Kathy Howard's Blog: Unshakeable Faith for Life, page 84
December 24, 2012
The Greatest Miracle of All
God had been silent for 400 years. No prophets spoke in His name.
A pagan nation ruled God’s people.
And the people waited – for deliverance, for freedom, for the Promised One.
The people waited in darkness.
Lost in sin and hopelessness.
Waiting…stumbling around in the dark. The people waiting in darkness…
The people longed for Light, for the Promised One.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:2, 6
Then the supernatural collided with the natural and a miracle occurred.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. In Him was life and that life was the light of men. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:4, 14
In God’s perfect timing, to fulfill His eternal plan, God became man. The Divine came to dwell with humanity to provide salvation to all who would receive Him.
To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God. John 1:12
God came as a man, to dwell among men, to give His life for men.
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28
Miracles abounded that first Christmas. But the greatest miracle of all was that God came to earth to provide our eternal salvation.
Have you ever received God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life. If not, don’t let another Christmas go by. Find out now how to have a saving relationship with Jesus.
God’s grace and peace by yours in abundance this Christmas and throughout the New Year!Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 20, 2012
Hard Miracles
We humans tend to like things easy. If given the choice between an average life without difficulties and an exceptional life filled with challenges, many of us will take the smooth road.
The young Jewish girl Mary probably dreamed about the happy life she would have with Joseph. Mary would have been content to be the wife of a carpenter, raise a passel of kids, and enjoy good standing in their small community.
But God’s plan for Mary was just a wee bit different.
God’s plan included pregnancy “out of wedlock” – with a baby that was not her betrothed’s. Mary would be the object of scandal and gossip. She would give birth in an isolated spot. Her son would also be an object of scandal and gossip.
But all that of would be easy compared to the really hard thing. Mary would witness her son’s execution. She would stand at the foot of a Roman cross and watch Him die for the sins of the world.
Miraculous? Yes. Easy? Hardly.
When Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her about God’s plan, she knew it would be difficult. Yet Mary submitted herself fully to God and His will.
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38
Mary could not see the road ahead. But she trusted the One who could. She willingly laid down her own dreams to embrace God’s plan for her. The way would be hard, but God worked through Mary’s life to bring about His plan of salvation for the world.
Although God chose to take Mary through difficulty, He provided what she needed in the midst of it. He gave her strength and encouragement through her relative Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45). He also gave her a husband who was also willing to submit fully to God’s plan for them (Matthew 1:18-25).
God may choose to do something supernatural in our life that causes an uproar. Sometimes His work in our lives may not always be easy, but it will always be good. His plan will be far greater than anything we could dream up for ourselves. And He will always provide what we need to walk His path.
Has God’s miraculous activity in your life ever been difficult? What “hard miracle” is God working in your life right now?
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December 18, 2012
Christmas Miracles – Labels Removed
Have you ever been labeled? Maybe you can’t shake something from your past. Perhaps a current situation holds you back. And no matter how hard you’ve tried, the less-than-favorable description sticks. The label burdens your present and will mark your future. Unless… Unless God miraculously removes it.
Elizabeth had a label. It was “barren.”
Elizabeth and Zechariah had been married for a very long time, but she had never been able to conceive. This stigma was far worse in the first century than it even is today. The neighbors thought that surely she had done something wrong – that she somehow deserved to be childless. Her situation not only brought shame and sorrow, but she and Zechariah also feared for their future. Who would care for them in their old age?
But God intervened. His supernatural power collided with the physical world. Elizabeth’s dead womb was opened. A son would be born. A son would be born to a woman who may have even been in her 60’s! (See Luke 1:7.)
And this son would not simply be another Jewish boy. This son would be a prophet of the Most High God. This son would herald the coming of the Messiah. (To read Zechariah’s side of the story, read “Weary Faith Revived.”)
When the angel Gabriel later visited Mary, he told her about the miraculous work God was doing in Elizabeth’s life.
“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Luke 1:36-37
Do you think Elizabeth’s neighbors still called her “barren” behind her back? Imagine how they responded to the protruding belly of this senior citizen. Elizabeth’s label did not simply fall away. God ripped it off with divine flair!
