how the light gets in

by Andrea Smithberger
how the light gets in
  • November 1: Honoring
  • Day 2: Signaling
  • Day 3: Revealing
  • DAY 4: Reminding
  • Day 5: Reflecting
  • Day 6: Changing
  • Day 7: Surrounding
  • Day 8: Healing
  • Day 9: Filtering
  • Day 10: Spreading
  • Day 11: Unveiling
  • Day 12: Distinguishing
  • Day 13: Challenging
  • Day 14: Nourishing
  • Day 15: Unassuming
  • Day 16: Leading
  • Day 17: Delighting
  • Day 18: Reaching
  • Day 19: Shining
  • Day 20: Reviving
  • Day 21: Growing
  • Day 22: Comforting
  • Day 23: Holding Space
  • Day 24: Beckoning
  • Day 25: Stunning
  • Day 26: Igniting
  • Day 28: Introducing
  • November 2020
  • Tag: Elevation Worship

    • CHRISTMAS – Day 25

      Posted at 2:09 pm by How the Light Gets In, on December 25, 2019

      Merry Christmas

      You did it. WE did it! Hooray for us! 24 days of reading God’s word. 24 days of devoting a little time to learning God’s voice. I’m so proud of you and me!

      Take a moment to scroll all the way back to Day One. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and jot down the websites, books, Instagram accounts, Music, Photography, Email subscriptions, Apps, Artists, Podcasts, Places, People, Recipes.

      Then, take note of what struck you most – was it the beauty, the pain, the encouragement, the community?

      Finally, we should list all the scripture from the posts. The Bible still blows my mind with all those words written so long ago and somehow still very alive and so powerful.

      You know what ALLLLL this tells me?

      GOD

      WILL

      STOP

      AT

      NOTHING.

      God will stop at nothing to get YOUR attention.

      These 24 days have just been a glimpse of how relentless God is trying to grab your attention.

      Christmas gives us the sweetest example of this. Immanuel is God with us.

      Jesus IS God with us.

      But wait, the story doesn’t end here. There’s Good News! Jesus wasn’t just born, end of story. Jesus lived a life full of friendship and story telling and healing and teaching and loving. There’s more to learn. Jesus didn’t just live for you and me. He also died for you and me.

      Today we celebrate His birth but there’s so much more.

      And hey, if you’re reading this you’re alive too which means God’s not done with you. Your story with Him might just be beginning. Or maybe you go way back. Either way, keep walking with Jesus. Read His Word. Learn His voice. Look for Him.

      Remember how we started this journey with Gods word as a “lamp for our feet”? Today let’s celebrate because the light is here. Jesus – God with us – is here “to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:79)

      Thank you for being with me this Advent. You have made it so special for me.

      One last song Reckless Love

      Posted in DECEMBER 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged 1 John 1:5, 1 John 1:5-7, 1 John 5:14, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 Peter 5:6, 100 Days to Brave, 2 Corinthians 1:6-7, 2 Kings 20, Acts 2:28, Advent, Ann Voskamp, Annie F Downs, Christmas, Church of the Nativity, Colossians 1:9-10, Cory Asbury, Elevation Worship, Ephesians 5:13, Exodus 33:14, Genesis 28:15, Hooray, How the Light Gets In, Isaiah 40:3-5, Isaiah 43:18-19, Jenna Mace Photography, Jesus, Jesus Calling, Job 42:5, John 11:38, Joshua 1:9, Journal, Luke 1:3-4, Luke 1:79, Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 28:66, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 27:14, Romans 15:13, Romans 15:4-5, Wonder, Zephaniah 3:17
    • Day 24

      Posted at 2:19 pm by How the Light Gets In, on December 24, 2019

      This song strings together all the words of promise and hope born tonight in Jesus. It might be my new favorite Christmas song.

      Enjoy: HERE COMES HEAVEN

      “Children, weep no more
      Hope is on the horizon
      Weary world behold
      Your promised Messiah
      Angels, let your song begin
      Here comes Heaven
      Christ is born in Bethlehem
      Here comes Heaven
      Sinner, wait no more
      Love has broken the silence
      Come let us adore
      The Savior is with us
      Angels, let your song begin
      Here comes Heaven
      Christ is born in Bethlehem
      Here comes Heaven
      Here comes Heaven
      Now, behold His glory
      Glory in the highest
      All the earth rejoice for Christ is born
      Now, behold His glory
      Glory in the highest
      All the earth rejoice for Christ is born
      Over all who mourn
      Breaks the dawn of salvation…”
      Posted in DECEMBER 2019, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Advent, Elevation Worship, Here Comes Heaven, How the Light Gets In, Jesus
    • Moses, God, Me & You…

      Posted at 1:35 pm by How the Light Gets In, on March 13, 2019

      Lily’s been home sick with the flu this week. We HAD to get out of the house to pick up groceries at Walmart. I told her this would be the easiest “job.” We park, we wait, we get the groceries and off we go.

