0ne Solitary Life

 

I had heard this many years ago, and found it today on Pinterest. Maybe, you have heard it as well. I thought it would be a good post for today during this Christmas Season. To me, it represents a man (Christ Jesus) of mercy and grace.

One Solitary Life

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Billy Graham Library Live Nativity

Here is a man who 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, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was his coat. When he was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life. 

By James Allan Francis (1864-1928)

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him…” – John 1:9-10

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed day!

When Jesus Comes Again

 

Ahh, Christmas. What a wonderful time of year. The song that we hear  a lot at this time, was sung by the late Andy Williams called: It's the Most Wonderful time of the year. And while that is true, we know that the even though Jesus came to the earth as a baby, he would not grow up and die for any other reason than what he did. He had a specific reason for being here among people. And he would die a horrible death to pay the penalty for our sin.

OK, that is all well and good, some might say. Really? Do we have to think about his death while we celebrate his birth?

For one thing, I have said, you can't have one with out the other. Because Jesus wasn't born to grow up like the rest of us. And though Easter is the story and celebration of his death and ressurection, it makes it a part of Christmas just as his birth did.

However, his birth and death didn't end with those two events. There is a much more wonderful one to come., And as we think on those things, here at this "wonderful time of the year," I wanted to share a poem that I found that makes his life even more wonderful for those that believe and have accepted him. It can be found here with other stories that you may want to read: Christmas Stories & Illustrations | Tony Cooke Ministries

Next Time It Will Be Different

The First Time Jesus Came
He came veiled in the form of a child.
A star marked His arrival.
Wise men brought Him gifts.
There was no room for Him.
Only a few attended His arrival.
The Next Time Jesus Comes
He will be recognized by all.
Heaven will be lit by His glory.
He will bring rewards for His own.
The world won’t be able to contain His glory.
Every eye shall see Him.
He will come as Sovereign King and Lord of all.
– John F. MacArthur Jr.

What a day that will be! Christmas as we know it, will never be the same! We have that promise and it will be exciting for all those that he comes for! Gone will be the sin and shame. All pain will disappear. New life will spring forth and Jesus himself will wipe our tears from our tears.

And that my Friends, will be the most wonderful time of our lives. Not just for a season every year, but forever! That is why the baby Jesus came! To save you and me and to give us new life!

She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save the people from their sins. Mathew 1:21

Thanks for coming by, Have a blessed day!

The Truth of What Christmas is Sometimes About

 

The Extra Electric Train
A Christmas Memory

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

Though money didn't flow as freely as the rain that winter, my parents worked with joyful anticipation to give my brother and me a Christmas present we would never forget. They scrimped for months and then spent more than they could probably afford for a Marx electric train.

Then the day before Christmas, a cousin stationed at a nearby military base pulled into the driveway. Opening the trunk of his car he lifted out a large heavy box. My brother and I could hardly wait to see what it was. On Christmas morning we opened it first. Eagerly we unwrapped an expensive new electric train set. Wow! You had to pull us down off the ceiling. A Lionel train, too! Then we opened the presents from our parents--another electric train. Ho hum. And not nearly as extravagant as the one from our cousin. Guess whose we played with most?

Mom and Dad were hurt. The outlay for an unmarried Air Force lieutenant was nothing compared to the sacrifice my parents had made. But all we saw was the glamour of an expensive train. We counted our parents' gift as merely a nice accessory.

Our heavenly Father spends many a disappointing Christmas. Amidst the glittering ornaments and flashing Christmas lights, the hurry and hustle of shopping and wrapping and family get-togethers, parties and presents, trees and turkeys--who really cares about His gift? What gets more attention from us: our Father's gift of life in Jesus Christ or the quickly-wrapped department store gifts from our cousins?

Thank you, Father, for Jesus. Thank you for the abundant life that we, His disciples, can enjoy now. Thank you for sending us a most expensive gift--your own life. Thank you!

For this an other stories, please visit: The Extra Electric Train: A Christmas Memory - Christian Articles Archive

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As children, we sometimes do not appreciate the sacrifices that our parents make for us. Christmas can be a painful holiday for those families that do not have much to give to their children that day.

This family saved to give their own something that they couldn't afford. And the children had not appreciated the sacrifice, because at the time, they couldn't.

The greatest tragedy though is not that children don't get what they want. Nor even in getting what they want.

The tragedy is this:

It is the fact that we parents and grandparents do not give them what they most need. And that is the gift of helping them learn what the 25th of December is really all about. That God already gave us the greatest gift we could ever have. No wrapped gift under the tree will compare. No matter how expensive. No matter what is sacrificed in giving it, if we leave Jesus out. The truth is:

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10

The Christmas Season is a beautiful time of the year. But it is nothing if it does not fully include what it is all about. Because without Jesus, we would not have any celebration at all.

Thank you for coming by today, Friends. May you have a peace filled day.

 

Angel to the Rescue?

 

Most of us have heard the song by Randy Travis, "Angels Among us." The lady in this story did when a man suddenly showed up to help her, Was he an angel? What do you think? Find other stories like hers here during this Christmas Season:    Christmas Miracles to Give You Hope for the Holidays | Reader's Digest

Snow angel

Ice and snow pelted the window of the office where I was working. As the wind howled, I wondered how I would get home. The 12-mile route took me up and down steep hills and around treacherous turns. I whispered a prayer for safety.

My old green Blazer was doing well over the ice-crusted roadway, dodging the snowdrifts. But as I ascended one of the steepest and scariest hills, I noticed the tires were slipping, and my trusty SUV was having difficulty climbing the grade.

I decided it was time to switch to four-wheel drive. I pulled the lever back, just like my husband had taught me. Slowly the tires gripped the road, and the top of the hill came within sight.

But at the crest, the vehicle just stopped. I pushed and pulled the lever—nothing happened. I was stuck, with snow and ice pellets swirling.

Now what? Even though I had met no one on this lonely stretch of road, I silently asked that someone might come to help. After a few minutes, I spied an old, rattling pickup truck. A smiling young man I’d never seen before in our small rural community rolled down his window and asked if I needed help. I assured him that I did. He stepped into the wintery madness and showed me how to maneuver the four-wheel-drive shifting gear, locking it into place.

In no time, I had the Blazer moving toward home. When I thanked the stranger and asked if he lived around the area, he just said, “Oh, over yonder.” Do I believe in angels? You betcha! —R. Elaine Sherry, New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from Country Extra

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Psalm 91:11. He will give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

As we know, God's angels appeared to some lowly shepherds one morning to announce the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing for them to experience that miracle. And when they show up in the lives of our own, these thousands of years later, to help us when we need it, we have no doubt that they are watching over us, just as they did for Jesus when the world needed him.

Have a wonderful and blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!

Surprise Gift

Have you ever received a surprise gift, left on your porch that you had no idea who left it? The people in today's story did and you can find their story at the following link along with many others:   Christmas Miracles to Give You Hope for the Holidays | Reader's Digest

Enjoy....

Twelve days of Christmas

During the Christmas season in 2012, my husband, Ken, and I came home from church and noticed something on the front porch. We walked over to it and saw it was a basket of goodies wrapped and tied with a beautiful bow. The attached note read “On the first day of Christmas.” We were thrilled someone was thinking of us, especially after losing our daughter in September.

The next night, we checked and sure enough, there was a “second day of Christmas” gift. Try as we might, we couldn’t catch the elf or elves who left those gifts and the ones that followed over the next nine nights.

Finally, on the twelfth night, the elves knocked on our door. Our friend Charlotte Everett and her children Parker and Reese stood there. They were the Christmas angels who made our holiday so very special. They’ll never know how much it meant to us. —Theresa Nordmann, Fairfeld, Illinois, from Country.

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One evening two or three years ago, we had a box show up suddenly on our porch. It wasn't at Christmas time, if I remember right. Still it was unexpected and we had no idea who had put it there. We hadn't heard anyone. No name on it, no way of identifying what was in it. It was indeed a mystery.

Opening it up, we found twelve large boxed pizzas. Who could have put it there? And why?

