lord! (repeat)
I sit and worship You, my Father;
I sit and worship You, my God;
Lord, I sit at your feet and pour out my love,
I sit and worship You, my King! (repeat)
I lift my hands to You, my Father;
I lift my hands to You, my King;
Lord, I sit at your feet and pour out my love,
I lift my hands to You, my King! (repeat 1st)”
How could we get in the hustle and bustle and and not sit and worship Our King?
I so often hear people talk about the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas and forget the moment of being…Wonder what they are running from? “One thing is needful and that is to sit at His feet and pour out my love.”
I had often questioned Martha’s choice. Here was the living Son of God, Incarnate, sitting and teaching in her living room and she was worried about the pies in the oven or her rack of lamb when she had the REAL LAMB (of GOD) in her living room. But you know! I do the same thing. I have the living Lamb of God indwelling my spirit by the Holy Spirit, equal with God is Holy Spirit. And what do I do? Try to figure out a situation or a choice to make or a path to take with my pea brain thinking when Almighty God is within my spirit sort of saying…Excuse ME! You are troubled , worried and concerned about many things, MG, but one thing is needful. Call and I will answer. Knock and it shall be opened.”
Just yesterday, looking for an approprate gift for a relative….fretting, fretting, worrying, etc. Sara said, (duh, MG) why not ask the HOLY SPIRIT. He knows just what would please that person. You know, she was right. And so was the Holy Spirit, for when I finally settled down and prayed and asked, He told me somethings that were soooo easy, efforless and appropriate that troubles vanished.
So when we’re in the presence of the lamb we have all that we need.
Yes, Sara, I do play that song on my guitar.
“One thing is needful and that’s to really know You.
For without You Lord where would I go, what would I do?
One thing is needful and I will choose that good part.
To sit at Your feet and hear the words You speak to my heart.”
I think I found the midi of the song online ‘One thing in Needful Oh My Father’ and I have heard it and loved it. It is very beautiful, prayerful and worshipful. Thanks for sharing it and bringing it back to my remembrance. I will be singing that first verse over and over now. I used to listen to it and other praise and worship songs over and over many years ago when I experienced a grave depression. God used them to help heal me and draw me close to Him in worship. Thank you again.
It seems signficant to me that the day after Gary taught that “we must become the complete package” and his lessons on the first book of the creation, Genesis, that I opened a book by David Evans and read, “we were created to be whole.” David writes about the divided heart, the wounded heart, the lonely heart. He tells of confusion and chaos in relationships that set the path of life for so many people, from their childhood on up.
It seems that the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and life, in general, leaves us disheveld, spiritually and fragmented. But Jesus Christ came to deliver us from all that and from ourselves. He came as the Prince of Peace…that is mending the broken bond between Father God and His disobedient children. But also to bring peace and consolateion to broken humanity throughout the ages and into eternity if we will pause, breathe, and allow the comfort of the Holy Spirit which is the representation in our spirits of the Christ and His peace. If we would STOP .for a moment.like Needles suggested in her blog .
I saw a video of a movement, STOP THE SHOPPING CHURCH. It was quixotic but actually the premise behind the movement has merit. If we would STOP the (frenzied) Shopping and get back to the basics of the BOOK then we would allow The Lord Jesus to meet our emotional needs and heal our communications and relations breakdowns.
Peace, Peace wonderful peace, flowing down from the Father above.
That is the Spirit of the Christ….the PRINCE OF PEACE Whom we celebrate this Christmas Day. Let HIS GIFT make us whole.
We have had nearly 20 inchs of snow today in our area. Airports closed and DC is saying most metro stations closed. I feel very blessed with the new technology that our weather reporters have and can give us warnings many hours in advance. One news reporter said they were able to give us 12 hours of warning on this blizzard. This has given us plenty of time to prioritize and ready ourself for today.
I pray for people the country over that all will be patience, safe and take caution when necessary. Let us worship in Spirit and Truth. Hopefully, we will have time to pray for Our Nation and the many areas that need timely prayer.
Merry Christmas wherever you find yourself.
I agree with Sara that we are blessed that we get such warnings about the weather. God is so good to us to enable the forecasters in such a way. It reminded me of how good God was to Noah, also. He gave him warnings of the weather to come so Noah could make preparations. Because of Noah’s obedience to this not only was he and his family and the animal kingdom saved, but the human nation was preserved. And, indirectly, we have Our Nation to even pray for because Noah prepared an ark of safety in a timely manner.
