Let There Be Joy - Day 7

Let There Be Joy
Written By Carol McLeod

A Miraculous Interruption!

“For nothing will be impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:37) 

Christmas, for Mary, was learning the ultimate truth of this one statement.  When Christmas comes around each year, we must embrace the absolute faith that nothing is impossible with God!  Christmas is a reminder that we must always keep our focus on His Divinity and not on our frail humanity.

You honor God when you ask of Him the impossible.  So this year, rather than giving Santa an enormous and materialistic list, perhaps it would be most sincere to change your focus from temporary to eternal, from material to priceless and ask God for your true heart’s desire.  Impossibility is God’s specialty!  It is what He does best!  He loves to show Himself miraculous in the face of profound disappointment and darkness.

Most of us go through the Christmas season focused on self ... on what we want and desire and deserve.  Some people want a new house ... or a great piece of jewelry ... or for our children to come home for the holidays.  Some folks emphatically believe that they deserve a Christmas bonus, a tree-laden with expensive gifts or someone to clean the house for the holidays.

If these are your desires, you are missing it!  You have Christmas all wrong!  You are missing the hard lesson that the life of Mary teaches all of us today:

Our plans pale in comparison to His interruptions!  The most significant desire that you will ever embrace is to ask God to interrupt your life with His love and His plans. 

What these verses don’t describe is the public outrage that Mary had yet to face.  This girl, who has just had her world rocked with a message from heaven, would now be spat upon and cursed as she walked by.  Formerly she was known as “pure” and a “virgin”, and now her reputation was one of a loose and promiscuous woman.  Perhaps now as Mary daily walked to the village well, she heard the coarse language of the men calling out nasty innuendos accompanied by raucous laughter.

Mary learned, as we all must, that Christmas is not about me.  Christmas is about dying to self, to preference and to normalcy.  Christmas is the clarion call that none of us is able to live for human purposes ever again.  We have all been embraced by the call of Christmas that resounds from Mary’s heart to our world today, “Live for His purposes!  Live for Christ alone!”

Christmas is about the intervention of God into our ordinary lives; it is about Christ being born into our disappointments and failures.

Christmas is not about me but it is about Christ revealing Himself in me and to me!  Now that’s something to celebrate!

Bible Reading: (click on the Scripture reference to open in reader)

Luke 1:36-38

Genesis 18:1-4

Let There Be Joy In Me:

Do you truly believe that nothing is impossible with God?

What is your one “impossible” prayer request this Christmas?  Write it out and give it to God.

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Carol McLeod
Carol says, “I am just a girl who is head over heels in love with Jesus ... passionately addicted to His Word ... and find all of the joy that I need in time spent in His presence." Carol is a Christmas-aholic, loves ACC basketball and the beach! Like all menopausal women, she is overly fond of chocolate and enjoys a good read. She doesn't like cleaning her house and is an expert in carry-out dinners. She hates to shop … loves to jog … and somehow finds time in her busy life to hang out with small children. She is the kind of woman that you could laugh with over lunch, cry with over disappointment and shout with over a victory! But … if you need her official bio … read on! Carol is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. She also hosts highly successful Just Joy! outreaches. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren! Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren!
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Let There Be Joy - Day 8
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Let There Be Joy - Day 6