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Published: Nov. 4, 2022, 9 a.m.

Ruth Chou Simons joins Stephanie today to invite families into an unconventional, life-changing Advent season. How can we prepare for a DIFFERENT kind of Advent - when Jesus is truly the center? How can we cultivate a posture of gratitude, an attitude of receiving goodness from the Lord, and a desire of deeper delight in His glory this Christmas season? How can we live an Advent season that is a true experience of what we do know about the goodness of the Lord? And, how can we carry Advent into all our other seasons of life - from January to November? Why and how is Christmas relevant in March, in July, in September--and every other season?

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Don't miss Ruth's powerful prayer for you towards the end of their conversation! You can also watch the live video of the conversation on our YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe:\xa0

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The Advent season, brimming with glad tidings and great joy, is often followed by disappointment, post-holiday letdown, dashed expectations, and exhaustion. Box up the ornaments and take down the garland; put away the artificial trees and cheery red bows and flannel sheets: Christmas, with all its hustle and bustle, tinsel and twinkle lights, carols and celebrations, is over. But shouldn\u2019t post-Christmas feel more like an afterglow and less like an aftershock? Why don\u2019t even the best of celebrations feel like enough? After receiving so many gifts\u2014including the birth of Christ, why is unfulfillment still lurking?

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Bestselling author, speaker and gifted artist behind GraceLaced Co., Ruth Chou Simons once asked those same questions at the end of the Advent season. She found herself wanting, in search of something that outlasted the month of December. In her new devotional, Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always, Ruth offers a fresh take on the Advent experience, showing readers that the birth of Jesus\u2014the Christmas story\u2014is only the beginning. And that the resurrection\u2014often overlooked in December\u2014is the most life-changing event. She guides readers on a beautifully-illustrated 25-day journey that changes the way they celebrate the season and live the rest of the year.\xa0

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\u201cIf Jesus is the reason for the season, then the resurrection is really the most life\u2010changing event we can celebrate. The baby Jesus born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem is truly a miracle only because he was the promised Messiah,\u201d she writes. \u201cWithout the cross, the baby in the manger is but novel and fascinating, not life\u2010changing. And what we long for right now, in the midst of the hustle, the mess, and the mundane, is life-changing. We want the Christmas miracle to change our lives and not just our wallets \u2026 Perhaps when we struggle to experience that kind of heart change at Christmas it is because we\u2019ve left the resurrection out of our celebration of the incarnation.\u201d

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In Emmanuel, Ruth combines her beautiful original artwork with personal insight and practical application. Each day in the book highlights a Bible passage, question to ponder, Christmas carol, and prayer. She helps readers understand they were created to know much more than the bustle, or even the magic, of Christmas; they were made to know Christ\u2014the answer they have been longing for.\xa0

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\u201cWhen you see an infant lying in a manger this Christmas\u2014a popular visual image representing the miraculous story in Scripture\u2014don\u2019t let your affections remain there,\u201d writes Simons. \u201cJesus is more than a baby, more than a beautiful miracle in a harsh world. He is more than a familiar figure sung about in festive tunes. Jesus is God with us\u2014Immanuel, just as the angel of the Lord told Joseph.\u201d\xa0

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\u201cThe true miracle of Christmas isn\u2019t simply the virgin birth; it\u2019s much greater than even such an impossibility. No, the miracle of Christmas is in this: that a holy God made a way for all who believe to come to Him...by first coming to us. Let that sink in. God\u2019s promises, fulfilled by God Himself, are more than remarkable; they merit a response\u2014not to get busy, but to fall down in reverence and awe for our great God.\u201d

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MEET RUTH CHOU SIMONS

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Ruth Chou Simons is a Wall Street Journal bestselling and award-winning author of several books, including GraceLaced, Beholding and Becoming and When Strivings Cease, as well as the TruthFilled Bible study. She is an artist, entrepreneur, and speaker, using each of these platforms to spiritually sow the word of God into people\u2019s hearts. Through her online shoppe at GraceLaced.com and her social media community, Simons shares her journey of God\u2019s grace intersecting daily life with word and art. Ruth and her husband, Troy, are grateful parents to six boys\u2014their greatest adventure.

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https://ruthchousimons.com/

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www.emmanuelbook.com

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https://www.facebook.com/gracelaced

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https://www.instagram.com/ruthchousimons/

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https://www.instagram.com/gracelaced/

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GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES

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Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now?

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Why does God\u2019s glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God\u2019s glory as our heart\u2019s true delight, how can we then come alongside others?

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Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God\u2019s glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God\u2019s glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does\u2014through the lens of the Father\u2019s love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory.

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Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns\u2014we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical.

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