Mery Christmas

May you have a joyous Christmas and enjoy your families during this very special holiday.

I will be taking a break until January 2, in order to prepare for 2015.

Our Confessor

“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome god, who keeps his covenant with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.’”

Daniel 9:5-6 (NIV)

    Do you remember when you were young and you did something that caused heartache—both bad or dangerous behavior-- and our parents found out? We had to tell what we had done.

     Even as Christians, we sometimes do something that is wrong in God’s eyes or place ourselves in a perilous circumstance. We realize that we have to confess our sins to God, through Jesus. He is our confessor; we can trust Jesus to guide us through the pitfalls we encounter because we are human.

     He is our only judge; we go before Him, tell him of our deeds, and wait for God to discipline us. He listens with patience as we lay our sins at His feet.

       If we allow Him, God hears our confessions and guides us through the times of hardship. My Sunday school teacher has said many times that “The only thing that can stop the will of God is the will of man.”

               As we go beyond the Advent season, let us continue to focus on Jesus and the plan God has for us, His children. 

Christ the King

               Lately, I have been ‘heart singing’* the carol, “What Child Is This?” Yesterday, I awoke with the words and tune playing in my mind.

               I especially like the response to the title question. The writer sums up in a few words that the child is Christ the Lord.  He continues on to tell his listeners that the child is so special the angels sing of Him. The author then tells those who listen to bring Him praise.

               One of the special videos of this season shows a shopping mall filled with people who break out singing Christmas carols. The vast array of people sings three carols, ending with “O, Holy Night” while Mary and Joseph with the Christ child enter into the midst of the throng. As the people come to the end of the carol, they kneel down before the babe in worship.

               At church yesterday, one of the Christmas carols we sang was-that’s right- “What Child is This?” I believe God has a message for me in this turn of events.

               God’s plan for His children is for us to assist in building His kingdom by living the faith He gave us and to tell others of His marvelous love for all His children.

               I know I plan to hear this special carol one more time before Christmas Day. I will also have the refrain playing in my heart and mind for some time to come.

               Do you have a Christmas carol that has special meaning for you this Advent season? How do you give praise to the Lord Jesus?

NOTE:

*Heart-singing is a word I made up. One heart-sings when a hymn plays continuously in our minds and hearts throughout each day God has given.

What Child is This?

Peace on Earth

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 (NIV)

Each day in our newspapers and our television news broadcasts we read and hear about war, terrorism, and unrest affecting innocent people.

Because of this, some of us don’t enjoy the news media. But can we ignore the reports? If we look away from these events we will be ‘sticking our heads in the sand’. The truth of this matter is we have to be informed about these atrocities and include the innocents of these events in our prayers.

These events happen worldwide. Yes, even in my own nation, we see unrest in larger cities. We see the aftermath of unrest where small businesses are burnt to the ground for no reason except that people are angry about a decision that was not to their liking.

People find ways to protect themselves from harm. But there are times when harm comes to school children and they have become the targets of hostile people. A close friend of mine shared with me that her husband said, “You are not going out alone at night.” He basically said this out of fear.

Jesus tells us He gives us peace. He continues and tells us it is His peace and that peace is different from that of the world.

How can we describe Jesus’ peace?

1. His peace is lasting. The world’s peace only lasts until one nation or group infringes on another people or nation.

2. His peace calms our hearts and souls. The world’s peace is uneasy. In my adolescence, I was made aware that our nation had an uneasy peace—the powers  that be called it “The Cold War.”                              

3. His peace changes us. We view things through God’s eyes. No longer do we try to try to supplant our will onto God.

4. His peace makes us more humble. When we are aware of having His peace in our hearts, we are conscious of Who He is and who we are.

5. His peace satisfies. When we have Jesus’ peace, our wants are fewer. Those desires become very practical.

6. His peace allows us to withstand difficulties better. We know we can rely on James 1:2-4 to allow ourselves to grow in Christ.

