Volume 15: "Christmases Past"

In the news of our nation, I just saw where two people won a total of 636-million-dollars by guessing the "right" numbers playing the lottery. I have news for the "winners". All of their new-won money will not buy them peace. Peace isn't found in new money. Peace is found in an old manger.

You know what I miss most about "Christmases Past?" I miss the sense that everyone was content and grateful with what they had. I know that ever since the beginning of Creation people have been grasping for more and more, however, when I was a boy at Christmastime, it seemed that most all of the families in our community were more content and grateful with what they had rather than desiring more monetary gain. People seemed more at peace with their own lives, more glad for their health and less focused on others' wealth.

Call it the naive perspective of a child, because maybe that's where my memories of "Christmases Past" originate? If so, then, I want to be more like a child these days, like I was in those days. I don't want success in my mind to be defined as more and more financial accumulation, but in more and more faith saturation.

As I write these words, December 18, 2013, my Dad is in the Greenville, North Carolina, Medical Center in severe pain. A few days ago, he learned that he has a tumor at the base of his spine. Operating is not an option because it could paralyze him. So, while we await the results of a biopsy taken yesterday, Dad's pain is severe. Hopefully, today, a desired diagnosis will be discovered and some form of treatment to reduce the size of the tumor and find Dad some relief will begin to happen.

In talking with Dad early this morning, he said tenderly, "I am in great pain, son, but I have good peace." In our conversation, financial accumulation had no relevancy. The only things that matter now pertain to internal and eternal priorities. Remember, it's our faith, family, and friends that deliver to our lives the essence of true peace.

Good News! It's "Christmas Present!" Don't focus on money and "winning" some big, complicated Jack-Pot. Simply, fall at the manger and find everlasting Jesus-Present, and LIVE at Peace with God and with yourself this Christmas and beyond!

Grateful            

Holidays on the Horizon

I just want to say I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays on the horizon. Today, I just give thanks in advance before the holy days actually arrive, yes I give all thanks to our Generous God Who loved us so much that He gave us His one and only Son, sending Him to Bethlehem's manger so He could journey on to Calvary's Cross, to save and to sanctify our souls.

Meet me at John 3:16-17.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

The Other John 3:16? Give Up?

We're all familiar with John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

But I invite you to also consider with me on this wonderful Christmas Day the similar words of the other John 3:16. THE OTHER JOHN 3:16? Yes, 1 John 3:16. Here it is: We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.

Abba Father, on this Christmas Day, we give praise to You for so loving us that on that first Christmas Day You gave us Your only Son in Bethlehem's Manger. We are so grateful, too, that we know even more clearly what real love is because Your only Son gave up His life for us on Calvary's Cross. Help us to now GIVE UP our own lives for our Christian brothers and sisters so that we will prove to the world that we are Yours. Amen.

ALL.. JOY TO YOUR WORLD... All the boys and girls, now!
Grateful

His Arms-Wide-Open, Crying Invitation

From His first cry at His birth in Bethlehem's manger to His final cry at His death on Jerusalem's cross, God's Only Son had His Arms-Wide-Open inviting us to enter a love-relationship with the Trinity that begins on earth and continues for Eternity. Good news, indeed!

And the Good News gets Gooder, in that, His Arms-Wide-Open, Crying Invitation is still being extended to us. Christmastime accents the Christ Child's invitation. Let's respond to His invitation and let's invite others to also come to Bethlehem's Boy, yes Calvary's Lamb, for Heaven's forgiveness at Christmastime and all the time. We can turn His crying into laughing by receving The Gift of His Life with our Arms-Wide-Open and by sharing The Gift of His Life with our Arms-Wide-Open to others.

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD! ALL THE BOYS AND GIRLS NOW! :-)
Grateful

Christmas Prediction in the Book of Job?

This morning in my devotional time, I found what appears to be an illuminating Christmas prediction in the Book of Job. As soon as I read the words found in Job 39:9, I could hear the lyrics of a beloved Christmas Carol playing in my mind.

Here's Job 39:9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? (NIV)

Here's the beloved Christmas Carol:

Away in a manger, no crib for His bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.

The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle (oxen) are lowing. The poor Baby wakes.
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.

I love Thee, Lord Jesus. Look down from the sky,
And stay by my side,'Til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus. I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever, and love me I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
and take us to Heaven, to live with Thee there.

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

Christmas is Synonymous With Forgiveness

Father God sent His Son as a meal invitation, yes to offer us His love, friendship, and forgiveness. That's the meaning of sharing a meal in our Lord's Middle Eastern background. That's why Jesus got in trouble with the religious folk. He offered His love, friendship, and forgiveness to the sinners, evidenced by these words, "Jesus ate with sinners."It was the way He disarmed them and invited them to Eternal Life. (*See Bible reference below)

So, Father God sent His Son to be born in Bethlehem, a town known as "the House of Bread". Yes, the Baby Jesus was sent to be "the Bread of Life", and his cradle was a manger, "a feeding box". It's all about the most basic and blessed definition of Christmas -- forgiveness. So whatever Christmas is, it is an invitation to share a meal of love, friendship, and forgiveness with God. There are many wonderful words to explain Christmas, but to me Christmas is synonymous, yes, one-in-the-same, with forgiveness.

Christmas is undeniable evidence that God totally gives and God totally forgives. Will we share God's love, friendship, and forgiveness meal with others? Will we share the Baby Jesus, the Crucified Christ with those who are the seemingly hopeless among us and beyond us? Will we totally give our lives to God and totally forgive others? Will we celebrate Christmas for what it really is -- a meal invitation from God for our Eternal Life and meant to be shared with others?!

* Matthew 9:9-13 (NLT) -- (9) As Jesus was going down the road, He saw Matthew sitting at His tax-collection booth. "Come, be My disciple," Jesus said to Him. So Matthew got up and followed Him. (10) That night Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to be His dinner guests, along with His fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. (11) The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your Teacher eat with such scum?" they asked His disciples. (12) When He heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do." (13) Then He added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.’ For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough."

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful