Tag: Christmas

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The Empty Promises of Christmas

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EMPTY

I can speak only for myself, but I’ve been guilty of many empty promises over my lifetime. I’ve let people down, I’ve frustrated myself and most of all I’m sure I’ve disappointed God. Empty promises start out full of good intentions, and then slowly, like the drip of a faucet the good leaks.  Okay… I’ve managed to send my mind into a pit of despair. Let’s dig our way out with a few empty promises of God.

It all started from an empty space

Genesis 1:2

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

There was nothing… and then there was everything! Does that not amaze you? And how is that a promise?

Proverbs 30:5 says that “ Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” That’s a promise of God that every Word He’s ever spoken is truth and that from the beginning of time when He spoke this world into existence there was a plan… and we were in the plan and it started from an empty space. If God can do that with an empty space, what can He do with us? He promises something, but we have to be willing. He said in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” I cling to that verse every time Satan tells me that God has nothing for me to do. Before I was born, before that empty space, God knew me and had a plan for me. The space was empty, the future was full.

The world is still empty

But we who know Christ are full! God starts out with emptiness, but from the beginning of time, as soon as He puts His hand to it, it’s filled with His goodness. That thought has my soul bubbling this morning.  The darkness as empty and then “Bang!” it was good. In the world we have nothing, but then the Lord touches our heart and saves our soul and “Bang!” it’s good. Read Luke 1:46-53 and hear Mary’s words about the fullness of her life when God filled her with the Son of God.

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

Mary carried Him physically, we carry Him spiritually but with the same result. We start out empty, but with Him we are full of His goodness.

The tomb was empty

Luke 24:1-8

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words,

He’d told them what was to come to pass, He’d kept His Word. And because of that precious promise of that empty tomb, we have the gift of eternal life. No greater Christmas gift will we ever receive than the salvation of God. Merry Christmas child of God!!!! Gloraaaaaay!!!!

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Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

How to have a Satisfied Christmas

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CHICK SATISFIED

Satisfaction. I don’t know that I ever achieve it when it comes to my personal goals. I’m not satisfied being a mediocre Christian, and yet that’s what I am in comparison to many others.  Comparison and   satisfaction are mortal enemies that kill the spirit. I have two very different daughters. One loved music the other sports and I tried to nurture each accordingly. The irony is they really weren’t so different. The lover of music because a nurse who cared for the injured. The athlete was musically gifted as well, and relies on her sister quite often for help with injuries, being the mom of three very active little boys. My point in that story is that I love them so much, I don’t compare them, because they are two entirely different beings; unique and awesome just the way God created them. Comparing children causes them to doubt who they are as individuals and damages the spirit. Now me on the other hand, I’m a little harder on myself. No, I am lot harder on myself.

Satisfaction should be a personal goal between you and God. God has expectations of His creations, and we are full of unused potential. I fully believe that, and yet comparison causes us to limit our abilities and kills the spirit within us to be all that we can be. We align our talents up to the world around us. It’s also very easy to align our Christmas up to the world around us. Neighborhood houses compete for the best lights, friends compete for the best parties, and parents compete for the best gifts, all of which serves to kill the spirit of Christmas.

This morning I sat my sights on satisfaction. That’s the gift that I want for myself for Christmas. I want to be satisfied with where I am, but excitedly expectant of where I’m going. If God has me sitting still today, that’s okay… perhaps I need a time out. But there’s still a plan in process that requires action so long as I’m breathing.

Apostle Paul said in  Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

I’ve learned that there is a fine line between content and contention. Contention (conflict) comes from within when we get our sights off things above. Paul had multiple time outs, did he not? How many times was he beaten and imprisoned and taken off the “apparent” playing field. And all the while he was writing these letters… the ones we read today that encourage our soul a few thousand years later. Paul was satisfied with where he was, believing with confidence that God had something greater. And that something greater was me. Not me being better than Paul, but that in 2015 I would be sharing Paul’s words for the encouragement of others and taking them to heart for myself. Glory to God!!! I just wrote myself happy again.

Sidelined… I hate it. I guess that’s why God never gave me the desire to play sports. First of all He knew I’d be really bad it; my baby didn’t get her skills from me, and because of that I’d have been sidelined in every game. And I’m a doer. And in so being a doer I sometimes (actually often times) do it hurriedly. Hey, I’m 53, who knows how much time I got left! God’s working on me this  Christmas to give me the gift of “satisfaction.”

