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Sin Entered the World // Christmas Through the Carols


Hello darlings!

This week was the first week of the Christmas Through the Carols Advent Bible reading plan that I created (link to that here).
The theme for this week was looking at  the Fall, & how sin came into the world, creating a need for a savior.

We began by looking in Genesis 3, which I love as a passage and find incredibly powerful.
Today, I wanted to share a few of the points I took away from reading & studying this chapter of the Bible.



First off, this chapter tells us lot about how Satan works.
As a Christian it is important to know our enemy, Satan, so that we can be prepared for his attacks and know how to fight back.
Here's what I found:

The serpent was more subtil (crafty) than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He crept in silently, and still does today, planting doubt and questioning the words of God.
He caused Eve to doubt the words of the Lord by asking her, "Did God really say...?"

"Satan suggested that God was withholding something good from them & tempted them to reach and grab what would make them like God himself." ~ Nancy Guthrie


On the flip side...

God always speaks truth. He never lies and always gives us rules that will guide us and keep us safe.
Psalm 84:11 says this: ...No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Adam & Eve were already made in the image of God, there did not need to make themselves more or better than Him.

My main takeaway point from my notes is this.

The fruit of the forbidden tree looked good. It was pleasing to the eyes, and it was tempting to reach out and pick one.
Something may look pleasing, tempting, promise us happiness, or satisfaction.
But the worldly things that are tempting to try or take, will not ultimately bring us fulfillment.
Alchohol, drugs, porn etc. may offer relief, satisfaction and happiness but their charms quickly fade and like Adam & Eve, we are left empty, cheated and ashamed.
When Adam & Eve ate the fruit, their eyes where opened and instead of feeling satisfied, they wee ashamed.

The Lord promises good things and true fulfillment. Because He is Lord God, His Word is to be trusted to be true & His promises sure.

At the end of this sad day in history, it seems as if all is lost.
But hush, the Lord is doing something! He has a plan to rescue his people from the result of sin-death-by sending His Son Jesus to die for us. Jesus died the death we deserve as sinners, but he became the ransom for us.
The story does have a happy and good ending. We who believe in Him and his sacrifice on the cross have the hope of heaven to cling to!


During this season of Christmas, we get to celebrate the gift the God gave the world on that night long ago.
May we ever be thankful & grateful for His love in giving up His son to die a sinners death so that we could experience the joys of heaven!


keep blooming,

Christmas Through the Carols // FREE Advent Bible Reading Plan


Hello darlings!

You know those ideas that just come to you out of nowhere and you have no idea if it will even work or how to do it but you go ahead and do it anyway?

Well, this was one of those ideas. I was just going about my day when the idea to create my own Advent Bible reading plan came to me and I went with it! I didn't know how was even going to create this, but I am very pleased with how it turned out.

So I am very excited to bring to you my Christmas Through the Carols Advent Bible reading plan!


~ ~ ~ ~


What inspired this plan?
It is called 'Christmas through the Carols because I wanted to take some of my favourite and most popular carols and delve into them a little and think about the words and how they relate to the beautiful Christmas story.
Throughout the month of December, I have compiled my favourite versions of the carols I selected for you to listen to.


How do you use this plan?
Each day there is a scripture reading and a song/activity. The scriptures were selected carefully to explore several main themes that encompass the Christmas story. The Fall, our need for a Saviour, prophecies of the Messiah, the coming of the Messiah, and hope for His second coming.
Through this plan, we will be reading form all over the Bible, including the Old Testament, the Gospels and even the letters in the New Testament to get a broad picture of the whole story and the wonderful way that God wrote it.


Right, are you ready to see this Christmas Bible reading plan? Okay in...
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2
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1

Ta da!


I love how it tuned out and I can't wait to do this along with you!
Here's a closer look at the schedule...



Click here to download PDF!

What else can you expect this month?

Some fun, Christmassy posts here on this blog,  plus snippets of my Christmas preparations and what I get out of this Advent study over on my Instagram (@joy_and_wildflowers). 
I have also created a playlist with all of the songs in this Bible reading plan so that it is easier to find them.



I hope and pray that if you use this plan that it will fill you with hope and encourage you during this Christmas season.
One thing that I really desire is that we would all become women who love and cherish their Bibles and time spent between its pages. 
In doing this plan I also hope it will help us keep our eyes on Him during this busy but wonderful time of year.


keep blooming,