HOLD UP! Christmas isn\u2019t over so carry on with the good tidings, joy to the world and embracing this holiest of times of the year — actually right on through into the new year. That\u2019s because the wise men haven\u2019t shown up yet. Yes, it\u2019s a sweet add-on to our manger scenes when we see the magi worshipping the newborn king. But, according to scripture, it could have been 12 days, 40 days or not until Jesus was two years old at their family home that the magi showed up and presented their best gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took courage for the magi to defy Herod\u2019s orders to find the newborn king and report back to him. But perhaps the \u201cDo not be afraid\u201d words from Gabriel to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, was already in the DNA of those wise men. They encountered the Baby King and it seems everything changed in their hearts. I seem to have repeated \u201cDo not be afraid\u201d in my blogs many times during this season. I\u2019m on good ground because those are words God said many times to humanity throughout history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it His message so often? Because He knows His children. He knows we are prone to fear, but He wants us to be prone to courage. He understands the \u201cWhat do I do now?\u201d or \u201cHow can this be?\u201d questions that come up in our lives. But I\u2019m done with fear. Done. Done. Done. I\u2019m laying my fears down at Jesus feet and not going to take them back. I know God keeps repeating those \u201cDo not fear\u201d words because He wants us to get it! He knows our fears hold us back from whatever He is calling us to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love the song \u201cOh, come to the altar. The Father\u2019s arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.\u201d In that song, \u201cThe Father\u2019s arms are open wide\u201d is a promise for us to lay down EVERYTHING, especially our fears at His feet \u2013 at the altar. At the front of almost every church, there are altars that signify the place of offering everything we are and everything we have to God. But right here, where we are right now, we can \u201ccome to the altar\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m packaging up my fears and laying them down at the altar — that place of forgiveness and transformation. I\u2019m placing my children on the altar. I\u2019m placing my concerns, my fears, and my mistakes on the altar. Then I trust God to transform me into being courageous, powerful, and faith-filled — day in AND day out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you have some things to place on the altar, too? Join me there and surrender it all to God — knowing He promises to take care of you and all that concerns you. Ask Him to show you if there is anything you can do and leave the rest of the mess — the worries, the fears, the hurts, the confusion, the unrest to Him. See yourself running to the altar and giving it all up. The Father\u2019s arms are open wide!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HOLD UP! Christmas isn\u2019t over so carry on with the good tidings, joy to the world and embracing this holiest of times of the year — actually right on through into the new year. That\u2019s because the wise men haven\u2019t shown up yet. Yes, it\u2019s a sweet add-on to our manger scenes when we see…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19492,19493,17276,18418],"tags":[1210,1769,19489,19490,264,4242,1158,19491,1382,583,40,360,6894,139,367],"class_list":["post-13668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-altar","category-arms-open","category-surrender","category-transformation","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-christmas-isnt-over","tag-come-to-the-altar","tag-courage","tag-do-not-be-afraid","tag-do-not-fear","tag-fathers-arms-open","tag-forgiveness","tag-good-news","tag-inspiration","tag-magi","tag-newborn-king","tag-surrender","tag-wise-men"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13670,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13668\/revisions\/13670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}