I sang at my Mom-in-laws funeral service Sunday, “I’m satisfied with, just a cottage below, a little silver, and a little gold, But in that city, where the ransomed will shine, I want a gold one, that’s silver lined!”

I do indeed live in a little cottage below that causes me often times to want a mansion on this side of glory… Be satisfied Shari… I want more money… be satisfied Shari…. I want God to use me…. Be satisfied Shari…. I want more acoustic instruments…. Be sati…. 🙂 Just kidding Lord. Be Satisfied Shari.

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Posted in Christian Service, Christmas, Life Inspiration

Do you need to regroup this Christmas?

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chick regroup

Christmas. What a wonderful, magical, depressing, jolly, agitating, sentimental, disastrous, lovely, argumentative, splendiferous season. I’m blessed to be part of a church family that together focuses on the Christ of Christmas throughout this season with special nights and programs that slow me down. I’m afforded and blessed as well to have time of my own to regroup my thoughts and wrap myself up with the Holy Spirit of God rather than scotch tape and frilly paper. But even so life gets messy.  My mind races and my to-do lists pile high and this morning even with all the blessings in my life I need to regroup and remember three things about the season I’m in. I’m glad you’re here with me and I’m praying that you and I can regroup for Christmas.

2 Corinthians 8

The Grace of Christmas

1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;

Paul speaks to the church of Corinth about the testimony of grace belonging to the church of Macedonia. I wonder this morning if I’m hogging all the grace for myself this Christmas. The  grace of God that I’ve experienced through awesome times in the Lord with my Church family, that I wouldn’t trade for the world, were needful experiences but were confined to the walls of Victory Baptist Church. The church of Macedonia’s grace was outside the walls of the sanctuary and evident in the community. My Grace needs relocated.

The Gravity of Christmas

2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

Although America is in a mess spiritually, I’m still free to worship Jesus and tell the story of His love, I have food on my table, a home, car, I have stuff… abundant stuff. I don’t get the gravity of actual needs that so many experience 365 days a year. Christmas for them will be another day without even so much as the fundamentals in life. This was where the church of Macedonia was at, in trials and deep poverty yet rich in liberality. The church of Macedonia gave as if they were rich believing that every need they had would be provided for. My gravity (importance) needs redistributed.

The Gift of Christmas

3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;

4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

The power of the church of Macedonia came from their willingness to give beyond what was possible. The gift of Christmas has always been sacrifice. The world is in love with the Babe in the manger, but the Babe was just the beginning of the story of God in the flesh, who became the final sacrifice and atonement for sin. The gift of life that I’m given is more than the ability to breathe, it’s my ability to serve. What a gift! For certain Macedonia was sharing the gift of the gospel, but they didn’t stop there. They knew their world needed Jesus, but perhaps before they could receive Him, they needed nourishment for the strength to go on. Yes, my community needs Jesus… but they may need their gas bill paid, or their lights turned on, or a turkey on the table for Christmas.

My Gifts need re-gifted.

Thank You Heavenly Father for the countless gifts I’ve received. Keep my eyes open, my heart willing and my hands ready to serve this Christmas.

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Posted in Christian Service, Christmas, Life Inspiration

Tis the Season of What?

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CHICK SEASON

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that there is only 15 days until Christmas. A day in the city yesterday left my heart a little broken as I ran to and fro from store to store, plopped the next package in the car, ticked my list, put the car in gear and went to the next destination. It was almost like washing your hair… lather, rinse, repeat. I vaguely remember hearing a few carols in the stores, and when I did catch an honest to goodness carol of Christ, my heart would pitter pat and I would say, “Ahhhh, there’s Christmas…” then back to the list.

“Tis the season of what?” I asked myself this morning. In the glow of the Christmas tree I long to slow down and ponder the season. I am not as wise as Solomon who impressed God with his request for wisdom. God shakes His head at me on a regular basis, I’m pretty sure. If God, the Creator of all, came to me and said “Shari, ask what you will and I’ll grant it.” I would likely respond “Oh Father God, a cute pair of boots would do me fine!” And God would shake His head, and say to Solomon, “This is why she’s not in charge of her life.”

