Women of Encouragement

  Extravagant Love         #MorningDevo Extravagant Love What's your annual income? Imagine spending that much on a single bottle of perfume and using it all at one time! Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus) did this, and she wasn’t being impulsive, stupid, or wasteful.  Mary sat at Christ's feet (Luke 10:39) and fell at his feet (John 11:32). Now in John 12:1-8 she anoints His feet with costly perfume and humbly wipes them with her hair.   Extravagant love doesn’t always involve money, but it always involves humility and sacrifice.  A few days after Mary anointed His feet, Christ gave us the most humble, sacrificial, extravagant gift in all of history  2 Corinthians 5:21 Join us in January as we take a look at how Extravagant God's love is.

  I'm enjoying each day with my Christmas decorations because I love a festive house and because I also know how fast this season passes and how soon these things will be packed away again.  My Christmas is different this year.  Learning my new 'Life'.   I managed to get a few favorite things from storage.  I found a little corner in the guest house that is our home for the holdays.   And it's Christmas here!  Is it Christmas at your house?  We would love to see a photo of your tree (or any other decoration that's bringing you joy this year)!

  No matter how many times I read this, I just cannot do it without getting chills all over me! 😲 I bet you didn’t know the following about the manger that Jesus was laid in. Of course mangers are animal feeding troughs but in ancient Israel they were made of stone - not what you would see in a modern day nativity scene. Not comfortable, but great for protection. That’s why those who were experts in this matter, the priests, would put their newborn lambs in them for protection. But not just any lamb, the unblemished perfect lambs that were used in the sacrifice for sins. And Bethlehem, where Jesus was born was FAMOUS for their UNBLEMISHED LAMBS used for the sacrifice. These lambs had to be perfect so they would wrap them tightly in cloth and lie them in the manger to keep them safe. This is exactly why the only time mangers are mentioned in Jesus’ birth story is it being told to shepherds. In Luke 2 it says “This will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying