God With Us

 I love Christmas. I love everything about it; shopping for Christmas gifts and wrapping them in my "themed" paper; placing them under my tree; decorating my house with evergreen swags and twinkling lights; the smell of apple cider and cinnamon; listening to Christmas music in the mall; and singing beloved carols with my family. I love Christmas more than any other holiday because it seems all the world pauses to celebrate. Although it is primarily a "Christian" holiday, others have joined in and participated in this celebration. Howbeit, they may not even call it "Christmas" but we know the source of our celebration is in reality the manifestation of God come to us.  "God With Us," Our theme for this Christmas Season at LifeChurch has put my mind in action. Please pause with me for a moment and let me mutter my musings.

I like to think that God is very pleased to have his people devote one special day a year to celebrate the amazing entrance He made from eternity to earth. It's as if he chose the backdoor of humanity to show us He was a relative savior. He was tempted in all ways as we are, and yet found with no sin. This amazing fact reinforces the fact that God of heaven, robed himself in flesh and became one of us. The fact that He was God, gave him the advantage to triumph over sin. His purpose and plan was to come, teach us how to live, then to die, so that we could have that same power to overcome sin. What an amazing gift He gave us. It came with no small price. His blood was the ransom for our eternal salvation. Every person is privileged to be a recipient of His gift. God walked among us to show us that He would go to the ends of the earth to do what had to be done so that we could spend eternity forever with Him. God, put on a body and came to us! One day, we will put off these bodies, and go to Him!

So, there you have it; the reason Christmas is my favorite holiday. This is the reason I greet people with "Merry Christmas" unashamed to acknowledge the One who gave me the ultimate Christmas Gift - Himself. God With Us.

The Light

Lighthouse. See it? She is pointing at it. 

For 30 days prior to elections, the members of LifeChurch are praying for our country, our officials, and the upcoming elections. I've had so many opportunities to call our nation out in prayer. Yet, in my effort to truly pray without ceasing, I've found days where fear and despair overcome my well meaning intentions. One day, while sitting in the car waiting for time to pass for an appointment, I began praying for my beloved country. In the midst of my prayer the enemy wove little seeds of doubt and fear into my mind. Sadly, I focused on the fact that our country is moving farther and farther away from being a Christian nation. As I prayerfully pondered our situation I realized that in a few years darkness will cover our nation as God is pushed to the background more and more. Then He spoke, not in a loud thunderous revelation, or a flash of illuminous light, but in a still, small, familiar voice. "The darker the night, the more my light shines." His words brought new hope, new resolve and a new passionate desire to be that light. From that morning, I began to pursue the intentional act of showing the reflection of Christ to a dark, disillusioned world. To be truthful, it works! 

Rather than waiting for our usual Saturday night prayer,  I prayed for two ladies immediately on the phone when they requested prayer. I was in Wal-Mart when one called from the hospital. With my new resolve I moved aside and standing in front of the tweezers and nail files, began to pray and interceded for healing. Yes we are the light and we will shine brighter as this country becomes darker. Am I looking forward to it? Of course not. Am I afraid? Sometimes, but at least I know that there is hope...and we are the ones that will carry it to those who are looking for something better; looking for a hope; looking for a light at the end of their dark winding tunnel.

Is this little girl pointing at you? I sure hope so.