Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

The Christmas Cookie Man

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , on December 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CookieMan

THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE MAN
by Bonnie Lord

Just before Christmas, Mom baked a cookie man
She left him to cool on the new cookie pan.
Then, she went out to buy Billy a toy,
Because he had been a very good boy.

Jake, the dog, woke from his nap.
Then his nose twitched with a snap.
“Something smells good,
Like cookies should.”

Jake sniffed, and found the cookie man.
He laid right there on the cookie pan.
Jake nudged the pan, and it crashed to the floor.
Up jumped cookie man and slipped out the door.
Then a little voice said in his head.
“Run! Run! Cookie man!”

Cookie man ran all around.
His feet barely touched the ground.
Finally, after a slip and a fall,
He found himself right next to the mall.

Tired he slumped down on the curb.
A boy picked him up and he heard.
“Which shall I eat?
His head or his feet?”
Then a little voice said in his head.
“Run! Run! Cookie man.”

Cookie man breathed in a lot of air.
He let it all out with more to spare.
It let him slip from the little boy’s hand,
And he again heard, “Run! Run! Cookie man!”

In the mall kids were trimming a tree.
Cookie man walked on over to see.
A girl reached down and picked him up.
“I’ll put this cookie man near the top!”

She lifted him up, oh so high,
And cookie man let out a deep sigh.
Then, the little voice said.
“Safe at last Cookie man!”

Cookie man rests in the tree in the mall,
Where he can be seen by one and by all.
Kids walk by with their faces so pink,
And cookie man grins and gives them a wink.

Read Full Post »

Immanuel “God With Us!”

Posted in Christianity, Holidays, inspirational, tagged , , , , , , on December 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

matthew1_22-23

Matthew 1:22-23

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

Isn’t it awesome to  think about what this means?  God with us?  How can that be?
That beautiful little baby that was born of a virgin, and laid in a manger so many years ago in Bethlehem was actually God.  That just boggles my mind!   Yes, Jesus was fully man and fully God at the same time.  I can’t understand all that, and I’m sure you can’t either, but we can take it by faith and believe it.

Now, think back to that day in Bethlehem so many years ago, and picture Mary and Joseph.  She was pregnant and about to give birth and they couldn’t even find a room to stay in. Oh, how uncomfortable and stressed Mary must have been.  But, God provided a place in a stall with the farm animals.  Then, that little one was born.  He was “God with us.”  Wow!  That tiny baby was God!  How amazing!  How wonderful!

Do you think Mary knew the significance of it all?  I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when shepherds came and worshipped their little baby?  Then, kings showed up and brought gifts.  How puzzling it must have been and how wonderful at the same time.

Jesus was sinless and therefore He could stand in our place of judgement for our sins.  Only a sinless one could do that.  He took our punishment for sin which is death.  The Bible says in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Oh, God must really love us more than we can ever appreciate.  He sent His Son to die for me!  And for you! Wow!  That’s truly amazing!  What love!  What mercy!  I truly deserved to die, but He stood up and went to the cross and took on the punishment for all humanity who would believe in Him.

That’s not all.  After Jesus suffered and died that horrible death on the cross, He was buried in a tomb, and after three days He miraculously came back to life.  That is almost unbelievable too.  But, it is true as the scriptures testify of it.

But, there is even more.  When we turn to Jesus Christ, confess our sins, repent,  and give our hearts and lives to Him then guess what?  He (God) actually comes and lives in us in the form of the Holy Spirit.  We are reborn.  We are “in Christ.”  We have been cleansed of our sins and can live to glorify God with the power of the Holy Spirit in us.  I’m so thankful that God sent Jesus so that God could be with us.

Read Full Post »

“Happy Thanksgiving,” or “Happy Turkey Day”?

Posted in Christianity, Holidays, inspirational, Religion, tagged , , , , on November 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

It’s that time of year again.  I’ve noticed lately that some people say, “happy turkey day!” instead of “happy thanksgiving!”  Have you noticed that?  At first I didn’t think too much about it and kind of thought it was cool, but then I gave it another thought.  Is thanksgiving just a time of getting together with friends and family and gorging ourselves with all the delicious goodies on the table until we feel more stuffed than the turkey?  After that we waddle off to the family room to watch football the rest of the day until our eye balls just about fall out of our heads?  Is that what it is about?  That must be “turkey day!”

