The Promise

Christmas Ornament by YO$HIMI

It's here again already. I don't know where the time goes anymore. Remember when you were a child and it seemed as though time dragged by kicking and screaming, not wanting to go into the future but remain ever in the present? Remember the boredom, and the longing for that next big event waiting ahead just outside of your reach? Summer vacation... Christmas... birthday... graduation... your first car... your first job... marriage... children...

Anymore, I find myself the one who is digging in my heels wanting the fast spin to stop and let me rest for just a moment. Where does the time go...

I find myself once again at the beginning of the season of Promise. Thanksgiving is a memory. There might be some leftovers still in the refrigerator, but other than that, it has faded into the past where all events go. We can stand wistfully looking over our shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of it behind us, or we can choose to look forward.

I don't celebrate the holiday season; I celebrate Christmas. I choose to celebrate not so much with the giving of gifts that support our commercial culture, but rather by remembering why we celebrate. It is our small, attempt to re-enact the most perfect, and best gift that was ever given. 

Sometimes when we give gifts, we do it expecting something in return. We may not mean to be that way. But, it's human nature. We expect to give and then receive. Sometimes we even want to receive first and then we'll consider giving! We are also very choosy about who will receive our gifts. After all, we can't just give a gift to everyone. And, there are some people in our lives who deserve a better gift than others. So, we budget, and shop accordingly and bless others through giving the best that we know how.

But there was a better gift, a perfect gift. And that is what we celebrate. 

Approximately 2,000 years ago a gift was given. It was given freely, with no strings attached, and no expectation other than it be received. No one got a bigger, better gift. The exact same gift was given to everyone, because this gift couldn't be earned. It was a gift of ultimate love and sacrifice.

The perfect gift was unveiled in a simple manger, in the form of a baby boy. 

He is our hope, our promise, our savior. His birth was planned and foretold as long ago as the fall of man. 

From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. 

~Genesis 3:15 (NLT)

This is what I celebrate. I invite you to join me on a journey this month. Together, we will search out the promises of the coming King, and rekindle in our hearts the true meaning of Christmas.

If you liked this post, please let me know by leaving me a comment, question or suggestion in the comment box below. Likes and shares are also appreciated! 

No Options!

the liberator by dbking

Few weeks ago pastor Susan Allen taught a lesson on "Beating the Odds". My apologies in advance for my almost plaigiaristic post.

In the information age it is so easy to stumble over statistics, facts and figures. The odds are that a certain percentage of people will develop cancer, get the flu this season, die in a car accident, get divorced, etc. We live with an almost constant stream of negative programming from the entertainment industry, from.the medical community, law enforcement officials, the news media, even well-meaning friends and family are eager to tell us what the odds are that we cannot succeed, and they usually let us know that the odds are stacked against us. 

How do we tip the scales in our favor? 

Reflections on Life Lived

Of course, at the end of our journey, we want that to read “a life lived well”, or “a life well-lived”.

I have spent time over the last several days contemplating and reflecting on my life thus far. I look at my birthday as a sort of personal “New Year”. The changing of the calendar year doesn’t mean that much to me, really. I’m not much into making New Year’s Resolutions. But, my birthday I take a little more seriously – not in a celebrating, let’s party kind of way. In fact, I prefer that not much is made of my birthday. Yes, I appreciate the “happy birthday” wishes, but don’t rely on a party or presents. In many ways, it’s just another day.

Great Expectations: The Effect of Expectations on Your Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

     -- Hebrews 11:1

Yes, I know I've used this scripture already in my blog. You'll just have to accept that I'm going to use and reuse a lot of the same scriptures because they are really important, key scriptures when it comes to discussing faith.

If faith is the substance of things hoped for, what, then is hope? I turned to Miriam Webster to see what the dictionary definition of the word "hope" is, and this is what I found: