Luke 1:26-55

Luke records the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, Elizabeth’s prophesy, and Mary’s song in rich detail. We are introduced to very important details about Jesus’ nature in this passage. Gabriel explains to Mary that He will not be an ordinary human. He will be born of the Holy Spirit—and He, indeed, will BE holy. He will be called the Son of the Most High. God will give Him the throne of David and He will reign over Jacob and His descendants not just for a lifetime…but forever.

The supernatural nature of this pregnancy is affirmed when Mary hastens to see Elizabeth, who is miraculously pregnant herself. Before Mary says a word about the pregnancy, Elizabeth prophesies that Mary is the “the mother of [her] Lord” and says, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!” Mary responds in glorious worship.

You can read the written text of this passage in the New International Version here if you would like to follow along or meditate on the Scripture further after you listen.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

In the midst of addressing messes in the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul reminds its members of the heart of the gospel and the power of God’s grace! They’ve received the gospel, but now they need to hold firmly to it…or their belief is in vain.

Paul also makes it clear that the resurrection of Jesus isn’t a rumor, but a reality confirmed by hundreds of eye-witnesses who were still living at the time this letter was written.

VIDEO:

Notes:

  • This Scripture reading and recording are in the New International Version.
  • Cephas is Peter.
  • Check out Acts 9 to read about how Paul was “abnormally born.”

Death Made Possible

I was awakened by a dream-boy attacking me, trying to kill me with scissors. [I know, gross. Stick with me. There’s a point here.]

Aren’t you glad that’s how it happens (most of the time)? We wake up before the scene gets too bloody, before our free-falling body hits the sidewalk. Before death.

My dream-boy was dreamy until I asked him, “So, what do you think of Jesus?”

That’s when his eyes filled with hatred. That’s when he pulled the scissors out. That’s when I woke up, not afraid (surprisingly)…but, stunned at the vivid picture, which I had the strong impression was spiritual. This seemed to be confirmed when I unintentionally read John 16:2 the next morning— “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.” I didn’t read any personal prophesy into this, but took it as a reminder that people either love or hate Jesus. And that often means they will either love or hate His followers.

I thought about a passage I recently spent time with, Acts 17:16-34. Paul goes to Athens and talks about God with Jewish people, God-fearing Greeks, and philosophers. Much has been said and can be learned from this passage, but one thing that especially stood out to me was this: The resurrection of Jesus is where the rubber meets the road. My dream-boy was fine until the mention of Jesus. When Paul speaks about the resurrection of Jesus to the people of Athens, some sneer, some seek, and some are saved there and then.

And no wonder! The gospel hinges on the power and authority of God to defeat sin and death as displayed in the resurrection. Paul says that if Christ did not rise from the dead, our preaching is useless (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Every SOUL hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.

When we accept the death of Jesus on our behalf, when we accept that He rose from the grave, and follow Him as Lord, something miraculous happens: WE are raised from the dead.

And something else peculiarly miraculous happens: we’re able to die. We’re invited to die in a way that’s ONLY POSSIBLE through the resurrection of Jesus. We’re invited to allow the Spirit of God to breathe life that puts to death the death in us— to eradicate the brokenness that prevents us from living lives filled with the love and grace of God— our selfishness, our pride, our lust.

For life’s sake!

Wait, wait, wait. So what about my dream-boy-gone-stab-happy? Sometimes the whole “death to self” thing can seem separate from outward suffering for Christ— whether that looks like battling cancer in faithfulness to Christ, waking up extra early in faithfulness to Christ, or persecution and martyrdom in faithfulness to Christ. But the two are closely connected: If we haven’t died to ourselves, we’ll never be able to truly suffer for Christ or with Christ. We’ll suffer the big and small alright, but when we don’t surrender to God in our suffering, we miss out on intimacy with God and honoring Him with our circumstances.

Two days after my dream, I went searching for verses on prayer. I was looking in Acts and my eyes wandered over to the end of John (chapter 21) and Jesus’ conversation with Peter:

Jesus asks, “Do you love me more that these?”  “Do you love me?”  “Do you love me?”

Peter says yes each time.

Jesus responds, “Feed my lambs.” “Take care of my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.”

Then, then Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

The tears came loose while I read. I pictured young Peter, in love with Jesus and also heartbroken about his previous failure, aware of his need and yet being commissioned— I pictured Peter, old, bent over from years of feeding the Flock, being dressed by someone else, being led where he does not want to go…to his own crucifixion.

As I saw him, used by God’s grace, surrendered, glorifying God as he was led to another rugged cross….I heard Jesus’ words: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

One whose life ended so like Jesus’, on a cross— the rock the church is built on.

An old man, dressed by others, his arms outreached…the rock.

My heart was breaking in the pain of it and the glory and the reality of what the church is built on— ultimately THE Rock (the crucified and risen Jesus), but also those crucified and risen with Him. Crucifixion is part of the story of each Christ-follower— of every living stone (1 Peter 2:5) that makes up the church.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20a). I wonder if Paul’s heart filled. I wonder if he thought not only about Jesus’ death, but also Peter’s death. I wonder if he thought about the brothers and sisters he ordered to die before he encountered Jesus on the Damascus road or the variety of deaths he might suffer. I wonder if he was overwhelmed by the power of a God who could not only pay for his sins in full, but put to death his flesh and FILL him— a God who could enable him to live and die IN CHRIST.

Paul’s words fill me with wonder at the power of God. They fill me with bravery and confidence. CHRIST lives in me. I’ll proclaim it and proclaim it again with down-to-my-toes gratitude— my flesh is dead and my soul is alive because Jesus lives. I can be led wherever God wants to take me— even to places I do not want to go— because Jesus drank the cup He did not want to drink…and yet drank for the joy set before Him: The wrath of God meant for me.

I can, for the joy set before me, endure the cross because the Son of God defeated death and hell when He rose from the grave. Because He lives, sweet unity awaits me.

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Photo by Alem Sánchez from Pexels

Where Sacrifice Starts

Oh, beloved of God.

(That’s you.)

Shall we pause there?

That’s you.

Okay, I think we can move on now.

But, if you need to stay there….stay there…

The season of Lent began this week.

On the 13th of February I realized that Ash Wednesday was on the 14th this year, Valentine’s Day. I began to think of all the different things I could do, or could give up, for Lent…and felt a little guilty for being super aware of Valentine’s Day and super not aware of Ash Wednesday.

Around the same time I was also looking at other scripture about getting rid of things— I read John’s account of Jesus driving the profit-hungry religious out of the temple before Passover. I also heard Christine Caine and Bianca Olthoff (thank the Lord for technology) teach on these words from Paul:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

In light of all of this, I felt like the questions I needed to ask myself were clear—

What do I need to throw off? What do I need to drive out of the temple of my heart? What specifically do you want me to add or subtract during this season of Lent, God?

Again and again I asked and His answer didn’t seem clear.

I was once again (dang soul-amnesia #annvoskamp) caught in a desperate striving to understand.

Wouldn’t it be super cool if you audibly told me what to do, God? Or, supplied me with some holy dice? 

Instead, the Spirit led me to the dark of my prayer closet (aka…my closet) and to a place of silence.

He showed me, reminded me, that what my soul really wanted, what my heart was really longing for, was intimacy with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. I wanted to be closer to Him and I was afraid that something was in the way, something that I just couldn’t quite figure out.

He showed me the lie I subconsciously believed— that I needed to love Him perfectly before I could receive His perfect love.

What nonsense?!

When I was His enemy, He died for me. When I was helpless, He poured out His grace on me. Indeed, my body is like dust, but God knew my soul before the foundations of the earth.

He predestined me in accordance with the pleasure of His will. Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross I am justified before the Father, I am FILLED with the Holy Spirit, I am a co-heir with CHRIST.

WHEW.

And here I am all distraught wondering what I should do, what I need to do to be okay with God…forgetting that He did and DOES it all.

Paul reminds us to fix our eyes on JESUS. How often do I look down at my feet? How often do I, like Peter, forget that it is by God’s power I am carried nearer Jesus and doubt that I can make it to the finish line?

There was NOTHING separating me from His love while I knelt all angsty-like in the closet. My ability to have intimacy with Jesus is not the result of what I’ve done, but what HE has done. He paid with His blood for the grace and love poured out on me— all I need to do is open my hands and accept it. He always wanted communion…communion.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me (John 15:4).

The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me (John 17:22-23).

We can do nothing apart from God— intimacy with God is where we start.

We start with the knowledge that apart from Him we can do nothing.

We start with basking in His deep love for us.

We start with adoration of our sweet, mighty, warrior-lover— Jesus.

When we kneel at His feet, marveling in His power and glory, and let go we can trust that He will reveal to us exactly what He wants to, when He wants to. And, He’s already revealed so much through scripture.

The word I received from God in my closet was unexpected— an invitation to adore Him and connect with Him rather than worry. An invitation to follow Him step by step with JOY…with the lightness that comes knowing that all things are from Him, and through Him, and to Him (Romans 11:36)

Where does sacrifice start? In the fullness of Christ’s provision— the fullness of His love. 

