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Christmas reminds us that God visits the willingly obedient (Luke 1:38)

This Christmas, remember, many will say, “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” 

Don’t be upset at them … they are just professing that the Jesus Christ of Christmas hasn’t come to them yet!

Love them, pray for them and share that devotion, that faith, that favor you know in the God who does the impossible and visits the obedient with them. 

Who knows, perhaps THIS will be the year Christmas will change everything for them as well! 

Prayer

Father in Heaven, 

Thank you for sending your son to be our Savior, but not ours alone, but for everyone who will accept your love and leadership through your Son, Jesus! 

Thank you for reminding us that you are real, that you love our devotion and reward our faith! 

Thank you for reminding us that you favor the sexually pure, by accomplishing the seemingly impossible in their lives by visiting them because they are willingly obedient to follow your will and word. 

For the glory of your story in our daily lives, Amen

The post Hope For Today #236 – Christmas Sets Our Agendas: God Visits the Willingly Obedient appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

Creator: EvgeniyShkolenko | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

What is your response to God when He wants to do the impossible? 

Listen to Mary, 

“Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38) 

Are you willing to allow God to be God in your life?

The post Hope For Today #235 – Christmas Sets Our Agendas: God Accomplishes the Seemingly Impossible appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

Teenager girl playing the role of the Virgin Mary with a doll in a live Christmas nativity scene
Creator: Studio-Annika | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Sexual purity today is mocked and ridiculed as “Puritanical” and “Victorian” 

The trouble is, those who do such things are the sexually immoral, those who have chosen to reject the wisdom of God for the foolishness of humanity.

Such a life course leads to eternal damnation, not eternal life, as Paul repeatedly tells us in the New Testament letters. 

Mary’s question, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” is answered in Luke 1:35–37 …

35And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 

36Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 

37For with God nothing will be impossible.” 

• How often we forget that last line … 

37For with God nothing will be impossible.” 

• Has your God lost His ability to overcome any “impossibility”?
  
• I hope not! Because the God of the Bible has not … he can impregnate a virgin and He can create out of nothing! 
  
• As Jeremiah said so long ago: 

“‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you,” (Jeremiah 32:17, LEB) 

• Do you believe God is able? 

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God wants our faith

Have you thought about Christmas like this? 

God wants faith from us; God expects faith from us!

We may not have an angelic visitation, but we have a Biblical revelation – we have the Word of God right here at our fingertips … the Words of God, the will of God, are always available! 

God is so real, He loves our devotion to Him!

But the story of God’s glory in the lives of His people continues, for God is up to something. 

And when God is up to something, He works on many fronts at once using many people to accomplish His will and whim!

In Nazareth, the Virgin Mary

Luke 1.26-56

• Christmas shows us God is on the move in History! 
• He is looking for men and women who, by their track record, prove their devotion and obedience to Him. 
• As the promise of the coming Savior of Humanity unfolds, we see six months have passed since the angel met up with Zach.
• Turn to Luke 1:26–34 and follow with me … 

26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 

27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 

28And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 

29But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 

30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 

31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 

32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 

33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” 

34Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 

• Gabriel, the angel, comes to Mary, calling her highly favored and blessed. 
• As he continues to reveal God’s plan to send His Son to the world THROUGH her, she considers the impossibility of such an event.
• While she could understand that God could use anyone, she also knows that its physically impossible for her to have a child, since she is a virgin. 
• Note again her question, 

34Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 

The post Hope For Today #233 – Christmas Sets Our Agendas: God wants Faith appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

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As you start to prepare for the upcoming holiday, Dr. Matthew Lee Smith would like to remind you that

Christmas interrupts our lives with the reminder, “GOD IS REAL” (Luke 1:7–17)

• When God arrives, he changes lives!
• God wants to change your life … He wants to do INCREDIBLE things with you and through you! 
• Let me ask you today, Has God broken into your life? Has he spoken to YOU? 
• If he has, what was your reaction? 
• Unfortunately for Zach, his reaction was doubt!
• Remember, Luke 1:18–25 …

18And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” 

19And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 

20But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” 

21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 

22But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. 

23So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 

24Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 

25“Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” 

• I am sure that you can see the mix of disappointment, comedy, contrition, repentance and faith in this part of the account. 
  
• Eventually, despite his shame for doubting the message from God, He chooses to reveal all to his wife, Elizabeth, and, by faith, they set forth to create this special baby! Which happens!

The post Hope For Today #232 – Christmas Sets Our Agendas: God is Real appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

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I once worked with a guy named George who, for Christmas, gave his wife, for her big gift – and I am not making this gift up – a chain saw. (As he later explained: ‘Hey, we NEEDED a chain saw.’) Fortunately, the saw was not operational when his wife unwrapped it. – Dave Barry

How many of you have made such a terrible mistake? We know what happened to this man, he thought about himself too much and his wife too little. 

That’s normal for most of humanity … after all, we are human and we think about ourselves … a lot!

And, all too often, when we think about ourselves too much, like in marriage, we pay the consequences for our failure to think of another. 

But Christmas changes everything … whether we realize it or accept it. When Jesus came, He came for a simple purpose: 

“I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners to change their hearts and lives.”” (Luke 5:32, CEB) 

Jesus actually came for you and I, people who mess up and think too much of ourselves too often!

The amazing thing about the Christ of Christmas is that Jesus came from Heaven to help us! 

“The Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14, NLT) 

And since Jesus came from heaven to help us, and He is God’s Son, we understand that He is also 

“King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”  (Revelation 19:16, NLT) 

In other words, He’s the boss, and we are not! Which is a good thing, considering how often our selfishness gets us in trouble!

As a result, His coming to Earth changes everything! 

Agendas – we all have them and, if we are bluntly honest, we all work from our own most of the time. But when Jesus comes into our lives, He changes our focus; He breathes life into our schedules! 

In this very intimate message, I want to show you how the revealing of God’s presence changes everything in our lives. 

Join us as we notice that Christmas, the coming of Jesus, the Christ, refocuses our lives, provides purpose to our existence and births hope in our hearts! 

In Jerusalem, the Priest Zechariah

Luke 1.5-25

God sends us six reminders at Christmas that should cause us to restructure our daily agendas!

• You may be familiar with the Christmas story, but I thought that this year we would simply walk through the story, and as we do, we would be reminded of what God longs for us to remember every year and every day! 
• So, let’s open our Bibles to Luke 1 and start this  Christmas at verse 5 … 

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:5–6) 

• Can you see this older couple? Can you see their life’s devotion to God? 
• Zach has dedicated his entire life to the work of God; it is his calling, not his job. (I can so relate to this guy!)
• You can tell its his calling because of his passion to follow the words of God: 

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:5–6) 

• Lifestyle shows a lot about one’s values!
• It is evident, since God is about to visit them in a special way (you know the story, right?), that …

• Christmas approves our lives with the reminder, “GOD LOVES DEVOTION” (Luke 1:5–6)

The post Hope For Today #231 – Christmas Sets Our Agendas appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” -Matthew 1:24 (NIV)

Has God ever asked of you something that you thought was too crazy to do? Think about it, God often asks us to do things that we feel uncomfortable doing or we can’t see how He can do. It may seem like an insane thing that God is asking you, but consider the life of Joseph. Give us TWO minutes and allow us to remind you of how obedience to your God can bring about amazing things!

Just push the PLAY button below and enjoy this latest message.

Know Someone Entering the Holiday Season with Grief?

Christmas and New Year’s Eve can be extremely hard times for those who have lost loved ones recently. Help them this year by gifting them Dr. Matthew Lee Smith’s latest book, Entering Into Death’s Shadow Valley. It is the story of his journey through the horrific process of losing his life partner, Melodee Joy. It is meant to help others who enter this treacherous and often perilous path. It’s available on Amazon.

21 Days of Audacious Faith
Audacious Faith? “Audacious” means showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. Think Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Elijah, Elisha, Micah, John, Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, and John. And consider Hannah, Jehosheba, Esther, Jaal, Ruth, Deborah, Abigail, Mary of Nazareth, and Mary Magdalene, just to name a few.The Bible is filled with men and women who took surprisingly bold risks for God and are remembered in God’s journal of faith – the Bible. Do you want to be remembered for audacious faith – we do!Join Kate, Doc, and the whole Eagles In Leadership team as we go before the Lord asking for AUDACIOUS FAITH in 2022! We will pray and fast from January 2 – 22 as we start 2022 seeking God’s answers to THREE questions …

Week 1 – January 2-8: What is “Audacious Faith?”
Week 2 – January 9-15: What does “Audacious Faith” look like?
Week 3 – January 16-22: What will my “Audacious Faith” seek to accomplish in 2022?

Go to EaglesInLeadership.org today, click on the BOTTOM of any post and “Sign up for Notifications.” We will lead you through the preparation and the process so you can watch your faith EXPLODE and become AUDACIOUS in 2022!