The First Thanksgiving, painted by Jean Leon G...

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, so Thanksgiving was more of a family gathering where we did enjoy all the wonderful food my mom and aunts prepared.  It was fun having all the company and playing with my cousins in the afternoon.  We didn’t have television so the conversation was around the deer hunting stories the men told.  It was a fun time that’s for sure.  Also, in school we were told about the pilgrims and how they celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Indians and gave thanks to God for the bounty.  That’s about all I knew about it.

By the way, if you are thankful, who are you thankful too?  Are you thankful to your boss for giving you a good job so you can have that shiny new car in the drive?  Are you thankful to your wife for preparing a wonderful meal?  We need to check our thanksgiving and see who we are thankful too.  We can be thankful to our bosses and spouses, but above all we need to be thankful to God who supplies all our needs, and gives us all things to enjoy.  God is above all else.  He is the one who put it on your bosses heart to hire you.  He is the one gave you the ability to do your job.  He is to get all the thanks and glory!

Later in life I became a Christian and Thanksgiving now has new meaning for me.  Yes, I am thankful and for so much.  I am thankful that God saved me from myself and gave me a new life in Christ.  I am thankful for being adopted into God’s family.  I am thankful for the Word of God and all that it has meant to me from that time on.  Yes, I have a true Thanksgiving because I am thankful to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Read Full Post »

My First Real Christmas

Posted in American culture, Christianity, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on December 19, 2011| 4 Comments »


I guess  it wasn’t until I was about 30 years old that I experienced my first real Christmas.  It was after I became a child of God.  That made all the difference in the world in how I perceived Christmas.

Growing up Christmas was all about the local fire department’s annual Christmas party.  It was a swell time, and all of us kids looked forward to it.  They put on a super banquet with tons of home cooked food, and we all ate our fill.  Then the country music band would begin to play and many people would get up and dance.  I watched as my folks skimmed over the dance floor to the music, and hoped some day I could dance like them.  Some of us kids would get out there and try.

Sometimes they had a talent show with local talent from the community.  I was always in awe of this one girl who could do a wicked tap dance.  Oh, if I could only do that.  After we were full of food and tired of dancing, we would sing some Christmas carols. They  gave us a little song book to take home and I remember my little sister and I would have singing contests with them.

Then, we would hear sleigh bells jingling, and old man Inar Anderson would come in the side door dressed in his Santa suit and shouting, “Ho, ho, ho!”  Oh, that was exciting!  Us kids would all gather around by the Christmas tree, and wait as Santa gave  each of us a little box of hard candy that had a little srting cord to hang onto. I loved getting that box of candy!  There was always one big chocolate drop in that box and I couldn’t wait to open it and see if it was there.  Yum! My favorite!

Christmas at our house growing up was okay.  We didn’t have much money but we always got something.  We would get a stocking which had nuts, an orange, a tangerine, and an apple.  Sometimes there would be a little gift tucked in there too.  So, to me Christmas was about the Christmas party at the fire hall and our Christmas morning at home with gifts.  I didn’t think too much about Jesus or the Christmas story.

After I grew up and got out into the world Christmas meant something else to me. It was party time!  It was a time to get together with friends and have a drink or two to celebrate.  Yes, we did a lot of celebrating.  We celebrated at work too, as we had office parties.  When we’d go and visit anyone they would offer us drinks. So, at that time of my life Christmas meant partying.  And I certainly did my share!

English: A Christmas Tree at Home

Things Changed

In those days Christmas also meant getting gifts for everyone I could, and buying a tree and decorations.  As I look back I realize that my focus on Christmas was all wrong.  I have to confess that I think I worshipped my tree.  I had to get it all set up and decorated just right. I’d put on some Christmas music, actually worldly music, and with a drink in hand I’d sit and look at my tree for a long, long time and just marvel at how beautiful it was.  I loved people stopping by to celebrate with me and I loved going to their homes and celebrating with them.  Yes, Christmas was a time of drinking and having a grand ole time.

