Holidays or Holydays?

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Especially after a divisive election season (Let’s just quit talking about it already). There is a certain excitement, energy and camaraderie around a national holiday. A common interest enables us to drop our animosity and connect to others. Hearts and hands working for a common cause.

But is Christmas a holiday or a Holyday? What is the difference?

One letter.

i or y

That one letter makes a big difference.

Please take a minute and go there with me. In the middle of holiday is the letter I. I asks the following questions: What do I want? What do I get? What’s in this holiday for me, myself and I? Am I happy? Am I comfortable? Holiday centers on I.

Holyday, Holy day.

Holyday, on the other hand, asks a different set of questions …

Y, God, do love us so much?

Y did you send Jesus to tabernacle among us?

Y are You so good to us?

Y did you choose us to be your children?

Holyday centers us on God and His goodness.

Holiday is fun, but it’s only skin deep. It appeals to the 5 senses but doesn’t make a deeper appeal to the heart.

Holidays	Holydays
Fun	Joy
Jolly	Jesus
Feasting	Fulfilling
Presents	Presence
Gifts	Grace

While I love the fun of holidays (the cookies, the parties, the caroling), I need the depth of Holydays to satisfy my heart and fill my spirit.

Do a little holiday experiment and listen to the Holiday/Holyday music below.

Now listen to Josh Groban’s version of O Holy Night.

Did you feel the difference? O Holy Night wrecks me every time I hear it. Can’t say the same about Jingle Bell Rock. Holidays are fun, but they need to be a part of the more important Holyday.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

What can you do to help your family put holy back into holiday?

Watch the Nativity Story with family or friends.
Take a night time walk through your neighborhood and pray for your neighbors.
Read the Christmas Story from the Gospel of Luke.
Make Christmas cookies and share them with a person who needs the love of Christ.
Click on the following link for more ideas. 8 Ways to Center on Christ at Christmas

Let me know your ideas and thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Happy Holidays and Happy Holydays!

bits and pieces or feasting?

They were at the Feast.

12 men and 1 Savior. Bound together by bread and wine. A covenant. A last supper. The Last Passover that ever needed to be kept because finally, the Lamb of God was to be slain. It would be finished. And Judas sits satisfied with a bit of bread. It was Judas’ last supper too.

21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

27 Then after he had taken the piece, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. John 13:21-30

Crumbs and scraps.

Judas settles for a morsel from The Bread of Life, the Manna which comes down from heaven. Mincing and tasting the crumbs instead of consuming the Feast, eaten by faith in the One who saves us.

We consume the bread and wine as He consumes our guilt and sin.

Tweet This

And Judas sells his soul to the lowest bidder.

Bits and crumbs in place of a feast.

30 pieces of silver in exchange for streets of gold. He seals the unholy deal and Judas settles for bits and pieces. Judas could have had a kingdom.

What have I settled for?

What morsels have I chosen instead of the feast? My hungry soul tries to dine upon the crumbs of the world. But the world never satisfies and my soul-hunger turns into famine of the heart. My 30 pieces of silver rob me of the streets of gold. God’s hands remain full while my heart remains empty. Gifts given but not received.

Unopened. Unused. Unsatisfying bits and pieces.

Jesus came so we can have life and have it abundantly. But abundance requires sacrifice, receiving, waiting, enduring, abiding and praying.

This Thanksgiving season Jesus calls us to come, buy, eat and feast. Without money, without price. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Leave your bits and pieces and come to the Feast.

How will you feast on the goodness of God this Thanksgiving? Leave me a comment below. I’d love to chat with you!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Lent: empty to full, service

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. Luke 12:35-36

Welcome to the final week of our Lent: empty to full study. We are so thankful for each one who has made this journey with us. For our final week, we will be looking at service.

Service can be a spur-of-the-moment Spirit-led prompting to help someone, or it can be a longer commitment that you make, perhaps as a volunteer.

Your season of life will influence your acts of service. Parents with small children often find most of their time is spent serving their families. As your children grow, your schedule may allow for more time for you to serve others outside of your home as well.

The most important way to determine where God wants you serving in this season of life is to of course pray about it. Seek His plans and be alert to opportunities He brings your way. Enjoy this week’s Sway and be sure to let us know some of the different ways you have served others in your life!

Have a blessed Easter!

Jane Vanosdol and Mary Kane

Study, Lent: empty to full

16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:16-17

I love studying and learning.

I could be a professional student. My heart beats a little faster when I hear terms such as Rhodes Scholar, Oxford, Cambridge, Colson Fellows Program … the stuff dreams are made of. God is all about studying and learning. He required the Kings of Israel to write a copy of His word and keep it with them and study it every day of their life. What’s good for the Kings of Israel is good for us.

Studying is a discipline and requires determination and perseverance, but the pay-outs are huge. Wisdom, knowledge, blessings, being smarter than our enemies are just a few of the benefits of studying God’s holy word. In this digital age we have instant access to the word of God — it’s only a click away.

Make some extra time this week and get your study on, you will be blessed! To get you started, please dig in to the Sway below.

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the Comment Section about what you have learned!

Lent: empty to full, fasting

Fasting is temporarily abstaining from food (electronic media, television, etc.) for a period of time with the purpose of focusing on prayer and spiritual guidance.

Welcome to week 4 of our Lent guide! After spending last week studying prayer, this week’s topic of fasting is a natural follow-up.

As we persevere through the discomfort of fasting, we often experience a time of laser focus and closeness with God that is at a deeper level than what we usually attain. It is interesting how a physical discipline such as fasting complements our spiritual development. But God has created us in a way that our bodies, souls, and spirits are intricately connected. Disciplining our bodies by way of fasting often brings about spiritual breakthroughs as we cooperate with God in our goal for the fast.

New to Fasting?

If you’ve never tried fasting before, please don’t be intimidated. A fast does not have to be weeks long to be beneficial. In fact, if you are new, start slow. Try fasting for one meal. You’ll find several suggestions in the Sway that should help you choose a method to practice during the upcoming week.

Please scroll through the Sway and explore the different resources we have for you this week.

Share your insights, questions, and prayer requests on our Lent Facebook page. We love hearing from you!

Have a blessed week!

Lent: empty to full, prayer

At its simplest, prayer is communicating with God.

Prayer is the language of our hopes, dreams, and ambitions. The Bible teaches that we should pray without ceasing, in good times and bad, when we are tempted, and when we are under attack. While God can do whatever He wants without the help of man, in His wisdom He has decreed that some things will not be accomplished apart from the prayers of man.

The effective fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much!

We all know we should pray. We all know prayer is important … so why don’t we? Why do we struggle so with prayer instead of in prayer? Because prayer is hard work. Prayer is where our battles are won or lost. Some parts of the Christian life are enjoyable: praise and worship, fellowship, hospitality. Prayer is literally going to war with the enemy. No one likes to go to war. It’s hard. It’s bloody. It’s critical. It’s necessary. It’s our privilege and the payouts are huge.

Our nation is at stake. Our families are at stake. Our children are at stake. Suit up and get your armor on and drop to your knees because the battle must be won.

Please scroll through the Sway below to access the many embedded prayer resources. Remember to leave a comment below and on our Facebook page.

Have a blessed Lent.