What a treat to see this video which shows the reason for the season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
Pause for Christmas
Category: Spiritual Reflections
Love
“The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened.” Desire of Ages
How different is the love of God compared to our human love.
We who sometimes try to coerce or persuade to try to get our way.
Even withholding our love sometimes.
Selfishness is something that I have to battle with every day. It feels ingrained in my being. A part of me that I wish to shed like a caterpillar sheds its outer skin to become a butterfly.
Indeed, only by love is love awakened.
How gentle the life that Jesus lived on this earth. Showing the Father’s love and how we should treat each other.
God in the flesh walking among us. Showing God’s love as only God knows how to do.
The Desire of Ages: A Classic on the Life of Christ
Christmas Giving
In reading from part of a book tonight called “The Desire of Ages,” the author quotes John 8:50.
The beginning of that verse reads “I am not seeking glory for Myself.” The speaker is Jesus Christ.
The glory He seeks is for the Father in heaven. Jesus reflects the unselfishness of God the Father.
It’s a circle of life between the two and one that we have the privilege to join in if we choose.
The type of God we have the privilege of knowing is one who gives unselfishly.
Yet looking around, we don’t see that unselfish giving in humans. We mainly see a “me” mentality.
Our family decided to have a grab bag this year for the adults. A list was made of what those adults “wanted” for Christmas.
It feels like we have reduced Christmas to just giving gifts because that’s what the person wants. I fall into the same trap — asking what people want instead of thinking about the person and based on my knowledge of who they are, giving from the heart.
Yet even that doesn’t seem good enough.
The love God gives can’t be compared with a list of things that we want. His love gets to the core of what every human being truly needs — love. And only the type of love that He can provide. Everything else can try to come close — but in the end, what really matters is God’s love.
Whiter than Snow
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| Woodbury, Minnesota |
Riding through Woodbury today, we came across many areas that have evergreens laden with snow.
The song “Whiter than Snow” came to mind.
Lord Jesus, I want to be whiter than snow
I want you forever to be in my soul
Break down every idol, cast out every foe
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow
Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes whiter than snow
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
James L Nicholson, 1872
This hymn reminds me of our humanness.
We never think of ourselves as sinful — people who do wrong. We like to think that we are doing the best that we can.
But our best is not good enough.
We are selfish inside and tend not to think of others before ourselves.
It’s wonderful to know that Jesus takes us just as we are and puts His character in us to shape it so that people can see Him instead of us. We can claim no goodness of ourselves.
Thank you for the work You do in making me whiter than snow.
The Salt of the Earth
The salt they pour on the streets here in Woodbury remind me of Matthew 5:13 where it says:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
Indeed, the only good taste any of us have is the goodness of Christ living in our lives. That is the only thing that provides the true goodness we show to other people.
Lately it feels like a few people I have known have lost their saltiness. The goodness of Christ can no longer be seen in them. Only the carnal/worldly nature is left.
It saddens me, yet as humans I know that we all have lapses into “unsaltiness” — the unkind word or look or perhaps neglect of someone.
Hopefully the lapses are temporary so that the salt of Jesus can be once again shown to the world in need of a Savior.
The Shack
I read this book and it drew me in like butter on a warm bun.
The story line is really good. It helped me to visualize God in a different way.
Since Jesus was such a radical person, this book portrayed Him, God and the Holy Spirit in a radical way.
There are some “mistakes,” i.e. things that are not true.
Overall though, a very very good read.
Me and My Shadow
Shadows.
Sometimes we think we know someone but all we really know about them is what they portray to us.
An old song I heard while growing up was “Me and My Shadow” with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
The problem is that sometimes we don’t know ourselves well enough to allow other people to know us.
We are sometimes surprised by what we do in certain situations.
So, we walk around with our shadows — maybe if we look closely enough we’ll be able to see who we really are.
God
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| Puerto Rico |
Is God enough?
If we were to lose everything we had — clothing, jewelry, children, spouses, property, money, friends, jobs … EVERYTHING!
Would God be enough in our lives to satisfy the desires of our heart?
If we know Him, the answer will be yes. If the answer is no then we have to work on the relationship problem we have with God.
Because God is enough.
Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God
Hiroshima
Arai is a survivor from the Hiroshima tragedy. She was a school teacher and had sent her children out to play.
While she was inside and they were out, the bomb hit. At the time, she was looking at a white sheet of rice paper that the children had made and brushed her name across in calligraphy.
When she looked outside, all the children were gone, only rags remained.
The black Japanese characters had absorbed the light and burned away. Only the white paper, which had reflected it, remained intact. The white paper had saved her from blindness but her name was now stenciled across her face.
She was told that she could have plastic surgery to help erase the scars. But she chose to leave them there as a memorial to the dead children.
I read this in the Adventist Review dated September 9, 2010.
What a story!
Christ also has scars on His head and hands that will forever be with Him. And He chooses to keep them there — just as He chose to come to this earth to save us from ourselves.
The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back (John MacRae Books)
The Desire of Ages: A Classic on the Life of Christ
Bananas and People
People are like bananas. You need to peel them back one layer at a time in order to see who they really are.
Many times I have heard the phrase “I never thought they would … “
And yet, “they” did.
It doesn’t always have to be negative. It could be positive like “I never thought they’d go to college at their age” or “I never thought they’d lose the weight” or …
Unfortunately, as life would have it, it’s mostly negative.
As humans our needs are basic: love, friendship, time, touch
When we are missing one of these we tend to fall into “I never thought I’d … “
Life as it is.