To Him be the glory forever and ever.

How have you experienced God’s love lately? I would be happy to hear from you!

Love,

Donielle Hart

Rekindle Your Dying Resolutions in 3 Steps

You made your resolutions on January 1st. Now it’s January 27th.

Can you…can you feel that? Slight nausea, embarrassment, frustration?

You probably loved your resolutions for a day or two— posted about them on Instagram and Facebook, felt really proud. Your friends responded with those celebration cone thingys or a flexing muscle emoji and you were ALL SO PUMPED.

Now, here…we…are…

Perhaps love has been replaced by the feeling of eating a way-too-big burrito. Love has been replaced with resentment and shame [why did I ever show my gym membership to the world?].  Love has been replaced with Netflix. Or, maybe you’re sticking to your resolutions, but love has been replaced with bitterness and exhaustion.

You aren’t alone. And, it’s not too late.

I have a very idealistic personality (INFP, for you Myers-Briggs fans) — my personality affords me significant advantages and disadvantages (blah, blah, blah). This is the case with every single personality type and it can be extremely helpful to understand yours.  I encourage you to take this free personality test to gain some practical insight into potential strengths and weaknesses of your personality: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.

Okay, so maybe you lean towards being an idealist or perfectionist or, I don’t know, an absurdist—in any case, it’s normal to struggle hard the first days and weeks after January 1st.

And every other day we put our lofty resolutions to paper.

Maybe you don’t even make goals or resolutions anymore because you’ve learned the hard way that they’re sirens of perfectionism and will push you underwater until you slowly suffocate, die, and are given CPR because you are not, alas, a mermaid.

You will return to your average life with weaker lungs and a fear of water.

Sure, maybe not. But, maybe— and if so, I’m with you.

Let’s breathe some life into these resolutions!

1- Make your Resolution(s) Exciting Again

Editing is not failure— editing is progress.

So, you wrote a rough draft during the end of December. January was your first read through.

What isn’t working? What is holding you back?

What do you actually want?

Maybe you are exhausted and need to sleep more.

Maybe you need to say “no” to a few things.

Maybe your first draft only made you anxious and sick to your stomach— maybe you need to start afresh. If you do, it’s okay. It’s a step forward, not backward.

If you aren’t excited about your resolution, but still want to stick with it, maybe try re-framing your resolution in positive terms. Instead of thinking about how you absolutely can’t eat junk food anymore, think about all the delicious healthy recipes you want to try. Try to focus on the fantastic things you are going to do rather than what you aren’t going to do.

If your resolution seems overwhelming or daunting, you could break it down into smaller steps. Your resolution might be “write a book” or  “create an online store.” Those are great goals and you don’t need to get rid of them, but maybe focus on what you can do each day to move towards that goal.

Make that resolution of yours exciting and attainable!

2- Plan in a tasty way

Create a plan that makes you feel inspired, not burdened.

Delish ingredients:

Activity—>   Reward—>   Rest

Activities include the actions that are needed for you to see your resolution through. For example, if you want to write a book your activities might include writing, editing, reading, and seeking feedback. If you want to eat healthier food, your activities might be research, meal planning, shopping, and cooking. You get the idea.

It’s easy to ENTIRELY focus on the activities portion of planning…but spending your days moving from one “productive” activity to another without a reprieve will result in burnout. Make your schedule tasty! I’m a believer in positive conditioning and in giving yourself wonderful things to look forward to (big or small). I also know that rest is a necessity. We need to rest every single day and we need longer periods of rest. If you aren’t sure how to plan rewards and rest, I have lots of ideas to get you started here: Rewards and Rest

Okay, so now that you have your activities, rewards, and times of rest in mind, how do you make the actual schedule? I’ve made MANY an unrealistic schedule…it can be pretty defeating.

Many of my schedules have been unrealistic because they don’t work with my body clock, which results in quickly becoming burnt out and frustrated.

Lots of books exist about chronobiology (the science of natural body rhythms).  IT’S REAL. Even five minutes of research about you chronotype (your natural body rhythm) can be helpful. This simple quiz from Dr. Oz’s website could be a good place to start: http://www.doctoroz.com/quiz/quiz-what-your-chronotype

Whenever people are put into broad categories, many will not completely fit into one category. It is important to observe how your brain and body feel at different times of the day and with different amounts of sleep and be willing to adjust!

Once you’ve made that lovely plan of yours, remember…

flexibility is not failure.

Life is unpredictable. If things happen beyond your control and you are no longer able to get in that long-run— IT IS OKAY. Let it go, accept it as an unanticipated break, adjust your schedule to get in that run over the next few days. Don’t be a total boohiss towards others because your schedule is “ruined.” It’s not ruined, it’s been adjusted.

It’s also okay to adjust even if you “could” stick to your schedule. If you are behind on something important or flat-out exhausted or sick or staying with other people, remember this phrase and chant it to yourself when needed— something is better than nothing.

I repeat, something is better than nothing.

It’s a cliché because it’s really, really true.

I’ve given myself the freedom to say, “I don’t know if I can do yoga for an hour, but I can do it for 20 minutes” or “I don’t know if I can stay focused enough to write for an hour, but I can write for 20 minutes.”

This has been a goal-saver.

As you might guess, sometimes 20 minutes stretches to an hour. Other times, I stop at 20 minutes. And, that’s okay. It’s way better than doing nothing. I’m moving forward.

Give yourself some grace.

3- Team up with someone who makes you feel like a dream-come-true

THIS ONE. This is the one.

Truly, though— I think this can make the biggest difference long-term.

This person does NOT need to have the same resolutions as you (though that would be pretty spectacular), but they do need to be, without a doubt, on your team. 100% for you. Try to pick someone who makes you feel valuable and strong.

Tell someone who loves you about your goals, your plans, your dreams…and your weakness and struggles. Give them permission to ask you questions and remind you of your intentions when you started. Give them permission to lift you up.

Purge the junk— fill up on love

Okay, so resolutions can come from a lot of places. Some pretty dark places, actually. Normally we begin this kind of journey with a lot of hope, but sometimes we carry other things with us, too.  We can do great things motivated by shame, fear, false-guilt, and vanity.

These motivations may lead you to accomplish your goal or stick to your schedule— but, they’ll make you feel pretty crappy, too.  If you are motivated by shame or fear, you aren’t able to fully enjoy what you’re doing.

So, what is your deep-down motivation?

You want to healthier? Why?

You want to write more? Why?

You want to give more? Why?

Here’s the thing— your resolutions can be fueled by the black hole of “not enough”….or, they can be fueled by love for God.

Yes, even your diet.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

-1 Corinthians 10:31

Shame, guilt, fear, and vanity are all about me.

And guess what?  I will never be enough on my own.

But I am enough in my God— and anything done in response to His great love for me is of eternal value.

I find this passage from Hebrews 12 so encouraging:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

 

How do you struggle in the area of resolutions?

What helps you stay on track?

I would love to hear from you!

Peace,

Donielle Hart

3 Love-Steps— Christmas by Memory [Advent Week Four]

[If you would like to listen to this post, click here ]

This is the week of love and angels, so it seems only fitting to describe the invisible.

Every Christmas, a memory I rarely talk about returns— it’s hazy, a memory experienced as a longing in my heart before a dreamy recording in my head. A memory, I believe, that’s a little gift from God.

When I was in middle school I attended my older sister’s senior Christmas concert. The chamber choir my sister sang in performed a Christmas hymn written in the 1800’s. A girl opened the piece a cappella— that’s where the memory starts…and the rest is a blur.

Maybe it was the purity of her tone, her countenance, or the way the sacred sound filled the huge secular high school auditorium. Maybe it was the darkness surrounding me and the light ahead. Maybe it was the very the presence of God. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but I like to think angels were dancing and that they dance often when our God is being exalted. I was enraptured and I’m still enraptured as I sit in the memory again and hear the composition by Christina Georgina Rossetti beam into the darkness:

Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love divine;
worship we our Jesus,
but wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine;
love to God and others,
love for plea and gift and sign.

I wish…I wish I could bring you there. I don’t know what you feel, if anything, when you read those words. Maybe you hear them.  Maybe you’re disappointed— really, that’s the persistent memory?

I know, it’s a fairly popular song.

And, love is a popular word.

Love is a common word— it is easy to read without clinging to the mystery.

Maybe the reason this memory is so precious is because when the word “love” hit the air it didn’t sound common at all— it was sacred, abundant.  

As I look at the song again in its entirety I’m struck by the way the song progresses and yet seems circular. The third verse ends with love for plea and gift and sign…it ends with what God has done for us, which is right where the song begins.

Each verse like a step in a three step dance that we repeat over and over again with our God.

If Christina came up with these steps herself, we might have reason to be skeptical, but her hymn echoes the truth of the Word. I see strong parallels to 1 John 4:9-12,19:

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us… We love because he first loved us.

Here is the dance:

1.    The first approach, the extended hand: There He is— Love, all lovely, Love divine.

Holy and wholly lovely. Wholly divine.

Jesus.

Christ’s all-loving and all-lovely step toward us. It happens once, but doesn’t it also happen over and over? Christ’s pursuit— His initiation through the lavishing of love.

2.    The second verse is a response to His deep love— worship we our Jesus.

Our Jesus. Possessive, intimate— love given and love received. Not stark, cool love— relational love. He is not just a historical figure and He is not a lofty idea. He is our Jesus, my Jesus.

The verse ends with a question that probably seems a bit confusing: But wherewith for sacred sign?

I interpret this as by which sacred sign shall we worship Him?

Christina Georgina Rossetti answers her question in the final verse of the hymn.

3.    Love shall be our token.

Not only love to God, but love to others.

Our love is not something meant to remain in our hearts. Love is our token— the outward expression of the heart’s response.

One, God’s loving approach

Two, Intimate and love-filled worship

Three, Outward expressions of love for God and others

Can you hear it on repeat in your soul?

Will you put your hand in Jesus’ hand and follow Him?

He came to earth as a baby, but He reigns as omniscient, omnipotent King— a King inviting you into what He came for and died for. Life and love to the fullest.

I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

With love,

Donielle Hart

Never Abandoned— Joy in His Presence [Advent Week Three]

I spent precious time with such beautiful souls today— truly, women who radiate, who bless, who love God down out their feet, up through their eyes.

But, the time came for them to leave— all people leave. We leave each other for short amounts of time and long amounts of time. Everyone leaves their bodies. Some slowly, some quickly, with and without goodbyes. We will reunite with some.

Anyway, they left— I went grocery shopping and picked up antibiotics.

Here I sit with a small Wendy’s chili, pills, and my laptop.

Here I sit, thankful for so much, in despair about a few, and tired.

Red and starry sprinkles sit on the table, cocoa is crusted to the sides of the crock pot in the sink, the miscellaneous items I tossed in the closet before guest came over are (try not to judge) still there.

I thought about putting all the green-red party goodness away, prepping food for tomorrow, putting the chairs back in their places, but I knew if I didn’t sit and listen now, it wouldn’t happen.

Listening requires energy. More specifically— a pushing away of my human instincts (good and bad) in exchange for the Spirit’s prompting. The Spirit’s timing. The Spirit’s lavishing.

Yes, He is inviting me here. Inviting me to sit and listen. I’m writing to you, but I’m writing for Him. I’m writing for Him and He’s gifting me with the task and privilege because He wants to love me and fill me as I sit and pour out for Him. He knows it’s not always easy, but He still invites me because He knows He’s worth it.

I know it— it runs from my fingertips to my heart. He reaches toward all of us, but He’ll never touch us unless we say yes. He reaches toward me, invites me. The “yes” takes energy— indeed, the listening is sacrifice…the sacrifice that makes room for His gift, the gift of HOLY-blood bought reconciliation and union that keeps on giving and filling.

This week of advent is the week of Joy and the Shepherds Candle.

When the angels appeared to the shepherds, the shepherds were going about their work…in the night. My guess is they were either sleeping or tired when the angels appeared to them, but that did not keep them from listening to God’s message given through the angels— the Savior, Messiah, and Peacemaker was born! And, what’s more, they were told where He was.

The message was essentially— the Messiah is here and you can go to Him.

The Messiah has come to us and we can be with Him! Glory to God!

Is that not the very core of our joy?!

During more difficult, teary moments today my heart and my soul felt pain. BUT, in moments when I was able to refocus on the truths of God and His Spirit alive in me (the Comforter and Counselor), I was filled with joy.

Joy doesn’t remove pain immediately or even on this side of Paradise, but it does lift our eyes to the astounding beauty of our wounded-once-and-for-all Healer.

Joy—I’m graciously handed the Gift moment by moment.

Joy because Jesus descended from His throne room to a world that hated Him for me.

Joy because Jesus stretched His arms out wide so I could always have access to His arms.

Together, forever.

Emmanuel— yes, in Him is fullness of Joy.

Emmanuel— not just a name, but a promise.

He says, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

My friend, He is not far from you.

If you have received Him, He is in you.

Listening may take effort, freeing our hands and hearts of idols will require effort, but believe me, you loved-by-God , He has arrived and His arms are stretched wide for you— run to Him for your joy, darling. Run to Him for everything.

He will hold, He will transform, He will multiply, and He will make what’s dead sing.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth

peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

What time will you make each day this week to listen to God and allow Him to wrap you in His joy?

What is holding you back from God’s arms? Is it your schedule, your creature comforts, your fear or distaste of intimacy? Will you write it down and consider giving it to God? He’s worth it.