7. His peace is a gift: The heavenly host of angels told the shepherds “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV)

8. His Peace enters our hearts. One of my favorite hymns tells me that peace begins with me.

Dear Lord God:

Thank You for giving us Jesus. Thank You for the peace that He gives us who belong to Him.  Help us to be more like Christ as we go through our daily lives. Guide us through each day You give us. We will give You the praise and the glory. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen   

The Heart of Humor-A Review

               Today, I  share with you my thoughts on my friend, Jeanette Levellie’s, new book, The Heart of Humor.

               Jeanette uses her wit and wisdom to take us through 60 short chapters to bring some cheer into the lives of her readers. 

               The front cover seems to be a cartoonlike drawing of who she is, complete with red hair and hearts floating around her. What is really neat is on the back of the cover we see the back of her head with those hearts still afloat around her. I like this design.

               Jeanette approaches each topic with a sense of lightening hearts of her readers. In one chapter she tells about being addicted to Facebook and how she got in Facebook Jail. In another chapter, she confesses about certain areas of her life. She surprises people with her candor about things most of us don’t even think about.

               My favorite one of all gives rules for a pity party; she gives ten of them. At the end of each chapter she includes a small section called, From My Heart To Yours. At the end of this particular piece, she tells us, “I realize the secret is to recognize who sends me the invitation, and to shout ”NO!” the minute I am tempted. Then I kick his sorry self out with praise and thanksgiving.”

           Read what others are saying about Jeanette's latest book'

            /heart-of-humor-what-people-are-saying.html

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             Heart of Humor is available at
 e-book:http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Humor-Jeanette-levellie/dp/B00PNRC9S6/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418503052&sr=1-1&keywords=Heart+of+Humor


Print Book http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Humor-Jeanette-levellie/dp/1942513011/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418502836&sr=1-1&keywords=Heart+of+Humor

               I received this book from the author, Jeanette Levellie. All she asked me to do was read it and give and honest review.

   

Everlasting Father

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders

and he will be called. . .  Everlasting Father. . . .”

 Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

               Isaiah calls the babe to come Everlasting Father. Do we really understand what this means? We struggle with the idea that when God created us He saw us as we were being formed. (Psalm 139) Might we also strain with the concept of God being with us after we depart this earth? (Revelation 21:3)

               As I sit here doing what I believe God has chosen for me to do, the act of spreading His love through the written word, I am caught up with compassion for a friend who recently began to live with Jesus in her new home in heaven.

               We all want to go to heaven but we don’t want to go through the entry process in order to get there. That process of experiencing illness and the next step is basic to get us there. As a special friend to me, it’s a part of our journey.

               Yet, God is there as we go through times of hardship. He cradles each of us, His children, as we face personal or family crises, be it medical, financial, interpersonal, and even loss.

               When we get to see Him face to face, He will allow us to crawl up on his lap and snuggle up against Him. He will pull us closer to Him and whisper words of comfort into our ears. He will brush away each tear from our face and allows us to see inside His heart.

               God does this for us time after time. He does this because of His ever-presence with us. He truly shows us what a Father’s love should be. 

Redeemer

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his son,

born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those

under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

“when the time had fully come,”

               The Apostle Paul writes to the believers in Galatia. He speaks of Jesus coming at the chosen time. God saw a need for His son to come to earth.

“God sent his son, born of a woman,”

                The people had not listened to the prophets He had sent in earlier years. It had been 400 years since the people had heard from God in this way. He chose to send His Son as His personal ambassador to this hurting world.

                                    

“born under the law,”

               God chose to have His son enter our world as a baby in order to get our attention. Do you remember one of your parents asking if they had your attention when you were in trouble? I do.

“to redeem those under the law,”

               The believers in Galatia knew the concept of someone being a redeemer. In the Old Testament, a close kinsman saved land of a person who had lost their land through a time of hardship. The Galatians understood the importance of the work of a redeemer. 

“that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

               The kinsman redeemer allowed the rightful heir to land to regain his dignity. When Christ grants us salvation, we receive a new-found peace about who we are. Jesus Christ redeems us of our sins and gives us a new life.

  

 Since I Have Been Redeemed