Making It Real

Have you ever felt God leading you to do something you really weren’t sure about doing? You felt uncomfortable and nervous just thinking about it. You knew it was the right thing to do, but it was definitely a step outside of your comfort zone.

Think back … How did you feel when you first felt God nudging you in this direction? How did you feel after you did or didn’t do what you felt He was asking you to?

Taking You Back

Read Luke 1:26-38. Just like you, Mary was a teen girl. But probably unlike you, she was pledged to be married. Back in Mary’s day, pledging to marry someone was an even bigger commitment than being engaged is today. Although they weren’t married yet, the Bible refers to Joseph as husband and Mary as wife (see Matthew 1:19 and 1:24). The only way this type of engagement could be broken was by a divorce. It was serious stuff.

Take a minute and imagine what Mary experienced …

You’re just living life on a normal day when all of a sudden you receive a visit from this angel dude named Gabriel. He tells you that you’re going to be pregnant, and that your baby will be called Son of the Most High. What are your thoughts? What are you feeling? Are you excited? Fearful? Honored? And … what’s next?

This probably wasn’t Mary’s plan for her life. Actually, it probably never even crossed her mind that this would happen to her. We don’t know a lot about Mary’s past, but God had been preparing her for this her entire life. And He didn’t leave her to handle it alone — He faithfully guided her and gave her everything she needed along the way.

Mary didn’t resist God’s call or try to think of a way out of it. She followed His lead, and He took her on the journey of a lifetime!

Your Thoughts

Take a few minutes to write in your journal about what you’ve learned.

• How does Mary respond to the angel when he brings her this news?

• What does this tell you about her faith and trust in God?

• Has God ever called you to do something big? If so, did you feel like you were able to trust Him like Mary did? Why did you feel that way?

• What are some ways that you can surrender to God’s leading in your life and hold your future with open hands?

When God calls us to do something, it might seem scary, totally different than what we’d imagined, or even impossible to do. You might think, “Oh no, God, I can’t do that!” But He made you to shine for His glory, and when He leads you to do something, He’ll give you everything you need to do it — just like He did for Mary. Our God is the same God yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37).

From You to God

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your neverending faithfulness! I trust You with today, tomorrow and the rest of my life. I’ll follow You wherever You lead me. Thank you for loving, guiding and protecting me. Just like Mary, I want to be Your servant. Please use me. I trust You completely, Lord. Amen.

Facebook Fun

God is always faithful to us! Think about a time when you saw His faithfulness in a big way. Write that situation as your FB status and tag SUSIE Magazine. Let’s fill the SUSIE wall with praises of His awesome faithfulness!

Bonus

Crank it up, sing along with Jamie Grace and worship, letting God know you’ll follow Him and trust His tender leading. Click here.

Have a blessed day, SUSIE Sisters! We love you!

Work referenced: NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 2008.

Happy Sunday, SUSIE Sisters! We’re going to take a break from the regular Journey format today and do something a little different. Reflecting on what’s going on inside your heart is one way you can draw closer to God and better understand who He’s made you to be. Find a quiet place, take a deep breath and ask God to open your heart to Him right now.

Spend some time talking to God about your week. What have you been thinking about this week? How are you doing on the inside? What do you feel like He’s been teaching you? Have you seen Him answer any prayers? Journal about these things, and about anything else that’s on your heart. God loves hearing from you! Then, look back through the verses we read this week, pick one of your faves and write what it means to you.

Bonus

Jesus had many prophecies written about Him, prophecies inspired by the Holy Spirit. Just for fun, gather the members of your family and write “prophecies” about where you guess each person will be in five or 10 years from now. Share them with each other. Then, create a Christmas time capsule. Set the opening date to match the year you set your “prophecies” for. Add items that represent memories you and your family have made together this past year or even just this Christmas season. When it comes time to open the capsule, reading the prophecies and comparing them to reality will bring lots of laughs and fun memories!

Making It Real

Have you ever felt like you weren’t good enough? Like you didn’t measure up and everyone else was better than you? Or maybe you felt like you didn’t quite have what it took to succeed in something.

Take a minute to close your eyes and remember how you felt.

Taking You Back

Look back over Luke 1:5-25. Yesterday we read this same story, but today we’re going to take a look into Elizabeth’s world.

In verse 25, Elizabeth calls her condition of being barren (unable to conceive a child) her disgrace. During this time period, if a woman couldn’t give birth to a child, people thought she was being punished by God and looked down on her.

Because Elizabeth was unable to get pregnant, she didn’t fit in. She might have felt like she wasn’t as good as the other women or like something was wrong with her. She might have even questioned her purpose on earth. The Bible doesn’t tell us a lot of Elizabeth’s words or feelings, but by her comment in verse 25, it’s obvious that this “disgrace” weighed heavily on her heart.

As women, it’s so easy to forget that God created us and delights in us, especially if we’re comparing ourselves to others and feel like we don’t measure up. But He crafted our every feature — inside and out. He hand-picked our talents and abilities and every characteristic of our personalities. He’s given us exactly what we need to fulfill the plans He has for us.

Your Thoughts

Take a few minutes to write in your journal about what you’ve learned.

Read God’s promises in Jeremiah 29:11 and Ephesians 2:10. He created you with a plan in mind and has given you every talent and ability you need to fulfill that plan. You are His masterpiece. His workmanship. His incredibly talented, beautiful daughter, who has a unique purpose on this earth. And He is cheering you on every step of the way!

In your journal, write about how God really sees you — the way His Word says He does. Whenever you start feeling down on yourself, open up to this page and read it. Pray that God would allow you to see yourself as He sees you.

From You To God

God, thank you for making me me. Thank you that You’ve put me here for a reason. Sometimes it’s hard to have confidence in myself or to be content with who I am. But thank you for what You’ve given me. Please build my confidence and show me how to use my gifts to honor You and love others. I love You, Lord. Amen.

Facebook Fun

What is one thing that you wish you could shout to all of the girls and women in the world? Encourage them by putting that as your FB status today. Tag SUSIE Magazine.

Bonus

Pray that your sisters in Haiti would know and believe these verses about themselves, too. As you raise money for these super-special girls, you’re giving them a glimpse of God’s infinite love and confidence in them. You are making a difference!

Have a blessed day, SUSIE Sisters! We love you!

Work referenced: NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 2008.

Making It Real

Do you believe that God is able to answer your prayers? What has your experience been with prayer? No right or wrong answers here — it’s truly about what’s inside.

Take a minute to think about why you believe or the reasons you doubt.

Taking You Back

Read Luke 1:5-25. How do you think Zechariah felt when the angel delivered the news to him that he and Elizabeth were going to have a baby? They’d been praying and hadn’t seen an answer, so maybe they’d given up hope. Their bodies were getting old, and by Zechariah’s response to the angel in verse 18, we see his first reaction to the news — doubt.

But God heard their prayer all along. He heard every word they ever prayed to Him asking, probably even begging, for a child. And He was answering. It wasn’t in the timing they’d expected, but was in His time.

He was also answering in His way. Zechariah and Elizabeth weren’t just going to have a baby — their child was the one who had been spoken about hundreds of years before in prophecies. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit (which wasn’t normal at that time, since Jesus hadn’t died and ascended to heaven yet), and his life would be spent serving the Lord in mighty ways.

God answered their prayer. He answered above and beyond what they ever dreamed He would. And He answered in His time — the best time.

Your Thoughts

Take a few minutes to write in your journal about what you’ve learned.

• How would you feel if you were Elizabeth?
• In your life, when have you seen God answer prayer?
• Do you feel like God is able to answer your prayers? Why?

From You to God

There’s no right or wrong way to pray, but Jesus did give us the model below to help us out:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” — Matthew 6:9-13

Some people like to use the acronym ACTS to help lead them through this prayer:

Adoration (acknowledging God as the Creator of the Universe)

Confession (confessing our own sinfulness and weakness, specific sins)

Thanksgiving (thanking God for what He’s given us and done for us)

Supplication (asking for what we need)

Using the model above, write out your own Christmas prayer.

Facebook Fun

Encourage others by posting this verse: “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always … He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations. ” Ps 105:4,8 NIV

Bonus

Ask your family if you can use your special prayer as the prayer before dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Have a blessed day, SUSIE Sisters! We love you!

Making It Real

Have you ever had to wait for something really, really special? Maybe you knew a little bit about it, but not all the details? You didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen, but you knew that when it did it would be amazing. How did you feel when the big day arrived — maybe just a little bit excited?

Take a minute to close your eyes and remember how you felt.

Taking You Back

Did you know that before Jesus was born, people had known for hundreds of years that He was coming? They didn’t know exactly when or how, but they knew a Messiah (that means Savior or rescuer) was on the way. How did they know? These people called prophets were given words from God to share about Jesus and about His coming. Years before His birth, the Jewish people were already on the lookout to see who God would send to be their Messiah, the person who would lead them and rescue them.

Here are just a few of the many prophecies written years before Jesus that only His birth fulfills:

1. The Messiah would be born of a virgin.

Bible prophecy: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” — Isaiah 7:14

Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC

2. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Bible prophecy: “Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” — Micah 5:1-2

Prophecy written: Between 750-686 BC

3. The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.

Bible prophecy: “The scepter shall not leave Judah; he’ll keep a firm grip on the command staff until the ultimate ruler comes and the nations obey him.” — Genesis 49:10 (The Message)

Prophecy written: As early as 1400 BC

4. The Messiah would be a descendant of King David.

Bible prophecy: “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” — Jeremiah 23:5 (NIV)

Prophecy written: Sometime between 626-586 BC

Your Thoughts

Take a few minutes to write in your journal about what you’ve learned.

• How you would feel if you’d been given hints about your Messiah coming but no specific date of when He would actually show up?
• Based on what you read in these prophecies, how do you think the Jewish people imagined Jesus would be?
• How would you have felt when the Messiah you’d been expecting for hundreds of years finally arrived?

From You to God (or make up your own prayer)

Jesus, thank you for how You continued to speak to your people throughout history. Show me how I can hear You today. Help me stay alert for Your voice and Your calling in my life. Remind me again of the Journey You call me to and the work You want me to do while I’m here on earth. Please forgive me for the things I’ve done wrong. I am Yours, Lord. Amen.

Facebook Fun

The Jewish people waited a long time for their Messiah, but many were still surprised or disbelieving when He showed up.  What’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? Write it on your Facebook status and tag SUSIE Magazine!

Have a blessed day, SUSIE Sisters! We love you!