But, then, after I found Jesus Christ as my Savior and went to church I discovered my first real Christmas.  Oh, what a difference!  It was wonderful!  I remember so well that first real Christmas.  It just happened that year that Christmas fell on Sunday.  We  had a short morning service that day. Then we had an evening service at church, and the pastor read the Christmas story from the Bible.  It meant so much to me as I really listened to it for the first time, and let the words sink into my heart.  It was beautiful!

After  that we sang some Christian Christmas carols which were really beautiful, and the words meant something special to me.  Then, members of the congregation shared some of the things they were thankful for.  It was a blessing and I sat there with tears in my eyes. That Christmas I was sober and my heart was blessed with the beauty of Christmas.  I loved hearing how others felt about Jesus and what He did for us.  I wanted everyone I knew to feel like I did.  Yes, there was more to Christmas than what I’d thought all those years.

Since that first real Christmas the holidays have meant so much more to me.  It doesn’t mean partying and drinking any more.  Those things were empty.  But Christ is real and His Word is alive and can change our hearts.

The Bible describes me before I found Jesus Christ as my Savior and discovered the real meaning of Christmas.   I believed in God, but did not realize that I was His enemy.

Rom 8:5-8 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, (7) because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, (8) and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

When I was saved I obtained PEACE with God.  How wonderful is that?

Rom 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This is the real Christmas story.  Christ came to earth a harmless little baby, but He was born to die.  What love is that?  He died for me a hopeless, helpless sinner. I thought about that on that first real Christmas, and my heart was full of joy that God saved me from myself.  Isn’t that amazing?  He loved me that much!

Read Full Post »

My Christmas Prayer For You

Posted in Christian, devotional, Gospel, Holidays, inspirational, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Dear Heavenly Father,  I come before you a poor soul who has been graciously saved by grace.  Lord, I don’t know why you chose me, but I am forever grateful that you did.  I certainly didn’t deserve anything at all.
You are a holy God and you are full of mercy and grace.  Lord, I lift up to you all of those who read this prayer and ask that you open up their eyes of understanding to know that they are sinners because of their heritage in Adam and Eve.  When they sinned in the garden, sin entered into the world and has been passed down from generation to generation. 
Help the reader take a good look at themselves and be honest.  Help them see that they  are not capable of saving themselves but need a Savior.  God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to this earth in the form of man so we can identify with Him. Your precious Son took on all the sins of mankind when He went to the cross and died.  He took on mine and He took on the sins of those who read this prayer. Oh, Lord, thank you that you made a way for us to be right before a holy God.
Jesus beat death when He rose from the grave three days after he was buried.  He is ALIVE, in Heaven right now at your side.  This shows us that we too can have the promise of a new life after death. 
I pray that the reader will turn to you Lord. That they will bow their knee to you and allow you to be master over their life.  Lord, please open their spiritual eyes so that they may see their desperate need. 
Your Word tells us that this life is not the end of it all.  When we die we will either go to heaven or hell depending on who we serve down here.  Some will continue to serve themselves and will not respond to your Word.  They will spend eternity in Hell.  Your Word teaches that Hell is a real place and it is eternal torment.  Lord, please, don’t let anyone who is reading this prayer go to Hell.  I beg you Lord. Please help their unbelief right this minute.
There are others who believe they are Christians and on their way to Heaven, but have been deceived by false teaching.  Lord, if anyone is reading this prayer falls into this category, please give them a nudge in their hearts to examine themselves to see if they are truly in the faith.  It is not by good works that they will be saved, and it is not by being a nice person, joining a church, giving money or anything else man can do. 
Lord you want us!  You want our soul and you want our bodies for service.  If there is someone out there who does all the right things in their mind, but does not love you God, does not love your Word, and does not love their fellow Christian brothers and sisters, then by you own Word, that person is not saved.
They need to be born again.  Born anew, and become a new creation.  That is what you do for us.  And, it is wonderful that you actually adopt us into your family, God.  You become our Heavenly Father, and we can call you Father.  Once that happens then you take care of us.  We don’t have to worry or fear anymore.  We will have peace deep down inside knowing when we die we will go to Heaven.  There is no uncertainty about it.  We can be sure! 
If there is someone reading this that is not sure, then Lord I pray you will touch their heart today and nudge them to get right with you.  Open their eyes that they might see.  Help that person to become one of your family members Lord.  Help that person to make a fresh new committment to live the rest of their life for you and not for themself.  Help them to allow you to be Lord and Master.
Oh, this is a beautiful time of the year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  But, it is so much more.  It is a time when we can take a look at ourselves and make sure we are on the right path for eternity.  Jesus did so much more for us than we can even imagine, and Heaven awaits us with multitudes of blessings and things we can only dream of.  What a day that will be when we meet him face to face! 
Lord, please bless the readers of this prayer and have mercy on them. 
In Jesus name, thy will be done.  Amen

Read Full Post »

Thanks for What we Have in Christ

Posted in Bible Study, Christian, Holidays, inspirational, Religion, Scripture, tagged , , , , , on November 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Thanks for What we Have in Christ

This Sunday Joel Spencer was our speaker for our special Thanksgiving message.  He brought us to Colossians 1:1-23 to highlight some things that we have to be thankful for as Christians.

Have you ever thought about how many times in a week you say, “thank you?”  We say it all the time, and it is polite to say “thank you.”  We thank the cashier in the check out line when they hand us our change or bags.  We thank strangers when they hold open a door for us.  We thank our spouses when they do something nice.  Thanksgiving is a part of our lives.  But, how many times do we thank God?  And, if we do what do we thank Him for?

In this message we will see several things that we can thank God for if we are Christians.  I hope you will be encouraged to think about all that God has done for us and be forever grateful.

Click below to listen to this uplifting message.

Thanks for What we Have in Christ – Joel Spencer

Read Full Post »

God’s Christmas Gifts!

Posted in Anxiety & Stress, Bible Study, Christian, Holidays, inspirational, Praise, Scripture, tagged , , , , , , , on December 17, 2009| 2 Comments »

nativity62 

It’s Christmas time again and we focus on the babe in the manger.  Yes, that baby, Jesus, came to die on the old rugged cross. He sacrificed His life so that spiritually dead sinners could have new life.  Jesus was truly God’s gift to us. 

edxmas32

Sometimes that is about as deep as our thoughts go.  I would like to unwrap some other gifts that are under God’s Christmas tree.

I’ve thought the last few days about the greatness of God.  He is absolutely gigantic, humongous, and so huge that I cannot fully comprehend it.  God is enormous.  Just take a minute right now to stop and think about how big God is.  Doesn’t it boggle your mind?  He is out there and has been out there forever.  He created everything and everyone and is in complete control of it all.  He is Sovereign!

1Ti 6:15a NASB …He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

And He can do whatever He wants in any situation.  It certainly does boggle my mind.

Then, think about how huge He is in comparison to us.  That is truly amazing! Dump out a few grains of salt from a salt shaker into your hand.  Then pick out one of those tiny grains and really look at it.  From God’s perspective we must look something like a grain of salt.  We are so teeny tiny compared to Him.  We can simply blow on that little grain of salt in our hand and it will fly away never to be found again.  God could just blow us away in an instant too.  That is sobering!  We are at His complete mercy.  And, he is a merciful God! 

With that in mind, the Bible teaches us how much God loves us. Actually, He is Love.

1Jn 4:16b NASB …God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

We are His own creation and are fearfully and wonderfully made! 

Psa 139:14 NASB I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

How intricate our bodies are.  It’s amazing how all the different parts of our bodies work together to make us stay alive.  That is all God’s doing to this tiny grain of salt.  Amazing!

Now, do you think this huge God can keep us?  Do you think He can take care of us?  There is no question about that.  His Word is full of promises about how he will provide all our needs. 

Php 4:19 NASB And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

He tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything. 