My husband went down to a neighbors house and the mystery was solved. They too had gotten a box of pizzas. It turned out that another neighbor had a friend that was a truck driver and he was on his way to deliver a load of the pizzas to a store. But he had a problem with his truck and could not get them there on time. To keep them from spoiling before his truck could get back on the road again, he gave the pizzas to our neighbor, who then gave them to people they knew. 

No, it wasn't a Christmas gift, but I liked this story because it might give someone an idea to do the same for someone you know this Christmas, in remembrance of Christ's birthday. Someone maybe, that might not have much, or to let someone know that their family is being thought of because of a death that had occurred in the family. Perhaps an elderly person. Or just because...

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

Thanks for coming today, Friends. Have a blessed day. Til next time......

The Candy Cane

 

Candy Canes...those delicious candies that come around to the stores for us around Thanksgiving. 

Have you ever heard the legend of how they first came to be? And that they seem to tell us something about Jesus? 

It seems that there was a candy maker that wanted to teach children about the true meaning of Christmas. So he started it with a stick of white candy which stood for the virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus. Then he painted 3 red stripes on it which was to represent the scourging that Jesus received before his death and the blood that he shed for us. 

The old candy maker shaped into a J to stand for Jesus, and when you break it, it represents his body that was broken for us on the cross.

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This legend varies a bit depending on what site you find it on. And being a lengend does not automatically make it true. However, it is a great way to help us to remember what Christmas is really all about.

When my husband was growing up, his family used to hang candy canes their Christmas trees for decoration. He carried that tradition on with our own kids while they were at home. 

We are getting older now and don't have a Christmas tree any longer. But memories of them on the tree with our children placing them there, still reminds us of those times.

And more importantly, though I did not know the legend of how they came to be all during those years, now that I do-I certainly will think of Jesus and what he did for us so long ago.

Christmas Scripture: Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:1-2

Til next time, God bless!

A Gift From Jesus

 Thanksgiving is over for another year. At least the holiday is. And now, everyone is  working towards Christmas and thinking about all they have to do to get ready for the wonderful day that we celebrate our Savior's birth.

But wait. Everyone? No, sadly not everyone. In this day and age, many people ignore what that day really stands for. They do not acknowledge it and do not teach their children about it at all. 

Those of us that do, can create our own ways of getting ready for December 25th, and teach our children about Jesus and giving to others who are in need at this time of year.  

It is with that in mind that I bring today's post, something that you can do with your children through out the year to honor Jesus, and give to that someone who is in need.

It starts by picking up some simple and yet everyday items that we use everyday. Collecting through out the year, soap, toothpaste and brushes, combs and brushes, mittens, deodorant, are just a few of those things that are needed. Keep them in a box plainly marked, A Gift From Jesus. During the Christmas Season, wrap them all in a box with bright paper, and tied with a bow. Attach a card that tells that it is a gift from Jesus, and then close to the 25th, donate it to someone in need. Perhaps a shelter for the homeless, or the family down the street that you know has been struggling this year, due to the pandemic.

Maybe you will want to include a Bible, a child's story book of the birth of Christ, or other resources that will encourage them to think about what the season is really about.

There are lots of ideas about teaching your kids about the birth of Christ, whether  Santa Claus is part of your celebrations or not.

Years ago, another staff employee and I were taking a group of women that lived in a group home that we worked at, to see the Christmas lights. We would pass homes where there were lit nativity scenes in yards. Bonnie said to me that they should not have Baby Jesus in those nativities. I was shocked. What was a nativity scene without the Baby Jesus? She then said, that he shouldn't be there yet, because he hadn't been born yet and should be placed there on Christmas morning. 

She had caught me off guard, but thankfully she was not taking him out completely, but I had to agree. He wasn't supposed to be there until Christmas morning.

Perhaps you could sit up a nativity scene in your home, and place Baby Jesus there on Christmas morning as you read to the children the story of his birth. Or, even use the whole nativity for that purpose that morning, having the children place each piece in it, as you read. It can bring the bible story a bit more to life for them, if they can have a actual part of it.

There are many ways that you can add Jesus to your celebrations this year, and many of them can be found on Pinterest. I encourage you to go there and check them out. 

Because of all things, Jesus should not be left out of his his own birth.

Because remember....

Thanks for coming, Friends Until next time, God bless!