My Attention Deficit Disorder kicked in and my mind just went to the boot store… true story.

The season of what, Lord?

Ecclesiastes 3

The Season of Purpose

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

It’s impossible for me to understand the purpose of hurting people. My Wednesday night youth group is filled with children who are in the midst of a “purpose” that causes me to want to beat people. This season of their life is something I never experienced as a child, and so it is that they’re in my world and God has made it my purpose to help them find theirs… even in some very icky situations. Every Season has a purpose and sometimes I am that purpose…

The Season of Preparation

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Even though we were prepared in the loss of my Mother-in-law this week, we still weren’t ready. We knew the day would come as it will to all of us, but the sudden realization that that person will no longer be with us, especially in such joyful times as Christmas is heartbreaking. But God did not allow death as a sorrow that could not be soothed for His children. A prepared heart, who has known Christ and gone to be with Him in Glory leaves behind a reminder that they are gone but just a little while, and that we need to prepare too, so that we’ll never suffer that separation again.

The Season of Pruning

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

God is clear that there are somethings that need not be in the lives of a child of God. Those things that tear us down, that loosen the foundations beneath our feet and cause us to fall need to go.  Pruning may kill a portion of a tree but the growth that occurs afterward leaves a healthier foundation. This may be a season of  pruning. I need to check my branches…

The Season of Propitiation

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

The purpose behind tears are not always clear. We cry when we laugh and when we mourn, when we’re   touched and when we’re angry. But they’re a soothing process in that it alerts others that something needs to be shared. Sorrow or celebration… friends help on both counts. Show yourself friendly…

The Season of Principles

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

If ever there is a time where Christian principles need to stand like stone pillars in society it’s now. Everyone waivers for every reason and give it no thought. The Word of God doesn’t waiver, nor should His people. Stand strong…

The Season of Privilege

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

We’re a blessed generation. We ignore scriptures that remind us that we’re to take care of the widows and orphans, we give to those we know, but to a stranger it will be conditional. Giving to the Salvation Army at the entrance of a store is relatively easy, stopping in traffic to hail down the man with the cardboard sign will have us asking “How far out of my way will it require me to go?” I throw so much food away at my house it’s ridiculous without ever asking, “Who could I share this meal with.” We’re too privileged… I’m too privileged…

The Season of Proclamation

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

There’s a time to sow… and there’s a time to hold your seed packet and let God do a little work to prepare the ground before we open our mouth. I pray this season I’m mindful to say what  God would have me say and that I’d be aware when  to say nothing. God, guard my tongue…

The Season of Peace

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

We’ll not see peace on earth until Jesus returns… that’s Bible. But we have Peace through Jesus Christ who gives it to all men liberally for the asking. We need to share that peace this Season…

What’s your season like? Mine’s a little more focused on God this morning thanks to Solomon’s Wisdom.

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Posted in Christian Service, Christmas, Evangelism, Uncategorized

A Better Use of a Hashtag

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chick starbucks

After ordering a drink at Starbucks, Josh Feuerstein, an internet evangelist with quite the personality, became upset with Starbucks because their plain red cups weren’t decorated for Christmas as they have been in previous years and Starbucks employees were forbidden to say Merry Christmas. So upset that he took to social media to start a movement asking people to tell Starbucks their name is Merry Christmas so that when they write the “name” on their cups they now have Christ name on their cup whether they like it or not.

Okay, I have to confess that I think it’s a pretty cute technique of marketing Jesus. But still… Starbucks frustration leads to grins and giggles at the bank.  Just sayin’. I don’t figure this is “teaching anyone a lesson.” Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a coffee fanatic! But I’m not going to Starbucks, I think their coffee tastes like gasoline (not that I’ve drank gasoline) but really… quadrupling the strength of coffee and calling it gourmet is akin to sucking a lemon and calling it gourmet lemonade. It’s just nasty!

Now if you really wanted to get back at Starbucks for not allowing Christ in the Holiday that celebrates His Holy Name, here’s my suggestion. Go to Duncan Donuts, (My personal fave!) and get a cup of coffee in their cup. Drive to Starbucks and sit in their coffee shop sipping your Duncan Donuts Coffee and have a Bible Study. Or if you like Starbucks… buy their coffee and have a Bible Study in their shop. Or… don’t waste three dollars on a cup of coffee! Have it at the house and save that money to give to a poor family at Christmas who could use a can of Maxwell house, along with beans and potatoes for their kids.

