Month: December 2021

Another year is coming to an end. A friend told me he intends to actually stay up until midnight on December 31^st this year; not to welcome the New Year, but to make sure this one is over. In many ways 2021 hasn’t been much better than 2020. I’m not as pessimistic as my friend. I know that as long as God is in control of my life, I will make it through whatever the enemy or the world throw at me.

I am making a drastic change in my New Year’s resolution list for 2022,  Instead of concentrating on my physical appearance and health, I intend to concentrate on my spiritual health. It might be because of the predictions that the rapture and Jesus’ return are at hand; or it might just be because my age puts me closer to the end than the beginning of my life.  I tend to believe it is neither of those reasons. I simply believe the Holy Spirit has witnessed my holiday diet and we both know increased exercise is never going to happen with these bad knees. He has decided I should work to improve something that I can have a positive effect on. Anyway, in the words of an old country song, “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it”.

The first, and most important, thing on my list is to continue writing this blog for another year, Lord willing. I get such a spiritual uplift as God gives me a topic; guides my fingers on the keyboard as I write about it and then helps me edit it before posting. God has given me a gift of communication and called me to share that gift and my Christian experiences with you.

The next thing is have a more structured prayer life. I am in an out of prayer all day long so it isn’t that I need to pray more, just in a more structured way. There will still be the usual “fox hole” prayes, “Help me Lord.” As I am about to stand to get on my walker; followed by “Thank you Lord” when I arrive at my intended destination. When I receive a prayer request from my pastor or our church office, I will continue to drop whatever I’m doing and pray for that need.  I do want to spend more time in prayer at the beginning and end of each day.

I plan to sign up for another through the Bible in a year app. This will be my third time through the entire Bible; not counting the research I do for my blog. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of reading and applying God’s word to your daily Christian life.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Keep them simple and important this year. If you keep the list short you will have a much better chance of keeping them. Just don’t forget the health and well-being of that newly born spirit God gave you when you first believed in Christ.       

Today is the day after Christmas. I pray that everyone reading this had a wonderful birthday party for our Lord. Yes, feasting, laughing and exchanging gifts, but also taking time to thank God for His eternal gift to us that we celebrate at this time each year. Is December 25^th really the day Jesus was born? There are many scholars who think it might have been in the fall instead. I don’t think it matters one bit. What really does matter is that we spend one day each year to celebrate and commemorate His birth.

Every human conception and birth is a miracle of God’s creation. The miracles of Jesus’ conception and birth are unique and particularly miraculous. He was conceived in the womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit. His DNA is at once heir of King David, son of Mary and the eternal Son of God. A third century scholar of scripture described the appropriate symbolism of the gifts of the Magi. “There is gold, for a king; myrrh, for someone who is mortal; and incense, for God.”  Jesus possessed all of those qualities from birth. His body is 100% human, while his mind and spirit are 100 % God. He is truly King of kings and Lord of lords. Thousands of times in history an infant has become a king, but only once has a King become an infant.

I can remember about 74 of the 78 Christmas Days since my birth. Ironically, the one that is etched in my memory as clearly as the one I just celebrated is the one when I was nine years old. It was soon after our home burned to the ground destroying  everything we owned except our car, the clothes we were wearing and a bookcase which was he only thing the  firemen were able to get out before it collapsed. I don’t remember what we ate or drank that Christmas. I don’t even remember gifts, if there were any. What I do remember is feeling the true meaning of Christmas for the first time with my family as we thanked God for sparing my mother and me from the flames. Life took precedence that year over presents and feasting; not only our lives, but the life of Jesus, who would become my Savior just two years later.         

As we commemorate the birth of Jesus with nativity scenes depicting Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men (who actually came later)  animals in the stable; and even angels celebrating from above; let us never forget the deity of that infant. Mary delivered Jesus and then He delivered us! 

Christmas is only a few days away. Every year we are reminded to be kind to everyone we meet because “the most wonderful time of the year” is the saddest, most difficult time of the year for many people. I think it is even worse when a loved one dies on or near the holiday and that sad memory becomes a part of every Christmas after that. It is also very difficult to get through your first Christmas without someone you love. This is my seventh Christmas without Carol and there is still a piece missing as I celebrate the birth of my Savior. I fill that empty gap with fond memories of all of the Christmas holidays we shared together.

