A Moment of Hope

by David Chadwick Jesus came for many reasons. From the cradle to the cross. To bring life. To destroy the works of the devil. To bring light. To judge. Finally, he came to  preach the gospel! In Mark 1:38, Jesus said, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." Jesus gives us yet another reason why he "came out" of the beauty of heaven to enter the...

by David Chadwick You can't have good news without first having bad news. You can't come  to bring light unless there is darkness. Jesus came to the  cradle and the cross.  He came to give  abundant life  and to destroy the works of the devil. He came to  bring light. He also came to  bring judgment.  This reason for Jesus's coming is a bit more solemn, but nevertheless is true and needs to be not...

by David Chadwick "I came." This statement sets Jesus apart from all of the other religions in the world. He came and was born into a  cradle  so that he could reclaim victory through the  cross . He came to give us  life and to destroy the works of the devil. And according to John 12:46, he came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in him could come out of darkness and  into his marv...

by David Chadwick Emmanual. God with us. The hope of glory.  Jesus came to us when we couldn't come to him. Through Adam and Eve's rebellion, sin entered the world and separated us from God, but he came to rescue us! In John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Another powerful "I came" statement made by our...

by David Chadwick "I came." It's the phrase that makes the  Gospel of Jesus Christ  unlike any other of the world's religions. The name Emmanuel. God with us. He came. He left the splendor of heaven and chose to willingly live in the squalor, sin, and brokenness of this world. Through his life, death and resurrection, we can be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life (John 3:16). Luke 19:10 say...

by David Chadwick Anna the prophetess is today's hidden hero. She is one of my favorite heroes in the Christmas story. Like Simeon, Anna's story is also found in  Luke 2, starting in verse 36.  I love that God chose to give such a significant role of prophetess to a woman like Anna. She is another devout character in the Christmas story who  heard from the Lord and spoke truth in the temple area....

by David Chadwick Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." God loves for his children to search out the hidden treasures of his story. This week, I am sharing five of my hidden heroes from the Christmas story with you. Simeon is today's hidden hero. He was a  righteous and devout  man and the Bible says, "the Holy Spirit was up...

by David Chadwick Zechariah was yesterday's hidden hero in the Christmas story. It only seems right to include his wife, Elizabeth. Her story is found alongside her husband's story in Luke 1:5-25. Elizabeth, like Zechariah, was  very old and beyond child bearing years.  She desperately desired a baby. After the angel appeared to Zechariah, he expressed doubt about this child and was silenced by th...

by David Chadwick Hidden heroes in the Christmas story. These may be more well-known names, but their significance in the Christmas story has a hiddenness that must be sought out. Zechariah is today's hidden hero in the Christmas story. His story is-found in  Luke 1:5-25. Zechariah was a righteous, blameless, and Godly person.  He was a priest in the temple. As noted in Proverbs 16:33, the Jews be...

by David Chadwick Hidden heroes. It's a topic that has become near and dear to my heart. To find the people of the BIble who may be lesser known and dig out the treasures of their story. We are jumping back into some more of the Bible's hidden heroes. This time, we will look at heroes specifically tethered to the  wonder of the Christmas story. In these cases, these are heroes who may be more well...

by Marilynn Chadwick Children are generally asking two questions:  "Do you love me?"  and  "Can I have my own way?"  They seem to thrive on love and limits. So, David and I would regularly say, "Yes, I love you" and "no you can't always have your own way." Focused attention, eye contact, lots of snuggles, a listening ear. There are many ways to say I love you. Limits are important too. Here's a li...

by Marilynn Chadwick Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1b NIV). I want to take a minute to encourage you as a parent to take care of yourself. This goes back to our earlier discussion about building your spiritual house. Your relationship with Jesus is the foundation. Your marriage...

by Marilynn Chadwick My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me  (John 10:27 NIV). Train your children to hear God's voice. Find creative ways to teach them God's Word. Songs and memory verses are great. But they also need to learn how to apply biblical principles to the problems they encounter in the world. Toss out opportunities for them to think biblically. This will also help...

by Marilynn Chadwick If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday (Isaiah 58:10 NIV). Whenever possible, David and I included our children in serving others. In fact, some of our most fond memories as a family were going to our sister church in uptown Charlotte and volu...

by Marilynn Chadwick Let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds (Hebrews 10:24 AMP). We are in a two week series of how to raise great kids. Even if you are not a parent, there is a good chance that you play a role in someone else's life  who is younger than you. I pray these parenting tips will give you tools to lead the next generation. Every dre...

by Marilynn Chadwick Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (Colossians 3:23). When our kids were younger, I made up a song based on Colossians 3:23 to help them remember this truth. We would sing it together all of the time. It was not just to remind them of these truths, but to remind me. I've had to learn some parenting lessons the hard w...

by Marilynn Chadwick Blessed are those who fear the Lord…Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed  (Psalm 112:1-2 NIV). Since they were born, I've prayed our children would be "mighty in the land." I believe God created us to dream and placed the seeds of those dreams in our hearts—even as children. Our children are who they are, in large part, becau...

by Marilynn Chadwick Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6 AMPC). Education should be a delight, not drudgery. It's the same with spiritual training. Every child learns differently. Research has shown that some of what were previously thought to be learning disabilities are often just...

by Marilynn Chadwick By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict (Hebrews 11:23). Seeing our child's beauty takes spiritual insight. The Bible tells us Moses' parents saw he was a "beautiful child." The word translated as "beautiful" in Hebrews 11:23 is used only one time i...

by Marilynn Chadwick Our children used to have a running joke. When watching a lousy performer on American Idol—the ones eliminated at the first cut—they would say, "Where was his mother?" Their point being that any good mom should never let a child go out into the world without a grasp of who they are and who they're not. What they're good at—and what they're not. It's our job as mothers to  teac...

by Marilynn Chadwick (...Continued from yesterday) What about you—have you ever seen a sign or wonder? If you start paying attention, you might be surprised like I was when I started to find all those pennies! I continued to save these little reminders—pennies from heaven—I called them. Over the next months, pennies continued to appear. One day, I shared my "penny story" with my friend Kenna. I to...

by Marilynn Chadwick I wanted to find a practical way to remember the amazing things God has done in my life. So I began to save my spiritual souvenirs, my "Ebenezers'' in a special box I call my "Ebenezer Box." Not much bigger than a shoebox, it looks like one of my grandmother's old hat boxes. What about you—have you ever seen a  sign or wonder? If you start paying attention, you might be surpri...

by Marilynn Chadwick Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us"  (1 Samuel 7:12 NIV). The Bible tells how the Children of Israel came back to God after many years of wandering. They began to copy the evil behavior of the pagan people around them and even started to worship the demon gods of their enemies—sometimes...

by Marilynn Chadwick Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus  (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). The Bible actually speaks more about praise than it does prayer. I call it the "protein of prayer." Protein comes from a Greek word meaning "of first importance." And to me,  thanksgiving is like "praise in detail."  I am more of a pragmatist than mystic. I can't tell...

by Marilynn Chadwick In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch (Psalm 5:3 NASB 1995). "Mom, you seem to see God work in the craziest ways," my daughter Bethany laughed after hearing about my latest answered prayer. My now-grown daughter, who was fifteen at the time, was used to hearing my "God stories." After all, she herself was the  product of a miracle. Bethany had grown up...