Simeon was known to be a righteous and devout man, but many had undoubtedly misunderstood his pious lifestyle. He always seemed to be waiting for something, but no one knew exactly what it was.

Lately, his uneasy fidgeting had made others uncomfortable. How many times had his well-meaning friends exhorted him, “Calm down, Simeon!”?

But he couldn’t calm down. His heart had been stirred in unspeakable ways when the rabbi had read the words of the prophet Haggai.

“For thus says the Lord of Hosts: Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and earth, the sea and dry land. And I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is Mine, says the Lordof Hosts. The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts” (Hag. 2:6-9).

In a similar way, everyone had a hard time relating to poor Anna. “How long has that old lady been here in the temple?” they would ask. “I heard someone say she’s been here for 60 years!”

To some it seemed like such a waste, but a few others were provoked by her remarkable focus in prayer, fasting and worship. And there were others—those who, like Anna, had an unexplainable longing that had been getting inexplicably stronger.

One day they were all magnetically drawn to the temple, and it was to be a day unlike all the other days. Invisible invitations brought them together for a holy convocation.

The air was suddenly electric, and Simeon could feel it. Anna’s worship reached a surprising crescendo. Eyes of a select few began to dart around the courts. Haggai’s words began to echo in their minds. Everyone’s desire was about to be brought into Zerubbabel’s temple just like it had been promised.

Just then a normal-looking man named Joseph walked in carrying two pigeons. Behind him was a young woman carrying an infant to his dedication. Any other time they might have walked across the courtyard unnoticed, but not that day. That day eyes were fixed on them and the precious cargo they carried.

Simeon and Anna converged on the unsuspecting couple, and in a moment their lives of waiting made sense. Promises had become reality. Desires were fulfilled.

Regarding Haggai 2:7, Charles Spurgeon commented:

“Oh! If the world could gather up all her right desire; if she could condense in one cry all her wild wishes; if all true lovers of mankind could condense their theories and extract the true wine of wisdom from them; it would just come to this, we want an Incarnate God, and you have got the Incarnate God! Oh! nations, but ye know it not! Ye, in the dark, are groping after him, and know not that he is there” (emphasis added).

Can you believe with me today that Jesus Christ is, in fact, what the nations of the earth truly desire—who they truly desire? Is He the one you truly desire?

As we celebrate Christmas and the birth of our incarnate God, let’s look to Jesus as the source of shaking that brings clarity to our desires. We allow too many things to clutter our path to Him. Our affections are spread too thin on lesser things.

Would you join with me as we enter into the New Year, and let’s make a sacred dedication of our lives. Let’s invite Jesus to shake us all in order to remove the things that clutter our way to him. He wants to remove the obstacles that keep us from realizing now he is actually the One we desire.

“At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has given us a promise, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.’ And this statement, ‘Yet once more,’ signifies the removal of those things that can be shaken, things that are created, so that only those things that cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us be gracious, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:26-29).

Not long from now Jesus Christ will return and all eyes will see Him. Once and for all, He will be revealed as the ultimate fulfillment of global desire—regardless of culture or creed.

From the same place Simeon and Anna once witnessed His humble entrance into the world, He will bring peace to the nations. Those who realize this now have the great privilege of taking this message to the nations in order to spread the fires of desire.

A prayer of personal dedication:

“Lord Jesus, I invite You to shake what needs to be shaken in me for this New Year. Let your consuming fire of desire for me ignite my desire for You in return. I want to know and say with confidence that You are truly the desire of the nations. 

“Lord, help me to grow in this confidence out of a place of personal knowledge that You are the fairest among ten thousand. There is no other name given to men by which we must be saved. There is no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth who is worthy. 

“You alone, Jesus, are my desire. Amen.”

A full-time missionary, Matt Lockett serves as Executive Director of Bound4LIFE and Justice House of Prayer D.C. He and his wife Kim live in the Washington, D.C. area with their four children. This Bound4LIFE article has been reprinted with permission. 

“Now the one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He remains in us, through the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:24).

When the Holy Spirit comes into you at your invitation, you receive as much of Him as you will ever have. You do not get a little bit of Him then and a little bit more at later experiences. Since He is a Person, you cannot get Him in pieces. You either have all of the Holy Spirit or you have none of the Holy Spirit. Why is it, then, that He seems to get us in pieces? He comes to us unconditionally, while we surrender to Him conditionally.

We give Him our Sundays but not our Mondays.

We give Him our actions but not our attitudes.

We give Him our relationships but not our reputations.

We give Him our time but not our thoughts.

We give Him our burdens but not our bodies.

We give Him our prayers but not our pleasures.

We give Him our crises but not our children.

We give Him our health but not our hearts.

Would you drop the conditions and give Him all of you?

 Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She is also the author of several books, Heaven: God’s Promise for Me and Heaven: My Father’s House.

The setting was festive with Christmas décor and cookies but the discussion was holy. I was sitting in the governor’s mansion with about 75 pastors and leaders from around the country—including Mike and Cindy Jacobs, Pastor Jim and Rosemary Garlow, Paul Tan, and E.W. Jackson—to hear what was on Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s heart about the United States of America.

Although he’s a successful politician, Jindal understands that leadership in America will not come from a politician or a movement for social change. After sharing his powerful testimony of how Christ found him, Jindal pointed to the need for a “spiritual and transforming revival” that would help us recapture the vision of American pioneers who on the Mayflower signed, “In the name of God and for the advancement of the Christian faith.”

With that Jindal invited us—and Americans across the country who are crying out for mercy over judgment even in the face of a brittle economy, raging immorality and an uncertain future—to join him at The Response in Baton Rouge on Jan. 24.

“These are historic and defining times, a new world order of chaos is being driven by militant Islam seeking to impose Sharia Law worldwide. Our nation is faced with fatherless homes, an epidemic of drugs and crime in our inner cities, a saturation of pornography, abortion, racism—Jesus Christ, Son of God and Lord of Life, is America’s only hope. We need a spiritual transformation,” says Jindal. “There is good news; Scripture reminds us that as we come before the Lord in a posture of humility, honesty and repentance, then ‘The Lord will hear from heaven, forgive and heal our land.'”

I can hear the skeptics now, saying, “Another day, another prayer rally.” I understand—but do not agree—with that sentiment. The naysayers point to the houses of prayer all over the world—some of them are filling the bowls 24/7—without any discernible change. Others point to Lou Engle’s TheCall, Faytene Grasseschi’s TheCry, OneCry, Cry Out America, Broken Before the Throne or even the National Day of Prayer and figure we’ve done all we can do to fulfill 2 Chronicles 7:14. But we can’t give up now!

As more saints intercede in alignment with the heart of the Father, the prayer movement becomes like a proverbial snowball rolling down a hill—eventually the bowls of prayer will tip over (see Rev. 5:8). We can’t merely look at the results in the natural to gauge our impact in the spirit. The results will eventually become visible if we remain faithful to believe God’s Word doesn’t return to Him void (see Isa 55:11).

Let us not become weary or faint in praying for God’s will. We will reap a harvest from our faithful prayers if we do not give up (see Gal. 6:9). And reaping a harvest of prayer results can sure light a fire in the heart of a believer who wants to see God’s kingdom manifest—who wants to see the “spiritual and transforming revival” that’s also burning in Jindal’s heart.

As that fire spreads, so does God’s will across the earth. We can see transformation in this land. We really can. God wants to bring transformation. I’m not the only one who believes that. In my upcoming book on transforming revival, I received insight from Dutch Sheets, Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, the late Steve Hill and many others about God’s will for our nation. It brought hope to my heart and courage to my soul for the days ahead.

I believe all prayer rallies are significant. I believe they all make an impact. I believe where two or three gather in the name of Jesus, He is there in their midst (see Matt. 18:20). I believe if one puts a thousand to flight, two can put 10,000 to flight (see Deut. 32:30). And I believe when thousands gather despite race, culture, denomination or agenda, it touches the Father’s heart and He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we have asked of Him (see 1 John 5:15).