 

 

The post Hope For Today #230 – Faith Obeys Crazy Commands! appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

Faith Savors God’s Forgiveness!

“In those days and at that time— this is the Lord’s declaration— one will search for Israel’s iniquity, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.” (Jeremiah 50:20, CSB)

Why does God forgive us? We aren’t perfect, and when we are honest we know it and admit it! God knows our sin also and He has done something about it – He sent His only Son as a SUBSTITUTE for the penalties of our failures and rebellions against Him! If you have ever wondered about God’s forgiveness of YOUR sin, be assured God is ready to forgive you today!

So today, if you are in need of a “faith boost,” give us TWO minutes and allow us to remind you of the supernatural power of your God!

Just push the PLAY button below and enjoy this latest message!

BOGO in November!

In His Presence, Doc’s book on the Psalms revolves around the premise: “God welcomes us into His presence with joy and pleasure!” will be featured as a “Buy One Get One Free!” in the month of October!

This book is set up as a daily devotional and takes us through EVERY verse of the book of Psalms in one year!

Simply message Doc at: BooksByDoc[at]gmail.com (replacing [at] with @) and let him know how many books you want.

BOGO is: $19.95 for TWO + $7.00 shipping and handling. NO limit on the number of orders.

BOGO for “In His Presence” lasts THE ENTIRE month of November! Start thinking of the people you want to GIFT the book to … perhaps even for Christmas … and encourage them ALL year long to enjoy the presence of God every day!

The post Hope For Today #228 – Faith Savors God’s Forgiveness! appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

Faith Thanks God for Success!

“If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5, CSB)

If you’ve listened to some Christians over the past year and a half you would think they were baptized in pickle juice! Sure, life is hard. It always has been. Sometimes it’s worse, sometimes it’s better. yet, it’s always hard. However, as a surrendered follower of King Jesus, we have the inside edge! Our God laid out OUR plans long ago – long before we were born. He knows all the things He has planned for us – our well-being, our incredible future, plans to give us hope!

So today, if you are in need of a “faith boost,” give us TWO minutes and allow us to remind you of the supernatural power of your God!

Just push the PLAY button below and enjoy this latest message!

BOGO in November!

In His Presence, Doc’s book on the Psalms revolves around the premise: “God welcomes us into His presence with joy and pleasure!” will be featured as a “Buy One Get One Free!” in the month of October!

This book is set up as a daily devotional and takes us through EVERY verse of the book of Psalms in one year!

Simply message Doc at: BooksByDoc[at]gmail.com (replacing [at] with @) and let him know how many books you want.

BOGO is: $19.95 for TWO + $7.00 shipping and handling. NO limit on the number of orders.

BOGO for “In His Presence” lasts THE ENTIRE month of November! Start thinking of the people you want to GIFT the book to … perhaps even for Christmas … and encourage them ALL year long to enjoy the presence of God every day!

The post Hope For Today #227 – Faith Thanks God For Success! appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.

 

Faith Waits For God’s Vindication!

“Who is this coming from Edom in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah— this one who is splendid in his apparel, striding in his formidable might? It is I, proclaiming vindication, powerful to save.” (Isaiah 63:1, CSB)

Covid-19 has truly wreaked havoc on our lives this year! And with so much disruption, so many deaths, and so much discouragement and depression, the Child of God may think life is truly over as we knew it. And then, we return to the Words of God and find the Hope of God! We have a Rescuer – one MIGHTY to Save! King Jesus has NOT forgotten you! He is on His way! Be patient! He is soon here.

So today, if you are in need of a “faith boost,” give us TWO minutes and allow us to remind you of the supernatural power of your God!

Just push the PLAY button below and enjoy this latest message!

BOGO in November!

In His Presence, Doc’s book on the Psalms revolves around the premise: “God welcomes us into His presence with joy and pleasure!” will be featured as a “Buy One Get One Free!” in the month of October!

This book is set up as a daily devotional and takes us through EVERY verse of the book of Psalms in one year!

Simply message Doc at: BooksByDoc[at]gmail.com (replacing [at] with @) and let him know how many books you want.

BOGO is: $19.95 for TWO + $7.00 shipping and handling. NO limit on the number of orders.

BOGO for “In His Presence” lasts THE ENTIRE month of November! Start thinking of the people you want to GIFT the book to … perhaps even for Christmas … and encourage them ALL year long to enjoy the presence of God every day!

The post Hope For Today #226 – Faith Waits For God’s Vindication! appeared first on Eagles In Leadership.