What triggered this blog topic was a social media post by a good friend of mine from church. She is single and she described how every Christmas she would enjoy a wonderful day with her family, then go home with sadness to her empty home without a family and holiday traditions of her own. This is her description of why this year is different. “This year, the more I have focused on Advent: the expectation and excitement of the coming of Jesus, it has made this season WAY different. I think this applies if you’re sad about a lot of things….Can’t gift the way you like, that burden I believe will really lift in you re-program yourself to reflect, pray, read and rejoice on what Christmas is really about. God still knows the deep down desire that you don’t have to hide or be ashamed about. You’re tired of something turning into nothing. Some people have been single a couple of years, but some have been spending this holiday alone for decades….with a gentle heart I ask, can He get the shine through? Can we reflect on what this season means so we’re not burdened with the commercial view of this season?”

Although my wife and I had each other to share Christmas each year, we always felt a void because we had no children to share it with. Now I wonder if my legs were strong and I had children and grandchildren if I would dedicate my time to serving God with this blog the way I do. The Apostle Paul was single. He wished everyone was free to serve God as he was, but he also understood that others are called to marry and raise children. (See 1 Corinthians 7:6-9)

My friend and I are discovering when your full attention is on God and serving Him, wonderful blessings will crowd out sadness and self-pity. Gratitude for the blessings we have will replace regret for what we don’t have. The true joy of the Christian life is we are never alone. If someone planted a microphone in my townhome, they would swear I was talking to a roommate whose voice could not be picked up by the microphone. Those people would be absolutely correct!

I read an interesting statement today. “Being wanted feeds the ego, being valued feeds the soul.” Knowing the person who wrote that, as I do, I think he was comparing physical attraction with love. Certainly, my wife and I were physically attracted to each other, but it was the way we valued each other with love that got us through fifty years together.

 I also think it goes far deeper than that for Christians. God not only loves us and wants us to be His children; He shows the high value He places on us by sending His true Son to die in our place so we can have direct contact with Him; walking and talking with us as He did with Adam in the Garden. This poem by Myra Brooks Welch illustrates the different ways that humans and God value someone and the way God has adds value to our lives.

Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while

To waste his time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile,

“What am I bid good folks?” he cried. “Who’ll start the bidding for me?

A dollar, a dollar, who’ll make it two? Two dollars and who’ll make it three?

Three dollars once. Three dollars twice. Going for three -’ but no.

From the room far back a gray haired man came forward and picked up the bow.

Wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening the loose strings

He played a melody pure and sweet as a caroling angel sings.

When the music ceased, the auctioneer in a voice that was quiet and low

Said, “What am I bid for this old violin?”  and he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars and who’ll make it two? Two thousand and who’ll make it three?

Three thousand once, three thousand twice, going and gone” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried, “We don’t understand

What changed its worth?” Quick came the reply, “The touch of the master’s hand.”

Many a man with life out of tune, battered and scarred by sin,

Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin.

A mess of potage, a glass of wine, a game and he travels on.

He’s going once. He’s going twice. He’s going and almost gone.

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand

The worth of a soul or the change that is wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand.

Do you feel valued by God and by those closest to you? More importantly, do you value them with your words and your actions?

A Face Book friend, who is several years older than I am, announced he has now been cancer free for seven years after being treated for stage four lung cancer. As he celebrated the good news with us, he couldn’t help but wonder why God has given him these extra years while so many others have not been that fortunate. It brought back my search for purpose after my wife of fifty years died.

I’ve read about “survivor guilt” when someone is the sole survivor of a plane crash, natural disaster or the only one left of their platoon during war. They struggle with the questions “Why me? Why am I still alive and others aren’t?” Those are questions only God can answer. As born again followers of Jesus Christ, my friend and I go to Him for the answer. Although our quest might seem most urgent to us, I think it is a question we all struggle with at some time in our life – a search for purpose. Mark Twain once said, “The two greatest days in a person’s life are the day they are born and the day they find out why.”

