“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
Amidst the twinkling lights, baking, and shopping, I pray we follow our Father’s example and give the most important gift: love. I hope this blesses you as much as it did me. Merry Christmas.
Hello Friends,
I’m unable to type much right now, so I thought I’d re-post this from December 2013. I pray the Lord blesses each of you with the continual gift of knowing and walking in His love and the fruitfulness of sharing Jesus through the spiritual gifts given especially to you.
***
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
They say the best things in life are free. Yet every year the day after Thanksgiving (well, now you barely have time to eat your last bite of pumpkin pie) the stores open and people rush the gates like race horses at the Kentucky Derby. Even now there are people everywhere still scrambling to find that last perfect present or two.
I wonder if we really do believe the best things in life are free. All the frenzied waving of credit cards is really just a distraction, a way to make Christmas mean something when we fail to make it about Christ. And it’s hard to do that when He hasn’t been Lord the other 364 days a year.
Thanksgiving Day I was in the kitchen, as I am every Thanksgiving, going about the cooking I’ve now gotten down to a science, when I stole a moment to take a peek through our kitchen window which faces the front of our house. The streets were lined with cars that had brought family and friends to spend Thanksgiving with so many neighbors. It made me feel just a little bit lonely.
I love my family, my husband and our two sons whom we’re still blessed to have at home, but we have no extended family we’re able to spend the holidays with.
I didn’t have much of a family life growing up, so it was always my dream to have huge family gatherings at the holidays, the house full of laughing, eating, cooking, and a dozen different conversations going on a once, catching each other up on our lives, our victories and our defeats, encouraging and loving each other, so that when the day was done we’d be as full in our hearts as we were in our bellies.
A long time ago, though, I accepted the house would be a little less full and a little more quiet. That it would be just the four of us, and I’m happy with that. Still, I couldn’t help but peer out the window a time or two (maybe three) more and caught a glimpse of all those cars in front of so many other houses.
Instead I’ve filled the holidays with one of the few talents I did have: mad baking skills. I started baking when my kids were tiny and we didn’t have enough money for store-bought birthday cakes. I started collecting cookbooks and practicing the art of cake making, frosting, and decorating. I bought all kinds of frosting tips and every food coloring in the rainbow. I practiced my royal icing roses. My mouth full of sweet teeth had me quickly expanding to almost any kind of cookie, pastry and dessert you can think of.
And when the holidays rolled around I’d have a field day. I’d stock up on flour and sugar and butter and chocolate and peppermint candies. I’d pore through my hundreds of recipes of Christmas cookies and delectable desserts and wonder which to bake first. Wedding cookies or Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels? And there are always cream cheese frostinged cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.
But now I have health issues that make it almost impossible to enjoy eating sugar or any kind of carbohydrate. Oh I can eat it, I just have to be willing to face the consequences when I do. My family is trying to eat healthier, too. So every year I’ve baked less and less, and this year I haven’t done any. Yet we are inundated with messages that for Christmas to be Christmas we should indulge in one sugar-laced treat after another. But since I can’t it’s just one more thing that can make me feel like I’m somehow outside the party peering in.
There are other things, too, that getting older make celebrating Christmas the way I’d like very difficult or impossible.
Sometimes, when we’ve been stripped away of so much that the world says we must have and do to be happy, God is able to show us what’s most important. To see what the best things in life really are.
No matter what gifts I’ve been given, the best by far will always be my salvation. Ultimately, of course, I am forever indebted to Christ for dying for me, and to the Holy Spirit for pursuing me, opening my eyes, and revealing to me my need for a Savior. Regardless of what I am not able to have in this life, eternity will be filled with family and feasting. Relationships will be restored and my body will be perfect. This life is only temporary. Eternity’s forever. And I’m looking forward to it!
I would not have that hope if it weren’t for the willingness of some to offer prayers and the honest teaching of God’s Word. Those were gifts to me, gifts I could never afford. Gifts that are free.
And now I, and many of you, are in the position to be able to offer those gifts to others. No credit card needed. Some may not open their gift of salvation right away, perhaps for years. But even seeds are gifts. Water is a gift.
So maybe it’s time to slow down and allow those things the world says we must have in order to have Christmas be stripped away. Maybe it’s time to give a gift that would last for eternity. Maybe you’re a seed-bearer, or a waterer. Maybe you’re a harvester.
