A Christmas Comment

Christmas may bring gifts galore,
All your heart is wishing for,
All you want and maybe more...
With
all the wrappings.

You may own a mansion grand,
Lots of money, lots of land,
Lots of folks at your command...
Caught
in earth's trappings.

What's beneath your Christmas tree?
Count the presents that you see:
Does that spell Prosperity?...
Don't
be deluded.

Christmas-time is always rough,
Running, shopping, buying stuff,
How to know when it's enough?
Was
God included?

God so loved the world He gave,
Sent His Son down here to save
Folks from sins that would enslave...
Why
should He bother?

Rubies, gold and diamond rings:
That's just stuff that Santa brings ~
The best things in life aren't things!
Praise
God the Father!

Connie

Credo

Not what, but Whom, I do believe,
That, in my darkest hour of need,
Hath comfort that no mortal creed
To mortal man may give; -
Not what, but Whom!
For Christ is more than all the creeds,
And His full life of gentle deeds
Shall all the creeds outlive.

Not what I do believe, but Whom!
Who walks beside me in the gloom?
Who shares the burden wearisome?
Who all the dim way doth illume,
And bids me look beyond the tomb
The larger life to live? -
Not what I do believe,
But Whom!
Not what, but Whom!

John Oxenham

...creeping thing...

[Peter] saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel decending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. - Acts 10:11-15

H. A. Ironside mentioned that when his father was dying, this passage was running through his mind and he kept repeating, “A great sheet and wild beasts, and—and—and…” He could not seem to remember the next word but went back and started over, and once more came to that same place. A friend bent over and whispered, “John, it says, “creeping things.’” “Oh, yes,” he said, “that is how I got in. Just a poor good-for-nothing creeping thing, but I got in—saved by grace.”

He goes on to say, no matter how low, vile or utterly useless and corrupt or unclean, the soul that trusts Jesus is in the sheet let down from Heaven and will have a place in glory by and by.

The story brought tears to my eyes thinking of how I've been saved by grace, amazing grace!

Comfort in a Cloud

"Mary," said I, "you must have very dark days; they must be overcome with clouds sometimes." "Yes," said the dear old saint, "but then I often find there's comfort in a cloud." "Comfort in a cloud, Mary?" "Yes. When I am very low and dark I go to the window, and if I see a heavy cloud I think of those precious words, 'A cloud received Him out of their sight' (Acts 1:9), and I look up and see the cloud sure enough, and then I think: 'Well, that may be the cloud behind which my Saviour is found,' so you see there is comfort in a cloud."

- taken from One Thousand Tales Worth Telling by Henry Pickering

wasted?

And there were some indignant in themselves, and saying, Why has this waste been made of the ointment? - Mark 14:4

Mary poured out something very precious and expensive upon the Lord Jesus and was accused of wasting. Isn't that always the cry of the world? If we're all sold out to God and devoted completely to Him, it would be a waste in the world's point of view! Waste of talent, waste of resources, waste of intelligence and so much more.

If we're going to heed the call of the world and follow after it's principles and fancies, it would seem a waste from God's point of view. Waste of potential for the Lord knows what He can make out of us. But it would require our complete obedience.

Worse still is the waste from our own point of view. This is when we try to please both God and the world. We go nowhere in the world and see all that we've sacrificed as waste but only because we're not enjoying the blessings of a full obedience to God either.

While here alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love Him more, praise Him more,
And feel and tell amid that host divine,
How fully I am His and He is mine.

J. Quarles

Prayer

God answers prayer; sometimes, when hearts are weak,
He gives the very gifts believers seek.
But often faith must learn a deeper rest,
And trust God's silence when He does not speak;
For He whose name is Love will send the best.
Stars may burn out, nor mountain walls endure,
But God is true, His promises are sure
For those who seek.

Author Unknown

In Readiness

My heart is filled with hopes that I
Shall hear a glad shout from the sky,
To take leave of my house of earth
To move to one of matchless worth.

'Tis not the house I value most,
But 'tis the kind and gracious Host
That draws my heart toward heaven's home
Where now my Lord awaits enthroned!