Did you take note of Gabriel’s words? “Nothing is impossible with God.” Nothing. That includes everything and anything in your life. Your past does not have to dictate your present or your future. God is able.
How has your past defined your present? What label do you need God to remove today? Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 16, 2012
Do you need a refuge?
“In this world you will have trouble.” Jesus said it and our lives prove it. From financial need and illness to loss and broken relationships, every Christian woman encounters difficulties. We believe God can help, but many of us don’t know where to go in the Bible to find the comfort, peace, and guidance he longs to give.
My new book, God Is My Refuge: 12 Weeks of Devotions & Scripture Memory for Troubled Times, provides the direction women need to discover, understand, and apply the ”ever-present help” that only God can give.
This daily devotional combines Scripture reading, insightful commentary, personal reflection, and Scripture memory to help women draw closer to God and experience His help in the midst of life’s trials.
See what the book is like. Download one day’s devotion now!
Words of endorsement for God Is My Refuge:
“God is My Refuge” is an intimate and interactive devotional that will point you to the power and comfort of God’s presence. Each page will lead your heart to Hope – because this book illuminates a love that is higher, wider, deeper and farther than any other. Gwen Smith, Author, Speaker, Worship Leader and co-founder of Girlfriends in God
God does not promise a life free from difficulty but He does promise to be our place of refuge in the midst of the storm. In her new 12-week devotional book, Kathy Howard shines the light of God’s Word on the darkness of life’s trouble and trials. Kathy guides you to Scripture that directly speaks to many of life’s most difficult situations and helps you apply its truths. Carole Lewis, First Place 4 Health National Director and author of “Live Life Right Here Right Now”
Life can be hard. We all need to know there’s a place we can go to find shelter from the storms of this life. In her 12-week devotional, God Is My Refuge, Kathy Howard inspires readers to turn to and trust the only One who can be their Refuge in trying times. With transparency and wisdom, Kathy fosters faith and hope for hurting hearts while offering practical application to biblical principles. Stephanie Shott, author and founder of The M.O.M. Initiative
I am so excited about the release of this great resource I want to give a copy away before Christmas. I will draw the winner at 8am Tuesday, Dec 18. I will enter your name for each of the following ways you enter:
“Like” my FaceBook author page
“Share” a link to my FaceBook author page
Share the Amazon link to “God is My Refuge” on FaceBook
Share this blog post about “God is My Refuge” on Facebook
Comment on this blog post!
Be sure to tag me in your posts and shares so I can enter your name!
The official release date is January 8, but the book is now available on Amazon. This is the perfect gift for every woman on your Christmas list! Give the gift of God’s strength and encouragement!
In what ways has God been your refuge in times of trouble?Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 13, 2012
Christmas Miracle – Weary faith revived
Have you ever prayed for something year after year, but it seemed God never heard? This happened to the priest Zechariah (Luke 1). He had grown weary of praying. He needed a miracle. A Christmas miracle.
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth – who Scripture describes as “both well along in years” (Luke 1:7) – were probably in their 50’s or 60’s. They may have been married for more than four decades. At this point in their lives they should have been grandparents many times over. But they had never had children. The Bible tells us that Elizabeth was “barren.”
Zechariah had been praying for a child (Luke 1:13). In fact, he’d probably been asking God to open Elizabeth’s womb for almost as many years as they’d been married. For 30, 40 years, Zechariah had been lifting the same request to God. Again and again, he begged God to give them a baby. And the years passed.
Zechariah’s faith had grown weak. He served God, he continued to pray, but he didn’t really expect God to answer (Luke 1:18-20). He didn’t really believe that God would – or could – work in his life. Doubt hindered his faith. Elizabeth and Zechariah both needed a miracle – her a physical one and him a spiritual.
Zechariah and Gabriel in the Holy Place
Then something happened. Zechariah’s priestly division was on duty at the temple – which only happened twice a year. Zechariah was chosen by lot to light the incense in the Holy Place. Due to the sheer number of priests, this would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Picture this dramatic moment. Zechariah entered the Holy Place and approached the altar of incense, which sat directly in front of the curtain that veiled the Holy of Holies. As he moved to light the incense He noted how close he stood to the place where God was said to dwell. Dangerously close to the Holy One. Would God hear his prayer here, in this place?
The smoke from the incense rose and the supernatural collided with the natural. An angel of the Lord suddenly appeared next to the altar, overwhelming Zechariah with fear. Zechariah’s prayer had been heard. His faith would be revived and his longing would be fulfilled.
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” Luke 1:13
A son would be born to Elizabeth in her old age. This son, born in God’s timing and for His purposes, would herald the coming of the Messiah. He would call God’s people to repentance and set God’s plan of salvation in motion. God heard. God answered in His time and way. A son would be born. A faith was revived.
Is your faith weary? Have you been waiting for God to answer? Do you doubt He will – or can? I’ve been there. God may not always work the way I would choose, but I know that He hears. He is able. His supernatural activity will once again break through my natural circumstances in His way and time.
What about you? Does your faith need revival? How can you allow God to strengthen your weary faith while you wait for His supernatural activity?
Note: This is the second in a series of posts about Christmas miracles. Read “Do you believe in miracles?”Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 10, 2012
Christmas Miracles – Do you believe?
Do you believe in miracles? How about at Christmas? Eight years ago, I witnessed a Christmas miracle.
It was December 24, 2004. Our family had moved to Houston just a few months earlier. It would be our first Christmas in the south after six years in the Canadian Rockies. To me, balmy south Texas did not feel much like Christmas.
Our new church had rented snow machines and excitedly announced there would be “snow” for the Christmas Eve service. But the promise of fake snow did not excite me. It only seemed to highlight the sad fact that we would not be enjoying the view of white-topped mountains from our window on Christmas morning.
Then the impossible happened. Middle of the afternoon on Christmas Eve snow began to fall across southeast Texas. And it continued off and on for 24 hours! I danced around in the backyard. Then my daughters and I rushed off to Starbucks because snowfalls are even better with lattes.
The National Weather Service deemed our Christmas snow to be “historic and rare.” South Texas had not had such a snowfall since 1895! Just south of us, Galveston Island received as much as 10 inches of snow and people built snowmen on the beach. I felt like God had worked a miracle just to encourage me. And all of southeast Texas got to benefit from it.
By definition, a miracle is an unusual occurrence that transcends the normal bounds God established for our physical world. He accomplishes these acts by His supernatural means to prove His power and authority. They confirm the working of His grace in our lives (Acts 14:3).
Although that Christmas Eve snowfall in southeast Texas was physically possible, it was indeed rare. In Scripture, we see God working to fulfill His purposes through both supernatural miracles and the manipulation of His natural laws. The way I see it, on Christmas Eve 2004 God manipulated nature into the “perfect storm” to bless His discouraged child.
Do you need a miracle right now? Between now and Christmas, we will be taking a closer look at the miracles of the first Christmas and consider how God could work in a similar way in your life today. When God’s supernatural power collides with your natural circumstances your life will never be the same!
What area of your life needs God’s miraculous work today? Do you believe in miracles?Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 6, 2012
Messy Christmas
Christmas often comes with high expectations. We think everything has to be just so. Perfect decorations. Perfect family. Perfect gifts. Perfect meal.
Our culture perpetuates this fantasy. In the dozens of made-for-TV Christmas movies, the girl always finds her soul mate, the estranged father is always reunited with his family, the boy always gets the puppy, and the table is always laden with beautiful food (which must have been made by Christmas elves because you don’t see anyone slaving away for hours in the kitchen).
But here’s the problem with high expectations: many of us will be disappointed. Life will never be perfect – not even at Christmas. Maybe especially at Christmas. The arrival of December 25th does not magically heal broken relationships or ease the pain of loss or pay the bills.
In fact, Christmas tends to intensify any grief, anxiety, and sadness we feel because we compare our imperfect, messy lives to that unrealistic perfect image. When our lives don’t measure up, we lose hope. Without hope, Christmas becomes a time we have to get through instead of a joyful celebration.
Here’s the good news: Real hope for Christmas is not in a golden turkey or a new Kindle or a happy family gathered around a gorgeous tree. Real hope is in a babe in a manger. God come to earth to be with us. Immanuel.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us… In Him was life and that life was the light of men… We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God. John 1:4, 12, 14
This life is messy and will be messy until Jesus comes back for His children. In the meantime, we will encounter trials, pain, death, sickness, divorce, heartache – oh, just name! However, in the middle of all our mess we can find strength, joy, and peace in the Savior. The birth of that one tiny baby long ago provides hope – for this life and eternity.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Does your life feel messy this Christmas? Lay it all at the manger. Find your Christmas joy and peace in the Child of Christmas. In your Savior.
Are you struggling with a messy life this Christmas season? Share a thought about the hope, joy, and peace you can find in Christ!Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
December 3, 2012
Mary Believed
Do you believe that God will do what He says He will do?
Photo courtesy of VisualBibleAlive.com
Two thousand years ago, God’s plan for salvation was put into motion when a young Jewish girl believed God and submitted to His plan for her. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced God’s plans to bring the Savior into the world through her. Mary’s answer? “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
And so it was. The virgin, Mary, became pregnant with the Hope of the world.
Soon after the angel’s visit, Mary went to visit her relative Elizabeth who was already six months along with the child who would be a “prophet of the Most High” and prepare the way for Jesus. (Luke 1:76). Elizabeth greeted Mary with these telling words:
Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! Luke 1:45
God make His activity known to Mary. Because Mary believed that God could do what He said and therefore she got to participate in His plan to save the world. And I love her response!
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name.”
Luke 1:46-49
I wonder, have I ever missed out on participating in some mighty work of God because I failed to believe that what He said would be accomplished?
What about you? Do you believe that what the Lord has said to you will be accomplished? Do you believe that His Word is true and powerful? Are you missing out?
What promise of God will you believe today? What mighty act of the Lord are you trusting will be accomplished?Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
November 22, 2012
Heaven’s Thanksgiving
Pecan pie and Turducken, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving! My house is full of family today. We are happily cooking and baking and visiting and playing.Of course there will also be dishes. I am grateful for my full house and God’s abundant provision. I am even grateful for dirty dishes and what they represent.
We will bow our heads in prayer today and voice our gratitude to God. These earthly prayers will lift to heaven where they will blend with the perpetual thanksgiving that surrounds God’s throne.
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throneand worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Rev 4:9-11
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Rev 7:11-12
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
Rev 11:16-17
In heaven, the elders, the living creatures, the angels, and all the citizens of heaven offer constant praise, worship, and thanksgiving to God. Let’s consider today as practice for eternity. May we lift thanksgiving and praise today that glorifies the One who was, and is, and is to come. Hallelujah!
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November 19, 2012
Thankful for the Unshakeable
Uncertainty looms in our country and in the world around us. What will happen in the Middle East? Will the United States plunge over the “fiscal cliff?” Will we be hit with another natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy?
Governments, economies, and nations can topple. Jobs, homes, health, and even life can be lost. All of these things are temporary. None of them were created to last forever. But there is a permanent, unshakeable Kingdom we can depend on – and be thankful for!
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. Hebrews 12: 26-29, NLT
Every year as Thanksgiving approaches we begin to reflect on the blessings God has poured into our lives. Family, friends, and church. Physical provision, health, and home. Most of us also express gratitude for our salvation in Christ and the abundant life He gives. But how often do we thank God for His eternal Kingdom?
No matter what earthly, temporal things fall away – and one day all of them will be removed – the Kingdom of God will never be shaken. God’s presence, authority, and power are unmovable and steadfast. His Kingdom is firmly established and our God will reign eternally!
If you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you are a citizen of Heaven. You have a place in the unshakeable Kingdom of God!
Voice your thanksgiving to God today for His unshakeable Kingdom!Share and Enjoy:[image error][image error][image error]
