Merry Christmas

 

"I thank God for Christmas. Would that it would last all year. For on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, all the world is a better place, and men and women are more loveable. Love itself seeps into every heart, and miracles happen...". ~ Peter Marshall

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

John 3:16-17

What to do this Christmas

   

  What To Do This Christmas

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate others. Be kind; be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Go to church. Welcome a stranger. Gladden a heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it once more. Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning --- with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself toward the core of life. Then, only then, is it possible to grasp the significance of that first Christmas --- to savor in the inward ear the sweet music of the angel choir; to envision the star-struck sky, and glimpse, behind the eyelids, the ray of light that fell athwart a darkened path and changed the world. 

                                        Author Unknown

Joy to the World

JOY to the World! the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart, prepare Him room,

And heav'n and nature sing, And heav'n and nature sing,

And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing.

JOY to the earth! the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ,

While fields and floods,rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

HE rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders of His love.

JOY TO THE WORLD!

Detours

 

When Pharaoh let the people go, "God did not guide them by the road towards the Philistines, though that way was the shortest.... God made them go round by way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea" (Ex 13: 17, 18 NEB).

The direct route would save time as well as wear and tear on the people, but God had something infinitely more important than economics in mind--He wanted the people to be able to sing the song of praise of chapter 15--"The Lord is my refuge and my defence...my deliverer. He is my God and I will glorify Him; He is my father's God and I will exalt Him" (Ex 15:2 NEB). They sang this song because they had firsthand experience of God's power and deliverance. Pursued by all the chariots and horses, cavalry and infantry of Egypt, they had passed through the Red Sea in safety and seen the enemy drowned. They would have missed this glorious lesson if they had taken the short road.

When we are puzzled by delays and detours, let us think about the great purpose of life: to glorify God. The lessons He wants to teach us "in the wilderness" are priceless means of providing us with a song we could not otherwise have sung: "In Thy constant love Thou hast led the people!" (Ex 15:13).

~ Elisabeth Elliott

Bread for the Journey

 

Prayer! What is it that keeps us on our knees. Is it concern for a child? A sick loved one? Difficulty at work ?The dying? Prayer is the essence of conversing with God, our Father.

Here is a quote by Max Lucado from his book "Outlive Your Life" -

Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or teach without ceasing? Or have committee meetings without ceasing? Or sing without ceasing? No, but he did call us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17).
Did Jesus declare: My house shall be called a house of study? Fellowship? Music? A house of exposition? A house of activities? No, but he did say, "My house will be called a house of prayer" Mark 11:17."

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ." Col 4:2-3 NLT

"God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you created all that exists, and you sustain all through your infinite wisdom and boundless power. Yet you invite me to come to you in prayer, boldly and with the expectation that you will hear and answer me. Teach me, Lord to take full advantage of this privilege, especially in regard to reaching others with your love. Give me a heart for those who have yet to experience the fullness of your grace, and prompt me to pray for them and for their welfare. In Jesus name, amen."

A Christmas in the Alps

 

A Christmas in the Alps is a contemporary Christian novella written by Melody Carlson.

After losing her grandmother, Simone finds a letter written by her Great grandmother, Simone Sophia Beaumont, describing a "treasure" left behind in her family home. Great grandmother married an American navigator during the war and left France. Simone sells her grandmothers house and travels to Avre France, seeking the treasure. When she arrives in Avre, Estelle, her great aunt is cold and angry. But Simone learns about her family history and eventually Estelle learns to love her long lost niece.

What Simone finds is family, a bit of romance, mystery and a true treasure. 

This was a sweet story about forgiveness and depending on God. 

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All views expressed are my honest opinion.

Un-aging Youth

 For over 30 years, I looked forward to the start of school.

Whenever school supplies started showing up at the stores, a little thrill of excitement quivered through me.

 New pens and pencils.

The smell of glue and the hunt for the right pair of paper scissors.

Crayons and colored pencils in every hue of color. With new ones appearing every so often.

 Paper, paper, paper.

And of course a new bag to carry every little thing.

The school year marks the progression of time. We grow older and we leave behind the things of our youth. We learn and move onward towards being an adult. Making our way in this thing we call life.

Yet spiritually, we never grow old. Even with the passing of years we hover in un-aging youth. Totally opposite of natural life. If we study God's word, seeking to be more Christlike, we become more like a little child. Simple. Childlike. Trust. Inevitably, we grow younger instead of older.  Revelation 22:13 states, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."  When we trust Jesus with child-like faith, we begin the journey of eternal childhood. It is my desire to lean on my heavenly Father with the faith of a child. 

 

Trusting. 

 

Learning. 

 

Loving.