At the office Christmas dinner we were seated around a long festive table.
An identical package wrapped in red foil lay beside each plate.
Some people shook their package, a few checked their neighbor's -- and some opened their gift with excitement, taking it out of it's wrapping for others to see and touch and admire.
When the party ended some actually left their gift and walked a way.
A MIRACLE GIFT is still offered to each of us.
We can save it for late,
we can simply observe our neighbor's gift,
or we can receive it with delight and thereafter thank the creator for the magnificence of His generosity.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15
For God so loved the world, that HE GAVE his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Jesus is the reason for the Season
Christmas Is Costly It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect the little Babe. It cost mothers in and around Bethlehem the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod. It cost the shepherds the complacency of their shepherds' life, with the call to the manger and to tell the good news. It cost the wise men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives. It cost the early apostles and the early church, persecution and sometimes death. It cost missionaries of Christ untold suffering and privation to spread the good news. It cost Christian martyrs in all ages their lives for Christ's sake. More than all this, it cost God the Father, His own Son-He sent the earth to save men. It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history. 
What Manner of Man is This?
Jesus Christ was born in the poorest of circumstances, but the air above was filled with the hallelujahs of the heavenly host. His lodging was a cattle pen, but a star drew distinguished visitants from afar to do Him homage.
His birth was contrary to the laws of life. His death was contrary to the laws of death. No miracle is so inexplicable as His life and teaching.
He had no cornfields of fisheries, but He could spread a table for over five thousand and have bread and fish to spare. He walked on the waters and they supported Him.
His crucifixion was the crime of crimes, but, on God’s side, no lower price than His infinite agony could have made possible the redemption of His people. When He died, just a few mourned, but a black crepe was hung over the sun. Though men trembled not for their sins, the earth beneath shook under the load. All nature honoured Him - and will honour Him again, sinners alone rejected Him.
Sin never touched Him. Corruption could not get hold of His body. The soil that had been reddened with His blood could not claim His dust.
About three years He preached the Gospel. He wrote no book, built no meeting house, had no money behind him. After nearly two thousand years, He is the one central character of human history, the perpetual theme of all true preaching, the pivot around which the events of the age revolve, the only Regenerator of human beings.
Was it merely the Son of Joseph and Mary who crossed the world’s horizon nearly two thousand years ago? Was it merely human Blood that was spilled on Calvary’s hill for the redemption of sinners, and which has worked such wonders in man and nations through the centuries?
What thinking man can keep from exclaiming ‘My Lord and my God’?
- Keith L. Brooks.
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
From the start the movement was doomed to fail. For one thing, it began with just 120 men. Remarkably few when you consider that their homeland had a population of four million. Besides that most of the men were illiterate and poor. Blue-collar workers they were; far too ignorant to stage an uprising that could make any difference.
Few, if any, had traveled beyond their own country. They were inexperienced and uncultured. Their nation was ...oppressed. Their people were weary. Their government was corrupt. Their religion was shallow.
The strategy of the movement was disastrous. No headquarters was ever established. No professional research was ever done. Plans were made by the seat of the pants. The leaders couldn't even agree on the exact definition of their mission.
On top of all of this, the movement was impractical. It was far too extreme and absurd. It demanded too much too soon. It lacked any tact. It was too impatient with traditions. It called for a reversal of social classes. It gave too much leverage to women and minority groups.
The movement was doomed to failure. But it didn't fail. It succeeded. Not only did it succeed, it far surpassed any movement in our world's history. Within thirty years the message of Jesus Christ had entered every port, city, and courtyard of the world. It was infectious. It was a moving organism. People actually died to see it continue.
It should have failed, but it succeeded. And it still succeeds. God's movement will never stop. Some say that the U.S. is a post-Christian nation. That doesn't matter. Others scoff at the absurdity of believing in anything absolute. That won't stop it. Materialism blankets the country. Still the movement will continue. It might be slowed, but it will never be stopped.
The church might bicker and fight. The people might grow crusty with traditions. The leaders may grow nearsighted. But the movement will march on. Nothing will ever stop it. The Judean Commander can't be stilled.
We should fall to our knees in humble gratitude that God has allowed us to participate in such a cause. For this is not the movement of a man. It is the movement of God. That is precisely why what should have failed will never fail. It is the movement of God.
by Max Lacado (On the Anvil)
Romans 14:11For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."
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It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas – oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it: overspending; the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma; the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. And shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.
It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids – all kids – and he knew them, having coached little league, football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition – one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and one.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.
You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyes anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
author unknown
One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth
When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life
Dr James Allan © 1926.
The Shoemaker's Dream
One of the most beautiful of all Christmas stories was told by the American poet, Edwin Markham, about a cobbler, a godly man who made shoes in the old days. One night the cobbler dreamed that the next day Jesus was coming to visit him. The dream seemed so real that he got up very early the next morning and hurried to the woods, where he gathered green boughs to decorate his shop for the arrival of so great a Guest.
He waited all morning, but to his ...disappointment, his shop remained quiet, except for an old man who limped up to the door asking to come in for a few minutes of warmth. While the man was resting, the cobbler noticed that the old fellow's shoes were worn through. Touched, the cobbler took a new pair from his shelves and saw to it that the stranger was wearing them as he went on his way.
Throughout the afternoon the cobbler waited, but his only visitor was an elderly woman. He had seen her struggling under a heavy load of firewood, and he invited her, too, into his shop to rest. Then he discovered that for two days she had had nothing to eat; he saw to it that she had a nourishing meal before she went on her way.
As night began to fall, the cobbler heard a child crying outside his door. The child was lost and afraid. The cobbler went out, soothed the youngster's tears and, with the little hand in his, took the child home.
When he returned, the cobbler was sad. He was convinced that while he had been away he had missed the visit of his Lord. Now he lived through the moments as he had imagined them: the knock, the latch lifted, the radiant face, the offered cup. He would have kissed the hands where the nails had been, washed the feet where the spikes had entered. Then the Lord would have sat and talked to him.
In his anguish, the cobbler cried out, "Why is it, Lord, that Your feet delay. Have you forgotten that this was the day?" Then, soft in the silence a voice he heard:
"Lift up your heart for I kept My word.
Three times I came to your friendly door;
Three times My shadow was on your floor.
I was the man with the bruised feet.
I was the woman you gave food to eat,
I was the child on the homeless street."
O Come Let Us Adore Him
Luke 2:1-20. As you read, I pray you open your eyes anew to really see in the Christmas story the hearts of those involved in his birth generation.
The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child (Luke 2:16). Then they returned home, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen (Luke 2:20).
But some of the characters in the story of the birth of Jesus missed seeing him.
Have you thought about the people who missed Christmas?
As you consider them, ask yourself if you are missing Jesus for the same reasons.
The innkeeper missed Jesus because of ignorant preoccupation. Luke 2:7b
Herod the Great missed Him because of jealous fear. Mat. 2:3,12,16
The religious leaders missed Him because of self-righteous, prideful indifference. Mat. 2:4-6
The people of Jerusalem missed Him because of religious ritual. Luke 2:22-24,39
The Romans, who had their own gods, missed Him because of idolatry. Luke 2:1-2
The people of Nazareth missed Him because of familiarity. Luke 2:39; 4:16, 22, 29; John 1:10-11
Others besides the shepherds who "found" the Christ of Christmas had a new song to sing.
There's Mary. Luke 2:19 To what kind of person does God reveal His secrets? "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38).
Scripture records Mary's song:Luke 1:46 "My soul glorifies the Lord
Then there is Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-66). Note his God-given sensitivity to the plans of the God of Israel, which included John. Scripture records his response, called Zechariah's song.Luke 1:67 Zechariah [the father of John the Baptist] was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel.
May you find Him anew as you read the Christmas story--
and may you have a new song in your heart today as you sing Christmas Carols.
Matthew 1:23
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[a] (which means “God with us”).
He came from the throne of the Father to the womb of a woman.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity.
He became Son of man that we might become sons of God.
He was born in a supernatural way, lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity.
He had neither wealth nor influence, yet the wisdom of men has never matched His wisdom.
Never has a man spoken like this man.
His family was inconspicuous and not influential.
In infancy He startled a King.
As a boy, He stunned theologians with His knowledge and wisdom for He was taught of God.
In manhood, He ruled the elements and quieted the raging sea.
He healed the multitudes without medicine. And feed thousands from a boy's lunch. Even demons obeyed Him and He gave back life to those who died.
He never wrote a book, yet none of the libraries
of the world can contain the books that have been written about Him.
He never wrote a song, yet He furnished the theme of more songs than all song writers combined.
He never founded a college, yet all the colleges together cannot boast of as many students as He has.
He never marshaled an army, yet no leader has ever had more volunteers.
Great men have come and gone yet He lives on.
Herod could not kill Him.
Satan could not tempt Him to sin.
Death could not destroy Him.
The grave could not hold Him.
He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant's gown.
He was rich yet for our sakes He became poor.
He slept in another's manger.
He rode on another's donkey.
He was buried in another's grave.
He conquered death and rose on the third day as He said He would.
He ascended into heaven and is now at the right hand of the throne of God.
One day He will return with power and glory to judge the world when every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue shall confess Him as Lord--- His friends gladly, but enemies seeking for a place to hide from His face.
He is the perfect One.
The only One who can satisfy the soul.
He gives everlasting life to those who love Him.
He is altogether lovely.
He is my Savior.
author unknown
THE EVENT ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURE'S HANDBOOK
Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
Portions taken from: http://www.thefathersbusiness.com/devotionals.php
ONE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
"While working at a shoe store in downtown Truro, Nova Scotia, I noticed a little boy standing on the hot air register outside the bakery shop next door in his bare feet, trying to keep warm. I was unsure whether to invite the boy into the store, or just what to do with him, when a middle-aged lady came by. After a few words with the barefoot boy, she brought him into the shoe store. She bought him new shoes and heavy woolen socks, for which he tried awkwardly to thank her. "Are you God's wife?" he asked his benefactor. Taken aback by the question, she took some time before replying, "No son, I'm just one of His children." "Well, I knew you must be some kin to Him", he said as he thanked her again and ran out the door."
by Zelda Cornish
'Twas the night before Jesus came
And all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care,
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.
...
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap,
Was watching The Late Show while I took a nap.
When out of the East there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray,
I knew in a moment that this must be The Day.
The light of His face made me cover my head;
It was Jesus! Returning just like he said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name,
When He said; "It's not here"; my head hung in shame.
The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound
While all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.
In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call,
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!
Author Unknown
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
Disclosure: Much of what is in my posts are things I have compiled through the years and I do not know if they have copyrights. What I do know about origin or website I give credit and have tried to always post a link to the origin. I do not market anything in any way on this blog -- I merely hope it will encourage and inspire others.
1 comment:
Definitely Jesus has become too familiar along with Santa he is often now classed a myth.
We must always remember he was-- Once a child conceived supernaturally -- next a dead and then alive-- risen savior -- soon to return the reigning King of Kings / Lord of Lords-- when every knee shall bow -- every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord.
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