Celebrating The Christmas Women | A Middle-Aged Woman

For the next 3 weeks before Christmas, I’m going to release 3 posts Celebrating The Christmas Women. I really wanted to title this series: The Teenager, A Middle-Aged Woman, and The Senior Citizen I Want to Be Like, but I thought it was a little long 🙂

Parts of these posts I shared in a message at Christmas events. There’s just so much to the lives of these women that I can’t get away from their stories and how it relates to the birth of Christ. I want to share these snippets of their stories with you so you can see the hope of Christmas, our hope in Christ as we learn from these women and begin to model the character they lived.

Each of these women were:

CARRIERS – OF THE PROMISE & PRESENCE OF GOD

All three of these women carried inside of them the promise of their savior, the Messiah. The Christmas women all spent time in the presence of God so, when God’s promises were present in their lives they immediately recognized them. Each woman’s life in the Christmas story affected people around them as they pointed the world to Christ.

These three believed in the promises of God and trusted in God’s timing. It’s my greatest desire to be like the Christmas Women, to carry inside of me the promise and the presence of God. I want my life to affect others so they look to Christ, to live out a strong faith, believing in His promises with a confident trust in His timing to fulfill them.

It’s my prayer, that by the end of this series you want to be like these women too.

So let’s begin our Christmas Festivities,

Celebrating the Women of The Christmas Story!

The first woman in the Christmas story…Jesus’ Story…is actually:

THE MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN

“When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
Luke 1:23-25 NLT

Luke starts his gospel account starting with the record of a couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth and he tells us this couple was old, that was his way of saying Elizabeth was passed the age of child-bearing. One day while working in the temple, an angel tells Z that Elizabeth his wife is going to have a child, and not just any child.

Their child would be the one prophesied about in Malachi 4:6. He wast to be the forerunner for the Messiah.

“And he will go on before the Lord…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (NIV)

It’s pretty clear from Z’s reaction that he had long since given up on the dream to have a child before the angel came to meet him at work. Z didn’t believe and as a sign from God that God could do what He said, Z was unable to speak for 9 months, until the birth of his son.

ELIZABETH

On the other hand, Elizabeth immediately believed and because of her faith, Elizabeth carried John the Baptist; the one who would prepare the way for the Christ, in her womb. Elizabeth protected the promise of God inside of her by staying secluded for 5 months, she took extra precautions to make sure the promise of God inside of her was able to grow and mature. Elizabeth didn’t let anyone talk her out of her promise from God. She didn’t allow anything to stop it from being birthed.

Be like Elizabeth…
Protect the promise of God in your life. Luke 1:24

This Christmas, think about the promises God has given you as a believer in His Word and the one’s He’s given to you personally. Protect those promises. Give them room to grow in your heart, your mind, and in your life so you can see them birthed like the baby, John The Baptist.

ELIZABETH CARRIED THE PROMISE & THE PRESENCE OF GOD…I WANT TO DO THE SAME #ChristmasWomen

Prayer

Father…I thank You for all the promises in Your Word and for speaking directly to me. Help me to put a shield around your promises so they will have room grow so I’m able to carry them to full-term; watching Your promises be fulfilled in Your timing. In Jesus Name…Amen

Soul H2O Radio & Podcast Christmas Series

During the Christmas season, were running The Brave Christmas & Christian Women Series. Episode 48 is Part1 of The Brave Middle-Aged Christmas Woman & Brave Cheryl. In This Series, were Celebrating The Women of The Christmas Story and a few of their contemporary counterparts.

Now, I know we’re supposed to focus on Jesus and we will be but I think it’s good to take some time and recognize the impact some of these brave women had in the Christmas narrative and in our world today. I know you’re going to be inspired by my friend, Cheryl Nembhard. She’s a TV & Podcast Host, Speaker, Author, & Social Justice Advocate.

You can find the full story of Zechariah and Elizabeth in these portions of scripture:

Luke 1:5-25 John The Baptist Birth Foretold
Luke 1:39-56 Mary Visits Elizabeth
Luke 1:57-66 Elizabeth gives birth to the Promise of God

Did you like the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion? Then you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women and I hope you’ll Subscribe to receive weekly Soul H2O devotions.

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This devotion was originally posted on December 5, 2016.

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I Got a Thank You Card In The Mail!

Here’s a Thanksgiving post all about getting a Thank You Card!

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.”

Luke 17:15-16 NIV

There’s not a lot of mail we like to open. Usually I get excited when I see an “It’s a GOOD mail day!” sticker on my #EllensPicks packages, but this week I was thrilled when I saw a small handwritten notecard addressed to little ole me. I got a Thank You card in the mail!

A Thank You Card From Patty

Opening a handwritten note from Patty Scott; a blogger at Hearts Homeward made my day! This sweet girl from California that I met online through blogging helped me with some ideas I was working on for online Bible study courses so, I sent her a copy of my books. The first time she got my package it was torn and empty {Insert a big sigh}.

Patty let me know what happened and thanked me for trying. Well…I wasn’t going to let the postal service block my gratitude, so I sent her another package covered in shipping tape! Patty was writing this card to: thank me for the books, tell me how she was looking forward to ‘diving in’ and then wrote a prayer of blessing over my life…how encouraging is that!

SHARING THE GRATITUDE

You might think this is a common occurrence for me? I’ve given away a ton of books, many have expressed their appreciation, but few have gone so far as to send me a thank you card in the mail.

Although I didn’t do anything of similar magnitude, this reminded me of Jesus and the 10 lepers. These guys went to Jesus and asked for a healing. Life was tough for them with such a severe skin disease. They couldn’t work or even live in town. When they received their healings it says that only one came back and thanked Jesus.

This lack of gratitude really didn’t sit well with Jesus and he responded saying, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”1 The writer of Hebrews reminds people that we need to show gratitude towards God by saying, “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful.”

So here’s my challenge to you this week…get busy writing so someone will be able to say,

I Got a Thank You Card In The Mail!

Prayer

Father…my heart is full of gratitude for all You’ve done. Forgive me for the times I didn’t let You or the others in my life know how much I appreciate them and all they do. Fill my heart with gratitude and let it spill out in words of blessing and encouragement today. In Jesus Name…Amen

I’m sending out a thank you card in the mail this week…why not you? #shearethegratitude Click To Tweet