Thought #40

If you are a gardener, without doubt you have learned many lessons from the experience.  For years I have not had the heart to dig up and throw away a scroungy rose bush.  This spring I watered and fertilized it and paid no attention from thereon.  One day I literally gasped to see eight huge red blooms.  What a reminder. When we fertilize and water our mind, heart, and soul from God’s Word we bloom for the glory of God.

Thought #39

The stars that Christ made were now shining on the Christ child -- at Christmas!

Thought #38

How long has it been since you turned to the O. T. book of Hosea?  What a beautiful love story!  Hosea loved adulterous Gomer, paid to buy her back and loved her just as God loved idolatrous Israel and just the way He loves unfaithful us.  Romans 8:1 picks me up and says, “Norma, keep moving ahead.”

Thought #37

Do you have trouble sleeping through the night?  I do.  Sleep apnea is one of God’s greatest blessings to me because it retires me from the world.  Some people spend those hours before the computer or TV screen.  Others resort to counting sheep instead of talking to the Shepherd.  The Psalmist said, “Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night” (Psalm 16:7b).  Oh, the glorious experience of opening my mind to God and His Word!  Sometimes it is as though I’m at the very gates of Heaven.

JESUS ~ The Reason for the Season

JESUS      “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

“There is something about that name. …  Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain; Jesus … Let all heaven and earth proclaim: kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name” (Gaither Music Company).

Jesus IS the reason for Christmas. May the business of trees, tinsel, gifting, baking, shopping, and frustration not crowd out the reason that God sent Jesus in the form of a baby born in a manger.

God sent us a Savior! “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior” (Roy Lessin). “But, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). Hallelujah what a Savior!

“All praise to Him who reigns above, In majesty supreme,/ Who gave His Son for man to die, That He might man redeem!/ His name above all names shall stand, Exalted more and more./ At God the Father’s own right hand, Where angel hosts adore. His name shall be the Counsellor,/ The mighty Prince of Peace,/ Of all earth’s kingdoms Conqueror, Whose reign shall never cease. (“Blessed Be the Name” William H. Clark; Ralph E. Hudson, Refrain)

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise,/ In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,/ Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,/ Almighty, victorious — Thy great name we praise.” (Walter Chalmers Smith; based on 1 Tm. 1:17) “In Him was life and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

In all our bluster let us take time to enjoy the peace that comes by fixing our heart on Jesus. Find a quiet spot to still your heart before Him so that you are prepared to share the greatest gift of all to those you contact. I am handing out tracts to everyone I can. People need to know that Jesus is the reason for the season. And with a peaceful demeanor I must do all I can to share Jesus who was born, died, rose again, and now lives on high to save souls. Hallelujah what a Savior! Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Have a Blessed, Jesus-filled Christmas,   Norma Whitcomb

Thought #36

“God’s promises are stored up in Jesus as the precious possession for His people.”