Wherever God would have you be in the process, give a gift of your gifts. Your spiritual gifts have been given to you to not only encourage fellow believers, but to bring truth to unbelievers. There is no better gift than the truth that leads to salvation.
One phrase that I hear over and over every Christmas season that’s become a pet peeve of mine, is when someone uses the word Christmas in place of the word gifts. “She won’t be able to give her kids Christmas.” “They won’t have a Christmas.”
Even the Grinch came to understand Christmas when he’d stripped the Whos of all he thought would make them happy, yet their joy on Christmas morning was undeterred and unrestrained.
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
A little bit more indeed. A lot more. It means the birth of our precious Savior who came to give us the best gift of all.
So if you’re struggling this year, I hope you’ll take heart,
And know that the life we live here is only the start!
Christ was born in a stable for you and for me
And He died to give us eternity.
So wherever you are, whatever you do
Remember that Jesus, yes Jesus loves you!
He gave you salvation and that’s the key
To knowing the best thing in life is free.
So remember that Christmas doesn’t come from a mart
It comes when we let JESUS fill up our heart!
So store up for yourselves treasures in heaven
Give the gift of telling others how they can be forgiven!
Merry Christmas and God bless you!
Be aware! God’s Word says that in the end times, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12
The moment we realize our faith has become cold, or worse, lukewarm, we have a remedy in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is able to light the fire in our hearts again if we’ll only call on Him.
Don’t let our love grow cold
I’m calling out light the fire again
Don’t let our vision die
I’m calling out light the fire again
You know my heart my deeds
I’m calling out light the fire again
I need Your discipline
I’m calling out light the fire again
I am here to buy gold refined in the fire
Naked and poor
Wretched and blind I come
Clothe me in white
So I won’t be ashamed
Lord light the fire again
Light the fire again, yes
Oh yeah
Don’t let our love grow cold
I’m calling out light the fire again
Don’t let our vision die
I’m calling out light the fire again
You know my heart my deeds
I’m calling out light the fire again
I need Your discipline
I’m calling out light the fire again
I am here to buy gold refined in the fire
Naked and poor
Wretched and blind I come
Clothe me in white
So I won’t be ashamed
Lord light the fire again
Lord light the fire again
Lord light the fire again
Lord light the fire again
Lord light the fire again
Today marks the 504th anniversary, otherwise known as Reformation Day, that Martin Luther is said to have nailed his famed Ninety-five Theses to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Germany, and sent his theses with a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz, under whose authority the Roman Catholic church sent out preachers to sell “indulgences” – an act such as a prayer or good work which the Roman Catholic church claimed was “a way to the reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins.”
Just before Luther wrote his theses, which he called “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” a Dominican Friar had been sent to Germany to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Martin Luther, a professor of moral theology and a preacher, meant his theses to open an academic debate on this and other teachings of the church that he believed were in direct conflict with God’s Word.
His theses made statements such as: that the Lord Jesus called for followers to live a life of true inner repentance rather than a system of outward sacramental confession; that the pope could not absolve sin; and that in selling indulgences, those preachers were giving false certainty of forgiveness and leading people to believe that obtaining an indulgence made repentance unnecessary.
The theses was quickly distributed throughout Germany and Europe, and leadership in the Roman Catholic church charged Martin Luther with heresy, some even calling for his punishment by burning.
A few years later he was excommunicated, but by then the church in Europe had begun its reformation.
We are privileged to live in a time and place where we can own God’s Word for ourselves and, in prayer, search it, study it, and know the truth God’s set forth in it. This should be our solemn duty as those who have been given the greatest, most life-altering, eternity-changing gift.
We can emulate the Berean Jews, who “were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
Though it’s been more than 500 years since Martin Luther sought know and proclaim the truth, there are still a lot of erroneous beliefs, philosophies, and religious doctrines floating around out there, lying to people and leading them away from the truth.
We cannot let ourselves fall into that trap. If we are to continually abide in Christ who is the truth, we must, through the Holy Spirit, discern the lies from the truth and never waiver from it.
Time gets shorter every day, for the souls around us and for us, and people need the truth in God’s Word.