Thanks Sara for the reminder that ‘Our Nation and the many areas that need timely prayer.’ Time is of the essence.
Decorations, shopping, parties, wrapping gifts, ect….. What a busy time of the year. We can get so wrapped up in Christmas that we may sometimes loss focus on what Christmas is all about. The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren speaks about what Christmas is all about. Rick speaks on how the birth of Jesus changed everything. Our calendar is even based on Jesus’s birth. A.D. and B.C. Everyday on the calendar is centered around the birth of our Lord. AMAZING!!
How easy is it to loss focus on the true meaning of Christmas. How easy is it to forget the whole purpse of the manger. That God allowed His son to be born in a manger, to show us how to live, to forgive us and to die for us. Needles you are right, it is time to stop and smell the roses. We are so addicted to busy, that when we have time it’s a challenge to spend it quietly at the feet of Jesus, as Sara said. I went on an amazing retreat back in October and the theme was “Sitting at the Feet of Jesus”. At this retreat we were asked are we “Martha” who is always busy working sometimes even too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen. Are we “Mary” who sits at Jesus’s feet, not caring what is going on around her, but intently focus on every word, on every inhale and exhale of our Lord, Jesus Christ. On of our preachers made the statement that Mary was in love with Jesus. She was so in love with Him, she never wanted to leave his side. She was in love with every word that came out of His mouth. “In Love with Jesus our Lord.” Sitting at Jesus’s feet, what a wonder time. Thats where we can stop and smell the roses’! Our theme song on our retreat was called “Sitting at the Feet of Jesus.”
(Sitting at the feet of Jesus, Oh, what words I hear Him say! Happy place! so near, so precious! May it find me there each day! Sitting at the feet of Jesus, I would look upon the past; For His love has been so gracious, It has won my heart at last. Sitting at the feet of Jesus, Where can mortal be more blest? There I lay my sins and sorrows, And, when weary, find sweet rest; Sitting at the feet of Jesus, There I love to weep and pray; While I from His fullness gather Grace and comfort every day. Bless me, O my Savior, bless me, As I sit low at Thy feet; Oh, look down in love upon me, Let me see Thy face so sweet; Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus, Make me holy as He is . May I prove I’ve been with Jesus, Who is all my righteousness)
Romans 10:15″………..This is why the Scripture say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news”
As this Christmas Season approaches we need to stop and ask ourself are we a “Martha” or are we a “Mary”? Did we smell the roses today ? Thank you Needles for sharing this blog.
On this Christmas Sunday, I thank God over and over for His Son, the Prince of Peace. The enemy assails in every aspect and we make mistakes of different proportions but aside from the “unpardonable sin” we can allow the peace of God that passes all understanding speak peace to our hearts & reign in our hearts. Our feet are shod with the Gospel of peace; the angels sang peace on earth. Jesus said in John 14, “My peace I give you, My peace I leave you; not as the wolrd gives do I give. Let not your heart be troubled, niether let it be afraid.” And in John 16, Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you that in ME you might have peace, despite tribulation in the world, for I have overcome the world”
Oh Jesus, I receive Your peace and may You continue to bestow peace on Your church that we may be emissaries of PEACE, also, Just like YOU!
Merry, Peaceful Christmas!
Yes, Chickenfarmer, keeping our focus on Jesus at this Christmas season (and always) should be our priority. And as we focus on Him we understand that He is focused on people because He died for and cares for all. Getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of our own priorities can make us oblivious or indifferent to the needs of many around us at this time of year. Many people are suffering with sicknesses and need a helping hand, a touch from the Lord, a physical need met. Others may be hurting emotinally and need a listening ear, special ministry or a word of encouragment. Many in vital service positions have to work on Christmas day and need to be shown some special love and appreciation. And our military men and women sacrifice on our behalf and need our prayers and support.
‘Hustle and bustle’ can be very self-centered and self-serving.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
It’s almost here…the most wonderful day of the year or century or really…the most wondeful day in all the eras and the eons of time and eternity. CHRISTMAS DAY! This is what David Teems has written about this “day”. “This season can be overpowering, Lord. Sweetness and antiquity have come together, again, to celebrate something old and beautiful in the blood. Let us NOT be lost in our distrations. Let us remember the pain that labored us here..our true nativity, that made us children of God. May the WISE MAN in you find HIS star!”
I do wish all the LILIES a lovely, peaceful Christian Christmas.