Does Christmas bring out the crazy in you?

Do you give what you don’t normally give? Create what you don’t normally create?  Think about Jesus a bit more than you normally think about Jesus?

Well…I was filled with a little last-minute Christmas-in-July crazy this morning.

I was inspired early this morning to compile and finalize the Christmas devotional that I wrote last year on my blog, in order to get it on my website once and for all.

Do you need a mid-year pick-me-up?  Would you benefit from a reminder of the deep purposes of His coming in the flesh to rescue you…us?  A reminder to be as thankful to Jesus coming in the flesh now as you are at Christmas in December?

Well here it is…a free resource for you as a thank you for visiting and/or following me each week.  I appreciate you…the reader who actually comes and, often times, ends up encouraging me.

Click below for the link to the free devotional, Beyond the Nativity.

Please save this e-book for the future Christmas season to read and pass on to others…or…to read now for your daily time with the Lord.

Merry Christmas-in-July!  To give you a feel for what this devotional is about, here is the introduction to the book…

“I’d love to get past the bows and baking and get to the real heart of it this time. I want that same feeling I had as a kid about the magic of Christmas to be translated into my adult life over the awe of Christ coming in the flesh. Some years it happens…some it doesn’t.

I just spent yesterday morning searching the web for new ideas for traditions to keep Christ in Christmas. I’m overwhelmed. I want to do them all! How can I possibly add one more thing to the worldwide web to encourage someone to take on? The reason I’m adding this to what is out there is this. No—we probably do not need to add another Christmas tradition to our already busy season. We do need to continue with our personal times with the Lord…especially at Christmas. Carving out time to meditate and pray over the reason we are celebrating will give us the right stance as we go about these hurried days. I hope that you and I don’t squeeze that one thing out of the season because that is why He came. To bring us to Himself.

I’m pretty sentimental about the nativity scene. For me…it is the picture of what is deeper during the Christmas season. I want to go beyond that though…

Here is what I mean…

Is it possible that people who love Jesus strive so hard to keep the nativity in mind during Christmas that…it can become mostly and simply about…meditating on and celebrating that one moment of Christ’s birth?

While that is right and wonderful…I wonder if I could go deeper this year by meditating on more than the moment of or the story of His birth. If you’re like me, you already know the deeper things in your heart…the purpose and meaning of His coming. But oftentimes…this knowledge stays in the head and keeps us from grasping and feeling in our hearts. This knowledge has the ability to give us great joy throughout the Christmas season. What if we could meditate on these deeper things of Christ coming in the flesh…the incarnation…each week leading up to Christmas? Or even in the middle of the year? What might the Lord do in our hearts if we meditated on His incarnation more than at Christmas time? The Holy Spirit’s ministry to us is to illuminate His Word. I pray that He will do just that for you and I’m confident He will.

Each week, I’ll provide a different aspect of the incarnation for meditation: Week 1: The Description,Week 2: The Purpose, Week 3: The Manifestation, Week 4: The Importance and Rewards

Each week’s meditation topic will have five devotions that will include a scripture and a song to listen to (a link will take you straight to the song on youtube.com). Since I’m only doing five devotions per week, this gives you a couple of days to catch up in case you miss some. I promise I won’t give you any extra activities beyond that which will take place as you sit at your computer and they will take as little as 15 minutes…or can take more only if you choose to linger. My hope is that you’ll not just read my short devotional for each day, but that you will also delve into the scriptures for yourself and meditate on them…maybe even journal about them. That is where you’ll be most touched. Please note that there is a space for journaling at the end of each day’s devotional.

I pray that you’ll enjoy this process and that your heart, soul and mind would be nourished and illuminated as you contemplate the incarnation not just in the manger…but beyond!”

Linking up this week with these blogs: