The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

People love the holidays. Some people a little too much. I mean really do we need to put our trees up before Thanksgiving? This year I heard Christmas music before Halloween! Yet those early birds don’t seem to put much of a damper on things. Why do people love this time of year?

Well, some of it is obvious. Family, faith, and fun. People seem more joyous. Even in the coldest dreariest weather, there is something special in the air. There are parties. Kids are excited about Santa. People singing. Things are decorated. Yet maybe there is another reason. We give gifts.

Wait, that the worse part right? The chaotic shopping, the commercialization, the cost. However, let’s consider a statement Paul quotes from Jesus in Acts 20:35 'It is more blessed to give than to receive”. We might get caught up on how many presents we have under the tree but true joy, real happiness is found in what we give. For some, this is the only time of year they show charity. The only time they consider the less fortunate. The only time they use what they have for someone other than themselves. Is it any wonder that it seems to make our world a little brighter and more hopeful?

A true spirit of giving shouldn’t be something we just reserve for a few weeks in December. Giving is a form of worship (Hebrews13:6). Our hearts are blessed when we look to find ways to help others. When we look for ways to be generous and give to others, we make every day better

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Galatians 6:9-10

Comments

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

The Right to Arm Bears

In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head. As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25 It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog