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Our Response to Jesus’ Birth: a Family Devotion

Made Matchless

December 25, 2017

As my children and I went through the story of Christmas, we noticed that each character in this life-changing story responded to Jesus’ coming in distinct, beautiful, appropriate ways. They respond in ways that show us, over 2,000 years later, how to honor Jesus in our lives today.

Let’s take a look…

Mary responded to Jesus’ coming. How? By submitting herself to whatever God wanted her to do and offering herself as his servant. Do you submit yourself to God’s work in your life and offer all of who you are as his servant?

Joseph responded to the news of Jesus’ coming. How? By believing God’s words from the angel, even though he couldn’t see how things would turn out, then stepping forward in faith no matter what others would think. Do you believe God’s Word to be true, no matter how things appear? Do you step out in faith when you’re not certain the outcome?

The angels responded to the news of Jesus’ coming. How? By boldly heralding Jesus’ coming to the lowly shepherds, bringing hope and light to the darkness of their world. Do you boldly tell those in lowly places about the hope found in Christ?

The shepherds responded to the news of Jesus’ coming. How? By opening their hearts to the Son of God and immediately telling others. Have you truly opened your heart and are you sharing the good news of Jesus with others?

The wise men responded to the news of Jesus’ coming. How? By humbling themselves, worshiping Jesus, and offering gifts. Have you worshiped God from a truly humble state? Have you offered him that which is most precious to you…your whole life?

What’s your response to Jesus’ birth?

Oh friends, it’s easy enough for us to identify with one or two of the characters. Maybe you identify most with feeling lowly and finding hope in Christ. Maybe you have no trouble believing God’s Word. But the appropriate response to the King of Kings is a beautiful, supernatural combination of each character we see in this unexpected story.

God is looking for a different response. He doesn’t just want our faith, but he also wants us to tell others the good news! He doesn’t want worship alone, but our submission and trust. In summary, you might say that God simply wants it all, because Jesus gave it all for us. That’s the only truly appropriate response as we read about Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, choosing to become human as he saves us from our sin and the darkness of this world.

Will we ever be able to honor him enough for who he is and what he did for us? No, never. But because of God’s mercy and grace, he receives the best we give him from our hearts. How will you respond to Jesus’ birth today and in the year to come?

Prayer: God, I know that my worship, sacrifice, faith, and trust could never give you the full honor that you’re due. But I long for you to open my eyes this year for how I can grow in giving you my trust, faith, worship…my entire life. Show me. You’ve given your all to me. Help me give my all to you. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to be my savior, my redeemer, my friend. In His name, Amen.

From my family to yours I wish you a very Merry Christmas, celebrating the birth of our amazing King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Removing the Chaos from Christmas to Worship the Prince of Peace: A Printable Plan

Made Matchless

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November 21, 2017

Have you allowed chaos to creep into your Christmas?

Halloween ends and BOOM! The Christmas chaos kicks in with ads, sales, and decorations everywhere. Before our kids have even put their Halloween costumes away, we are getting “Christmas Wish List” mailers.

I get it. Businesses want to be the answer for our “perfect holiday season”…to make our events, parties, feasts, and Christmas mornings sparkle and shine with magic and memories. Their answer is MORE. More food and decorations, more lights, toys, parties, and people. More events, more sentiment, more perfection…

But in the midst of the more, the people we love tend to get less (including Jesus!). Less attention, less time, less of what matters. With MORE Christmas chaos everywhere we look, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we must do more, too.

Friends, we need a plan to make more from less this year.

Instead of upping expectations with things we “must do”, let’s choose to lower them. We must choose the Prince of Peace over chaos and I think I can help. In these 35 days leading up to Christmas Day, here are 35 things you can do to remove the chaos, one day at a time. Here are 35 ways to make LESS mean MORE in your family, and to have a peaceful, worshipful, family- and Christ-focused season.

WARNING

If you’re very traditional or nostalgic, these could really rattle you! If you’re not, they could be very liberating. Either way you fall, if you implement this 35-day plan, this may end up to be the best Christmas with your family yet.

35-Day Plan for Removing the Chaos from Christmas to Worship the Prince of Peace

Nov. 21:

Listen to the November Made Matchless podcast called “Removing the Chaos from Christmas to Worship the Prince of Peace” by clicking here. Then print out the special 35-day plan. You can download the plan by subscribing to the podcast by on the podcast page OR by subscribing to the Made Matchless newsletter by clicking here.

Nov. 22

Make a list of Christmas season “must do”s. Then, do the hard thing: cross items off as “unnecessary” to a family- and Christ-focused Christmas. Ask yourself, “Will our Christmas truly be less worshipful if we don’t do this?” Then, ask God to help you reduce the amount of expectations you put on yourself to create a “magical” or “perfect” Christmas. Pray that God would show you what’s truly important.

Nov. 23

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family. Make a Black Friday plan for your family that’s NOT shopping. For instance, lounge in your pajamas all day, relaxing and watching movies. Then make a simple, fun dinner like pancakes.

Nov. 24

Today, make the decision to give your kids only 4 gifts this year: Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. Then, establish a gift budget. Next, purchase for each child the one gift they want and the one gift they need (by shopping online!).

Nov. 25

Purchase for each child the one gift they can wear and the one gift they can read (and don’t forget any presents for your spouse!).

Nov. 26

Time for outside Christmas decor, but keep it to a minimum. Just go with one set of lights around the door and a wreath hanging alone (if you don’t have a wreath, don’t go buy one!).

Nov. 27

Find your bin of Christmas home decorations. Display no more than 10 items.

Nov. 28

Buy or put up a small Christmas tree (leave the big ones for those who want MORE this season) For every ornament you put up, put one or two away for the season. (Want to REALLY simplify?? Only put lights and the star at the top of your tree to remind you that Jesus is the true focus for celebration.)

Nov. 29

RSVP “no” to an invitation you received (no explanation needed) and plan take-out food at home with your family that night instead.

Nov. 30

Listen to Christmas music and have each family draw/color their favorite part of the Christmas story, then share it. Consider saving them to admire every year.

Dec. 1

If you have young kids, go to the library and check out Christmas books. Read them together before bed. If you have older kids, check out a Christmas movie from the library to watch together tonight.

Dec. 2

If you are hosting Christmas dinner this year, assign guests a dish or drink to bring so you have significantly less prep work. If you’re not hosting, offer to bring something you can pick up at the store.

Dec. 3

Find one small way your family can serve others as an act of worship to God this season. Consider donating to a food pantry, serving in a soup kitchen, cleaning an elderly neighbor’s yard, or volunteering at Feed My Starving Children. Or wait to serve after the holidays.

Dec. 4

Look through the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Gift catalog as a family and decide, based on your budget, who you’d like to bless (you can even donate in honor of someone special or in honor of your children).

Dec. 5

If you’re short on shopping time, purchase gift cards. Give yourself permission to NOT find “the perfect gift”.

Dec. 6

Put this printable in a frame for a quick, easy gift! To download your free printable for Isaiah 9:6, click the image above.

Print out this attractive printable and put it in an extra 8×10 frame you may have around your house. Hang it in your home or give it away as one of the gifts on your list.

Dec. 7

Eat dinner with your family by candlelight tonight to remember how dark it was in the stable where Jesus was born. Then read the Christmas story from the book of Luke. If the children are old enough, have each person take turns reading the verses.

Dec. 8

For all mail coming in this season, establish a system today. Take 1 minute to sort every piece of mail that enters the house. Immediately discard junk mail, put Christmas cards in a basket, and bills in their proper place. Then take 5 minutes to open mail before moving on with your day.

Dec. 9

Instead of buying teacher gifts, have each child draw a Christmas card or write a note today. If you really want to include a gift, pick up a 5-pack of $5 gift cards to a coffee shop and give one to each teacher.

Dec. 10

Purchase wrapping paper and tape today (leave the fancy bows and tags in the store). With the help of a family member, wrap half of your presents today.

Dec. 11

With the help of a family member, wrap the other half of your presents today.

Dec. 12

Rather than sending Christmas cards (that can take hours!), send an email with a casual family photo.

Dec. 13

With a family member, make a simple dinner with just 5 ingredients tonight. Cut up raw veggies or fruit as a simple side. Talk about the importance of gratitude for what God provides over dinner. The rest of the family can do the dishes & clean up.

Dec. 14

If you’re traveling for Christmas, pack your bags today. If you’re not traveling, relax!

Dec. 15

Many Americans have extra blankets in their homes they don’t use. If you have a couple around, wash and dry them. Put them in your car on the passenger’s side and when you see a homeless person this season, be sure to give them one.

Dec. 16

Write your spouse and/or children a short, heartfelt letter to give them at Christmas.

Dec. 17

Don’t buy new Christmas outfits. Today, have everyone set aside something to wear for Christmas that they already have in their closet.

Dec. 18

Skip making homemade Christmas cookies this year. If you love decorating cookies with your family, buy plain, pre-made cookies and just decorate with store-bought frosting and sprinkles.

Dec. 19

This is a very busy time for your pastor and his family. Write a kind, encouraging note to them for Christmas.

Dec. 20

Do nothing Christmas-related today except to re-read Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth in your quiet time.

Dec. 21

Make tea or hot chocolate for the family members at home tonight. Then play a board game or cut paper snowflakes together. Solicit the kids to vacuum and clean up any scraps as you hang up the snowflakes.

Dec. 22

Make a special popcorn recipe together as a family (or just microwave some and throw in some melty chocolate chips and crunched-up peppermints after it’s popped). Instead of filling stockings with more gifts, fill bags with your special popcorn and put the bags in the stockings on Christmas Eve.

Dec. 23

Read through prophecies about Jesus with your family to create a greater sense of awe about his birth (an excellent resource is this article from Answers in Genesis.).

Dec. 24

Go to church and ask God to help you see the story of Jesus’ birth in a new, fresh way.

Dec. 25

Relax and enjoy family.

Remember to download the printable version of this 35-day plan by subscribing here! I pray this year will be the beginning of a new tradition of “less being more”, of removing the chaos from Christmas, and truly worshiping the Prince of Peace. Don’t forget to listen to the November Podcast about this very topic by clicking here!

What would you add or take off of the list? Comment below!

The Strange, Beautiful Tension for Believing Moms

Made Matchless

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October 30, 2017

One of the biblical topics I struggle with most is this tension between the flesh and spirit, the old creation and the new.

In Romans 6-8, Paul seems to go back and forth. Are believers new creations, no longer slaves to sin? Or are we “wretched”? How can a wretched sinner, who confesses, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” still live a life that brings honor to God in her life and with her family?

Sadly, there was a time in my life when I thought little about being a “new creation”. I mistakenly thought that Jesus’ death for me on the cross meant I could speak and act and think however I wanted. I neglected any teaching about the fruits of the spirit and sanctification and remained happy (or so I thought) in my fleshly desires. After all, Christ died for them, so I needn’t think more about them, right? I was like a happy baby settling into her poopy diaper…warm, cozy, and absolutely filthy. You young moms can identify! Gross, right?

So perhaps this is why holiness and sanctification have been difficult for me to wrap my mind around. This morning as I read Romans 6-8, I prayed for God to bring me at least some small amount of clarity to Paul’s message in the book. I asked, “God, if I seek to live a godly life, does it detract from what Christ has done? If I rest in God’s grace, does that mean the ‘Law’ talked about so much in Romans is completely void in my life? How does all this play out? Where does holiness enter and is my life a reflection of your inspired words in Romans?”

Believing moms tend to default to one side of the gospel equation or the other.

Some of us, when we aren’t careful or become too uncomfortable with the tension, default to setting our eyes on the holy standard God has set and work hard to try and meet his expectations by the Law. Do stuff, work harder, try in my own power not to be impatient or snap at my kids. We even can unintentionally preach that message to our children. And because sinners can never meet all the requirements of God’s Law, that only ends in exhaustion, futility, and frustration, both in the mom and her relationship with her family.

But some of us default to the loving grace of God while neglecting the change he desires in our lives as believers. We get comfortable in our sin while remaining uncomfortable with the sins of others. We gladly accept his forgiveness for us, but we do it so much that our sin isn’t even considered. The Holy Spirit convicts us and instead of repenting and turning from that sin, we gloss it over with soothing thoughts, playing the same old recordings in our conscience to quench the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. In essence, we think everyone else’s sin matters to God, but not our own, taking for granted Christ’s sacrifice for us (Hebrews 10 talks about this). This can play out in our families as well, teaching our children that God’s grace covers all sin, but failing to address sin when it rears it’s ugly head. Children learn that being a Christian means a “free pass”. They learn that Christ is all about serving THEM, not them serving HIM. We risk raising (and becoming) self-centered, spiritually-starved hedonists who fail to see their sin for what it is.

Friends, I’m no theologian, and I don’t pretend to be. But I do so love God’s Word.

I love the context, meaning, richness, depth, message, accessibility, and the One who made the message accessible: Jesus. I believe with all my heart that his very being courses through my veins…that he lives within me as the Holy Spirit. So, on one hand, I know without a shadow of a doubt that his holiness runs supernaturally throughout me. I am a new creation ONLY because of him in me. It’s not because I have special knowledge, follow special traditions, or I’ve done special things. I have it because God gifted it to me when I didn’t deserve it. If I had absolutely no sense of that, I think there’d be major reason for concern, am I right?

On the flip side, my flesh, my body, my sinful state is still trying to win. I still say things that hurt my kids, I still argue with my husband over my selfish desires, I still grumble when I have to do the dishes, I still get offended when I need to let things go, and I still seek my own way. Maybe you do those things, too (don’t leave me hanging here!). And when it happens, it’s that feeling of “Augh! I did it again! Why do I DO that?!” At those moments, I feel like me and the amazing apostle Paul are somehow on a level playing field when he says in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” This mom & wife hears you, Paul!

Now these are defaults I believe we all fall into. Neither is where God is calling moms to be.

So how do we settle this tension?

The answer is: NEVER this side of eternity since we live in a fallen world in fallen, sick bodies, with other fallen, sick people, and a “prowling lion” seeking to kill & destroy us. However, there is hope. I read an excellent quote from Pastor John MacArthur that really helped bring this into perspective. He said,

“I choose to live my life not spending all my time saying, ‘Woe is me, woe is me, woe is me,’ but rather saying, ‘Boy, where did that come from? That’s not what I desire.’ I choose to live my life the way Paul does in Romans 7. You know what? I find myself doing things I don’t want to do. I find myself doing things that are absolutely inconsistent with who I am. What an outrage that stuff is in my life. This is simply Paul reinforcing the reality of that new life. You must see your sin as an intrusion into who you really are in Christ.” (from “Understanding the Believer’s Battle with Sin, Part 1”)

Strangely, even though we probably all do what we can to avoid tension and struggle, in this place of faith, the tension and struggle is, somehow, our sweet spot. In this tension Paul expounds on in Romans 6-8, we learn that God not only SET the standard with his own holiness & Law, but he also MET the standard by sending his Son, Jesus. In this beautiful, complex tension, the standard is both SET and MET by the only One who could do it, giving us the opportunity to stay humble in our sinful flesh while confidently rejoicing over Christ’s finished work in us. We remain frustrated with the flesh and grateful that this flesh isn’t forever. We seek to make things right, giving God the credit for his redeeming work in us. And we can witness to believers and unbelievers alike about the holiness and grace of God without compromising one or the other. Without our struggle with sin, unbelievers couldn’t identify with us. Without the grace, we could offer them no solution.

How can this strangely beautiful tension play out practically in your family?

Forgive and ask for forgiveness. Extend grace and acknowledge you need it. Contemplate God’s holiness and your shortcomings and in the next breath praise him for his goodness and mercy. Love deeply both those who know Christ and those who don’t. Expect your kids to mess up and use it to teach about both sin AND grace. Then model that with your marriage. Don’t strive for perfection. Strive for intimacy with Jesus, your only hope.

Maybe because this world is already so wrought with tension, this isn’t the answer you were hoping for. But the kind of tension we live with as believers is the only tension that can both convict and satisfy. And both are needed to glorify God with our lives until we leave this earth.

Which side of the tension is your default and how have you handled that tension? Comment below!

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