trust-in-god

Standing Tall with Jesus

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by Jeswin Thomas on pexels.com

Backstory:
One of my favorite Christmas movies is Mr. Krueger’s Christmas starring Jimmy Stewart. I love the scene when his character, Mr. Krueger is talking with the baby Jesus. He said to the baby that he could hold his head high because Jesus was his closest friend. About the filming of this scene, Jimmy Stewart said that it was deeply personal and that he wanted the scene done right, with genuine emotion. I agree with Mr. Krueger that we, as Christians, can hold our heads high because Jesus can be our closest friend.

Standing Tall with Jesus

Mr. Krueger didn’t earn Christ’s friendship by being impressive or important,
But his faith in Jesus had never become dormant.
We offer Jesus what we can-
Our kindness, service and love for others as our plan.

We can hold our heads high because we are known to Jesus,
And we are loved by Him even though He knows our every weakness.
We belong to Jesus, even on days when we feel unseen or inadequate,
For His love for us is always passionate.

We don’t need the world’s approval
Since it isn’t all that useful.
As long as we know that we belong to our Savior,
We can hold our heads high and know that we are always in His favor.

At Christmastime, the nativity isn’t just a scene to be admired
It’s an invitation to be near to Jesus so we can feel inspired.
His birth signals to us His desire to be near
Not just at Christmastime, but throughout the year.

If we believe Jesus is our closest friend
Then we are never alone in the end.
Our every sorrow and tear are understood by Him,
And our trials in this life won’t seem so grim.

The Takeaway: We can all hold our heads high if we believe that Jesus is our closest friend. That assurance allows us to lift our eyes-during Christmastime and throughout the year-because we walk with the Light of the World. And because of that knowledge, we can feel more hope and joy even in our darkest moments.

Learning to Adore Jesus

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by Jessica Lewis on pexels.com

Backstory:
One day I was thinking about the Christmas hymn, O Come, Let Us Adore Him. I thought to myself that I know that Jesus definitely adores me. Sometimes I can’t imagine why because I am so human. But I know that He is super kind and compassionate and that He sees the best in me. So I asked myself, “how can I show Jesus that I adore Him like He adores me not just at Christmastime but throughout the year?” I looked at the meaning of “adore" and it is to worship, to bow before, or to give one’s heart in reverence. 

Learning to Adore Jesus?

When we sing, “O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord,
We are not just inviting people to look at the baby Jesus in one accord.
We are inviting them to recognize His divinity as our Redeemer and Savior,
And to offer our hearts to Him, not just our voices, so that we can change our behavior.

This is a call for all of us to worship Jesus as our God, 
For we can win any battle with Him in our cheering squad.
The shepherds, the wise men and the angels were all called to adore Him,
And we are also called to do the same so the light inside us will never dim.

They were led by a bright star in the sky,
But they didn’t stop to think why.
They just obeyed the call and went to worship the baby,
Even though it might have seemed a little crazy.

In our day, we can adore Jesus by remembering His Atoning Sacrifice for us,
That He purchased our struggles and pains for a huge price and He didn’t make a fuss.
We can adore Him by looking toward Him for our strength and hope,
Then in our trials we can more easily cope.

We can adore Jesus by trusting that we are in His Loving and Capable Hands,
And that with us He always stands.
We can adore Him by becoming more kind, forgiving and compassionate towards other people,
So that our lives can feel less chaotic and more peaceful.

The Takeaway: When we hear the words, “O come, let us adore Him” at Christmastime, we should also hear Jesus whisper back to us, “I have adored you first.” This feeling should make us want to be closer to our Beloved Savior and to be more like Him. We can learn a lot from His example of how He adores us so that we can more properly adore Him.

The Jesus I See

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by Deivid Carreiras on pexels.com

Backstory:
I can’t imagine my life without knowing that Jesus is my Savior, that He suffered and died for me and for everyone on this earth. In my particularly hard times I can feel His love and know that He is always there for me. Some days I forget that He is there for me. He helps me to remember that and He always helps me feel better.

The Jesus I See

Do you see him as just a nice man who did good?
Do you just think he was misunderstood?
Do you imagine him being made of wood?
Or do you see him as doing things we all should?

For me, he gives me so much hope,
He helps me feel that with my trials I can more easily cope.
He is an antidote for sin way better than soap,
Even when we feel like we are falling, He always gives us more rope.

