Falling in Love This Christmas, by Sarah P.

Falling in Love This Christmas

By Sarah P.

Do you listen to a lot of Christmas music? I love to hear Christmas songs on the radio this time of year; classics by artists like Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews really put me in a holiday mood!

You might not have noticed, but a lot of those songs talk about love. "Let It Snow," and "Sleigh Ride," along with "Winter Wonderland," all mention sweethearts. That makes me wonder what in the Christmas season causes people to think about their “special someone” so much!

Anyway, I’ve got awesome new for you: there's this Man that loves you—yes, I literally mean you— a lot. He loves you more than you can imagine. He's perfect in every way. He's kind and considerate, loving and tender, and He's actually his eye on you your whole life. He thinks you're beautiful, lovely, and precious. He desires to have a close relationship with you and carefully watches over you every day. He longs to talk with you, listen to you, and teach you.

His name is Jesus Christ. That might seem weird to you; you might be thinking, "Yeah, I know, but, He's God. He loves me, but not like that. Not that personal. He likes me and all, but He doesn't want to be that close to me."

Check out this passage from Isaiah 54:5, "For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth..." (NLT). God does love you like that! In fact, here He compares your relationship with Him to that of a husband and wife! Again in Isaiah 62:5b, He says, "God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride." Jesus is serious about having a relationship with you: one that is even deeper than a husband and wife have. He really loves you that much!

God knows every detail of your life. He watches and cherishes your every breath, move, and thought; He planned out and carefully chose the path your life would take before you were even born… (See Psalm 139) and yet He doesn't stop there!

When God first created us, we had a close relationship with Him. When we sinned, our sin separated us from Him. So God made a rescue plan. Jesus stepped out of heaven to save us and rescue the disobedient people He loves. He died painfully on the cross to win us back and provide a way for us into heaven. At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus as God’s gift to us, His sacrifice for us. That's exactly what Christmas is all about: God’s love in giving Jesus to pay for our sins.

So while you're singing along with the radio, making Christmas cookies, and daydreaming about candy canes, why not enjoy the love of Jesus? Spend some time talking to Him and reading His Words in the Bible. You’ll discover that Christmas is a time to do exactly what the songs say: fall in love!

God Bless,

Sarah

God's Love, By Emily M.

God's Love

By Emily M.

I am an avid reader and recently I came across this statement: "God's love is a gift that gives to the poor and the rich and the needy and the full, to the ugly and the beautiful, to the maimed and the whole. In other words, it gives itself to everyone, not just those who seek and embrace it."

Sometime back, when my kids were younger, there was this time that we found it real difficult to pay school fees. I know sometimes you hear a word and it doesn't make sense but that day it did. I was crying out to God, asking Him to do something about this issue, seriously in my heart trusting that Psalms 139 would come true; He knows my every need, sees me, knows my book to the end. I felt a nudging of the Spirit somewhere within my heart to pass by the post office, which I had ignored for the last three weeks. Imagine what I found there - a bank statement that was indicating that I had money in an account that I rarely used, for the exact amount I needed to cover my debt. Now I knew for a fact God doesn't just love me, He knows my name. He cares, He knows...

How much more powerful can God's love get?! Sometimes I just wake up in the morning to thank Him because I am alive, I thank him because I have two beautiful children, I thank Him because through our little every day acts He has enabled us to to touch the lives of other people. I thank Him because in spite of what I am, what I have been, what I will become - He is the only constant that will never change. He loves me that much.

God bless,

Emily

The Ultimate Love Song, By Livy Jarmusch

The Ultimate Love Song

By Livy Jarmusch

I was pushing my cart through the Wal-Mart produce aisle when his voice started dancing on the radio. His Hershey's milk-chocolaty voice made me sigh like a Disney princess. The Hollywood heart throb was crooning about his dream girl, and I couldn't help but wonder if someone could ever love me enough to write such a sweet song.

These unwelcome thoughts bubbled their way to the surface, reminding me that Valentines Day was creeping around the corner. Of course, Wal-Mart's annual display of plastic red roses, caramel-filled chocolates, and massive Teddy Bears had already informed me. Around this time of the year, all single girls become acutely aware of their single status on Facebook.

If you've ever watched a chick flick and thought, "Will someone ever love me as much as he loves her?" Then this is for you!

Hold the pity party invites and put that carton of sympathy ice cream away... I know someone who is totally crazy about you!

Isaiah 49:17 says: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."

Ever written a boy's name on your hand before? Why? Probably because you couldn't stop thinking about him! God has done the same with you. He has the same dilemma...He is constantly thinking about you!

Your name is written on His hand. He is with you twenty-four-seven. He knows everything about you. When you wake up, brush your teeth, call your best friend...He knows everything you say before you say it. (Psalm 139:4). He knows how many hairs are on your head. (Matthew 10:30.) And the greatest of all? He never gets bored with you!

Zephaniah 3:17 says He delights in you. He actually enjoys being with you! Just like you are thrilled to be around friends you enjoy...God feels the same way about you. Except, He never gets cranky, irritated or impatient with your imperfections and quirky traits. Freckles, pimples, your loud laugh...He loves all these little things. Isn't that amazing?

But Christ doesn't just love the "pretty-perfect-little-church-girl" side of you. No, He sees the warts, the scars and ugly sin. How could He possibly love this side of you as well?

The answer to that question is beyond me, but it's my prayer that you, "may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19.)

This love is immeasurable, uncontainable and unfathomable...it's so huge! But what I do know about this crazy love is that He died for us when we were ugly and helpless, wicked and disgusting.

Yet He....


Suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Was choked with fear and dread from the enemy,
Tears fell so intensely they turned into blood,
Yet He carried that cross through the tears and the mud,
They spit and laughed and hit Him in the face,
Beat Him until He was a total disgrace,
The stinging whips tore apart chunks of His flesh,
He was burning with pain but it wasn't finished yet,
Nails of steel drove into His hands and feet,
They hung Him on that cross for the whole world to see,
Blood sweat and tears streaming down His face,
Yet He didn't back out, He didn't back out...


The hour grew late and the suffering great,
When suddenly He cried out with a terrible voice,
"My God, My God why have you forsaken me?"
The loving protection of His Father was gone,
Only silence from heaven while everything was wrong,
The presence and the peace of His Father's smile,
Vanished in the pit of that dreadful night,
It was you that He loved as He hung and bled and died,
It was you that He saw as the apple of His eye,
Your smile, your life, your lovely face,
And He knew that you were worth His amazing grace,
Every stripe, nail and scar,
Proves how deeply loved you are,
Every second on that cross,
All in exchange for your heart that was lost.

So next time you hear a sappy love song and find yourself wishing that a guy had written one for you, remember the wonder of all Christ has done. Seriously, what boy would do that for you?

"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

He has written a love song and is singing it over you! Listen closely to His heart to hear Him sing His song today!

My name is Livy. I'm nineteen years old. I love glitter, castles, and glow sticks. I believe every girl is beautiful. We sparkle and shine for God's glory.

I'm a writer and I've always dreamed of having an online magazine for girls. Crown of Beauty Magazine is a place where every girl is invited to celebrate and embrace our own unique value and beauty. Isaiah 62:3 says:

"You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God."

I desire to encourage, inspire and remind my sisters in Christ that they are beautiful and shine brightly for the King of King's. Our magazine is full of friendship advice, boy advice, devotionals, party ideas, fashion fun, and much more!

Come check it out - Crown of Beauty Magazine Leave us a comment and let us know if you're a Godly Girl for God! :)

How to Reach Out to Others – With Love, By Hillary-Beth Koenig

How to Reach Out to Others – With Love 

 By Hillary-Beth Koenig

Part 1: Viewing Others As God Sees Them

There’s the girl in class that always acts like a snob, the boy next door that always breaks stuff when he comes over, the man at the nursing home who yells a lot for no reason, the toddler that is so selfish she can’t let anyone sleep tonight, the old lady at the store that glares when she rings up the merchandise, the teacher that never smiles or answers gently, the girl at church who can’t seem to say anything nice, and the sibling that constantly teases and taunts in a way that frustrates and annoys...how do we love these people? Probably none of the ones in that list sound loveable! How do we reach out to them with God's love and show them the way?
1.       You do see their sin. God in His perfect love has to judge us against the Law, which shows we are sinners. He, being perfect love, does not act like we aren’t sinners; He does not act like there’s no problem, or like there’s no pain going to come from our sin. He tells us the truth, but He doesn’t leave us there. He worked through the ages to bring us hope – Jesus died for our sins, and rose again to give us eternal life, if we believe! Romans 3:23; Romans 5:21
2.       You do see their worth as God’s creation. God tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made! We are made in His image, and we are precious in His sight! He loves us so much that He cares about the details in our lives – like when we get up, when we go to bed, when we cry, even what we think about! He cares about us more than He even cares about the birds and flowers we see, and look how much He has provided for them in every way!  Psalm 139
3.       You choose to love them despite their sin, just as God sees us. That is, God chose to love us while we were still filthy, dirty, proud sinners. He gave it all for us – Jesus sacrificed His life for us, and willingly took on the sin of the world – along with the shame, pain, and awfulness of our sins. If God could give us such love despite how much we deserved the punishment, can we do anything but give all we can to show love to those He puts in our lives? It might hurt sometimes, it might get messy sometimes, it might take some sacrifices, but once we view others as God sees them, it will be worth it! 1 John 4:19
We have to see past their sins and to their souls.  We are just like the very people that hurt us, annoy us, treat us unfairly,  are selfish...we are sinners. If it were not for God's grace, we would not have Jesus as our Savior! It is an honor, a duty, and a blessing to tell others about this change God gives in our hearts when we love like Jesus does.