Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

The Messiah Has Come!

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What does Christmas mean to you? Over the years, I’ve heard a variety of answers to this question. For some, it’s all about family. For others, it signifies togetherness, joy, or peace. These are all good things, but if this is what Christmas is all about, there will be Christmases we don’t feel like celebrating. Maybe our family is dysfunctional, we’re missing loved ones who aren’t with us, or our circumstances don’t make us feel joyful or peaceful. 

We know the Sunday school answer: Christmas is all about Jesus. But why celebrate the birth of a baby in a manger over two thousand years ago? The answer lies in what the Bible says about who Jesus is and what He came to do. 

For the next three weeks, we’ll take a look at one of my favorite Christmas carols: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. While these lyrics are not inspired in the same way as Scripture, they help point us to Jesus and what He’s done for us as we celebrate His birth. 

“Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!’

Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;

With angelic host proclaim, ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’

Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King.'”

This carol describes the angels praising God because the newborn King was born in Bethlehem to reconcile God with sinners. We see this truth about Jesus in the words of an angel who appeared to Joseph before Jesus’s birth:

“‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:20b-23) 

A baby born in a stable is an interesting story, but the Son of God coming to save sinners changes everything. We celebrate Jesus’s birth because He is the Messiah who came to reconcile us to God through His life, death, and resurrection for us. 

No matter what you face this week, you have a reason to celebrate: the Messiah has come! 

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God’s Unshakeable Grip

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For the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through the verses of the hymn “How Firm a Foundation.” The writer of this hymn drew from the promises of Scripture to describe God’s faithfulness through our lifetime. In this final verse, we learn that the firm foundation God’s promises lasts through all eternity. 

“The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.” 

There are a couple of words in this verse that don’t usually make it into our everyday vocabulary. Repose means rest, specifically rest after a time of struggle or an eternal resting place. Forsake means to abandon, refuse, or turn away from someone. The hymn writer wanted us to be comforted by the truth that those who find their rest and their eternal home in Jesus can never be shaken loose from God’s faithful hands. 

Do you feel shaken today? Take some time to slowly read God’s promises: 

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

“. . . he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5b-6) 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29) 

When we come to Jesus for refuge and rest, He will never turn us away. If you have leaned on Jesus and belong to Him today, you will be held in His unshakeable grip for all eternity. Because no enemy we face is greater than God—not even hell itself—nothing can take you from His hands. 

No matter what you face this week, you’re secure in God’s unshakeable grip. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed our journey through this hymn together! If you missed them, you can read the first four posts in this series 1: here, 2: here, 3: here, and 4: here, or click here to listen to “How Firm a Foundation” on Spotify.

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Our Promised Inheritance {First 5 audio teaching}

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Today I’m sharing a weekend audio teaching for First 5 from the book of Joshua. As Joshua describes the land boundaries for the Israelites’ inheritance, we’re reminded of the inheritance given to us in Christ and secured by His life, death, and resurrection for us.

Click here to listen or read a transcript! And I hope you’ll consider downloading the First 5 app and joining us in our study of Joshua.

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Don’t Worry; Be Obedient {First 5}

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Today I’m sharing a teaching for First 5 from Joshua 13. Here’s a preview . . .

Today’s Reading: Joshua 13:1-7

Joshua 13:1 (ESV) “Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.'”

I have a love-hate relationship with to-do lists. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes from checking tasks off my list, but I feel defeated when I realize I didn’t get anything done. Sometimes I have to cross out “Monday” from the top and replace it with “Tuesday.” Many days, there aren’t enough hours to get it all done, and some days, there aren’t enough hours to get even one thing done.

In today’s passage, God pointed out that Joshua was “old and advanced in years” (Joshua 13:1). This reality creates tension in the story because there was still “very much land to possess” (Joshua 13:1). As we read about the regions that still needed to be conquered, we might start to get nervous. Will Joshua be able to finish the job in the time he has left?

We find the answer in Joshua 13:6b-c, where God said: “I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.” Joshua had his marching orders from the Lord, and they didn’t include fretting over how much still needed to be done.

Click here to read the entire teaching, and you can also download the First 5 app to join us on our journey through the book of Joshua!

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