December 16
A CHRISTMAS VERSION OF 1 CORINTHIANS 13
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend all of the parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.
Merry Christmas to you and yours! -Author Unknown
Frequently God doesn't make sense. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for what is going on. Circumstances just don't seem to be squaring up with what we know about God. We become frustrated, taste bitterness, begin to doubt, experience confusion and feelings of helplessness and defeat. That should come as no surprise. God has already given us advance notice. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8, KJV) --Gale Fields, Wycliffe missionary
Jesus' Dad's Name
A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?"
One child answered, "Mary."
The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?"
A little kid said, "Verge."
Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?"
The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about Verge n' Mary.''
It is the worst of times. It is the best of times. The Christmas you have depends upon YOU.
The Christmas experience WITHOUT CHRIST
C - Credit Cards that help my spending go crazy
H - Headache when the house is over run by family
R - Remembering everyone's desire is fulfilled
I - Insult when my gifts are rejected
S - Stress while overwhelmed
T - Truckloads of food consumed
M - Massive debt that puts me behind all year
A - Awful feeling that I forgot someone
S - Sorrow from offenses received
The Christmas experience WITH CHRIST
C - Christ child who is born this day
H - Holy and righteous one to follow
R - Remember Christ who died that I may live
I - Inspiration to always give
S – Songs, Praise and Worship to the King
T - Thank the Lord for saving me today
M - Miracles that are for today
A - Almighty and merciful Lord I serve
S – Self-control, love, joy, peace, patience…
We Can't See What Is Before Us, We Are Never Content
In a Peanuts comic strip Lucy is speaking with Linus at the base of a hill. She says, "Someday I'm going over that hill and find the answer to my dreams.... Someday I'm going over that hill and find hope and fulfillment. I think, for me, all the answers to life lie beyond these clouds and over the grassy slopes of that hill!"
Linus removes his thumb from his mouth, points toward the hill, and responds: "Perhaps there's another little kid on the other side of that hill who is looking this way and thinking that all the answers to life lie on this side of the hill." Lucy looks at Linus, then turns toward the hill and yells, "Forget it, kid!"
My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Thou divine Love, whose human path has been perfected through sufferings, teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the value of my thorn. --George Matheson
"My mentor said, 'Let's go do it,' not 'You go do it.' How powerful when someone says, 'Let's!'" -- Jim Rohn
OUR KING’S BIRTHDAY
J-esus, Son of God Eternal,
E-verlasting Lord is He,
S-avior of a world of sinners,
U-niversal King to be,
S-ought us, bro’t us victory.
C-hrist is due all adoration,
H-umbly born to save our race,
R-uler of the whole creation
I-ntercedes and gives us grace,
S-aves us from sin’s condemnation,
T-ruly worthy of all praise! --Author Unknown
You do not see a rainbow on a cloudless, rainless day. You see the rainbow when there are clouds and rain. So the most beautiful and most valuable experiences of your life will not be in the day of the unclouded sky and the serene sunlight, but in the days of adversity and of sorrow and trial. Then God's greatest and most gracious truths proclaim themselves across the firmament of our life. --Clarence Macartney
Little Johnny was in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates.
When they neared the pew where he sat, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear him say, "Don't pay for me Daddy, I'm under five."
How Many Roads Must A Man Travel Down Before He Admits He is Lost?
DISQUALIFIED! by Stan Mitchell
"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, hedeceives himself, and his religion is worthless" (James 1:27).
The fastest man who ever lived was Ben Johnson, a broad-shouldered Canadian sprinter. In the Seoul Olympics of 1988, he ran the fastest one hundred meters in history. But don't look for his name in the record books, because he was disqualified. Not because he wasn't fast. Not because he wasn't talented. Because he broke the rules. He was taking anabolic steroids.
Could your Christianity be disqualified? You may not want to read on, but you must! You don't want to be disqualified. James begins by saying, "If anyone considers himself religious." If you've read this far, you probably qualify. You don't consider yourself a pagan! This verse is about you. So, if anyone thinks he is a Christian, yet does certain things, he "deceives himself, and his religion is worthless."
We might go to church and sing the songs. We might study the Bible and preach sermons. And still be disqualified. And, what is even more frightening, all along we have deceived ourselves into thinking that we are religious!
So what is this deadly spiritual steroid that will disqualify us from the race? Is it murder? Embezzlement? Racism? Some people, James says, fool themselves into thinking that their religion is sound, yet they will be disqualified because they fail to control their tongues!
Angry words. Gossip. Spiteful, or demeaning remarks. Destructive and bruising words. Are you guilty? Am I? Be careful how you respond. James insists that many are "deceived" into thinking that their religion is OK when it is not. In a word, if you think that this verse does not apply to you, that may the very sign that it does! Words can bind the wounds of the injured and heal the broken bones of the fallen. Or they can strip bare another's heart. Use words carefully. In the race of life, there is a record book, what the Bible calls the "Book of life." And you want to have your name written there.
Ronald Reagan once quipped: "But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend all of the parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.
Merry Christmas to you and yours! -Author Unknown
Frequently God doesn't make sense. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for what is going on. Circumstances just don't seem to be squaring up with what we know about God. We become frustrated, taste bitterness, begin to doubt, experience confusion and feelings of helplessness and defeat. That should come as no surprise. God has already given us advance notice. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8, KJV) --Gale Fields, Wycliffe missionary
Jesus' Dad's Name
A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?"
One child answered, "Mary."
The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?"
A little kid said, "Verge."
Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?"
The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about Verge n' Mary.''
It is the worst of times. It is the best of times. The Christmas you have depends upon YOU.
The Christmas experience WITHOUT CHRIST
C - Credit Cards that help my spending go crazy
H - Headache when the house is over run by family
R - Remembering everyone's desire is fulfilled
I - Insult when my gifts are rejected
S - Stress while overwhelmed
T - Truckloads of food consumed
M - Massive debt that puts me behind all year
A - Awful feeling that I forgot someone
S - Sorrow from offenses received
The Christmas experience WITH CHRIST
C - Christ child who is born this day
H - Holy and righteous one to follow
R - Remember Christ who died that I may live
I - Inspiration to always give
S – Songs, Praise and Worship to the King
T - Thank the Lord for saving me today
M - Miracles that are for today
A - Almighty and merciful Lord I serve
S – Self-control, love, joy, peace, patience…
We Can't See What Is Before Us, We Are Never Content
In a Peanuts comic strip Lucy is speaking with Linus at the base of a hill. She says, "Someday I'm going over that hill and find the answer to my dreams.... Someday I'm going over that hill and find hope and fulfillment. I think, for me, all the answers to life lie beyond these clouds and over the grassy slopes of that hill!"
Linus removes his thumb from his mouth, points toward the hill, and responds: "Perhaps there's another little kid on the other side of that hill who is looking this way and thinking that all the answers to life lie on this side of the hill." Lucy looks at Linus, then turns toward the hill and yells, "Forget it, kid!"
My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Thou divine Love, whose human path has been perfected through sufferings, teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the value of my thorn. --George Matheson
"My mentor said, 'Let's go do it,' not 'You go do it.' How powerful when someone says, 'Let's!'" -- Jim Rohn
OUR KING’S BIRTHDAY
J-esus, Son of God Eternal,
E-verlasting Lord is He,
S-avior of a world of sinners,
U-niversal King to be,
S-ought us, bro’t us victory.
C-hrist is due all adoration,
H-umbly born to save our race,
R-uler of the whole creation
I-ntercedes and gives us grace,
S-aves us from sin’s condemnation,
T-ruly worthy of all praise! --Author Unknown
You do not see a rainbow on a cloudless, rainless day. You see the rainbow when there are clouds and rain. So the most beautiful and most valuable experiences of your life will not be in the day of the unclouded sky and the serene sunlight, but in the days of adversity and of sorrow and trial. Then God's greatest and most gracious truths proclaim themselves across the firmament of our life. --Clarence Macartney
Little Johnny was in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates.
When they neared the pew where he sat, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear him say, "Don't pay for me Daddy, I'm under five."
How Many Roads Must A Man Travel Down Before He Admits He is Lost?
DISQUALIFIED! by Stan Mitchell
"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, hedeceives himself, and his religion is worthless" (James 1:27).
The fastest man who ever lived was Ben Johnson, a broad-shouldered Canadian sprinter. In the Seoul Olympics of 1988, he ran the fastest one hundred meters in history. But don't look for his name in the record books, because he was disqualified. Not because he wasn't fast. Not because he wasn't talented. Because he broke the rules. He was taking anabolic steroids.
Could your Christianity be disqualified? You may not want to read on, but you must! You don't want to be disqualified. James begins by saying, "If anyone considers himself religious." If you've read this far, you probably qualify. You don't consider yourself a pagan! This verse is about you. So, if anyone thinks he is a Christian, yet does certain things, he "deceives himself, and his religion is worthless."
We might go to church and sing the songs. We might study the Bible and preach sermons. And still be disqualified. And, what is even more frightening, all along we have deceived ourselves into thinking that we are religious!
So what is this deadly spiritual steroid that will disqualify us from the race? Is it murder? Embezzlement? Racism? Some people, James says, fool themselves into thinking that their religion is sound, yet they will be disqualified because they fail to control their tongues!
Angry words. Gossip. Spiteful, or demeaning remarks. Destructive and bruising words. Are you guilty? Am I? Be careful how you respond. James insists that many are "deceived" into thinking that their religion is OK when it is not. In a word, if you think that this verse does not apply to you, that may the very sign that it does! Words can bind the wounds of the injured and heal the broken bones of the fallen. Or they can strip bare another's heart. Use words carefully. In the race of life, there is a record book, what the Bible calls the "Book of life." And you want to have your name written there.
Ronald Reagan once quipped: "But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."
posted by joypastordon at 12:39 PM
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