My HEART! Are you in readiness
For Him who sweetly longs to bless?
Does anything thine eyes have seen
Stand as a barrier between?

My HOPE! Are you steadfast of goal,
Fixed on Him who keeps thy soul?
Or do you wish He would not come
'Till all you want to do is done?

My HOUSE! Are you prepared to leave
To other hands that shall receive?
Do you contain one thing to shame
The testimony of HIS NAME?

Let all in house and hope and heart
Be for thy Master set apart!
That when He calls thee to the air
Naught shall cloud thy meeting there.

Elizabeth Byland

Born King!

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. - Matthew 2:1-2

What tremendous words were uttered by these wise men of the east! It is bursting with significance! Pay attention to the question now. It was not "Where is He that is born to be King of the Jews?" Oh no, that was not it. But it was "Where is He that is born King...?"

The former would imply that the Lord Jesus Christ, here born as a baby, would sit on the throne and rule as king someday in the future. Probably in place of Herod the king at that time. However, Herod was not the rightful king of the Jews but a mere puppet king. His kingship over the Jews was hardly recognised by the people let alone by God. And so the Lord Jesus Christ was born King. From His birth He was the rightful Occupant of the throne of the kingdom. At His birth He was declared King already.

It's no wonder then that Herod felt threatened but it's sad that all Jerusalem was troubled along with him (vs 3). It took men all the way from the east to acknowledge the kingship of Christ and offer Him the worship and adoration due to Him.

Where Jesus is, that's Heaven

A poor little man lay dying in the garret. Another man who came to see him, said,"Suppose, sonny, you went to Heaven, and Christ weren't there, what would ye do then?" "Go and look for Him," was the quick response. "But suppose," and here the atheist's voice sank to a tragic whisper,"suppose He was gone to Hell, what then?" The little chap turned a beaming and triumphant countenance, and looking on the man's lowering face, cried,"Ah, I see ye don't understand; cos where Jesus is, that's Heaven."

In Quietness and Confidence Shall Be Your Strength

Let nothing make thee sad or fretful,
Or too regretful,
Be still.
What God hath ordered must be right,
Then find in this thine own delight,
His will.

Why shouldst thou fill today with sorrow
About tomorrow
My heart?
One watches all with care most true;
Doubt not that He will give thee, too,
Thy part.

Only be steadfast; never waver
Nor seek earth's favor
But rest.
Thou knowest what God's will must be
For all His children, so for thee -
The best.

Paul Fleming (A. D. 1609-40)

In Time of Need

Not by my need alone I ask this token
That Thou, O Lord, dost hear and heed my cry;
But by Thy promise that cannot be broken,
That all my need in Christ Thou wilt supply;
Not by my love for Thee, so oft disproved,
Not by my gifts to Thee, so poor and small,
But by Thy love that gave Thy best-beloved,
And with that one great Gift included all.

Not by my faith I plead, for that can falter,
Aye, and has faltered in the days gone by;
But by Thy faithfulness that cannot alter,
And by Thine ordered covenants on high,
Set safe and sure above Time's brief duration,
Beyond all change, eternally the same;
By these I dare my fervent supplication,
By Thy great mercies and Thy holy name.

Annie Johnson Flint

I am the Lord's! O joy beyond expression,
O sweet response to voice of love divine;
Faith's joyous Yes to the assuring whisper,
Fear not, I have redeemed thee, thou art Mine.

I am the Lord's! it hushes every murmur,
It soothes the fevered spirit to its rest;
I am the Lord's! it is the child's rejoinder,
Who knows and feels the Father's will is best.

I am the Lord's! O eagerly and gladly,
Triumphantly and gratefully we sing;
I am the Lord's! It is the rock unfailing,
To which our storm-tossed souls in danger cling.

I am the Lord's! yet teach me all it meaneth,
All it involves of love and loyalty,
Of holy service, full and glad surrender,
And unreserved obedience unto Thee.

I am the Lord's! yes; body, soul and spirit;
They're sealed, and irrecoverably Thine;
As Thou, Beloved, in Thy grace and fulness
For ever and for evermore art mine.

Lucy A. Bennett
(Believer's Hymn Book - Hymn 394)