Psalm 130: 1-4
From the depths of despair, O Lord, I cry for Your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. Lord, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.
As we examine our lives and our ways in the light of God's ways, we find that in many ways we come up short of what God wants for us, and even of what we want to be, ourselves. There is no way that we can always be and do and treat others perfectly; we will find ourselves resorting to our flesh and reacting with sarcasm or hurtful comments; or we think that no one's watching, or we excuse our behavior by blaming someone else. Or any of a great number of ways we fail to show Love to ourselves, to God and to others.
God knows this. That's why He gave us The Law, so we would know how far we fall short. Then He gave us the Perfect Sacrifice, to not only cover over, but to actually take away our sins. We are all born "by nature, vessels of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). But God has provided a "new birth" for us, in placing His Holy Spirit into our dead human spirit, making us alive spiritually. He does this when we recognize that Jesus is our Christ, Who took our death on the Cross for us. Each of us deserves death ("the wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23), and Jesus was born as a human to die our human death in our place: "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us," (II Corinthians 5:21): "to be sin," take our sin-nature on Himself; "for us," in our place, each one of us.
If you have never admitted to God that Jesus took your place on the Cross, then ask Him to grant you the gift of faith to believe. "For we are saved by grace," God's undeserved blessings, "through faith," believing, trusting God implicitly, "which is not of yourselves," we cannot do this in our own selves, "it is the gift of God, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). God draws us and gives us the faith to believe His Truth; anything we do ("works") is polluted by our sin-nature, and is not acceptable to God. That's why Jesus said that "no one can come to Me except that God draws him." But God also said that, "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek Me with your whole heart."
So I pray for all of you who have yet to be born into God's family, that He would draw you by giving you the desire to know His Truth, and to grant you that faith to believe. Then you will have God's power to help you do the right thing, every time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
What God Wants
Micah 6:8
No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
No sacrifices of animals, oil, or even firstborn children would please the Lord, would make up for our unfaithfulness to Him. To walk humbly with our God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. When we learn of Him and follow His ways to re-mold our character into His character, then we will be humble before Him, we will do what is right because we will discern between right and wrong, and we will have access to His power to do right; and we will have mercy because we will realize how much mercy He has had on us, so we will also be merciful to others, forgiving their offences.
God looks at our thinking processes, our attitudes. That's why He wants to teach us His ways, to think His thoughts, see His viewpoints; and live our lives as people who are loved beyond what we can ever imagine.
It's all about Love, that Love Relationship we have with God and the Love we demonstrate to the others in our lives.
Lets begin this New Year with a renewed Relationship with our Father in Heaven through His Son, Christ Jesus: our Redeemer, our Lord, our King and our espoused Husband; and let us show this Relationship to our families, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers we meet on the street or parking lot and in the stores, seeing them all as beloved creatures made in the image of God.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
No sacrifices of animals, oil, or even firstborn children would please the Lord, would make up for our unfaithfulness to Him. To walk humbly with our God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. When we learn of Him and follow His ways to re-mold our character into His character, then we will be humble before Him, we will do what is right because we will discern between right and wrong, and we will have access to His power to do right; and we will have mercy because we will realize how much mercy He has had on us, so we will also be merciful to others, forgiving their offences.
God looks at our thinking processes, our attitudes. That's why He wants to teach us His ways, to think His thoughts, see His viewpoints; and live our lives as people who are loved beyond what we can ever imagine.
It's all about Love, that Love Relationship we have with God and the Love we demonstrate to the others in our lives.
Lets begin this New Year with a renewed Relationship with our Father in Heaven through His Son, Christ Jesus: our Redeemer, our Lord, our King and our espoused Husband; and let us show this Relationship to our families, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers we meet on the street or parking lot and in the stores, seeing them all as beloved creatures made in the image of God.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Patience And Self-Control
Proverbs 16: 32
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
How were your Christmas Day family times? Did everyone get along sweetly, and express thankfulness for all the gifts exchanged? Or were there arguments, fights, resentments or envy expressed?
If everything didn't go well, like the picture-books and holiday pictures, then what was it that marred the picture? How could we have made things better? Do we need to apologize? Do we need to forgive? Do we need to make amends for past wrongs, that are spoiling our relationships today?