Really people. Starbucks is the least of America’s problems. While it speaks volumes on the degradation of political correctness and the ignorance of those who deny God, our time can be better spent. Rather than trying to make a national scene why don’t we try to make a local scene. The nearest Starbucks in our area is over an hour away, but I have family and friends who need Jesus right in my hometown. If we spent our day talking about the goodness of Jesus, rather than the badness of Starbucks to our family it would make a greater difference for the cause of Heaven.

Even I have now contributed to the Starbucks hype with my #MerryChristmasStarbucks blog. But how about #JesusDied4U #SatanLies #JeremiahOneFive

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

That Starbucks employee forced to write the name of Christ on a cup may not know Who He is, and likely won’t have the desire to know Him after being forced to write the name. But if you bought a cup of Starbucks, tipped that barista with a buck for themselves and shared the gospel with them, just maybe, when we gather for coffee in Heaven around the Lord’s kitchen table, that barista may be there with you.

#HashtagThatSatan #TheJesusChick

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

Christmas is not a Calendar date

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january Christmas

I spent the greater portion of Christmas day at the Charleston Area Medical Center in ICU with my husband’s family as they spent the day with their mother who’s battling the fight of her life after a heart attack.  It was there we celebrated Christmas in the waiting room and shared a meal better than most people of the world could imagine. My sister-in-love Judy prepared and hauled to the hospital Thirtyone ® bags and coolers filled with the Ham and all the trimmings, topped off with the best peanut butter candy I’ve ever eaten in my life! It was almost as sweet as the fellowship with family. It’s cliché to say we take life for granted, and for the most part empty; it’s hard to understand what we have until we’re on the brink of losing it. From the looks of the shoppers and Facebook posts America looked to fare pretty well this Christmas.

You don’t have to spend Christmas day in an Intensive Care Unit to realize how blessed we are, but it doesn’t hurt. Most of the other patients in the area had visitors loving on them, stroking their brow and speaking words of kindness, but many laid alone as the medical staff tended to their physical needs but there was no time to take care of the emotional. I returned home late last night to be greeted by Izidora the Chihuahua, who didn’t know it was Christmas, she just knew she missed her people. Just a simple act of love as she spun around in circles and jumped up and down at my feet. I have a lot to learn about love…

I scrolled past posts on Facebook this morning trying to catch up with friends and family to see how they spent their Christmas and looking back at me were two of the most beautiful brown eyes ever from a child in the Philippines. She held in her little hands a box of food given to her by a missionary and I thought… I just about missed Christmas again. It’s not December 25, it’s January 1 through December 31.

It was in the box of goodies delivered by my sister in love, it was in the stroked brows and whispered “I love you’s”, it was in bowls of rice in the Philippines and in Izidora’s funny dance. It was in compassion for the convict, mercy for the addict and a coffee cup from the Bogg’s family who love me and allow me to be a part of their family antics! It was in a hug from church kid Connor, who tells me I’m his favorite, and then tells 30 others the same thing… but he means it! Christmas didn’t end yesterday, only the commercialized part.

I hope today you find a hidden Christmas gift, or you deliver one yourself. I’m heading back to Charleston… with that though in mind.

Matthew 10:42

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

 

 

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

This Morning’s Gift

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DAYChristmas is almost always a bitter sweet time. It’s a time of reminiscing that evokes either fondness or failures from the recesses of your mind. Although I try, I cannot live in my Ozzie and Harriett world and pretend that all is well all the time. I must concede to the fact that life is very real, and not always very fun. But the one thing that cannot be taken from me and puts joy in my soul in the hardest of times is the Christmas verse.

John 3:16

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.

It’s why Jesus came as a Baby and died as a Lamb. The final sacrifice for us all. It’s the gift that I receive every morning when I awake and realize that God gave me the gift of another day. Who but God can do that?  Santa may have left you a gift worth thousands beneath your tree today, but he cannot give you the gift of another day. Somebody may have handmade you the sweetest gift, but it cannot compare with the gift of a new day that God gave you. That’s where I’m at this Christmas morning; standing in awe that God saw fit to do it again. Now… what am I going to do with it?

I have family all around me that are going through some very rough times. I have to ask myself, “What can I do with this day to help them through?” I can share the last part of that Christmas verse… the gift that never ends. Everlasting life. Regardless of how many days we’re given down here, the fact of the matter is if we know Jesus we will never run out of days. That’s what He did when He wrote that Christmas verse in the scriptures; He gave us one more day. And when that one is through, we’ll have one more day.  And when life ends down here, we’ll have one more day.

I don’t know what’s going on in Heaven today, but I know that those for whom I love, who have gone on before me and knew my Lord and Savior, are enjoying Christmas day. One more day. Only theirs is without heartache, sorrow or pain. No family squabbles and no regrets! Oh glory what a Christmas morning.

What are you going to do with the gift you were given this morning?

Posted in Grace, Life Inspiration

Are you giving your best gift?

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best gift ever

As I read through a few chapters in Genesis this morning, I came across the lineage of Esau; and scattered among his sons was one by the name of Amalek; which triggered a memory of a sermon I once heard titled “Then came Amalek.”  That sermon was from the book of 1 Samuel, when Saul, who had been told to “utterly destroy” the Amalekites for what they had done to the children of Israel back in the book of Exodus. While traveling to the Promised Land, they had assumed they’d be safe traveling through Edom, because they too were the descendants of Abraham, but they soon discovered that family is not always a friend. I just covered a lot of Bible history in just a few sentences, and probably utterly confused you, but here in the book of Genesis we find the origin of those people as the grandchildren of Esau, battling twin brother of Jacob.

Esau married outside the chosen nation, (he married a Canaanite woman), several actually and disappointed his parents. His wives worshipped strange gods and raised his children up to do the same. They had no pride in their Israeli heritage, only disdain in the coming generations. But my point being, it all began with one son’s disobedience. But now we no longer concern ourselves with what tribe or nation a family may be from, but rather are you apart of the nation Heaven as a child of Jesus Christ? But family still matters…

I was blessed to be raised by Christian parents who molded me into the strange being that I am today through a few quirks of their own. My mother, a quite creative woman and my father who was musically talented both attributed to my talents but I also received of my father a lackadaisical attitude which gets me in trouble on a pretty regular basis, and of my mother I received the “I can do it by myself” gene, which is really funny because my Dad’s name was Gene! But the two of those combined makes my theme song “I can do it by myself, but I’ll do it later!”

Regardless of how you feel about your family, it still does not change the fact that you are a product of their making. But what you become productive in is still entirely up to you. Esau was a bitter boy because his brother had stolen his birthright and inheritance, but he did eventually forgive Jacob. However, his descendants picked up that bitter bone and carried it through generation after generation. Is that not crazy? What Esau forgave, the family didn’t forget.

It still happens today. It happens in my own family as I think about relatives who have hurt members of my family and I’ve shared those stories with my children who now don’t think very highly of those relatives either; and in the generations to come they probably won’t like the descendants of those aunts and uncles either but they really won’t know why.

Why do we do it? I’m sure if Esau had his life to live over again he’d have mended fences with Jacob before he left the first time. He likely wouldn’t have disobeyed his parents which caused generational conflicts that still affect us today. But Esau can’t undo the past. We however, who are still alive, still have the opportunity to change the future of our families by changing our attitudes toward the past and letting it go. Really letting it go. Not just letting it go until we’re frustrated again and feel the need to relive the anger.

Christmas is a good time to give the gift of restoration. Do you have someone in your family that you would just as soon forget… well remember them. Pray for them and encourage yourself in the story of the Amalekites. Which would have changed the world if someone had gotten it right earlier. You have generations to consider and why on earth would you want them to carry a bitter seed forward that will grow the same heartache you carry.

I don’t know who this message is for…certainly for myself, but maybe you too. I’d love to hear from you! Share your story with me and let’s start Christmas off with the gift worth giving – forgiveness!

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

Have I got a story for you!