I told my friend that my favorite statement is, “I am old and wise because God protected me when I was young and foolish.” I haven’t had cancer, like he has, but when I was 12 our family doctor misdiagnosed a disease that would have killed me if God had not provided a young doctor who knew what was wrong and how to treat it. There are five other times in my life that I know God has protected me from death or serious injury. No telling how many times He has saved me from dangers I wasn’t even aware of. All I know is that God isn’t finished yet with my friend or with me and if we look for ways to share God’s love with kind acts and a servant’s heart, He will continue to provide us with opportunities. 

We want God to show us our purpose because we are goal oriented creatures. We want to know what our end objective is, and then we will work to reach it. I read a few years ago about a man who asked God, “What is the purpose of my life?” God replied, “What if I told you it is that hour you spent discussing life with that boy? What if I told you it.is paying for that young couple’s meal at the restaurant? What if I told you it is saving that dog in traffic or helping that old woman across the street? What if I told you it is holding the door open for that stranger with a smile and wishing them a good day? Everything you do with love has purpose.” You see, God knows His purpose and the end result, but He wants us to concentrate on the process. His process involves love and service. Those are the things that apply His purpose to our life and that is the only purpose that will matter in the end.

Have you ever felt a strong wind in your face slowing your progress or even pushing you backward as you try to walk by faith? Have you ever felt like every step you take is an uphill climb? Have you ever encountered stumbling blocks or obstacles you must avoid? Have you ever looked up ahead at a mountain blocking your way? Welcome to the Christian life! Living as a child of God is full of mercy, grace, joy, peace and love. It is extremely rewarding now and for eternity. But it is not always coasting downhill with the wind at your back.

Jesus teaches us what to expect when we follow Him. “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sort of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” (Matthew 5:11-12) Paul tells us how resistance from the enemy can actually benefit us. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:3-5)

My birthday is in March, so when I was a young boy sometimes I would get a kite as a present. I would meet my friends in a field and we would see who could get their kite to fly the highest. For a kite to fly three things are needed. First, it needs a tail to stabilize it and keep it upright. Second, it must be attached to a long, strong string to keep it from being blown away out of control and destroyed. Third, it needs to face a fairly strong wind to get and keep it aloft.

You are probably wondering what a kite has to do with anything. I think a kite might be a great analogy of my Christian life. Like the tail of a kite, the Holy Spirit within me stabilizes my life and keeps me upright. Like the string attached firmly to the kite, my personal relationship with my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ keeps me from going out of control and being destroyed. Finally, when the enemy sends his wind of resistance and I face it, instead of slowing me down or pushing me back it actually lifts me above his stumbling blocks and even above that mountain that was in my way.

When you are coasting along smoothly, with no opposition from the enemy, you are probably traveling the wrong road. It is when you are where God wants you to be and doing what He wants you to do that the enemy will come after you with everything he has. When that happens, be happy and glad because it is confirmation that you are a true follower of Christ and a child of God. Always remember that the Spirit within you is greater than the sprit that is in the world.  (1 John 4:4).    

“Three things will last forever – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) I have written many times about love and I wrote about hope in my previous blog post. The Apostle Paul tells us that the greatest of the three is love; but there is a reason he listed faith first. If you want to be filled with hope and love, you must first put your faith in God through Jesus Christ. Without that faith our hope and attempts at love are in vain.

The writer of Hebrews begins the eleventh chapter with this definition of faith, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for, it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Then he lists many of those in the Old Testament who did great things by faith in God’s promise to them. That entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been called the “Faith Hall of Fame” .Those listed are surely heroes of faith, but  each and every person who put their faith in the God of creation and His promises has their own success story.

Those people of old had to put their faith in the future God promised. He fulfilled His promise to them when He sent His Son as a perfect sacrifice for their sins and ours. They rested their faith on the future. We rest our faith on what God has already done. We weren’t there to see it happen, but we rest our faith on the solid evidence of God’s word and the confirmation of His Holy Spirit within us.

Everyone has faith in something or someone. Is all faith good? Of course not! Many people of old put their faith in idols and false gods that had no power to save them. Some of them put their faith in kings and leaders. Others put their faith in material wealth or good works. Come to think about it, things haven’t really changed that much have they? People are still putting their faith in those things and more instead of in God. I have friends who claim to be atheists; they put their faith in their own ability. There are others today who put their faith in science, politics, education and even religious leaders instead of in God. It boils down to who or what we put our faith in. The term Christian has been so demonized by some in our society to the point that many Christians call themselves believers instead. I tried that for a short time, but came back to calling myself a Christian because I want everyone to know Who I believe in; whether they like it or not.

Let your faith rest on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, It is through Him that we have the Holy Spirit within us and direct access to our heavenly Father in prayer. When you put your faith in him, you have God’s promise of hope and love.     

“Three things will last forever – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) I have written many times about love and I wrote about hope in my previous blog post. The Apostle Paul tells us that the greatest of the three is love; but there is a reason he listed faith first. If you want to be filled with hope and love, you must first put your faith in God through Jesus Christ. Without that faith our hope and attempts at love are in vain.

The writer of Hebrews begins the eleventh chapter with this definition of faith, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for, it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Then he lists many of those in the Old Testament who did great things by faith in God’s promise to them. That entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been called the “Faith Hall of Fame” .Those listed are surely heroes of faith, but  each and every person who put their faith in the God of creation and His promises has their own success story.

Those people of old had to put their faith in the future God promised. He fulfilled His promise to them when He sent His Son as a perfect sacrifice for their sins and ours. They rested their faith on the future. We rest our faith on what God has already done. We weren’t there to see it happen, but we rest our faith on the solid evidence of God’s word and the confirmation of His Holy Spirit within us.

Everyone has faith in something or someone. Is all faith good? Of course not! Many people of old put their faith in idols and false gods that had no power to save them. Some of them put their faith in kings and leaders. Others put their faith in material wealth or good works. Come to think about it, things haven’t really changed that much have they? People are still putting their faith in those things and more instead of in God. I have friends who claim to be atheists; they put their faith in their own ability. There are others today who put their faith in science, politics, education and even religious leaders instead of in God. It boils down to who or what we put our faith in. The term Christian has been so demonized by some in our society to the point that many Christians call themselves believers instead. I tried that for a short time, but came back to calling myself a Christian because I want everyone to know Who I believe in; whether they like it or not.

Let your faith rest on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, It is through Him that we have the Holy Spirit within us and direct access to our heavenly Father in prayer. When you put your faith in him, you have God’s promise of hope and love.     

.    .     

I think the thing I take for granted most about my Christian life and walk with God is the hope I constantly feel. No matter how bad things may be, I never lose hope. Even when I feel helpless, I’m never hopeless. Paul wrote this to the church in Rome, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)  Yes, my confident hope does come from the power of the Holy Spirit within me and I have learned to lean on it time and time again.

For the last few weeks, a song from the past has popped into my mind for some reason. The version I remember came out in 1962, but I have leaned it was actually written in 1868. “Soft as the voice of an angel breathing a message unheard. Hope with a gentle persuasion whispering her comforting word. Wait ‘til the darkness is over. Wait ‘til the tempest is done. Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the darkness is gone. Whispering hope oh how welcome thy voice making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.“  There is another song that is more recent by the Hopper Family titled Hope. “It’s a hope that sometimes whispers, a hope that sometimes shouts and sometimes hope’s mighty gale will part the sea of doubt; or controls the raging fevers, command the storm of pain. Hope turns the life threatening tempest into a gentle soothing rain.”

Hopelessness is a horrible state. There has been an increase in the suicide rate, especially among teenagers. What goes through the mind of someone to make them think life is not worth living? It is based on their mental and emotional state and their environment. Although it may be a little different from person to person, the most common factor is a lack of hope. They find themselves in a miserable situation and they have no hope that things will ever get better. I admit that there was a time many years ago when the thought of suicide crossed my mind, but the Holy Spirit whispered hope into my spirit and that thought vanished in the light of that hope.    

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Three things will last forever – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)  Don’t ever underestimate the power of faith and hope. They are also needed for a healthy Christian life along with love. Trust God’s Holy Spirit within you. He will never let you forget them.