Twas’ the Night Before Christmas in Bethlehem
Tara Rye/ Copyright 2003


Twas’ the night before Christmas
In the Town of Bethlehem
The villagers were bustling
Since the census began

Joseph and Mary were traveling
With a babe jostling inside
Hoping to reach the village
Before he decided to no longer hide

Joseph was urging the caravan on
As his senses were heightened
By the mission
He was on

As best as she could
Mary stayed with the pace
Concerned with the expression
On Joseph’s sun weathered face

The contractions came
With quite a surprise
Mary’s voice cried to the wind
Under Bethlehem’s sky

Quickly they knocked
On each villager’s door
No one had room
Not even a floor

One Villager
Who saw their plight
Said I have a stable
You can have for the night

The sheep, cows, and donkeys
Munched on the hay
As Mary laid down
To deliver this day

Emmanuel, God with us
Was born this night
Our Deliverer and Redeemer
She swaddled so tight

As shepherds nearby kept watch
Over their flocks at night
Angels appeared above them
And gave a terrible fright

The Glory of the LORD shone
And the angels declared
We have great news
No need to be scared

Today in the Town of David
A Savior is born
He is Christ the LORD
Go find Him in a manger this morn

Suddenly the sky was filled with singing
Glory to God in the Highest
Peace and good will to men He was bringing
With whom His favor rests.



Hallelujah!


Praise the LORD!

This photo is taken by my step dad Paul. It truly is one of those GOD incidents. But it truly captures my heart and how I felt as I worshiped in Pageant these last few months. Serving in Pageant with my daughter Mikayla (she is the blonde angel just over my head) has powerfully blessed me beyond measure. I have met God face to face daily in amazing ways that are hard to put into words. Last night just before our last worship time, as I sat in the baptistery praying and waiting for Mikayla and I to go out and minister over the manger, I saw the shadow of the manger hay on the wall and it looked just like a crown of thorns. My heart was pierced with the thought, Jesus came into this earth with us pricking Him with hay, He walked on this earth with us pricking Him with our judgment, and He left this earth with us pricking Him with a crown of thorns. Yet, He still loves us! ONLY JESUS! ONLY THE SAVIOR! UNTO THE LAMB… GLORY FOREVER! Thank YOU Jesus for YOUR Gift of Life this Christmas Season! It is my prayer that your heart glows with deep embers flaming for JESUS not just today, but every day this YEAR!

I love to learn a new truth! I especially love to learn a new truth that applies to the word of God and gives me new insight as I grow in Christ. This morning as I read through 1 Timothy Chapter 2, I stopped on verse 8. It says that men are to lift up their hands in worship without anger or dispute. Shortly, after this it gives a woman's mode of worship expected at that time as well. But as I thought about men and their need to lift up their hands without anger or dispute I wondered why? Why not women? Paul did not have to tell us (women) to lift our hands in worship. Why? Demonstrative behavior typically comes easily for the ladies... not as easily for men!? I wonder... our issue with worship centered upon our adornment-- how shallow is that! But how true for even today! Men still allow anger and dispute within their hearts to stop them from worshiping and women still focus upon their outward appearances more than we should. Then I stumbled across a thought in the Qwest Study Bible that said the reason the hands were lifted centered upon two words: Dependence and trust and then culiminated in one truth... expectancy. The lifting of the hands demonstrated physically to the Father that trust is in Him not the individual! I depend on You-- not me! I expect YOU to answer and my hands are lifted to receive! How powerful is that!

It so ministered to me. See... I am in the process of rewriting one of my Bible Studies titled Redeemed to Praise. I have made a commitment to GOD to fast from requests for a season. So... everytime I begin a natural flow of requests to God I will pause and say a praise instead! Try it! I have done this for a day at a time on different days that I felt that my praise wained, but I have never done it for an undetermined amount of time. I will do this until the rewrite is complete so that my every thought is focused on praise. I am lifting my hands up to GOD trusting HIM! I am dependent upon HIM! I wait with expectancy for HIM to bring about the right answers! His answer is always better anyways! How about you? Are you willing to take my praise challenge? It isn't as easy as you think. Especially, if you prayed and talked to God for years. You will be amazed at how many requests you make in a day. If you decide to do this let me know. I want to keep up with how you are doing too! My husband said, "You need to pray for Him to help you write and teach." I said, "I have done this for years! He knows my heart in this and has heard my prayers. Now I will spend time praising HIM for all the answers HE is sending my way." We lift our Holy hands up! We learn to trust YOU! AMEN!