Christmas Selah Day Challenge 2020

Christmas 2020 will be unique. We are still in the midst of a pandemic that has swept the globe. Some people, perhaps even some of our friends, think it’s been overblown and others refuse to leave their homes because of the threat. Some are frightened, some are cautious, and all of us wish that life could be different.

It’s a hard time. So, of all the years to stop and take a Sweet Selah Day in December, this might be the most important year ever in which to do so. You and I need to turn off social media, ignore the news reports wherever we get our news, and Just Be Still for a little while. Are you up for this challenge to … stop and be with God? Print off this pdf: It’s the Little Things and read below for directions. You can also scroll to the bottom for the It’s the Little Things study. Let’s stop and take time to grieve, to pray, to thank and to ponder during this unique Christmas season. Let’s go to the One who holds the whole world in His competent hands. There’s no safer place to be.

Here’s what you do:

1. Pick a day and put it on your calendar. Schedule your time with God just like you would with a best friend who you do not see often enough. Whether you choose two hours or ten … write down the hours and then start your planning. This means trading child care with a friend in your covid bubble or choosing a Saturday when your husband is home or (in my case) finding someone to walk my dog midday if I decide to take my day out of my house.
2. Pack your bag. We have some lovely Christmas Selah bags at our SHOP site, but you surely don’t need one. Any bag will do, friend! Pack it with a favorite Bible, a journal, a pen and a book or two written by a Christian author you trust. Even if you plan to stay home for your day, pack your bag. All your materials gathered in one place will keep you from being distracted searching for things and getting lured back to your phone or computer. Trust me. Been there and DONE that! Ha!
3. Include in your day: a walk in nature, weather permitting … listening to favorite carols or Christmas songs … prayer for dear ones who are hurting … prayer for wisdom for the year ahead … a nap if you feel weary … yummy hot cocoa or popcorn—this is not a fasting day, this is a feasting day because you are with the bridegroom, Jesus (See Mark 2:19)!
4. Tell someone about your plan so they can be holding you up in prayer. The enemy of your soul does not want you to meet with God and be still and listen and ponder and wonder at the miracle of the first Christmas. He wants to keep you frantic and busy and feeling “too important” to stop. You need prayer support. Ask for it.
5. Download our pdf above, and do the study called “It’s the Little Things” sometime during your day.
6. CONTEST: If you want to enter the contest, take a picture of your Christmas Selah Day. It could be your journal, or your bag, or your feet in front of your Christmas tree, or you on a walk. Email it to sharon@sweetselah.org. Tell us what day was “your” day with God. We will enter you into a drawing for one of our Christmas Selah Bags! Drawing will be December 31st, and your bag will be mailed in the new year. Despite the Christmas title, these bags are not Christmas specific. They are useful all year long, packed with a candle, a plaque, a pen holder and Sweet Selah pen and Sharon’s new book. Just another little incentive for you, to help you meet with the God who loves you so very dearly. Merry Christmas!

 

It’s the Little Things – Christmas Sweet Selah Day 2020

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”  I Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV

 

1. Let’s start by re-reading our theme verses above. Ponder them with me. Were you influential, wise and of noble birth when you came to Christ? Are you feeling like one of the “weak ones” at the moment? Take joy in the fact that God can use anyone—influential or little—for His kingdom work. You see, it’s not about us. Anything we have is from God’s hands and can be removed or supplemented as He chooses. It’s about being available to the God who can do anything through fallible, little folk like us! Yep. The Christmas story is full of little things. Let’s ponder it from that perspective today. What can we learn from the little things?

 

Write your thoughts about the verses above here or in a journal:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Towns. Jesus came from two towns, really. He was born in Bethlehem and after an immigration to Egypt, was raised in Nazareth. Neither town was all that big or impressive. Read the following verses and write your thoughts about them:

 

Bethlehem: Ruth 1:19 … I Samuel 16:1 … 2 Samuel 23:15 … Micah 5:2 … Matthew 2:1-6

Nazareth: Matthew 4:13 … Mark 14:67 … Mark 16:6 … John 1:46

 

Write your thoughts about these verses here or in your journal:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Manger.

man·ger – noun

a long open box or trough for horses or cattle to eat from.

Oxford Dictionary

 

Verses: Luke 2:6-7; 11-12

 

What do you learn about Jesus’ birth from the manger?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The People.

 

Read: Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. Then, write what you learn about the people in the story. Were they “little?” How did their responses shape the story? Write here or in your journal:

 

Elizabeth and Zechariah –

 

 

Mary –

 

 

Joseph –

 

 

Shepherds –

 

 

Anna –

 

 

Simeon –

 

 

Jesus –

 

 

5. The Exile. Reflect on this part of the story (Matthew 2:13-23) and marvel with me how the millions of refugees across our planet currently have a Savior who can identify with fleeing for your life with practically no possessions and arriving in a foreign land that is not your own and where you have no place waiting for you. WOW.

God uses small ones like you and me. Read: I Corinthians 1:26-31 and Jeremiah 9:23-24. End with a prayer and any thoughts God has given you about Jesus’ birth story and about your story as you serve Him just where He has placed you in the new year ahead ….