Take Jesus Out of the Manger…And Live

So, we've taken Jesus out of the manger and carried him everywhere around the Shreveport/Bossier area. I encouraged you to take Jesus out of your purse every time you make a purchase. You may be wondering what the point to all of this is…it is a physical reminder of something you do every day. You carry Jesus with you every day, everywhere, every minute. He hears what you say with your mouth, in your mind, and in your actions. He sees your actions and the intentions of your heart. Are you living your life like that? Are you living your life in such a manner that his heart is reflected in you? Are you seeing others through his eyes?

Do you remember how we started off this Mary/Martha challenge? Remember how much God loves you and what he was willing to do for you? Let's live like it. Let's dig in his love letter to us and share it with others this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas.

Love ya'll,

 

Kristy

Take Jesus Out of the Manger…And

I have some wonderful girlfriends around the country who have a heart for serving God and for ministering to women. I’ve challenged them to challenge their women to take Jesus Out of the Manger just like I’ve challenged you. You may be wondering, “What’s the point?” Good question.


We decorate every year. We decorate our homes, our cubicles, our yards and even our cars for the holiday season. What if we all left baby Jesus out of the manger? Some do already. Some only put baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning and celebrate His birthday. But what if, we take baby Jesus with us wherever we go. I challenged you last week to carry the baby Jesus in your purse. This week, I challenge you to take baby Jesus out every time you open your wallet to buy anything. Set baby Jesus up there right beside the card reader. Keep Him there until your purchase is finalized.

Do you think this has the potential for starting a conversation with the sales clerk? Do you think the person behind you might wonder why baby Jesus is in your purse? So, now, not only are you focused on Jesus, but the cashier and the person behind you. Isn’t that what Christmas is about? This is your opportunity to say, “I believe in saying Merry Christmas because I believe in Jesus Christ, so Merry Christmas.” How simple is that?

Now, what if there is a woman in that same line an hour later who takes her baby Jesus out and places it beside the card reader? What if she does the exact same thing? She has taken the challenge to say, “I believe in saying Merry Christmas because I believe in Jesus Christ, so Merry Christmas.” Do you think it will make an impression on that clerk?

You know what else that means? We will have to be on our best behavior! That clerk will be watching and listening. Are you different from all the other customers who haven’t looked her in the eyes the whole day? Will you be like the others in her life who barely recognize her existence, or will you take the opportunity to look her in the eye and say, “I believe in saying Merry Christmas because I believe in Jesus Christ. I’ve taken Jesus out of the manger and take Him wherever I go. Why don’t you come to our Christmas Eve service?”

Ladies, when the shepherds went to the find baby Jesus, they didn’t keep Him all to themselves. Luke 2:17 said they told everyone what they had been told about the child and that those who listened were amazed. We don’t need to keep this to ourselves. It’s not enough to carry Jesus around in our purses much less our hearts. We MUST share Him, so take Him out of your purse every time you pull out your wallet. I challenge you, and I’d love to see the faces on those who start seeing us pull little baby Jesus’s out of our purses. I want to hear about lives changed because we were bold enough to share Jesus in this simple way…my guess, it is your life that will be forever changed.

His Daughter,



Kristy

Take Jesus Out of the Manger

At the Christmas Tea, I issued a challenge, and I want to challenge you as well. Too often we get caught up with the shopping and the “to do” things that we totally miss opportunities to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We miss opportunities to serve Jesus. We miss opportunities to love others from the overflow of our love for Christ. So here is the challenge – take Jesus out of the manger and put Him in your purse!


Do you go anywhere without your purse? Not often, if at all. So I challenge you to put that baby Jesus in your purse and take Him wherever you go.

When you go to Hobby Lobby to buy just one more thing (like that’s possible) and you reach for your wallet, your hand will graze the baby Jesus in your purse. I hope it reminds you that before God created the world, He knew He was going to create you (Eph 1). He knew how much you, like me, were going to screw up, and yet He still wanted to create you. LISTEN TO THIS – He knew that by creating you He would have to send His only Son to die for your sins to redeem you, and HE STILL CHOSE TO CREATE YOU ANYWAY!!!! How awesome is that? What an amazing love! It’s the kind of love that people are looking for today. Are you sharing it with those who are in the checkout line with you?

When you are searching for the tube of lipstick to reapply before going into a Christmas party, your hand grabs the baby Jesus, I want you to remember that God made Himself so vulnerable as to come as a newborn baby and made Himself available to the lowliest of people because He wants a personal relationship with you and every person in that party. HE BECAME DEFENSELESS SO WE MIGHT NOT BE THREATENED OR INTIMIDATED BY HIS PRESENCE, BUT RATHER HE MADE HIMSELF APPROACHABLE AND LOVABLE TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS AND PRECONCEIVED IDEAS. Are you that approachable and lovable so that ANYONE in the party will see Jesus in you?

And when you take the contents of your purse out and put them into another purse, and you hold baby Jesus in your hand, I want you to remember God wants a personal relationship with you. It makes no sense, but He does. He was willing to die for a relationship with you. That’s how precious you are to Him. He wants to spend some time with His daughter. IT’S PERSONAL. YOU MATTER. THEY MATTER.

There are people who are dying and going to hell because they think Christmas is a holiday like the others. Does that bother you? If you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart, He waits patiently. Nothing that has happened to you, no choices you have made surprise Him. He still loves you. He even knows what is going to happen in your future, and He wants to help provide and protect you.

You’ve probably ignored that tug on your heart before, but don’t. He wants to adopt you as his daughter. He’s paid for the adoption – He sacrificed His Son – you’ve just got to claim Him as your Father.

Ladies, the baby that is the reason for this season was no ordinary baby. He was born to be sacrificed for you, for me. Are you living like it? Are you living like someone died to set you free? Let’s serve Him this season out of the overflow of our love for Him.