Holidays are meant to be joyous, happy times. But so often there are things that spoil and destroy our joy. Let's examine ourselves to see if there is anything we can do to remedy whatever rifts there be in our relationships with those who should be close to us. People are precious, and need to be handled with care. And we are, too; so we need to grow a thick skin that negative words can roll off of, instead of sinking in. Let us learn how to love one another the way God loves us, and forgive one another as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.
May we determine today that this coming year will be the beginning of a whole new way of doing things. May we decide to say only positive words that will encourage others and build them up, and see others as God sees them, through His eyes of love for them, and consider their needs that we are able to help them with, no matter what it costs us. And stay in prayer every day, practicing the presence of God, to do what He prompts, say His words, and go where He would lead each one of us. May this be a new beginning.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
How were your Christmas Day family times? Did everyone get along sweetly, and express thankfulness for all the gifts exchanged? Or were there arguments, fights, resentments or envy expressed?
If everything didn't go well, like the picture-books and holiday pictures, then what was it that marred the picture? How could we have made things better? Do we need to apologize? Do we need to forgive? Do we need to make amends for past wrongs, that are spoiling our relationships today?
Holidays are meant to be joyous, happy times. But so often there are things that spoil and destroy our joy. Let's examine ourselves to see if there is anything we can do to remedy whatever rifts there be in our relationships with those who should be close to us. People are precious, and need to be handled with care. And we are, too; so we need to grow a thick skin that negative words can roll off of, instead of sinking in. Let us learn how to love one another the way God loves us, and forgive one another as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.
May we determine today that this coming year will be the beginning of a whole new way of doing things. May we decide to say only positive words that will encourage others and build them up, and see others as God sees them, through His eyes of love for them, and consider their needs that we are able to help them with, no matter what it costs us. And stay in prayer every day, practicing the presence of God, to do what He prompts, say His words, and go where He would lead each one of us. May this be a new beginning.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, December 26, 2016
The True Christmas Story
Matthew 2: 1-23 (The whole chapter)
This is the account of the Wise Men of the East who came to worship the King of the Jews whose star they saw while they were still in the Far East.
They followed the star to Jerusalem, where they talked to King Herod, who consulted the Jewish priests to find out where this was supposed to happen, and sent them off to Bethlehem. Then the star came back, and led them right to the house (not stable) where they found Jesus and His mother Mary (Joseph was at work). Then they gave them their gifts. There were three kinds of gifts, so we think there were three Wise Men, but they were most likely a large caravan of camels and people.
Matthew is writing his Gospel to present Jesus as the prophesied King, and the gifts these Wise Men brought bring this out: gold, because He is King; incense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, because He is our Sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
When God warned the Wise Men to not go back to Herod, He also told Joseph to flee Galilee, because Herod would try to kill Jesus. So when Herod found out that he was tricked, he unwittingly fulfilled the prophesy that Rachel would wail with the loss of her children, when he ordered that all the children under 2 years old would be killed.
Then, when Herod died, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus back, but not to Bethlehem, back to Nazareth, where he and Mary were originally from. So Jesus grew up as a Nazarene (not Nazarite, that was someone who vowed not to drink wine for a specific time). So everything that happened, even the tragic and sorrowful things, all happened to fulfill prophesies that had been written hundreds of years before.
So we have the whole Christmas story, actually beginning with the angel telling Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son in their old age, and to name him John (Luke 1:5ff). Then when Elizabeth is six months along, Gabriel comes to Mary, with the news that she would also bear a Son Whose Father will be God, Himself! And also tells Joseph not to divorce her, but to go ahead and marry her. And Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, until John is born. Then they have to travel 120 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, when Mary is nine months pregnant; and the trip puts her into labor. And the rest of the story with the Angels and shepherds and Wise Men, with murderous Herod, the flight into Egypt, and their return back to Nazareth, where they started from.
This is the Christmas Story: How God's own Son became a Man, so that He could demonstrate to Mankind what God is like; to fulfill the whole Old Testament Law; and to be the Perfect Sacrifice, the sacrificial Lamb of God, that would not just cover, but actually take away our sins.
When the penitent would realize that he transgressed the Law, he would bring the animal to the priest, would lay his hands on the animal's head conferring his sin onto the animal, and the animal would die in sacrifice, taking the person's place in death so that the person could live. That is the same way Jesus took our sin-nature upon Himself to pay our "wages of sin" in dying the human death we all, each of us, deserves. When we repent and turn around our thinking to realizing that we deserve death for our sins, and Jesus took our place in that death, on the cross; that's when our sins are taken away, as far as East is from West, not covered temporarily. That's when God causes us to be born into His own Family, by placing His Holy Spirit into us making our dead spirit alive with His life. And with God's Spirit of Truth in us, we recognize the error and deception that formerly enticed us, and sets us free from its bondage. This is the True Christmas Story. Is it True in your life?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This is the account of the Wise Men of the East who came to worship the King of the Jews whose star they saw while they were still in the Far East.
They followed the star to Jerusalem, where they talked to King Herod, who consulted the Jewish priests to find out where this was supposed to happen, and sent them off to Bethlehem. Then the star came back, and led them right to the house (not stable) where they found Jesus and His mother Mary (Joseph was at work). Then they gave them their gifts. There were three kinds of gifts, so we think there were three Wise Men, but they were most likely a large caravan of camels and people.
Matthew is writing his Gospel to present Jesus as the prophesied King, and the gifts these Wise Men brought bring this out: gold, because He is King; incense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, because He is our Sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
When God warned the Wise Men to not go back to Herod, He also told Joseph to flee Galilee, because Herod would try to kill Jesus. So when Herod found out that he was tricked, he unwittingly fulfilled the prophesy that Rachel would wail with the loss of her children, when he ordered that all the children under 2 years old would be killed.
Then, when Herod died, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus back, but not to Bethlehem, back to Nazareth, where he and Mary were originally from. So Jesus grew up as a Nazarene (not Nazarite, that was someone who vowed not to drink wine for a specific time). So everything that happened, even the tragic and sorrowful things, all happened to fulfill prophesies that had been written hundreds of years before.
So we have the whole Christmas story, actually beginning with the angel telling Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son in their old age, and to name him John (Luke 1:5ff). Then when Elizabeth is six months along, Gabriel comes to Mary, with the news that she would also bear a Son Whose Father will be God, Himself! And also tells Joseph not to divorce her, but to go ahead and marry her. And Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, until John is born. Then they have to travel 120 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, when Mary is nine months pregnant; and the trip puts her into labor. And the rest of the story with the Angels and shepherds and Wise Men, with murderous Herod, the flight into Egypt, and their return back to Nazareth, where they started from.
This is the Christmas Story: How God's own Son became a Man, so that He could demonstrate to Mankind what God is like; to fulfill the whole Old Testament Law; and to be the Perfect Sacrifice, the sacrificial Lamb of God, that would not just cover, but actually take away our sins.
When the penitent would realize that he transgressed the Law, he would bring the animal to the priest, would lay his hands on the animal's head conferring his sin onto the animal, and the animal would die in sacrifice, taking the person's place in death so that the person could live. That is the same way Jesus took our sin-nature upon Himself to pay our "wages of sin" in dying the human death we all, each of us, deserves. When we repent and turn around our thinking to realizing that we deserve death for our sins, and Jesus took our place in that death, on the cross; that's when our sins are taken away, as far as East is from West, not covered temporarily. That's when God causes us to be born into His own Family, by placing His Holy Spirit into us making our dead spirit alive with His life. And with God's Spirit of Truth in us, we recognize the error and deception that formerly enticed us, and sets us free from its bondage. This is the True Christmas Story. Is it True in your life?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Christmas Day
Luke 2: 6-20
And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God and saying. "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men."
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us."
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
So after that arduous, bouncing, 120-mile donkey ride, this young teenager went into labor and her Son was born.
This Son was no ordinary Boy: God's holy Angels came from Heaven to announce His birth! Who did they tell, the political rulers? No. The religious leaders? No. No leaders at all, just humble shepherds who weren't expecting anything. And it scared them half to death!
But when the Angels left, the shepherds said, in essence, "What're we doing standing around with our mouths open--let's go see what they told us about!" So they hurried into the City of David--Bethlehem--looking into every barn and stable on the way, and found Him, just like they said. And when they went back, they told everybody that would listen all about it.
