The rush of Christmas is upon us. I just wrapped twelve presents (with the help of my two daughters) and it took us at least an hour. (Because you know when your wrapping area gets so messy, no one can find where they just set the tape? or the scissors, etc?) That is us. Soon we will gather with extended family.  We  we will take these twelve presents, play with cousins, eat an obscene amount of barbecue and hash (because we are in the south and it’s our little family tradition), and then we will head back home for our next big Christmas get together occurring Christmas Eve.

I host that get together so there will be food to be bought, a house to clean,( and then clean again afterwards), and a cake to bake. After we bake and ice the cake, we will set the sole survivor of a ceramic nativity set my kids used to play with when they were little on the center of the cake and place candles around it. Then we will sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, blow out the candles, and head to church like we do every year.

The next part of the season is my favorite: the exhale on Christmas Eve when the house is once again put back together, the kids are peacefully sleeping, and the anticipation of the coming morning rests on us like a happy cloud. Our hearts are centered on what we are celebrating, and we know that if it were just Him – He would have been enough.

But Jesus didn’t stop at just giving us Himself.

He gave us each other.

He gave us heaven with no more slaying of animals.

He gave us teaching our daughters they can talk to God anytime they want, like He’s their best friend, because Jesus came.

He gave us so much, it’s hard to take it all in.

As we take it all in over the next few days, let’s let out praise.

Mary did this when she found out she was the one chosen to carry the Messiah in her womb.

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.””

Luke 1:46-55 ESV

May our souls Magnify Him this Christmas.

May our spirits truly rejoice in Him and Him alone.

In remembering all He has done, and in anticipation of all He has promised to do.

When God fulfilled what the angel had told Mary, and she held Jesus in her arms, she treasured the miracle that was happening right before her eyes.

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

Treasure the miracle of Jesus with us, friends. Ponder it in your hearts. How compassionate a Savior to walk in our shoes, to live in a body like ours, to weep with us, and then to suffer the death and shed the blood that was required for us to live with Him forever.

In every get together, in every present unwrapped, in every piece of wrapping paper picked up from a messy living room floor, in every dish you prepare and wash, ponder in your heart what a LOVE this must be for us to be celebrating over two thousand years later.

My Refocused Bible Study Friends: New Year’s is coming in just a few weeks!  A new year is upon us!  It’s the perfect time to

REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE

AND REFOCUS ON THE PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH!

Redeem New Year’s resolutions by fixing your eyes on Jesus with us for the road ahead.

“I have glorified my name, and I will do it again.” John 12:28

Many of us have seen God do amazing things in the past that brought glory to Him through our lives. We just want to see Him do it again in the year to come! Our desire is to bring God glory for everything He’s done in the past year, and ask Him to bless and help us be faithful in all we do in the year ahead, refocusing on what matters most: our relationship with Him, our marriages, our mothering, and our homes.

Happy ANNOUNCEMENT: I have created a series of emails to walk you through Refocused Bible Study starting December 31st! It’s all FREE! 1) Just click below and and put your email in to download the study. {And Send the link to friends!!!}

2) Print the study

3) Starting December 31st you will receive an email for each day of the 21 study! Sign up for a FREE Printable copy of Refocused Bible Study and Email Course>>> HERE <<<

If you want to buy a hard copy of Refocused Bible Study, it’s Here:

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Let’s do this, girlfriend!

Praying for you, Amy Terry

“This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” John 9:3

We all have it.  That one thorn in our side, that one impossible character flaw, that one health issue that threatens to steal our joy.  And we have probably all asked God the question:

WHY?

Why do I have to deal with this?  My life would be so much easier if God would just heal it, take away the struggle, change me.  We pray and plead and believe.

And sometimes he decides to heal us.

“6Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!” John 9:6-7

But other times, in his sovereign goodness, he decides to withhold the healing, to let us keep the weakness, the struggle.  He did this when Paul pleaded with him to take away  his struggle.  But, he also gave Paul a reason why he decided not to heal him.  It is the same reason, the same purpose of our struggles today.

WHY?

“”8Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.””  2 Corinthians 12:8-10

So that the power of God can be seen through you.  If life was always easy peasy, would we need his power?  No, instead we would be self-sufficent and bee bop through our days in our own strength and energy.

When we let Jesus meet us in our weaknesses, our blindness, our short-sightedness, he shows up, and he shows off.  He shows that he is powerful.  He shows that we can rely on him.  He shows that he is merciful when we fail him.  But most importantly, he shows you and others the power of a very alive and helpful God.

Rely on him and you will be falling at his feet saying what the blind man said in John chapter 9:

“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus. John 9:38

Walk with Life Himself today!

I made a very short video out in the sunshine today to go with chapter 9 below:

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Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Matthew 6:26

“Me and Grandma’s just sitting around together, going out in the sunshine, listening to the birds. We just have to trust the good Lord, he’s in control and He’ll take care of us.” Papa’s voice had a gentle trust only decades of walking with God can create.

He’s not scared. He’s steady.

Just think of all the things he’s lived through. All the intersections of faith he’s stood with Jesus at, choosing to keep holding his hand and walking along, not sure of all the details, but sure of the decisionto turn worry into trust. 
 I think the sound of his voice when he’s said, “Just listening to the birds,” said it ALL.

It said I know I’m a child of God, though he’s in his late eighties. 

It said, I know the nature of my Abba. I’ll sit still in this storm, taking in the beauty of nature He created. 

Should he be worried? 

Should we be worried? 

The President said this week we will see many deaths. It’s going to be a hard week for our nation.

Oh, the irony.
This is Holy week.
The week.
The week our Savior rode in to Jerusalem as honored King, knowing it would be the week of his death.