Php 4:6 NASB Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Do you think that is harsh of Him to tell us to not be anxious about anything?  I say no, because when we are believers He has promised to carry the load for us.  We do not have to worry or fret about anything.  He is truly in control, even when we feel out of control.  You see He is never out of control.  Our problem is that we go according to our feelings, and forget He is there.  That is our downfall!  We have to rise about our feelings and look at the facts.

When we were saved along with the promise of forgiveness of sins and a future home in Heaven came many other gifts that we can unwrap.  In fact, I’ve written about a few of them in the past few months.  Just as a reminder I’ll list some of them here.

cgift7

1.  We are forgiven all of our sins.

2.  We are a new creation.  (inside)

3.  We are adopted into God’s family

4.  We are citizens of Heaven

5.  Our Father will take care of all of our needs.

6.  We are more than conquerors because we now have God’s power of the Holy Spirit living within us.

7.  We will have peace of God, and peace with God.

Those are just a few of the gifts that God has so graciously provided for believers.  They are not for the people of this world, only His special children.  Those who have the family resemblance. 

I believe that we need to take a step back from ourselves.  We need to see ourselves the way God sees us.  When we do we realize all of our problems are really very small even though they don’t seem like it.  If we get our eyes off our circumstances and focus our minds on God, we allow Him to flow through us, and we have the power to make it through our problems.  We will still have trials, but they will not overwhelm us.

We can still be defeated Christians even with all those gifts if we fail to unwrap them use them. We can’t continue to live our lives the way the people of the world do.  Those ways don’t apply to us anymore.  Unbelievers only have themselves to work for them.  I remember before I was a Christian how “I” had to figure everything out, every detail, and I wasn’t always right in my decisions either. I messed things up a lot of the time.  Now, we don’t have to control every situation.  We don’t have to control others. We don’t have to be perfect.  We don’t have to please everyone, only God.  We can relax and know that God is taking care of things for us.  He IS big enough you know! 

I praise God for the wonderful gift of that little baby in the manger.  And I thank Him for all the other gifts under God’s Christmas tree that He has lavished upon us.  Unwrap them for yourself this year.

Eph 1:7-8 NASB In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (8-a) which He lavished on us.

Read Full Post »

The Most Important Thing!

Posted in Christian, devotional, Faith, Gospel, Holidays, inspirational, Religion, Scripture, tagged , , , , , on December 10, 2008| Leave a Comment »

 merry-christmas-bar41

Greetings!

The most important thing I can leave you with this season is that you get right with God. If you don’t you will spend eternity in Hell. It’s that serious. So, how do you get right with God?

First admit you are a sinner. We all are. The Bible even says so in, Romans 6:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Everyone ever born has sinned, and has a sin nature.

Most people think that when someone dies they automatically go to Heaven. Growing up whenever any of our relatives died the family talked about them as being in a “better place.“ But, that is not always the case. If that person didn’t get right with God first they would not be in Heaven.

Others, don’t believe there is a Heaven or Hell and figure this life is all there is. We live, we die, are buried, and that’s it. But, that is not true either. There is an afterlife. Our bodies die, but our spirits (which are our true selves) live on forever.

Another myth people believe in is if they live a decent life, go to church, contribute to charity, or do good deeds, then they will go to Heaven when they die. Good works will not get you to Heaven.

We only get one chance to get right with God and that is in the here and now. It is crucial that you understand that. Life is fragile and none of us know what tomorrow will bring.

The Bible tells us there is a Heaven for those who believe. John 14: 2 “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; …I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

To get right with God you need to acknowledge you are a sinner, and repent, (which means turn from your sins.) Acts 3:19 “Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out….” God is holy and can’t look upon sin, so He provided us a solution.

I Corinthians 15:3-4 tells us what we need to believe. “…Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Many times a person’s pride will stand in the way. But, please don’t let that happen to you. Admit the truth, and ask God to accept you and adopt you into His family. Make Jesus Christ Lord or your life. Let Him lead you and control you. You will not be sorry you did, and you will be welcomed Home when your time comes.

There is an excellent book written by John MacArthur called, The Gospel According to Jesus.

If you would like to know more about how to get right with God, click on this link where you can order the book.

http://www.gty.org/Products/Books/G

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »