She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God]. Matthew 1:21 (The Amplified Bible).

A friend posted as her Facebook status, the following: "Ham and Eggs…a one day job for the chicken….a lifetime commitment for the pig." Although I have seen this before, it stuck, for some reason, in my head.  Three days later..(on the Third Day?), I happened to read the two paragraphs below, which were pulled out of a lengthier article by Pastor John Munro.

What is Christ's greatest accomplishment? It was not His miracles or His insightful teaching or His example of love. The greatest achievement of the God of Christmas is salvation. Sin is a powerful force in our lives and holds us in captivity. The Bible describes our spiritual struggles and failures in various ways. For example, we are trapped as it were in a sea of mud. The more we struggle to get out, the deeper we sink. We are in a dark pit whose walls are so high that we can't possibly climb out. We are so terribly ill there is no cure. We are in a prison with no hope of being released. We are lost and don't know where to go. This is where the mission of Christmas brilliantly shines.

Jesus is a great example, but His example is too high for any of us to keep, left to ourselves. He is a great teacher, but truth by itself can't save us. If you are drowning, you don't need someone to shout instructions from the shore. You don't need a lecture on swimming. You need someone to come into the water and save you. God's Son, Jesus, comes to us in our captivity, in our terrible and hopeless dilemma, and rescues us. His death on the cross demonstrates His great love for us in saving us from our sins and paying the price for our deliverance and forgiveness. Jesus is God's deliverer—this is God's rescue strategy—He sends Jesus to Earth to save us and to bring us to Heaven. This is the God of all grace, reaching down, down, down to you in the mission of Christmas.

When I clicked on the "read more" button, I found that the article concluded with the two paragraphs below:

Bob Vernon, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, tells of how the department would test bullet-proof vests—and demonstrate to rookie officers their value—by placing them on manikins and then shooting round after round of bullets at them. They then checked to see if any of the rounds penetrated the vest. Invariably, the vest would pass the test with flying colors. Vernon would then turn to the rookie officers and ask, "So, who wants to wear the vest now instead of the manikin?"

Intellectual understanding and making a personal commitment are very different! You may understand the mission of Christmas intellectually. But you may never have personally trusted in Jesus Christ. You know about Christ, but do you know Him? You understand in your head, but has it impacted your heart? You have religion, but do you have a living personal relationship with Jesus Christ? This Christmas will you receive the gift of salvation? This is the mission of Christmas.

As I read this, it took my mind back to the Facebook status I had read the other day. I wondered whether the bulletproof vest of MY relationship with Christ is still on the mannequin, or have I made the leap of Faith and put it on myself, trusting in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? And now I ask the same question of you.

 

John Munro is senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, N.C., and wrote the devotional above.

May God's richest Blessings, bountiful Mercy, endless Love, and unbelieveable Grace be placed on all who pass by here,

UncleTom

As usual, I start out by confessing that it's been a LONG time since I've posted here. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about....trust me, there have been LOTS of things that have hit me, and I would get started writing....but then something else came up that hit me even harder, resulting in LOTS of unfinished thoughts sitting on my computer, waiting for me to give them the attention they so sorely deserve. I received an e-mail this morning from a friend who sends me LOTS of e-mails, most of which I read and discard. This one hit me pretty much right where I live.

For those of you who don't know, I have been un-employed for over a year now, trying to find work, and dealing with the frustration of basically being ignored when submitting my resume; something that is shared, I'm sure, by thousands out there who are in the same predicament I am.

Rather than complain about how difficult it is to make ends meet with no appreciable source of income, I want to share this e-mail with you, and talk briefly about how I have managed to keep on an even keel though all of this. First, the e-mail:

"A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience,
raised a glass of water and asked, 'How heavy is this glass of water?'

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, the burden will become increasingly heavy, and we won't be able to carry on. '

'As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again...When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down...don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.'"

There was more to the e-mail, but I chose to delete it, since it really didn't have anything to do with my purpose. As I read the above text, I thought , "Wow, this is really true"....there have been many times that I've picked something up, something really heavy, and for a few seconds, I was OK. After that, it became uncomfortable to hold, and I had to drop it. I would rest a few minutes, and then go back to the task of lifting and moving that heavy object again. I would repeat this sequence until the job was finished...only to end up worn out, and nursing a sore back.

Most of us in "the World" view handling problems as described above...deal with it for a while, take a break, then deal with it some more....repeating the process until the issue is gone.....and we are totally WIPED OUT! I know that many people in this country have chosen to deal with their unemployment problems in the same manner, only to end up depressed, unhappy, and worse.

Now, lest you think that I have not been adversely affected by my period of unemployment, rest assured that I have had my moments of "despair". I have felt waves of depression, thinking that the way things are going; I'll NEVER get a job. There is one thing that has made the difference in my life....Jesus!

In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus said, "If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest." (CEV)

What I've found is that when I turn my problems (my yoke) over to Him, and take His yoke, I am able to better cope with whatever I'm facing. Notice that I am STILL unemployed, and I believe that when the right opportunity, based on God's Plan for me is presented, I will know it and act on it. However, by giving my issues, problems, fears, and JUNK over to Christ, the weight that I feel due to my employment situation is lessened, and I can better deal with it, keeping a positive outlook...and when the depressing thoughts DO invade my space, I am able to get rid of them.

My favorite book in the Bible is Job....many who know me would say that's because I have a "dark cloud" that follows me. Although I do seem to have more than my fair share of "bad luck", like Job, I continue to place my faith in God, and depend on Him to guide me through whatever stuff the world throws at me. God allowed the devil to essentially destroy Job (other than killing him), and yet Job continued to remain faithful to God.

I know that God will not let me down...He has supported and sustained me through all of this, and He will continue to do so as time goes on. Paul said it best in my daughter's Confirmation verse, "Christ gives me the strength to face anything.” Philippians 4:13 (CEV).

Let me close this with a paraphrase of Philippians 4:10-14 from "The Message"

I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

 

May God's richest Blessings, bountiful Mercy, endless Love, and unbelievable Grace be placed on all who pass by here,

 

UncleTom

One of my favorite writers on-line is Bryan Hupperts. He has an e-mail letter called “Sheep Tracks”. One of his pieces, that is my favorite, is called “To Die, or Not to Die”, and I have used it quite extensively when my youth classes touch on the subject of Suicide. Anyway, I came across this piece from Bryan, and it got me to thinking about one of the most insidious things I can think of....Gossip.

Maybe it was the pizza, maybe not, but I had the craziest dream.

It was set like a 1950s B horror film. I'm sure that you don't remember The Blob, The Thing, Creature From The Black Lagoon. Back in the day, those were scary movies! I had a scary dream about a fierce creature, a thing, a monster so hideous, so destructive it seemed able to set the world on fire.

Set to the sound of a woman shrieking a piercing scream, I could FEEL the fear as I heard the unrelenting pounding thud of the approach of a hideous monster rising from the shroud of an eerie mist.

The army had been called out and bravely tried to shoot the creature, but alas, to no avail. Tanks were crushed till the order to fall back was shouted. The air force attacked but planes were neutralized with a lone fling of drool. The beast seemed unstoppable. And then the clouds broke and I saw it in its hideous glory:

Tonguezilla! !

It was a roving tongue that had escaped its owner’s mouth. It would stop and wag itself furiously giving anyone and anything a brutal tongue-lashing! Tonguezilla was on a mindless rampage and we seemed defenseless, as we were unable to stop it from releasing its relentless reign of death.

All means of forces were exhausted. And the tongue-lashing continued wrecking havoc on the landscape.....for who could escape the madness, the unbridled fury of Tonguezilla?

Tonguezilla was a terror, a mindless beast capable of tongue-tying all in its path. It had to be stopped, but how? How do you tame the terrifying Tonguezilla?

And in a movement of inspiration born of desperation, I yelled out, “There is but one way to stop Tonguezilla. We have to corral it back into its owner’s mouth. Only if that mouth will stay shut - opening only in wisdom to speak life - only then can we cage the mighty Tonguezilla!”

And I woke up.

The Bible has ALL kinds of things to say about gossip. And it isn't just about spreading rumors, which is what we all tend to think of when we hear the word “gossip”. The Bible describes many kinds of tongues: lying, flattering, proud, tale bearing, and cursing. In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, “You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good?” Your words show what is in your hearts. ”(CEV). According to Proverbs 18:21, “Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.” (The Message) In James 3:6, the Bible describes an untamed tongue as fire, “It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. “ Two verses later it is even called a deadly poison, “But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison. "(CEV).

As self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit, we each need to learn to tame this inner monster. “Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow. ” Proverbs 25: 18 (NLT). A club can injure up close, a sword a bit further, and a sharp arrow can injure from afar. The tongue can inflict great damage or it can speak healing words of life.

Does your tongue speak words of life, or wreck havoc with words of death? “All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.” James 3:2 (CEV) Remember, your mouth is like a toothpaste tube....once the stuff comes out...it's REALLY hard to get it back in!

May God's richest Blessings, bountiful Mercy, endless Love, and unbelieveable Grace be placed on all who pass by here,

UncleTom