The TRUE Christmas Gift

A man saw a world in turmoil. There was fighting and oppression. There was an overbearing government, full of greed and desire for power. There was a church that was more concerned about punishing those who broke its rules than about the heart of the person, the pain that he/she had endured. Love was seemingly forgotten. The man knew he had to do something!

He remembered a time when all was perfect in the world, when he walked with his friends and talked with them. He had a personal relationship with them. That had been so wonderful! He smiled as he remembered Adam calling out to him just to talk. Eve would show him the beautiful flowers and tell him how much she loved each one. "Oh, the good old days!" the man sighed, nostalgically. It had been so long ago! Over the years, there had been some who sought after him, who did everything they could to please him and to obey him, but they couldn't walk together through the garden. They couldn't just hang out together and have a conversation. Oh, how he longed for that relationship again!

He knew it was time, so he called his only son to come sit and talk. He told him that the time had come to put their plan into action. Jesus knew the plan; there was no need to tell him again. "Have you found the woman you want to do the job?" Jesus asked.

"I have," God replied. "Her name is Mary. She's a young, virgin woman. She is betrothed to a young man named Joseph. They have both lived clean, upright lives. They have both sought to please me and obey my commandments. Mary has asked me to use her however I need to. Last night, I sent Gabriel to tell her the plan. She agreed. Gabriel also told Joseph and he agreed, too. The plan is set. I love you so much, my dear son, but this has to be done."

"I know, Father. I love you, too." Jesus fought the tears that were forming in his eyes. He turned away from his father. "I love them, too!" God placed his hands on Jesus' shoulders.

"You've got this, Son! I'm so proud of you! Now, go show the human race how much We love them!"

The Trip Two Teenagers Took

I want you to stop and THINK HARD about this. Use your imagination. Close your eyes after each sentence and get a picture in your mind's eye.

A teenaged girl and her boyfriend are all alone travelling miles away from home. They don't have a car, only one donkey who can't carry them both. They walk/ride for miles upon miles. Feeling the rhythmic movement of the animal beneath her the girl, nine months pregnant, begins to feel pains that she doesn't understand. She tells her boyfriend that they need to stop, but he insists that they press on. This took place at a time when there wasn't health class at the public high school to teach kids about anatomy, sex, and childbirth. The lights of the city begin to come into view when all of a sudden a gush of fluid... Mary is scared. The pains are coming harder now and lasting longer. Joseph, whose legs hurt and blisters are forming on his feet, tries to walk faster. He doesn't know what to do with Mary. He wants to comfort her, but doesn't know how. He thinks "If I can just get her to Bethlehem, we will find someone who will know what to do." But when they finally arrive in the city, it is late and most people have gone to bed. Joseph sees an inn and figures if he can get Mary to lie down maybe, just maybe, the baby will wait until morning. He tells Mary to wait outside so she doesn't have to climb down. He goes in and asks for a room. The clerk says he doesn't have an empty room. He suggests that Joseph try the inn down the road. After approaching numerous clerks begging for a room, Mary begins to feel pressure along with the pains, which are now very intense. Joseph, fighting the tears, trying to stay calm for Mary's sake, tells the clerk that the baby is coming now and he needs help. The clerk says "There are no rooms, but I suppose you can go in the barn. There is some hay in there for your donkey. I'm sorry, but that's all I have to offer." Out of options, they agree. This is not at all how Mary had envisioned giving birth to her first child. Joseph led the donkey into the barn and helped Mary down. He tried to help her get comfortable, but the pain was almost unbearable and the hay stabbed her with every move. Joseph offered Mary some water from the canteen. Both scared and nervous, neither knew what to do, but following their instincts, Joseph delivered the baby. Mary held the baby against her skin and wrapped her clothing tightly around him as she nursed her son for the first time. Although Joseph was exhausted from the long trip, he took the lantern and searched the barn for anything that might be useful. He found an old trough. He moved it over by Mary, filled it with hay and shaped the hay to conform to the baby. He, then, fed the donkey and gave him water before he sat down by Mary's side. Mary had been crying silently. She was overwhelmed with love for little boy that she had just brought into the world. Joseph wiped the tears from her cheeks and began to pray out loud. An angel appeared to comfort them. Later, in the middle of the night, strangers began to arrive at the door of the barn--shepherds and wisemen bearing gifts for the Newborn King.

So many times we get caught up in all of the "requirements" of the Christmas season: shopping, decorating, wrapping, parties, and for some depression, feelings of worthlessness, and missing loved ones. Let us remember and share the details of this story--the only thing that really matters!

Merry Christmas!

I selected this picture because all of the other ones I found had Joseph and Mary looking old. I also love the looks on their faces in this one. Poor Joseph looks like he's thinking, "What do we do with him?"

Light--Catching Fire!!!

This blog was birthed after a conversation regarding the movie Catching Fire. I will say that when I first read the book The Hunger Games, I, too, was appalled by the thought of teens killing teens. I had read the book because the librarian gave it to my 11-year-old daughter to read I was monitoring her reading. That was five years ago when the book first came out. Since then our society has seen a serious decline in morality with reports of teenagers killing or violently attacking random victims of any age for sport—the knockoutgame, a child killed in his stroller after the teens robbed his mother, a college student shot in the back because teenagers were bored, and many more.

 

 

 

I had taken my, now, 16-year-old daughter to see Catching Fire and I posted on Facebook what a good movie it was. I expressing that Catching Fire opened the door for my daughter and I have a discussion about teen violence in the world around us and that it only takes one determined to do the right thing to turn everything around. The conversation grew until there were about three or four parents on each side of the issue. I was, at one point, accused of allowing Hollywood to teach my daughter morals. One, I didn't use the movie to SKIRT my responsibility of teaching my daughter, but rather as a tool to ASSIST me. Two, I'm not talking about an 11-year-old. She's 16! She has the basics down by now.

 

Other parents in the discussion brought up Phil 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." I think, too often, some Christians use this verse as an excuse to hide away in a little bubble while ignoring the world around them. It's easier to just surround themselves with people who think like they do and turn a blind eye to the violence that is on the rise.

 

That lead me to Matt 5:14-15 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house."

 

Light is such an interesting thing. Many people have never experienced utter darkness—the can't-see-your-hand-right-in-front-of-your-face kind of darkness. I have a few times when visiting Ruby Falls and Mammoth Cave. For some reason they always find it necessary to turn the lights off for a minute. It's powerful, and scary! This is the kind of darkness that those in hell will experience (referred to as "outer darkness" in Matt 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30).

The darkness in your bedroom, which isn't as dark as utter (outer) darkness even if you have it as dark as possible, is comforting. We find peace in that darkness because we find rest there. When someone suddenly flips the light on, our first reaction is to cover our eyes and then yell at the person who invaded our resting place. It literally hurts our eyes!

When the sun is beating in your bedroom window and someone flips the light on you barely notice, if you notice at all. Maybe it was the sound of the light switch more than the actual light that alerted you to the fact that the light has been turned on. The dome light in your car comes on when you open the door whether it's daytime or nighttime, yet you only notice it at night. My point is this, you must have darkness for the light to make a difference and the darker it is, the more impact the light will have. An interesting observation however, is that darkness NEVER overpowers light, but light ALWAYS overpowers darkness. The dark doesn't even try to “fight” back. It just submits to the light.

 

The Bible refers to sin as darkness and Jesus as light (Job 12:22 and Luke 2:32). The sin in this world is similar to the darkness in your bedroom. You can see a little light here and there, but the darkness is pretty overwhelming until your eyes adjust to it. Once you adjust and get comfortable, the sudden shedding of light is an assault and your first reaction is to cover your eyes, to remain in the darkness. Sometimes, even yelling at the person who revealed the light. It invades our resting place. It hurts at first, but you will eventually adjust to it, if you are willing to pull your hand off of your eyes. However, if you are sitting in your bubble with no one around you except other light-bearers, your light is useless.

 

Christians are not the light. We are merely bearers of the Light. John 1:8 "John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light." Jesus is the Light. We live in a dark world and it is getting darker. It is our responsibility, as bearers of the Light, to let our lights shine! As we expose sin, people may get mad at us as they cover their eyes to it and try to hide from light. There may be consequences for speaking the Truth of God's Word in this dark world. People may curse at us, ostracize us, cancel business contracts with us, etc but we are called to be the light anyway. If you keep your light to yourself, however, not only are you useless, but the dark, sinful people will still call you names, like arrogant, holier-than-thou, Bible-thumpers.

 

If I'm going to be called names and persecuted anyway, I figure I might as well make as much of an impact for Christ and shine the Light in love to as many as possible. At least then my persecution won't be in vain!

Trust Your Gut

This is actually yesterday's thought that I forgot to post.
Thought for the day: Always trust your gut. Romans 14:23 NLT "But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning."

The Sky... The Word

Is the sky blue or gray? There is only one correct answer and it it's a always true even though it may APPEAR otherwise. When you look up, the sky looks gray at times,  but behind the clouds, the sky is always blue. God's word is always true even when it doesn't appear that away.

Freedom

This entire controversy about Mr. Cathy finally stating his position on gay rights was all a ploy by the GLBT. He has remained silent on the issue for a very long time because it had nothing to do with chicken (his business). The GLBT pushed and pushed for him to answer them and then when he finally did they have the "audacity" to get enraged. We all fell right into their trap. The whole point was to get the controversy all riled up again. Remember, people, it's an election year! I don't believe they anticipated the support that Americans displayed today!

I have no issue with Mr. Cathy taking a stance. It is his right to take that stance and I applaud him for not cowering under pressure. If the tables were turned and it was politically incorrect to say you support gay marriage, I would still applaud you for standing up for what you believe in.

