THE BOOTS

                                                                                                      

            When I was five years old and preparing to enter the world of education, I was armed with a pencil box, tablet, raincoat and my first pair of boots.  A rainy day couldn’t come soon enough for me; I could wear my bright red raincoat and my shiny black boots.  I could walk through mud puddles and splash my way down the sidewalks. 

            During my grade school years things began to change.  The pride of wearing boots changed to horror when my mother would call as I went out the door, “Don’t forget to wear your boots”.  In high school boots took on a whole new look; zippers and fake fur were added along with new colors of red or white. Of course black and brown will also available.

            The years following were generally bootless years; my high heels went through water, over ice and caused a few falls.  Then came children; my little girl was so cute in her yellow slicker and matching boots as she marched off to school.  More children came and as they grew up they complained about wearing boots. I couldn’t believe my ears; a foot of snow on the ground they didn’t want to wear boots.  Like my mother before me, I’d call after them, “Don’t forget to wear your boots”.

            As the years go by, styles change with the times.  Amazingly, my grandsons don’t have a problem with boots.  They have ice-fishing boots, hiking boots and camouflage boots to mention a few.  They like to keep their feet warm.      Now the granddaughters are into boots; all kinds, all heights and all colors.  Wow!

            You may wonder what all this has to do with the approach of a new year, but it really does.  Time changes a lot of things and we, as the human race, change along with it.  I’m using the example of a simple change such as boots, but there have been many greater changes.

           The last 50 or 60 years have brought so many changes there is no way to count them all; this is called progress.  We have integrated thousands of these changes into our lives without even thinking about it.  Many of them are really good changes that help us in many ways.  The progress in communication is probably the greatest accomplishment of all.  If it wasn’t for the internet, you wouldn’t be reading this right now.

           Sadly, all this progress and change also bring things that challenge our spiritual growth.   Unlike the change in boot styles that we accept and wear, a Believer must not accept anything that holds back our spiritual growth.

            Just because the world has come to accept things like men and women living together rather than getting married, doesn’t mean we should accept or condone that life style.  The Word of God tells us this is called ‘fornication’. To clarify this word, Webster’s dictionary defines fornication as (voluntary sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman/ or between two unmarried persons). Let me give you a couple of scriptures showing why this is sin:

- Flee (run from) fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication, sins against his own body.  1 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV)
- Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 1 Corinthians 7:2 (KJV)

            This is only one thing a believer must not accept; there are so many others.  We all enjoy television and some of the things it offers, but so much of it is not what our eyes should see or our ears hear.  Television, in its earlier stages, only presented programs that the entire family could watch.  There was no swearing; no sexual activity and no horrendous violence.  Gradually, swearing, sex and violence began to creep in and soon we were all watching it.  Today, filth of the world dominates television; cursing and swearing are the norm, nudity and sexual activity are the norm and violent acts beyond our understanding.

We wonder what this coming year will bring into our lives; will we recognize it for what it is, or just go with the flow?  The Bible tells us that as we approach the last days, many will fall away from the faith.  “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first...”     (NKJV)
 2 Thessalonians 2:3

            Fellow believers, stand firm and stand strong.  I could list a great amount of negative things that we may have to face in the coming year, but I believe we should concentrate on the blessings of God Almighty.

• We can look for the ‘Blessed Hope’, which is the return of Jesus Christ.
• We can be assured that no matter the trials or troubles that come our way, He (Jesus) will never leave us or forsake us.
• He (Jesus) is an ever present help in times of trouble.
• No weapon formed against you will prosper.
• When you feel you have no strength – He will be your strength and your shield.
• God promises his children and their children will not go hungry or beg for bread.
• He promises he will provide our needs which are; food, clothing and shelter.
• He will guide our pathways and lead us in paths of righteousness.

There is not enough room to write down all of God’s blessings and the above are just a few, but if we stand strong in the Lord and believe his Word, we will be in his care.  Therefore we can look toward the New Year with hope and peace.  Just like the boots, styles change, but we don’t have to go along with every change Times change, but we don’t have to accept these changes if it goes against our beliefs.  The world is not my guide and it should not be yours.  Make this Psalm your prayer for this New Year.

I love you, LORD; you are my strength.  The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.  I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 (NLT)

           

 

           

 

The Message of Christmas

The Message of Christmas

 

The sun rose slowly over the hills and soon the lowing of the sheep penetrated their sleep. They sat up, rubbing their eyes.  One stood and began to stir the smoldering ashes, adding wood to the fire.  The air was very cold this morning.  No one had spoken yet; the silence was almost eerie and it seemed a shame to break into it. 

            Then Josiah cleared his throat and spoke quietly to the others, “I am wondering if I had a dream last night about the sky being full of angels; we were all terrified.  Then went down into Bethlehem and found a stable with a newborn baby lying in one of the mangers.”

 The others looked at him and one by one they spoke and proclaimed it was not a dream, but it had really happened.  Then they all began talking excitedly.

            “I also thought it was a dream but when I think about that little baby we saw in the stable, I know it was true”, exclaimed Benjamin, the youngest shepherd.  He was just a boy, but clearly had an understanding of what he had seen.  “That wasn’t just any baby, you know; the angels said he was the Savior; the one spoken of in the scriptures!”

            “What about all the angels, did you ever see anything like that in your life?  I’ve never heard of anyone who has seen the wonder of what we saw,” added Matthias excitedly.

            Then Jacob, the head shepherd stood and spoke to the others, “I believe we were chosen by Jehovah to see this amazing thing that has happened and we are to go tell everyone we meet about it.  Let us pass on the message the angels gave to us; “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"  The long-awaited Savior has come to earth; the Christ!”

            The boy, Benjamin, jumped up and grabbing his staff said, “His mother and father said his name was to be Jesus.  I will never forget that name.” 

            Filled with excitement and great joy, the shepherds hurried off to tell others what they had seen and heard.

            That was the first Christmas morning.  When we awake on this Christmas morning, what will be on our minds?  Will it be like the shepherds who talked among themselves, “Joy to the World; the Lord has come!” Or will our heads be filled with presents, lots of food and how we are going to spend the day? When we get together with family and friends will our conversation be about the next football game; a Christmas movie we saw, or will we talk about the fact that Jesus, our Savior was born to save us from our sins?  Will we be thankful that because of him we can spend eternity in heaven; and have the assurance that he will come again?

            I, for one, am determined when I open my eyes this Christmas morning to thank God for sending his son, Jesus to be our Savior.  Help us not to compromise as the world does by thinking only about gifts and fun, although there is nothing wrong in that; as long as we keep Jesus first in Christmas.

            I believe every family, or even if you are alone, should read about the birth of the Christ child from Luke 2:1-20 on Christmas Day.  What hope and joy it will give you.

            We should also make it a tradition to greet one another on Christmas by saying, as the angels did, “Joy to the World; the Lord has come.”  I think I will add, “And He is coming again!”

 

May you be blessed this Christmas as you share the ‘Good News’!

 

 

One Christmas Morning

ONE CHRISTMAS MORNING

 

            Over the years there were several Christmases that stand out in my memory.  There was the Christmas morning that I awoke to find the doll I had prayed for and another time when I found the white figure skates I so much.  Another Christmas there was a pair of skis just my size and the year after, a sled I had asked for.  It seemed as though each year brought delights to my expectant heart.

            However, on Christmas morning I hold most dear was when I was probably about 6 years old.  I don’t recall what I asked for that year, but I remember it was during World War II.  Things were very scarce and sugar being one of them.  What a wonderful treat to smell homemade fudge cooking on our kerosene range.  There were apples, walnuts in the shell and even a few oranges in a bowl on the kitchen table.

            I was sent to bed early and had great difficulty falling asleep due to excitement.  My mother told me that Santa probably would not be able to leave much because of the war, but I was still excited because he had never failed to stop at our house.  As I lay in bed I kept thinking I heard something on the roof, but was too scared to look out my window.  Dreaming of peppermint sticks and dollies, the next thing I knew it was morning. 

            Jumping out of bed I ran into the living room where an amazing sight met my eyes.  Sitting across the top of our sofa was every doll and stuffed animal that I had and each of them was dressed in a new outfit.  Even Teddy was decked out in a new hat and scarf.  The thought that Santa had dressed all my dolls in new clothes made me feel very special.

            There were other presents under the tree like paper dolls, books, games and colors; small, inexpensive things, but it didn’t matter.  I was so happy and excited as I examined each of my doll’s clothes and found some of them were made of the same material as my own clothes.  How Santa did that I couldn’t imagine.

