Nichole Fogleman
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 53:1-12
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. “
Christmas time can be a hard time for those that have lost a loved one. We lost my husband’s mom in the month of December, 25 years ago and honestly the holidays have never felt the same. Last year was the first holiday I spent without my mom. It’s still hard, but it’s amazing the difference in one year. I wrote this devotion this time last year and the grief was palpable from the words I wrote on the pages of my journal.
Today’s verses from Isaiah, remind us to not allow our sorrow to weigh us down. Isaiah calls us to cast our sorrows on the Lord. And Paul, in very similar prose, wrote to the Corinthian church, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down , but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lose heart. We are being renewed day by day.” Let’s renew our hearts day by day as we prepare our soul for remembering the Lord’s first coming to this earth. He will take on our pain and bore our suffering.
Allow Him to carry you this holiday season. There will be good days and overwhelming days. Set your expectations low and cast your worries on Him. You got this. He’s got You.
Nativity Fast
How are thing’s going? Here’s a tip for you today, plate size does matter. Michael Pollan author “Food Rules” wrote Food Rule #53: “Buy smaller plates”. The bigger the portion, the more we will eat-upward of 30 percent more. One researcher found that simply switching from twelve-inch to a ten-inch dinner plate caused people to reduce their consumption by 22 percent. ” Our family switched to this technique several years ago and have never looked back.