      “Moooooom. That’s the hardest. Waiting is the hardest. Waiting feels like hard work.”

      Doesn’t it though?

      The hard work of waiting makes me think of Moses. Everybody knows Moses. And while we could look to his story for so many reasons; for now, let’s focus on his relationship with God. The connection Moses has with God is goooooooood. In fact, it is so goooooood; Jews, Christians AND Muslims recorded his walk with God into words on pages for you and me to read.

      So, let’s do this: Moses and God. Me and God. And yes, You and God.

      Exodus 14:21-22 describes this scene: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the seas into dry land. So then waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.”

      Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.

      Right this moment, would you stand up and stretch out your hand? I dare you. Hold your hand out there for a moment.

      In this story, Moses is struggling but Moses is trying. He’s all vulnerable, stretching his hand out away from his body over a mass of dark water. God told Moses to stretch his hand over water and Moses is listening.

      The next sentence reads “the Lord drove the sea back… all that night.” This is profoundly beautiful and powerful. At Moses’ darkest, God himself is working right alongside him. Moses wasn’t able to see it happening but God was working.

      Moses does his part and God is right next to him. Moses’ blind faith and God’s almighty power working together so “the waters were divided and the Israelites went THROUGH the sea on DRY GROUND.” Come on. There is real power when we say yes to God.

      Now, there is another element to Moses’ life story that is so worth lingering with just a bit longer. When Moses couldn’t hear God, he didn’t give up on Him. And because God wasn’t showing up in a burning bush or booming voice, also doesn’t mean that God wasn’t still right alongside Moses.

      And just a few chapters later, we read about one other way God works with us, for us. While the Jews were still recovering from their escape, they came under attack by the Amalekites. Moses ordered Joshua to choose a group of elite soldiers to go fight. In the meantime, Moses would go stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in his hands to pray with his friends, Aaron and Hur.

      Standing on the top of that hill, watching Joshua and his men fight the angry Amalekites; Moses holds up the rod and prays to God. But war takes time. And over time, the three men noticed something interesting.

      Exodus 17:11 “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands the Amalekites were winning. When Moses hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Then, Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady…”

      The outcome of war depended on Moses holding his hands up. That’s a lot of pressure. And when the weight of the waiting and war became too much, God sent Moses a few friends to carry the burden. So they “held his hands up… and his hands remained steady.” The Amalekites were defeated.

      Sometimes, when we’re looking, trying, holding our hands up; God sends a friend. I see it over and over in my life. I’m sure you do too. After I shared about Grounding and my pain, you showed up in the most beautiful ways – with carefully mixed essential oils for my pain, with a mug that says “Stay Grounded,” with fun earrings, with messages of encouragement. You, my beautiful friends, reflect God in the sweetest ways.

      Grounding Roller and Pain Roller of essential oils – seriously
      love this

      The detailed, loving ways YOU show up for me give me glimpses of the way GOD cares for me.

      Here’s where it all comes together.

      The God who helped Moses – the God who worked right beside him, the God who sent Moses a friend, the God who split the sea, the God who listened, answered, kept showing up – Moses’ God is your God.

      Present tense now.

      That means God works right beside you, God will send you a friend, God will make a way for you, God listens to you, God answers you, God keeps showing up.

      Maybe you’re still waiting. Maybe you’ve seen or heard God before but it’s been a while. Maybe you’ve never seen or heard God. Scroll through some of my older posts. Let my glimpses be your first glimpse.

      This is where I WISH I could fade in the music! But I can’t so click on this link.

      Do It Again – about 3:45 minutes in…

      CLAP. YOUR. HANDS.

      God did it for Moses. He is doing it for me. God wants to do it for you.

      Posted in MARCH 2019, Uncategorized | 3 Comments | Tagged Elevation Worship, Exodus 14, Exodus 17, Moses

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