He already suffered for everything we go through,
He can always pick us up when we are feeling blue.
He always understands you and your crew,
Because of Him we can have a better view.

I can’t imagine what He had to endure,
But He did it because He knew that we would need to be pure.
Because of Him we can feel secure,
And because of Him we can find a cure.

Even if I was the only person on earth, He would have suffered anyway,
He went through it all and more than with money we could pay.
I love him so much and hope I can repay Him someday,
And because of Him my life doesn’t have to be gray.

The Takeaway: Jesus should be the most important person for each one of us. He was so unselfish and He sacrificed Himself for us. Because of that sacrifice, we can overcome our weaknesses. He will be there to help us every day. We can trust in that knowledge.

Life Apart from Jesus

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by RDNE Stock project on pexels.com

Backstory:
All my life I have been taught about Jesus, about His amazing sacrifice for me on the cross and His suffering for my sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. I have always had that knowledge and testimony in my life. It has helped me through my many trials and struggles. I can’t imagine my life without knowing about my Savior and knowing and feeling of His love. I just need to remember that because of Him I never need to feel alone. He will always be there for me through whatever I face in my everyday life.

Life Apart from Jesus 

I listened to a podcast that asked the question, “What would your life be like without Jesus?”
This question has made me reflect and I think without him my life would be grievous.
We all go through hard things in life that sometimes show us our weakness,
And yes there are wonderful times that leave us speechless.

I feel like I couldn’t go on or feel hope without a Savior,
No matter what we did in life we would always feel like a failure.
We could never get past our very human behavior,
Without the chance to change our nature.

I feel like I owe everything I have to that Being who suffered all,
He redeemed us all from the fall.
When he comes again I can’t wait to hear his call,
And without his grace and sacrifice all I would be able to do is crawl.

Seriously, I can’t imagine what He had to endure,
He suffered everything for us even though He was always pure.
He descended below it all so He could be our cure,
And without Him this life would never feel secure.

So I can’t imagine my life without Him,
Without his example and atoning blood my life would be grim.
Without Him the light in my life would look really dim,
But I don’t have to worry about my life without Him.

The Takeaway: We are all human and we make so many mistakes every day. We wouldn’t have any hope in this life without our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He suffered and sacrificed Himself so that we can overcome our weaknesses and shortcomings. He will always be by our side to help us every day of our lives.

The Heart of Sacrifice

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by Arina Krasnikova on pexels.com

Backstory:
I have been married for over 17 years. My husband has always been so hardworking. He never complains about anything. He fixes our car mostly by himself. And growing up, my parents sacrificed so much and they never complained either about what they had to sacrifice. And because I’m not a parent, I can’t imagine the sacrifices that my parents made for me. But even more than that, I can’t imagine the sacrifice my Heavenly Father made to sacrifice His Son. Then I also can’t imagine the sacrifice that my Savior made to sacrifice himself for me. But knowing those things makes me feel very grateful for all of those sacrifices of all of those people. And it makes me feel very blessed and it makes me want to treat the people in my life better because of all they sacrifice for me.

The Heart of Sacrifice

I have been thinking about sacrifice lately,
And I thought about those people who sacrifice for me daily.
So first I thought about my parents of course who have sacrificed for me so greatly,
They sacrificed what they wanted so I could go through my life happily.

Then I thought about my amazing husband who sacrifices for me,
He works very hard so that we can have money.
He never complains and his attitude helps me feel free,
He is such a hard working person and he will never from me flee.

Then I thought about the Ultimate Sacrifice of my Savior,
He sacrificed so much and He didn’t do it to find favor.
But because He made the sacrifice, I don’t need to feel like a failure,
And because of that I can have a chance to change my behavior.

Then I thought about my Father up above,
And how He sacrificed His Son in the most amazing expression of love.
He will always be there for me because he is stuck to me like a cold hand to a glove,
He loves me in a way I can’t even imagine but because of that I can always feel beloved.

I feel very blessed to have the love of such loving people,
Because of that love my life can feel peaceful.
I know they will never leave me and for that I don’t need to be fearful,
Knowing that makes my heart feel cheerful.

The Takeaway: We all know wonderful people who sacrifice so much for us. We also have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much that He knew we would be human and we would need to be redeemed. So He sent His Beloved Son into this fallen world to redeem all mankind. Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we can always have a friend and so we can return to our Heavenly Home after this life.