Too many people today are afraid to speak their minds because if you aren't liberal you aren't politically correct. And if you disagree with someone and you have the nerve to say you disagree you're labeled a bully. Stating one's opinion is not bullying; it's stating one's opinion. It seems to me like liberals are all about freedom of speech ONLY if that speech is liberal. They are all about choice ONLY if they agree with the choice you make. That isn't freedom. Freedom is the ability to have your own opinion even if others do not agree.

I Will Never Forget

Everyone was affected in some way by the tragedy that happened 10 years ago today. How did it impact your life? Did the changes that you resolved to make in your life "stick" or have you fallen right back into your old way of life?

On September 11, 2001 we were living in Chicago. I was driving Abby, then age 4, to daycare when I turned on the radio to Mancow's Morning Madhouse on Q-101 and heard Mancow talking about planes flying into the World Trade Centers in New York. Mancow had a tendency to have a sick sense of humor so I thought he was joking. I remember thinking how wrong that was for him to joke like that. When I got to the daycare they were talking about it. It was then that I realized it wasn't a joke.

My office was right across the street from the daycare and when I walked in everyone was in a tizzy. All of the women were in the conference room gathered around the only TV in the office. At that point the plane that eventually crashed in Pennsylvania was thought to be headed for the Sears Tower. While we were safe in Naperville, a suburb about thirty miles from downtown Chicago, many of our husbands, including mine, worked downtown. The phone lines were all jammed so we couldn't get through to them.

I went to my desk to put my stuff down before going back to the conference room when I saw my boss, Joy, sitting behind her desk working.

I went in her office. “Have you not heard the news?”

"Yeah, I heard,” she replied and kept on working.

“They think the missing plane is heading for the Sears Tower. Aren't you even the least bit concerned?” I asked.

“Yes, I care, but staring at the TV isn't going to change anything. I prayed. That's all I can do. Now it's in God's hands. I've got Jesus and Jesus has this. There's no point in stressing over it,” she replied.

“You're nuts!” I said as I left her office and went back towards the conference room. I couldn't believe I had just talked to my boss that way, but that's really what I thought. Even though I was raised in church, I wasn't taught to give things to Jesus and then not worry about them. I had never had any kind of peace in my life and I interpreted her peace in this situation as craziness.

By the time I reentered the conference room, the plane had gone down in Pennsylvania. Our husbands were safe. It would be hours yet before we would know that the plane was never headed to Chicago, but turning around and going back to the east. The rest of the day was not very productive. We tried to get to work, but it was hard to stay focused. We all had our radios on listening to the news as we waited impatiently to speak with our husbands.

Lying in bed a few days later, my husband asleep next to me, I heard the F-16s flying overhead. I thought it was amazing that these men and women who didn't know me at all were willing to lay their lives down to save mine if necessary. I lay there thinking about that for quite sometime when I thought, or, more accurately, heard God speaking in my spirit, that it was just like when Jesus died for me. He laid His life down for me.

The next morning at work, I told my boss about being raised in church, but not seeing anything God has done in my life. I told her about Myles' and Jessica's murders, my plea to God to let me die in their place, and the open investigation. I told her it seemed more like God was out to get me than to show me He loved me.

“'The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life and that life more abundantly.' That's what Jesus said in John 10:10. God didn't kill your children; Satan did that. God didn't bring all the pain and suffering that you and your children have endured; Satan did. God wants you to have a happy and abundant life. Satan wants you to be miserable, and if he can get you to blame God for it, well, that's even better. The Bible says in First Peter that Satan is prowling around like a lion looking for people to devour. That doesn't always mean physical death.”

Over the next few months I found myself in Joy's office talking about God a lot. I would think about what she said while lying in bed at night and then ask her questions the next day. She explained things to me like I had never heard them before. This time, they made sense. She worded them in such a way that I could comprehend them.

In November, I told her I wanted to go to church. I was surprised when I walked in the door to find people dressed in jeans and t-shirts. It looked like I had just walked into a biker bar, not into church. At first I thought they were weird and this must be some cult or something. Then they started worship and they were singing about Jesus. Teen Challenge was there that day and so there were a number of different people telling their stories about how God saved them from drug and alcohol addiction. Quite a few of the stories hit a chord in me.

A few weeks later, I responded to the altar call at the church I had been going to and gave my life to Christ for real this time. I finally understood that accepting Jesus was more than just praying a prayer and saying the right words. You have to believe it.

While I'm sorry for the those who lost loved ones that day, I am grateful that it happened. Please don't take that the wrong way, but I have to wonder if that had not happened, would I be saved today? God turned it around in my life, as I'm sure He did in many others. “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people.” Gen 50:20 NKJV

Satan wants to destroy us. Sometimes he uses drugs and alcohol; sometimes he uses money or lust; sometimes he uses pain and suffering. He knows our weaknesses and he plays on them and uses them to tempt us to turn away from God. The good news is that God never gives up on us. He is always there—pursuing us and waiting for us. Whenever we turn to Him, He is there. He is ready and waiting, even when we think we have done too many horrible things. He wants to forgive us. He wants a relationship with us.