Christmas Morning. Straw, a Newborn wrapped in rags, and shepherds. But also, marvelous, glorious light surrounding Heavenly beings, announcing that a Savior has come to save us, to give us Peace here on the Earth, and God's favor toward Mankind.
And His mother wondered and pondered and mused on all these things the Shepherds said about the Angels about her Son. Did she connect the dots between this and what the Angel Gabriel told her nine months ago? What Gabriel said, did come true, about the pregnancy. But what does this mean now? Does it have something to do with what Gabriel said about His kingdom lasting forever? What kind of a kingdom could He have while Rome ruled them all? Would He lead a rebellion?
Mary did not have all the answers yet. And we may not be able to understand what is happening in our own lives, either. We're still in the middle of the story, like she was then. We know the end of her story, because it was recorded for us by those who knew her, or talked to those who knew her. Her answer to Gabriel showed her faith, in trusting God to be God, even when she didn't understand (Luke 1:38).
And we can also trust God, even when things look like we may get stoned, or shunned, or thrown out (like what could have happened to Mary, being pregnant before she got married). Even when we can't see out the other end of the tunnel we're in, or when we feel boxed in with no way out. We can still trust God to have His plan work out just the way He planned it in each of our lives. But while we're still in the middle of it, that's when we need to have faith, to trust Him.
Some day we will be able to look back and see just how all these troubles and problems and sorrows fit into the Big Picture of God's Plan of the Ages, and our parts in it; how all our dark threads set off the gold strands in His Weaving.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God and saying. "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men."
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us."
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
So after that arduous, bouncing, 120-mile donkey ride, this young teenager went into labor and her Son was born.
This Son was no ordinary Boy: God's holy Angels came from Heaven to announce His birth! Who did they tell, the political rulers? No. The religious leaders? No. No leaders at all, just humble shepherds who weren't expecting anything. And it scared them half to death!
But when the Angels left, the shepherds said, in essence, "What're we doing standing around with our mouths open--let's go see what they told us about!" So they hurried into the City of David--Bethlehem--looking into every barn and stable on the way, and found Him, just like they said. And when they went back, they told everybody that would listen all about it.
Christmas Morning. Straw, a Newborn wrapped in rags, and shepherds. But also, marvelous, glorious light surrounding Heavenly beings, announcing that a Savior has come to save us, to give us Peace here on the Earth, and God's favor toward Mankind.
And His mother wondered and pondered and mused on all these things the Shepherds said about the Angels about her Son. Did she connect the dots between this and what the Angel Gabriel told her nine months ago? What Gabriel said, did come true, about the pregnancy. But what does this mean now? Does it have something to do with what Gabriel said about His kingdom lasting forever? What kind of a kingdom could He have while Rome ruled them all? Would He lead a rebellion?
Mary did not have all the answers yet. And we may not be able to understand what is happening in our own lives, either. We're still in the middle of the story, like she was then. We know the end of her story, because it was recorded for us by those who knew her, or talked to those who knew her. Her answer to Gabriel showed her faith, in trusting God to be God, even when she didn't understand (Luke 1:38).
And we can also trust God, even when things look like we may get stoned, or shunned, or thrown out (like what could have happened to Mary, being pregnant before she got married). Even when we can't see out the other end of the tunnel we're in, or when we feel boxed in with no way out. We can still trust God to have His plan work out just the way He planned it in each of our lives. But while we're still in the middle of it, that's when we need to have faith, to trust Him.
Some day we will be able to look back and see just how all these troubles and problems and sorrows fit into the Big Picture of God's Plan of the Ages, and our parts in it; how all our dark threads set off the gold strands in His Weaving.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Christmas Eve
Luke 2: 4-5, 7
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David [actually, the royal, kingly line from King David]; to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
and there was no room for them in the inn.
This must have been a very arduous journey for Mary, being at the end of her pregnancy, having no comfortable seat in a car or train. She may have had a donkey to ride, a very uncomfortable and bumpy ordeal, over such a long way. No wonder she went into labor that night.
Actually, having "no room in the inn" did not mean a private room, but room on the floor for their mat in the common room with all the other travelers. So being shown the barn was really their only option for privacy that night. A blessing in disguise. And it provided the best-fitting cradle for a newborn baby, a manger for holding animal feed.
So here is Joseph, concerned for his beloved, having to bed her down in a stable of domesticated animals for company, but also useful for warmth. And she is having labor pains, her child will be born soon. And here's Mary, never having had a child before, but having learned all about it from Elizabeth, her cousin, with John's birth. So now she'll have to manage it, all by herself? Well, she at least knew what to expect, if everything goes well.
I don't think either Mary or Joseph got much sleep that night, if any, with her in hard labor. This can be very scary, as I found out with my first. I'm glad she had Joseph with her to hold her hand, if not more. We don't know if he went out to find a midwife, that detail didn't seem significant to Luke, or Matthew, either, as they recorded this event.
We're only told that everything went well, both mother and baby made it through without mishap, and both were doing well. And Joseph didn't need to faint!
Have a Merry Christmas Eve, pondering these mysterious but telling lines.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David [actually, the royal, kingly line from King David]; to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
and there was no room for them in the inn.
This must have been a very arduous journey for Mary, being at the end of her pregnancy, having no comfortable seat in a car or train. She may have had a donkey to ride, a very uncomfortable and bumpy ordeal, over such a long way. No wonder she went into labor that night.
Actually, having "no room in the inn" did not mean a private room, but room on the floor for their mat in the common room with all the other travelers. So being shown the barn was really their only option for privacy that night. A blessing in disguise. And it provided the best-fitting cradle for a newborn baby, a manger for holding animal feed.
So here is Joseph, concerned for his beloved, having to bed her down in a stable of domesticated animals for company, but also useful for warmth. And she is having labor pains, her child will be born soon. And here's Mary, never having had a child before, but having learned all about it from Elizabeth, her cousin, with John's birth. So now she'll have to manage it, all by herself? Well, she at least knew what to expect, if everything goes well.
I don't think either Mary or Joseph got much sleep that night, if any, with her in hard labor. This can be very scary, as I found out with my first. I'm glad she had Joseph with her to hold her hand, if not more. We don't know if he went out to find a midwife, that detail didn't seem significant to Luke, or Matthew, either, as they recorded this event.
We're only told that everything went well, both mother and baby made it through without mishap, and both were doing well. And Joseph didn't need to faint!
Have a Merry Christmas Eve, pondering these mysterious but telling lines.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, December 23, 2016
The Oil Of Harmony
Psalm 133: 1-2
How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.
Oil is very soothing and healing; it is very penetrating and long-lasting. It is a lubricant to allow moving parts to slide smoothly against each other without harm or hindrance. That is why harmony is compared to oil--it allows people who are very close (brothers) to be able to function together without argument or animosity.
Many families are coming together for the Holidays from far distances as well as across town; people who in some cases have not seen or communicated much recently will be rubbing up against each other, and tempers can flare. May we all be aware of one another's personalities and temperaments, and be considerate of how they may receive what we have to give in conversation and gift-giving, too. The Oil of Harmony can only be achieved when we "consider other as better than ourselves" and love one another with God's unconditional love, mixed with mercy and forgiveness.
This will not be easy for many of us. Some may even forego travelling to be together, dreading the interchange of personalities. But with God, "all things are possible," even getting along with that difficult relative.
So let us all trust God, leaning on Him rather than our own ways, and let Him do a work in and through us to those who may not know Him yet, and be His witness to draw them into God's loving arms.
Merry Christmas!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.
Oil is very soothing and healing; it is very penetrating and long-lasting. It is a lubricant to allow moving parts to slide smoothly against each other without harm or hindrance. That is why harmony is compared to oil--it allows people who are very close (brothers) to be able to function together without argument or animosity.
Many families are coming together for the Holidays from far distances as well as across town; people who in some cases have not seen or communicated much recently will be rubbing up against each other, and tempers can flare. May we all be aware of one another's personalities and temperaments, and be considerate of how they may receive what we have to give in conversation and gift-giving, too. The Oil of Harmony can only be achieved when we "consider other as better than ourselves" and love one another with God's unconditional love, mixed with mercy and forgiveness.
This will not be easy for many of us. Some may even forego travelling to be together, dreading the interchange of personalities. But with God, "all things are possible," even getting along with that difficult relative.
So let us all trust God, leaning on Him rather than our own ways, and let Him do a work in and through us to those who may not know Him yet, and be His witness to draw them into God's loving arms.
Merry Christmas!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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