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Chick Manger Scene

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7 KJV

Barely a woman by today’s standards, Mary had just been given a harsh reality in life, and I’m not speaking of the birth, although that would certainly have been one too! But the lesson that I refer to this morning is “not everyone is your friend, and life’s not always fair.” For the past nine months she had been a willing vessel to carry the Redeemer of all mankind. And for that she had been rewarded with being on the cover of People Magazine and the Enquirer too had done a four page spread about the secret life she led prior to marrying Joseph. Okay… so that’s not true, but I’m sure the gossip train rolled just as ugly; shooting off steam and traveling just as far. But this night she lie in a make shift hospital room on the side of a hill. Forget sterile, her baby was wrapped in grave clothes, no anesthesia or drugs to dull the pain, and the Physician’s assistant was a donkey name Estelle. Again, I embellish! But the story is so ordinary… NOT!

It’s one of the thousands of story in the Bible that need not be embellished, it’s just as amazing to me every year and when I slow down to think about it; multiple celestial sightings, prophecy fulfilled, a Baby born to a virgin, welcomed by shepherds, honored by Wise Men and a price put on His little head by a pagan king who feared the power of a not so ordinary infant boy. And all that for me!

What an amazing God we serve that He would write such an awesome story to be placed in our lineage and shared with our children and grandchildren. I wonder if the original characters will gather around and tell us all the “real” version of the story when we get to Heaven. Family story night will take on a whole new meaning when we’re together up there! And those books…the ones that God writes in every day of the things we’ve done for Him; perhaps we could even leaf back through to the night of Jesus’ conception and read for ourselves what God wrote of Mary’s reaction to the news that she would carry our Lord. My mind is reeling at what might have been written in those books and what a trip to the library might be like. I’m so grateful for stories…

It’s Sunday! And today I get to be the storyteller to a group of teens in my class. I get to gather them around and share the Good News and the Glory of God. I’m excited, can you tell? I hope you’re excited to share that news today. You don’t have to be a Sunday School teacher; just tell somebody!

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

A Christmas Tree in the Bible?

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on A Christmas Tree in the Bible?

Jesus Chick Christmas

In the dark hours before dawn my Christmas tree glows a bright red; adorned with baubles and ribbon, a few sentimental ornaments and candy canes, and Santa on top. Don’t judge me… I just think he’s cute and I love the spirited story of giving. The meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with my tree and everything to do with my heart, which on a regular basis is distracted by life. Surely, I’m not alone? It doesn’t help matters that I’m ADD-OSS at Christmas time. (Attention Deficit Disorder, Oh Something Shiny!) And Heaven knows there is plenty of shiny things to catch my eye. It’s hard enough for me to stay focused on regular days of the year. The closer that Christmas gets I revert to childlike tendencies and begin to wonder what’s going to be under my tree, and at my age I try to remember what I’ve put under the tree. I dream of the wonderful times I’ll have with friends and family and the specialness of having an excited new Pastor in our church this time of year. I have handmade grandbaby goodies all over my house. A Frostie the Snowman milk jug sits beside me that was forgotten by preschooler Nicolis yesterday and my heart overflows… and my mind does too with all the things that need to get done the next few days!

The Christmas Tree has long been a tradition but was by no means started in America. According to history the traditional Christmas tree began in Germany by devout Christians and is also believed that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

But this morning I find a Christmas tree in the scriptures that has nothing to do with the Holidays but everything to do with the Holy Days that are before us.

Isaiah 60:13

13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

As I understand it, Isaiah speaks not only of the Sanctuary in Solomon’s day but the Sanctuary of Christ where He makes a place for His feet and in that place there will be a pine tree! I found that fascinating this morning. Let the naysayers say what they want about Pagan rituals but Jesus likes Christmas trees too. So much so that they’re going to be in His sanctuary. Whether or not His trees will be decorated is yet to be discovered, and in the presence of Jesus I doubt it will be necessary, He’ll shine enough on His own! But this morning that decorated tree took on a new meaning as think about the return of Christ when the sorrows of this world will be gone, Hallelujah! and only the sweetness of life will be known.

Today His feet are in Heaven and I have to wonder if there’s not a tree there too? Nothing is beyond a possibility when God is involved. I hadn’t noticed before that pine trees were even in the bible, but I am ever so thankful that God gave me that scripture today. I hope you’ll find a little extra blessing in an evergreen this Christmas too!