“It is finished.”
These are the last words of Christ before He “bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
This statement in the Greek is teleō,-to end, complete, execute, conclude, discharge a debt, accomplish, make an end, expire, fill up, finish, go over, pay, perform.
The work of payment for sins is done. Anything added to Christ’s work on the cross for forgiveness of sins and salvation makes a mockery of His life, His death, and His words, and serves only to lead people away from the truth.
The free gift of the forgiveness for all one’s sins and eternal life is one that only Christ can offer, and He offers it to anyone – ANYONE! – who will believe in Him as Lord, receiving His payment on the cross for their sins.
***
Heavenly Father, we pray for your mercy, for a revival of hearts around the world, and for boldness to live and speak as witnesses of your truth, in love and humility and in the power of your Holy Spirit, to those you bring to us. As we walk in faith, we pray you would enlarge our territories for your glory, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Is there anything more beautiful than the joy of a child?
Children are so precious that our Lord Jesus held them up as an example to us:
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”
Matthew 18:3-5
Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child is underway, and the deadline is quickly coming to a close. Collection Week is November 15-22.
If you’d like to give a shoebox (or two or three!) and put a smile like these on a child’s face, go here to find out all you need to know, how to pack a shoebox, gift suggestions, and how to find a drop-off location near you.
And if you can’t get out to buy items yourself, you can pack a shoebox right on their website here.
Not only will you give a Christmas gift, but an opportunity for a child, and maybe a family, to hear the gospel and receive the most important Gift of all.
As we journey through life and all its twists and turns, it’s encouraging to be reminded of the promises of God, but it’s also good to remember what God does not promise.
Jesus sat with His disciples as they ate together for the last time. He’d washed their feet, including Judas’s, showing them how they were treat one another.
Once Judas left them, He began to prepare them for what would come.
Over and over He tells them He must go away, that He was going back to the Father, but they would see Him again. In the meantime, He would send the Comforter to be with them forever.
Then He began to prepare them for what would lay ahead – the world’s hatred, persecution, even their murders. But again He reminds them that the Spirit of truth will come and guide them.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
There are some who believe, and some who even teach, that after we’re saved our lives will be perfect, that God will keep us from going through any hardships. But that’s not what Jesus taught.
He did not promise a life with no trouble.
The word for trouble here is thlipsis, which means afflicted, anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation.
Now, that we live in a world with trouble might seem obvious, but when we’re in the middle of the affliction, the tribulation, the persecution, the anguish, we can be tempted to wonder where God is.
Why is He allowing this? Is He angry with me? Does He hear me? Has He forgotten me? And there may even be times we wonder if we were ever saved at all.
Jesus explicitly said these things because He knew where our minds could be tempted to go when we’re hurting, and He didn’t want us to believe those lies.
We live in a sinful world full of heartache and suffering. He did not promise to take it away, but to be with us in the middle of it.
If you’ve ever sat with a child who’s in some kind of pain, whether emotional, physical, or spiritual, no matter how young or old they are, you know you hurt at least as much as they do, maybe more.
You pray for them, you cry with them, you ache for them.
If we do this with our own children, how much more will our Heavenly Father, who sent His only Son to die for us and sent us His Holy Spirit, who loves us with an everlasting love, do this with us?
Yes, we will have trouble, but Jesus said
“…take heart! I have overcome the world.”
It’s a done deal. He’s conquered this sin-filled world and all the pain that comes along with it. He already has the victory, and in Him we have it, too.
He will be with us through all things. And even more, He will strengthen us with courage and hope and even joy as we go through it. He will grow our faith, give us wisdom and a testimony of His grace and mercy, and prepare us for the life to come when we see our Savior face to face.
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b
***
Heavenly Father, help us keep our eyes on you, especially when we’re going through the storms of life. We ask for your strength, courage and hope through the power of your Holy Spirit as we walk through our trials with you. Don’t let us believe in the lies of the enemy, but instead walk in faith, believing in your constant love and presence with us and your promise to prepare a home for us and take us to be with you forever. We pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Photo credit: 21326550 / Storm © Pictureguy66 | Dreamstime.com
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain,
for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4
Heavenly Father, help us walk through the hard things in this life with the hope you’ve given us for the next. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.