But in the face of death, Jesus’ trust in His Father did not falter.

He knew it had to be the week of death, to be the week of RESURRECTION.

This week, let your Father resurrect faith that’s been fallow.
Fallow: Inactive, nothing seems like it’s happening.

Join me in praying and asking Him now to help us really walk with Him as a dearly loved daughter this week. Let’s ask Him to help us die to our grown up, worrying selves, and live with a childlike faith, like my grandfather, all the way up to our eighties. What we are walking through with Him in this pandemic is going to give us the tone of trust our grandchildren will hear. 

This tone of trust can only come from walking with Our Heavenly Father as a child; for us, as a Dearly Loved Daughter. 

Turn worry into trust this week. 

Everytime your mind wanders to worry, 

Say OUT LOUD, I trust you, Father. 

The sooner we say it aloud, the sooner our tone will take on trust. The fallow faith in us will become fertile and fruit will grow where land has been barren. What a harvest this Easter week will bring, just by trusting our Father in the face of fear. 

The empty tomb gives us all the faith we need to say, I trust you, Father! 

Dear Daughter, 

Behold the birds this week. Feel the warmth of the sun on your face. As you do, tell me every worry, and I’ll help you trust me. 

Behold Jesus, my Beloved Son, this week. I gave Him because I Love You, Daughter. Walk like a Daughter with me this week. 

Your tone will be trust and your testimony will be timeless. 

Love,
Your Father.

💗✨Walk Like a Dearly Loved Daughter this week! To sign up and join my Monday Devotion Tribe, Click HERE: https://mailchi.mp/860bc28771fb/deardaughterdevotions ✨💗

“The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.”‭‭Mark‬ ‭13:34‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s day thirteen of “Mark, one chapter a day for Easter.” here at Refocused Bible Study. If you missed the details of the study, you can find them here. We’d love for you to join us!

Today we are reading in chapter thirteen and I was mostly drawn to verses 32-37. I’m sharing today following the quiet time pattern below. Try it in your own personal study and see if it helps you find focus and structure to help His Word come alive in your life! See the image here: 
My verse:  “It’s like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch.” Mark 13:34 MSG

Application: Sometimes life can get complicated and our “assigned tasks” can get blurry. When it’s hard to know what to focus on, we can always revert back to the greatest commandment, to love the Lord and love others. The Lord also reminded me of the great commission to “go and make disciples.” Take time to ask the Lord if you are doing the good work he prepared for you in advance in Ephesians 2:10.

Review: Jesus is coming back. He has left us with purpose and anticipation; this wonderful hope that cannot be taken from us – that he is returning! The sun swill be darkened, the moon will give no light, the starts will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then, JESUS will come, on the clouds with great POWER and glory.

Kneel in prayer: Lord, we praise you, our Creator, Savior, and Master. Here we are, looking for your return with sweet anticipation Please help us all to stay focused on the work you’ve given us to do through your power. Help us keep our eyes and heart set on that moment, when you return in all your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

What was your verse today? Easter is only a few days away! Let us continue to remember the reason we celebrate. ❤ It will look different this year. Praying that means it is more heartfelt than ever before.

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

It’s day twelve of “Mark, one chapter a day for Easter.” here at Refocused Bible Study. If you missed the details of the study, you can find them HERE: https://amydterry.com/2020/03/27/read-mark-a-chapter-a-day-for-easter/

We’d love for you to join us!

Today we are reading in chapter twelve, and I was mostly drawn to verses 30-31. I’m sharing today following the quiet time pattern below. Try it in your own personal study and see if it helps you find focus and structure to help His Word come alive in your life!

My verse: It was easy for me to choose verses 30-31, because the greatest commandment simplifies scripture and the law Jesus came to fulfill. Falling more in love with Jesus and giving him more of our heart will start a progression of obedience, and we won’t have to tell ourselves to “do this” or “not do that” because we will be so focused on loving him and full of his love that it will overflow onto others.

How do I fall more in love with Jesus?

Take time to study how much he loves you.

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT

I wrote a bible study to help grow in the knowledge of how much he loves you, you can find it HERE: https://amydterry.com/2017/02/02/our-real-life-valentine/

Application: This week, as Easter approaches, we can see how much he loves us. We see Jesus, enduring the suffering we deserved, feeling the pain, and staying in it so that we could be free and invited to live free of the curse of death and sin humanity was once held captive to . We don’t have to enter into his presence after killing an innocent animal or going through a ceremonial cleansing. This alone should make our hearts swell with a love for him that moves us to be willing to do whatever he wants, whatever he prompts us to do: to give generously to his kingdom, to love others sacrificially, to welcome in and protect the vulnerable orphans and widows. It is all an overflow of a heart full of Jesus’ love. His love compels us.

Review: In this chapter, Jesus was answering the Pharisees and Sadducees about different questions as they were trying to trap him and condemn him. But of course, Jesus had these amazing answers that none of them could come up with a rebuttal. (He was God of course, so who could outsmart him?!) He sees the reason and the entire picture and we see only a speck of the paint. Every answer and reasoning boils down to an all encompassing love for God and others. Jesus shows one of the religious teachers that when he was asked which commandment was the most important. Focusing on how much God loves you and loving him and others will always simplify life and give lasting purpose to all the work we do on this side of eternity. Without love, we are all bankrupt and our works mean nothing.

Kneel in prayer: Love Himself, we thank you for showing us true, selfless love by leaving heaven and walking on this sin filled earth. Help us to love you with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love others as ourselves. Amen.

I’d love to hear your verse today. Easter is only a few days away!