The Gift

The beautiful sunset screensaver that appeared on the paused screen made me think of God's creation and His greatness: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit—our Triune God, the only true living God. His greatness reminds me of this season we celebrate. God the Father loves this sinful world so much that God the Son came to Earth wrapped in human flesh and was born of a virgin girl, and chose to dwell among us: Emmanuel—God with us. My mind cannot comprehend such love.

All of the inns were full when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, but a kind man offered them his stable. It was there that Mary gave birth to God's Son. She tenderly wrapped Jesus, the first Christmas gift, not with colorful paper topped with a bow, but in strips of cloth. Their surroundings were not festive with twinkling lights; she laid the long-awaited Messiah in the animal's straw-filled feeding trough, most likely with animals watching the wonder.

This Christmas, do not let the busyness of the season make you miss the reason why we celebrate this season; without Jesus, there is no Christmas. Pause and let God remind you of the wonders of His creation and the greatest gift ever given to mankind:

God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us, and everyone who receives His gift—believes in and trusts Him—will experience everlasting life with Him in Heaven (John 3:16).

Have a beautiful and blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Savior's birth, not only on December 25th, but every day.

Here, Then Gone

We had been estranged for decades, my younger brother and I; that’s why I prayed for God to intervene. He heard my prayers all those years, stepped in at the right time, and healed our relationship. Time spent together, whether by phone calls, texts, or visits, caused that period of separation to fade into nothingness, and I was blessed and overjoyed the day he shared with me how God had transformed his life.

Prayers for my brother’s healing were once again needed last Summer, but this time it was physical; his doctor wanted to run a series of tests. My husband and I accompanied him to the doctor’s consultation weeks later; his diagnosis was stage four pancreatic cancer.

I am so thankful that my Lord reunited my brother and me, and I had the privilege of seeing how God had changed him. He faced his prognosis with faith that God had the power and ability to heal him, and that’s how we prayed, yet praying at the same time that our Father’s will be done, not ours. God chose to take my brother home to glory in the Fall. He was here, then gone.

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?

It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.”

James 4:14

James warns us in his letter, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, about confidence in self, saying we don’t know what our lives will be like tomorrow when we plan to live, or go here or there, or do this or that. Instead, we should say, “If that’s what the Lord wants” (James 4:13-15).

Our days on Earth are numbered; they are like a mist or fog that’s here, then gone, after a short while. Use your time wisely, trusting that God knows what’s best for you. James concludes Chapter 4 by saying that we sin by not doing the good we know we should do (v. 17). We born-again believers should add to our prayers and plans: “Father, not my will, but Yours be done,” and rest in His care.