As he took Jesus in his arms that day in the temple and praised God, Simeon must have experienced the greatest thrill of his life. Described as “righteous and devout”, he had been promised by the Holy Spirit he would not die until he saw the Christ. I can imagine he visibly trembled with excitement, electrified by the Spirit’s gripping revelation. You would too, to hold Jesus in your arms and know He was the Son of God.
Whew, time for bed. What a Christmas day it had been. Up at 6—grandma, it’s time to see if Santa’s been here—followed by the Christmas story, stockings, breakfast, gifts, lunch, more presents, play, dinner, more play, exhaustion. It’s time to lay down those sleepy heads.
The traditional Christmas baking reached a new frenzy this year at my house. Special requests were rife, from “more of those chewy cereal bars please mom”, to “how about extra shortbread”, to “please, a few of the meringues without chocolate chips”, to “are you certain you’ll have enough of the chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls?”
Take it in ladies. The sounds and smells and sights of Christmas are everywhere, tickling my senses. I confess to loving it all. Yes, ’tis the season to be jolly, or happy, or merry—as you wish to express it. For sure the traditional greeting, Merry Christmas, embodies the spirit of celebration for those who love Jesus. Let’s get in the mood with a Merry Christmas Monday.
My mother and sister were artisans when it came to counted cross-stitch. Carefully and meticulously, they added stitch by tiny stitch until the blank canvas was transformed into a stunning masterpiece.
Down I fell, flat on my face! I was running downhill with my dog when suddenly she darted ahead. I hung onto the leash trying to slow her down. Instead, her momentum pulled me down until I was face down in the dirt.
I pulled into the rest area and looked around. The people I observed were as varied as the vehicles. Where were they all going? The adventurist in me began to imagine several possible scenarios.
“What is that smell?” my husband asked as we entered the resort where we were vacationing. “Whatever it is, I want it!” he exclaimed.
I could hardly believe it! I was moving into my new house that I had never even seen. My husband had called me a month prior saying he was putting a contract on a house. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to see the house first.
I am so intrigued with the character of Joshua in the Old Testament. There is much about him that I can relate to! He must have taken the reins of leading the people from Moses’ hands as a total basket case! In the first nine verses of the book of Joshua, God had to tell Joshua three times to be strong and courageous even though he had been Moses’ aide for many years. I can relate to his roadblock of fear and his need for ongoing encouragement!
I can do the math! The Bible says that Enoch lived 65 years, then became a father and walked with God 300 years. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years (Genesis 5:21-23). Like Enoch, raising wee ones certainly drove me to my knees and necessitated a daily walk with Him. The Bible has so little to say about Enoch, but we can see from his place in history that he lacked many faith-building benefits that we enjoy.
I do not have one creative bone in my body. When I walk into an arts and crafts fair, or worse yet, a craft store, I feel like I am going to hyperventilate. I am gifted in other areas, but somebody else got my portion of creativity.
As I grumbled over my credit card bill this morning, I thought that I well deserved every charge on it. I had received something, and the bill reflected what I must pay for it! But in my Bible Study today, I see this concept of credited righteousness, and I wonder why this wording is used three times in Scripture for Abraham. What is the big deal?
My daughter and I decided to go on a spontaneous trip to Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas this summer. Fortunately for us, a cloudy sky led to much cooler temperatures than normal for June.
Many people get negative feelings about social media. I must admit I probably do not manage my time on Facebook as well as I should. On a positive note though, I have connected with people I never thought I would hear from ever again. Therein lies the blessing.
My conviction about not using credit cards frivolously began to waver. I decided that I wanted a baby bed for my grandson in our guest room.
Many times my students just make me giggle. At the same time, I find myself learning spiritual truths from some of these humorous situations.
I usually do not accompany my husband when he goes out of town for a big bicycle ride,
but, for some reason, this time I did. We quickly checked into our hotel and headed
back out to go eat with some of his cycling buddies.
Have you ever woken up during the stillness of the night for no reason?
Maybe God wants to have a late night worship session with you?
My family and I like to watch cooking competitions, as the finalist battle it out for the best chef on the show. It is still amazing to me how so many of these chefs brag about their cooking and yet can get eliminated on one simple fact – they did not season their food with salt. The food was not pleasing to the judges and therefore they lost the competition.