            It was years later that I heard the story of how poor we were that Christmas and my parents couldn’t afford to buy me anything but a few little things they wrapped and put under the tree.  My dear mother had stayed up night after night, hand sewing little dresses, coats and nighties.  She crocheted each small sweater and scarf and even made doll shoes from cardboard covered with material.

            I believe that one Christmas morning was so special because there was so much love put into it.  The care given to the tiniest detail; doll dresses that matched mine, made it a never-to-be-forgotten day.

            It reminds me of long ago, one Christmas Morning, when a new life began that was God-created.  He knew his people needed a Savior.  He had known this from the beginning of time and foretold it over the years to the faithful.  The prophet, Isaiah, rejoiced in the coming event years before it happened.  “For unto us a child is born; a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

            Not only did the Father give His gift to mankind as promised, but he paid attention to every little detail.  The Gift was called, “Jesus” and comes from the Hebrew word, ‘Joshua, meaning “Yahweh delivered”.  Other names give us understanding of who he was; Immanuel (God with us), Savior (Christ the Lord), The Word, the Life, the Light and the Glory of God.  He is also known as the Bread of Life, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  There are many other names that explain his character.

            God did not give us this special Gift without forethought.  Without a Savior mankind would be lost forever.  He must always be there for the people and must never leave of forsake them.  Most of all, he must have a love that would cause him to be willing to die for even the most undeserving.  He must have such perfect faith to be raised from the dead.  He would be deserving to sit at God’s right hand in heaven and intercede for those who believed on him.

            Finally, this wonderful Gift from God would accomplish the ultimate; he would return as the King of Kings and cause all of God’s people leave the earth; rising to meet him in the air.  “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

            There will be a time when one Christmas morning will arrive and likely a quarter of the earth's population will have disappeared.  What will happen that Christmas following the great disappearance?  Will there still be children in churches portraying the Nativity scene?”  Will Christmas carols ring out through the air as carolers wander the streets?  Will families still gather around the tree on Christmas Eve and read from the Gospel of Luke?”  Will they continue to sing, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come” and not understand that He already did?

            There will be those who know what happened and will spend the day grieving for what they missed.  There will be those not wanting to believe the truth, but the nagging thought will continue that they were left behind.  There will be families where some were taken and others were left – what will they celebrate?

            One Christmas Morning in a place of indescribable wonder and beauty, God’s children will be rejoicing for the Blessed Hope has come.  There will be no need for Yule trees with twinkling lights; the light of God will shine upon us.  We won’t need to hold pageants that show the splendor of the Wiseman.  There will be choirs of angels singing glorious songs we have never heard. 

            One Christmas Morning we will be with the Christ of Christmas forever more!

 

 

A Week Before Christmas

A Week Before Christmas

                                                                                                                                   [ A true story]

 

            It was just one week before Christmas when I finally awoke to the fact that my shopping wasn’t even half finished.  I really meant to get it finished early this year, but I was too involved in making wreaths, spraying pine cones and just thinking about all I had to do.

            Then too, I kept expecting some surprise check to come in the mail.  I didn’t know where it would come from, but it was a nice thought.  Why hadn’t I joined that Christmas Savings club last year?  Oh well, I’d just have to stretch that paycheck a little bit further even if it was already like worn out elastic.

           Early one morning I set out with determination, if not enthusiasm, to finish my shopping.  I checked my list out over morning coffee; I thought knowing what I wanted was half the battle.

            Arriving downtown, on Western Avenue, I drove around looking for a parking spot.  I felt like I had received my first Christmas gift when thirty-five minutes later I pulled into an empty space.  Once in the stores I smiled bravely when elbows crashed into my sides; oversized packages hit me in the face and when other people thought my feet were just bumps in the floor.  After inching my way to a certain counter and found they were ‘out of stock’, I had to wipe a tear from my eye.  The clerk tried to be helpful by suggesting other stores that might carry the item I was looking for.  Of course those were the stores I had already been and they were at least four blocks away.

            At last the day was over and I checked off the final item on my list.  I was cold and hungry and hadn’t taken time to eat.  TIME! The parking meter was half a block away and I could see the little white paper fluttering on the windshield of my car.  With a black heart, I thought to myself, “I bet it even says ‘Merry Christmas’ on it.

            Reaching the car, I found that I could not get the keys out of my purse without putting down all the packages.  Those in my left arm were shifted to my hip and then slide them over onto the trunk lid. I then unwound the string handles of the over-weighted shopping bag from my right arm, only to find the circulation had been shut off so long my hand was numb.

            As I clumsily unlocked the door of the car, I noticed my packages were slowly sliding off the trunk with the melting snow.  Making a quick grab, I somehow caught them and piled all in the car, which was quite a feat, being on handed at the moment.

            Sometime late I pulled into my driveway and glancing at my watch, was shocked at the lateness of the time.  The children would be home in ten minutes.  I jumped out of the car and began grabbing packages.  By this time I could use both of my hands, but in my hurrying the shopping bag slipped and fell to the ground, ripping and spilling it’s contents in the snow.  I gathered up an armload and slipped and slid up the slippery walk.  Once inside I deposited the load on the living room floor.  Huffing and puffing I ran back out to get the rest.

            It was then I began a rare balancing act – first on one foot, then a foot and an arm and for the grand finale; the posterior and one elbow.  The former being well padded only bounced, but the elbow suffered.   With what little dignity I had left, I gathered my various parts in order and again one-handed, managed to get the remainder of the packages into the house.

            My elbow was beginning to get a strong feeling in it as I crammed everything into my bedroom closet.  I closed the door just as the children all tromped in from school.  Susie, bless her heart, had thought to bring in the mail.  Glancing quickly through the pile of bills, I came across a familiar shaped envelope.  I knew before my shaking hands opened it, that it was our first Christmas card.  I collapsed into the nearest chair as I thought of the neatly stacked boxes of cards on the shelf that hadn’t been addressed yet.

            Weary, in pain and faint from hunger, I got to my feet and went into the kitchen to prepare supper.  My only thought was to hold on until my husband came home and then he could take over.  I would swallow two aspirins, crawl into bed and address cards while resting.  It would save time and the way I felt; maybe even my life.

            A car crunched to a stop in the drive; “He’s home” I thought with joy and reached for the aspirin bottle.  He came in singing, “Jingle Bells” and dragging what looked to me, like a twenty foot pine tree.  Propping it against the refrigerator, he came over and gave me a kiss.

            “Merry Christmas, wife,” he smiled.  “It’s the night to trim the tree.”

“Why are you crying?  What’s wrong, ” he asked?

Sniffing loudly, I dried my tears and tried to smile, but when I moved the pain shot right through my elbow.  When I finally pulled off my sweater, I was surprised to see a lump the size of a big tree ornament right on the tip.  The color of dazzled my eyes; a shiny blue-black.  He looked at it and was sure it was cracked and from the way it felt, I had to agree.

            A call to the doctor; a trip to the hospital and several x-rays later, the verdict was that I had a badly bruised elbow that was to be kept wrapped in a vertical position for a week while the swelling went down.

Home again; my husband fixed supper; his specialty of cold scrambled eggs and burned toast.  It was a jolly affair with the children laughing while I clumsily ate with my left hand, spilling food and trying to butter the toast one-handed.

            After entertaining the family during our meal, I took advantage of the sofa while they directed the pine tree that just wouldn’t stand up straight.

            It was late when we crawled into bed.  The pain pills helped a little, but I was tense and miserable thinking about the baking, cleaning, gift wrapping and the other million things to be done in the few remaining days before Christmas.  “How do you roll out sugar cookies with one hand,” I mused?  “I wish there wasn’t such a thing as Christmas.”

            At that moment, I heard music coming from down the street; a group of carolers blending their voices in “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”  Hot tears began to trickle down my cheeks and the anxiety drifted away.  A prayer found its way into my weary mind.  “Forgive me, Father,” I prayed, “the blessing of Christmas somehow slipped by me.”

            I had been so wrapped up in all the preparation parts of Christmas and gave no thought to the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

            With my heart back on the right road and thinking of the joy that Christmas brings to each of us, peace began to flood my soul.  I knew that everything was going to be alright.  After all, “all things work together for the good of those who love God.” 

                                                                                        Wanda L Ritter

                                                                                  ~  Christmas - 1963  ~