Thoughts of Christmas
MARTY, KATHY, MELISSA — Thoughts of Christmas
MARTY—Jesus, son of Abraham and son of David, was born when the seed of Abraham was a despised people and tributary to the Roman yoke and when the house of David was buried in obscurity. The performance and provision of God comes when circumstances would place upon it the heaviest it has to offer. Ease and convenience are not the components of fulfillment. The CHRISTMAS story is a story of hope in the face of all that is contrary. “Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at His word…” (Rom.4:18a)
KATHY— Growing up on Abraham Avenue, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary had no idea how they would fit in the plans of God and the history of man. Amid all their lessons in history and prophecy from the Torah, they had never pictured themselves as key players in the greatest story ever told. However, their lives were divinely positioned for the plans of God. God intends your life to be spent to His glory. (Jer.29:11)
MELISSA—Yesterday I was praying over a situation for which I have no answers and can do nothing about. As soon as I prayed I heard, “Now, let go of all of your ideas of how this thing needs to be worked out and let Me have it.” As we head into CHRISTMAS and a new year may we lay down every weight, worry, and preconceived idea of what the will of God should look like in our current situations, and leave it in the capable hands of the One Whose birth we are celebrating! Have a very Merry Christmas and may you find peace unspeakable in the decision to trust the One who already set us free.
Christmas Miracles Pt.2
At 4:00 the next morning, I felt tears trickling across my nose and woke up enough to realize what I was thinking and hearing. When I pray for 
miracles, I’m asking for a sudden, complete, supernatural change in circumstances or conditions or people. Most often, we think of miracles as the moment of change or relief or resolve that comes like a lightning strike, but they might turn out to be a slow rain instead. Rather than think God is unfaithful or uncaring because we haven’t had that lightening moment, perhaps we should consider the working of miracles as a process and consider, as well, that part of that working includes all the time and preparation and specific details that miracles sometimes require.
(This is the second excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Christmas Miracles“ taken from Volume 20 Issue 6 of SEEC Magazine.)
martygabler 