That’s why I’ll be at The Response: a Call to Prayer for a nation in Crisis with Jindal and many others, in a posture of humility and honest repentance, asking the Lord to hear from heaven, forgive and heal our land. You can join me on Jan. 24, 2015, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—or watch it streaming live at .

As Jindal put it, “People from all ages, denominations, ethnic and racial backgrounds will gather to pray and fast for America, asking God for mercy and grace for what we Christians have allowed in our nation. May His church have a corporate heart awakening to bring healing to the soul of America.” Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is senior news editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale and author of several books, including Satan’s Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft, and The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

By rites of passage in this particular article, I am referring to a person’s transition from one status or phase to another. In the church we have various ceremonies that mark different phases of spiritual and biological maturity: for example, baptism, first communion and confirmation. 

However, in the context of this article, an ROP (Rite of Passage) is more of a test that is part of a process God uses to bring believers into another stage of maturity before assigning them into another level of kingdom service. Biblically, we see great leaders who have gone through different stages of their life that prepared them for something greater they were called to do. For example, the patriarch Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, had various tests and experiences before he was made second in charge to the Pharaoh in Egypt; Moses was in the wilderness for 40 years before God called him to be the deliverer of Israel.

King Saul persecuted David and hiding in the wilderness for many years before God elevated him to be the King of Israel. Even Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, being tested by Satan, before He began His public ministry; He also had to endure the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was ready to go to the cross and be raised from the dead.  

The following are some ROPs I have observed as a believer for almost four decades. 

1. The ROP regarding dependence upon God instead of upon man 

The higher the calling you have, the greater the tests and more intense ROP you will have to go through. As we look at the most effective leaders in the Bible, they all had one thing in common—their utter dependency upon God to fulfill their calling. The more you grow into your higher calling, the more fragility there is along with so many moving parts that you have to trust God to bring everything together every day just so you can survive. This is the only kind of person He can release to the highest levels of spiritual leadership.

2. The ROP regarding learning courage in the face of fear 

One thing I learned many years ago was that, obedience to the will of God meant that I had to leave a predictable life and live a life of risk based on faith. You live on the edge so much in so many areas that it sometimes takes courage just to get out of bed in the morning! God cultivates courage during an intense ROP in our life to prepare for the next kingdom assignment.

3 The ROP regarding obscurity

One of the greatest ROP is being willing to obey God without the accolades of men. God cannot thrust us into the public eye if we cannot first serve Him faithfully in obscurity. 

4 The ROP regarding adversarial circumstances 

One of the most common ROP is during times of testing where everything in your life is under attack. I have had seasons in my life lasting more then several years at a time in which I experienced major push back and conflict in every area of my personal life and ministry. 

I knew this was my ROP because it always came right before God wanted to bring me into another level of my divine assignment.

5 The ROP regarding financial lack 

Sometimes there is no immediate provision for a divine vision. God uses these times to test our hearts to see if we want to do something for Him based on financial gain or for His glory. He also wants to know if we will continue to move forward in obedience even if we do not see a long-term financial solution. The children of Israel were required to continue to obey God even when they did not know where there next meal was coming from when they were in the wilderness for 40 years.  

6 The ROP regarding silence from heaven 

There are times of testing in which there are long periods when we do not continue to receive clear words of affirmation or confirmation regarding a calling from God He gave us a long time ago. It is always much easier to keep on going when we receive ongoing prophetic encouragement and or divine endorsements through others—but maturity and preparation is often cultivated more inside of us when the heavens are silent for a period of time and we have to live totally by faith.

7 The ROP regarding loving those who hurt and abuse you 

One of the hardest ROP is during periods of time when there are many relational conflicts and misunderstandings from those closest to you. This is a very important ROP that involves learning how to love unconditionally through the insults, abuse, neglect and persecution. If God can trust us to walk in forgiveness and love the unlovely unconditionally, then He can trust us to demonstrate His heart to others in higher levels of leadership no matter what the circumstance or response.

8 The ROP regarding faithfulness during the mundane

It is probably much easier to demonstrate faithfulness to God when there are big events, a crisis, and or great movement replete with incessant action. I believe more people fall into unfaithfulness when things get boring and mundane. This is a key ROP that teaches the believer to cultivate the joy of the Lord during slow, boring days and seasons in your life. Consider Moses’ 40 years in the wilderness of Midian, which prepared him for the last 40 years of his life that was replete with non stop action as he became the deliverer of Israel.

9 The ROP regarding finding contentment only in God

Ultimately, the greatest ROP is to learn to get ultimate satisfaction in honoring and worshipping Him. Every person and everything we have or accomplish in this life is soon passing away—and God will often work to strip out of our heart every secondary thing we depend upon for happiness and fulfillment. God releases His highest calling to those who delight themselves in Him. 

10 The ROP regarding prioritizing our mission and focus 

One of the greatest ROP for accomplished leaders is the ability to say no to good opportunities and open doors. God will often test us to see what we will say no to—before He brings better opportunities He wants us to say yes to. 

Joseph Mattera is overseeing bishop of Resurrection Church and Christ Covenant Coalition in Brooklyn, New York. Visit him at .

I am an author. Authors write. Authors who write often have tons of ideas. Tons of ideas fill my brain every day. Tons and tons and tons of books stacked the ceiling of my brain. Millions of pages and pages and pages. And I am afraid of them.

The mountain of them forms a monstrous wall that paralyzes me. How do you climb on pages to get to the top? How do you pull one book out of the thousands—the one book I will bring to completion. This wall of fear shuts me down and sometimes incapacitates me to the point of not taking the next step, not deciding which books to give my effort and attention.

I realize this happened to me this year. After Sweet Grace came out, I had lists of ideas and books I wanted to write.  For years I had no ideas and now all of a sudden the creative thinking I believe God has gifted each person with came to fruition in my brain.

The enemy of my soul, though, didn’t like the ideas. He couldn’t erase them because they were already in my heart and mind. So he did the only thing he could. He told me it was too big of a task—that I was not equipped to take this on.

His biggest weapon against me is to overwhelm me completely. However, I know a God who has a bigger weapon than that. I know a God who has the power to move mountains. I know a God who can raise people from the dead. And if he can raise people, He can surely resurrect dreams.

When God formed me in my mother’s womb,¹ He gave me the gift of writing. The enemy built obstacles to prevent me from fulfilling the call of God on my life. In January 2013 God broke though many of those obstacles to propel towards the completion of Sweet Grace.

He brought a tribe of people around to help me get the book completed, formatted, launched and on Amazon. I could not have done it without so many who helped. If I start naming names I will forget some. But if you helped in any way, you know who you are and I am forever in your debt. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now that my second book is almost ready for formatting, I came up against that wall again—the fear of completion. I asked God to show me the wall. It was comprised of books as high, wide and deep as I could see. I looked at it and a total sense of fear overwhelmed me.

In seeing the wall, I asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to me when I first felt this fear of completion. He showed me those who told me I wouldn’t be able to make a living writing books. They told me I needed a real job. It’s actually the reason I got a degree in journalism—so I could write and have a real job that made steady money.

When I forgave those individuals, the wall turned from a formidable wall of books to a wall of paper. Sitting in my car at a stoplight, I prayed, “Holy Spirit, please remove this wall of the fear of completion. I do not want it in my life.” I clapped once to seal the moment and as I did I saw a strong and powerful wind blow the papers away. They left the picture in my mind and all that was left was me and the Holy Spirit.

It was a tangible rewiring of my brain. Where there once was a mountain of fear, overwhelm, procrastination and incompleteness, I heard the gentle yet powerful voice of the Holy Spirit say to me, “You are self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.² I have given you everything you need to complete this task. I have gifted you as a writer. I have put books in your brain not to overwhelm you, but to encourage you and to give you a glimpse of your future. This is only a part of your destiny, but it is a major part.”

Then He outlined the steps for completion of Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation, my next book which will be released on Amazon, Dec. 15. I know it is the beginning of something more that God has planned. His desire is that for all people to be set free of the bondage they find themselves in.

For years I allowed my addiction to certain foods to thwart my destiny. The love I had for sugar made me tired, lethargic and brain dead. When I, with God’s help, removed sugar and gluten from my life and began to become healthy, I began to take cautious steps into what I’ve always known was my purpose.

Many of us have done the same thing — we have allowed food to become something that enslaves us rather than fuel to accomplish God’s destiny in our lives. For many, it is the enemy’s way of making sure we don’t step into the greater things God has planned for us. It masks a fear we have of totally stepping into the future God has planned for us.

God is really angry at these tactics of the enemy. If He is, we should be too. If you are one the enemy has captured in this lie, you can start now to bring the stronghold of food you have allowed to keep you in bondage. You can do this yourself, but if you need help, think about joining Sweet Change Weight Loss Coaching and Accountability Group. We deal with many of these issues. We are really a different kind of weight loss group in that I firmly believe weight is lost by focusing on the inside rather than the outside.

In addition, read Sweet Grace and complete the Sweet Grace Study Guide, if you haven’t already. Then, read Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation when it releases Dec. 15.

God wants you to fulfill your destiny. He wants to help you release the strongholds in your life, move out in victory and teach others how to do the same thing. It may be scary, you may be afraid, but God is the one who will remove those fears. You can go forward if you really desire to. You will have to do the work, but God will help you when He knows you are serious when you say, “Whatever it takes, God.” When you say that, He will want to see action to back it up. But He will also want to see that your mind has shifted from short-term fix to lifestyle change.

Take an intentional step forward to break the strongholds today. Your destiny is waiting.

1 Psalm 139:1-6

2 Philippians 4:13 AMP

Teresa Shields Parker is an author, blogger, editor, business owner, wife and mother. Her book, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor is available on Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible HERE. This story is from her blog, .

My calendar made me hyperventilate on Saturday morning. Well, the calendar didn’t make me –because it’s just a Wyoming Wildlife calendar with a picture of a great gray owl on it for the month of December.

It was all my scribbles on the calendar that sucked the essence of life right out of my lungs, like a vile science fiction character would do with his clawed hand to the chest of his victim.

And that is how you know I’ve watched too much Stargate Atlantis.

It was the 12 events of Christmas that will happen in five calendar days –that’s what did it. Two concerts, two staff parties, two birthdays, and one recital. Plus fifty-hundred gifts to buy and wrap better than my known skill level allows.

(Matt, I was being poetic. I know you just counted that list and didn’t come up with the number 12. Do you have to count everything?)

Quiero I’m trying to say is that I was STRESSED.

That same day I listened to Pentatonix sing “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, and all I could think of was how the rhythm was making my anxious heart beat faster, and why couldn’t they chill and sing something more Valium-ish?

Stress is a joy sucker.

Well, you know how when someone is standing on a pressure-sensitive bomb, and the only way to save his life is to carefully slide something of equal weight onto the bomb while he slides off? (I’m blaming this illustration on my daughter who up and left home, which left me with two men who do not want to watch shows that have anything to do with cupcakes or wedding dresses.)

Stress has to be replaced. 

We can’t just say, “I don’t like stress, so I’m going to stop having it.” Because then –kablooey! (And that is exactly how a bomb sounds.)

Stress has to be displaced with something of equal weight.

Paul says to followers of Christ:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.  (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

So Sunday morning, because I had so much to do, I spent a long time praying…

FIVE PRAYERS THAT DISARM STRESS

1. Pray for others who are in even greater distress than you are.
2. Pray through each major stressor you have. Admit your weakness and need for help.
3. Express belief in the attributes of God. Meditate on which attributes of God make it possible for him to help you in each area where you need it. Lord, because you are_____I know you can_____.
4. Ask God to be glorified in each stressful area of your life. Use your imagination. What do you think it would look like if God were glorified in each event and task you have coming up this month?
5. Feel thankfulness well up inside you, as you think about the nearness of a God who cares about you and who has what it takes to help you with everything.

After spending a good length of time in prayer, I was not closer to accomplishing my great list of tasks, but I did seem to be breathing and smiling again, Mr. Wyoming Owl.

Our December calendars warrant the addition of one more great event.

A quiet hour of prayer.

Christy Fitzwater is the author of A Study of Psalm 25: Seven Actions to Take When Life Gets Hard. She is a blogger, pastor’s wife and mom of two teenagers and resides in Montana. Visit  for more information about her ministry.

I clearly remember sitting at my desk chatting with my dad on Skype. Tears ran down my cheeks as I explained how starved I was for just one morning where I could get alone with God without a screaming baby to interrupt me.

I really missed those times when I would sit down to an open Bible and hear from God.

He assured me that God has grace for moms and that there would be times like that again. But for now it would be like how most moms eat real food—a little bite here, a little bite there.

And that’s why I love this devotional by Lori from Hungry for God … Starving for Time.

She packs a whole sermon into what she calls “Power Bar” devotionals. In less than 5-minutes you have received a power-packed sermon that speaks to your heart and directs your focus back onto God and His Word.

She says:  

You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. Between the demands of work, relationships, activities, and everything else that crowds your days, you’re hungry for God, but starving for time. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture. You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. 

• • Is my situation hopeless? 

  • If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 

  • Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 

  • No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. 

Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you. 

I love the topics she tackles: jealousy, selfishness, vanity, determination, redeeming the time and faith.

What I love about the stories she writes is that they not only give you a little window into her life, but they are very relatable. I think the one I loved most was her story about how she hid jelly beans in her pocket, so she didn’t have to share them with her daughter.

How many moms have not done this? I do it at least once a week! 

One problem: once her daughter left the room, she popped her hidden treat in her mouth and ended up chewing on a bunch of pocket lint!

She says: “I’ve also noticed that when I share liberally, blessings seem to circle back around to me. These blessings don’t come when I give with ulterior motives because I can never manipulate God’s blessings. But when I share from a grateful heart, God always takes care of me. Abundantly.”

She takes everyday situations and crafts a biblical lesson around them. I love that!

Hungry for for Time 5 Minute Devotions for Busy Women is an easy read. Each chapter is packed with humor, warmth and a life lesson that a busy mom of kids can easily read and digest. 

Lori’s ability to craft so much in such few words is truly a gift. 

I recommend this book to every woman, it is an excellent compliment to our daily time with the Lord, and is a wonderful resource for young moms. 

 Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live in the country with their two active boys where she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book The Missional Handbook. At A Little R & R she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call where she shares her passion for local and global missions. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +, where she can be found on a regular basis.

A new generation of leaders is rising. They are filled with vision, energy and zeal. Many of them feel ready to take the reins of leadership and forge ahead. But timing is key.

Over the past several years, formal and informal conversations between Christian leaders across the country invariably gravitate to the topic of leadership transition. When do we pass the baton? How do we pass the baton? Passing the baton at the right time and in the right way can make or break the spiritual legacies of leaders who have been running their race faithfully for years.

As we press in, pray for and position the body of Christ for the next great awakening, this issue can weigh heavily on our hearts. The last thing any of us want to do is stand in the way of a visitation from God by clinging to positions or prominence. Is it time to let young leaders loose?

While pondering this topic recently, the Lord brought to my mind a tale of two donkeys. It is surprisingly applicable.

Jesus was headed to Jerusalem for the most important assignment in human history. He had walked that way many times before, but on this particular trip He did it differently. Let’s look at Matthew’s account.

“When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go over into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them.” And he will send them immediately.’ All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, “Look, your King is coming to you, humble, and sitting on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”‘ The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their garments on them, and He sat on them. A very large crowd spread their garments on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went before Him and that followed Him cried out: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’ When He entered Jerusalem, the entire city was moved, saying, ‘Who is He?’ (Matt 21:1–10).

When the disciples came into the village, they found the mature donkey and the young colt together. They did not have to get the donkey from one place and the colt from another. These animals already had a relationship with one another.

When they were brought to Jesus, He sat on them both, together. The mature donkey could have carried Jesus alone. It had plenty of experience carrying people and other loads over the years. But Jesus did not want to do things the way this donkey had done them before.

Jesus could have chosen the colt alone. The colt may have been able to carry the weight of Jesus alone, but the risk of stumbling or permanent damage to its growing bones and muscles may have ruined it for future use. Jesus chose to rest His weight on them both. In fact, it was prophetic that He does so. Together they would carry the weight of His glory into the city. Together they ushered in a global awakening that is still being felt today!

Just as the donkey and colt needed each other to fulfill God’s purpose of delivering Jesus to Jerusalem, mature Christian leaders and next generation leaders also need one another as we corporately seek awakening. Next generation leaders can challenge mature leaders to seek God for new wineskins, new ways of doing things. Mature leaders can model how to steward a move of God with humility, and guide the next generation around the stumbling blocks Satan is sure to throw in the way.

At some point the next generation of leaders will take over and bring still future generations along. But timing is important. It might just be that the awakening we all long to see will come as the generations work together.

Jodie Chiricosta is the vice president of Somebody Cares America/International.

 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your in your , I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…   2 Timothy 1:5-6

I am asked repeatedly how my parents were able to pass on to me their faith in Jesus. Although there are several answers to that question, one underlying fact is that my parents were intentional about it. They did not leave the instruction of biblical trust to the pastor or Sunday school teacher or visiting evangelist to carry out. They did not assume that just because I was their child I would somehow “catch faith” like a contagious disease. They themselves, along with my maternal grandparents, accepted the privilege and the responsibility of teaching me God’s Word in a way that was personal, relevant, and easy to understand. Then I had to choose to respond and make their faith my own, which I did as a young girl.

I am now seeking to help my daughter pass on our faith to my own three young granddaughters.  Over seven years ago, they went through the loss of my beloved mother – their great-grandmother – Ruth Bell Graham. I found that helping my granddaughters to focus beyond the grave helped ease their pain, comfort their fears, enlarge their faith, and gave us opportunity to talk about Heaven. As a result, I have written this book, Heaven: God’s Promise for Me for them, and for you.

This Christmas, let’s pass our faith on together. Give yourself and the children in your life a gift that hope, love, joy and peace that the Baby of Bethlehem came to give us. 

Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She is also the author of several books, Heaven: God’s Promise for Me and Heaven: My Father’s House.

Life is funny, you know? It’s funny in ways that make me laugh and cry and hope and hurt. It’s just funny. For several Christmases we have navigated the murky waters of this ALS storm. We have been treading water as we try to absorb the beautiful moments while anticipating a difficult future.

This year is different. This year, the difficult future has invaded our present. Steve’s condition has rapidly declined over the past couple of weeks and he will be placed on hospice this week. We are grateful for the resources and support hospice provides. We are grateful for our kids and our friends and our home (which currently feels more hospital than house.) We really are grateful, but we are also weary and heartbroken. And while I’ve sometimes been able to wrap those emotions into hopeful words, right now I feel surrounded by a sacred sort of silence. It’s not bad. It’s just quiet here in my heart, where so many memories and dreams are swirling.

I am taking a leave of absence from my job for the month of December, so I can focus on Steve and my family during this important holiday season. I will write when I feel it and I won’t when I don’t. Today, I don’t. But I do have something wonderful for you and it is this update from my friend, Michaela. Remember her baby, Florence, who is Steve’s comrade on the neuromuscular disease battlefield? Well, Michaela’s baby, Teddy (Theodore Brave!), is here and you should read this for a beautiful start to advent.

I hope your season is unfolding with grace and I am thankful for so many of the notes I’ve received to let me know you haven’t forgotten us and are still praying. We do not sorrow as those without hope. Especially at Christmas.

 Bo Stern is a blogger and author of Ruthless: Knowing the God Who Fights for You, When Holidays Hurt and Beautiful Battlefields (NavPress). She knows the most beautiful things can come out of the hardest times. Her Goliath came in the form of her husband’s terminal illness, a battle they are still fighting with the help of their four children, a veritable army of friends and our extraordinary God. Bo is a teaching pastor at Westside Church in Bend, Oregon.