The Day After

Since becoming a mother some 30+ years ago, I often find myself wondering at CHRISTmas time, what it must have been like to be Mary, the mother of JESUS.  I’ve thought how absolutely overwhelming it must have been to be a young teenage girl about to be married and suddenly learn you are going to have a child, not by your husband, but by the Holy Spirit!  I wondered how she told Joseph and how she told her parents, what they must have said, and the sting of the rumors which must have swirled around her home as neighbors and friends heard the preposterous news.  How frightened she must have been that lonely night in Bethlehem with only Joseph to attend her as she wrestled through the pains of giving birth.  No anesthesia, no mid-wife, no mother to hold her hand.  Just she and Joseph, the man she had not even yet known in an intimate way, yet here he was delivering her baby.  And, not only any baby, but the Son of God! 

Luke 2: 19 is one of my favorite verses of the CHRISTmas story.  It says “….but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  That verse reveals to us just how human Mary was.  She may have been highly favored by God, she may have been the mother of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but she was still a MOTHER. 

So today, the day after CHRISTmas, I wonder what Mary and Joseph did the day after Jesus’ birth?  When the shepherds were gone back to the fields, the angels were gone back to Heaven and outside the stable, life went on in Bethlehem as usual, what did Mary and Joseph do?  

Scripture is silent about those immediate days following Jesus’ birth.  It does not pick up again til he was eight days old.  I believe in my mother’s heart, that God allowed them those few days to just be Mommy and Daddy…to hold Jesus close to their heart, to sing to Him, to rock Him, to drink in the sweet fragrance of that new baby skin.  God knew what would lay ahead for this Son of His.  He knew that Herod would seek to kill Him.  He knew that some 30 years later he’d begin his public ministry.  But for those few short days, I believe that God just allowed them to enjoy their baby boy before He was shown to anyone or known by anyone. 

God is just sweet like that.  He understands us.  He cares about how we feel.  He understands the deepest longings of our heart and He delights in giving good gifts to us.  Mary was highly favored of God.  He knew her heart and as she pondered all that had happened to her, as she thought about this miracle she was holding in her arms, He gave her the gift of time to be alone with her baby for a short time.

Has God been sweet to you lately?  Maybe you haven’t had the time to notice.  But He is so incredibly sweet!  That is not a word that is often associated with God, but I tell you it is a word that just describes Him to me.  Maybe it’s because that is a word we use often here in the south.  When someone does something really nice for us, it is common for us to say “Oh Darling…that was so sweet of you!!”  So I guess it comes naturally to me, a good old southern girl, to find myself saying often “Oh God…that was so sweet of you!!  You didn’t have to do that for me, but you did!! Thank you!” 

Those “sweet” blessings are what I call my “truffles from God”.  Psalm 63: 14 says “So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name, I will lift up my hands.  You satisfy me as with rich food [what better rich food than truffles?!]; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.”  That says to me that God satisfies me with lots of SWEET things, things that are rich and delightful like truffles. 

God has blessed me with several dear friends from our Bible study that are just a delight to be around.  They make me laugh, they encourage me and together we lift each other up and pray for each other.  I have had so much fun with them this past year, that I’ve actually dubbed them “my Truffles”…and they are.  They are a sweet blessing from the Lord and I treasure them. 

But they are not my only truffles.  God constantly does things for me and blesses me in so many ways.  So I think I’m going to try to keep a list in 2011 of all the “sweet” things that God does for me.  And, maybe at the end of the year, I’ll share some of those with you!  Maybe you will want to even start a list of your own.  I think it would amaze you if you did!

Pat Thomas

The Crown

They were expecting a king, they got an infant.

They were expecting pomp and circumstance.  They got the lowing of cattle and baas of sheep.

They were expecting he’d come in splendor.  He came in a borrowed feeding stall.

They were expecting golden trumpets to herald his coming through the streets of Jerusalem.  Instead angels announced his birth to lowly shepherds on a hillside in Bethlehem,  and a silent star directed the wise men to his humble home.

They were expecting him to establish an earthly kingdom, instead He offered them an eternal home in Heaven.

They expected him to hob-nob with the rich and famous….after all, he’d be a king…and they were looking to be at his right hand.   He spent his time with sinners…the down and out, the misfits, the lowest of the low.

Yes, he did not come as the king they expected.  But he was the Messiah, no less.  And He IS the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.

The first time they mocked Him as King.  When He returns, they will all fall at His feet, proclaiming Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

“Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” I Timothy 6: 15

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” Rev. 17:14

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Rev. 19: 16

It is significant then that we use a crown as a CHRISTmas symbol.  It should remind us that although He came as a man, born in a manger, He will return as THE KING. 

As princes and princesses, heirs of the Kingdom, we also shall have crowns:

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” II Tim. 4:8

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

“And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” I Peter 5:4

“And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” Rev. 4:4

What then shall we do with our crowns?  Shall we wear them and sit on thrones beside THE KING?  No. Although we WILL rule and reign with Him, we shall cast our crowns at His feet, for He alone is worthy to be praised!

“The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,’Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.’” Rev. 4: 9-11

This CHRISTmas maybe you will want to search for a crown to hang upon your tree just to remind you that the baby did not remain in the manger, but is coming again as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS!!! Hallelujah to the King!!

Pat Thomas

Remember, the Manger Is Empty

Today is CHRISTmas Eve and I’m sure for most of us, a very busy day.  So I just want to give you one thought to remember and ponder today.

The manger is empty.

Yes, I know when you look at the nativity, the baby is IN the manger.  And CHRISTmas is the time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  But for many, they still Jesus as the baby in the manger.  I just want to remind you, He is no longer a baby and He is no longer in the manger.

Neither is He still on the cross.  He went to that cross for you and for me.  He paid our sin debt and three days later He arose.  Today He is seated at the right hand of the Father, just waiting His word to return and bring time to an end.  BUT…and here is the most important part….for those of us who are believers, He is not in the manger, nor on the cross, He is IN our hearts!  And that what I’m celebrating today and tomorrow and every day!!! 

If you’ve never invited Jesus to come and take up residence in YOUR heart, you can do so today and have the best CHRISTmas you’ve ever had!! 

Today, if you see a manger scene, where is JESUS to you? 

Pat Thomas

They Followed the Star

One of the most prominent symbols of CHRISTmas is the star.  

Matthew 2:2 says “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

After the birth of Jesus, a star appeared in the east.  For many years, the Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah to come.  Micah had prophesied that “out of you [Bethlehem] will come a leader who will shepherd My people Israel.”  (Micah 5:2) So they knew that something wonderful was going to happen in Bethlehem.  Yet it was the wise men, Gentiles, who first saw the star and acknowledged that it was HIS star.

So what would make them take notice of a star?  Stars shine in the sky most nights.  What was so unique about this particular star? 

First of all, this was not a literal star.  That’s quite a shocker, isn’t it?  How can that be? 

The Greek word for “star” is “brilliance”.  So there was a “brilliance”, shining much like a star in the sky.  But notice that the star MOVES.  Actual stars move, but only slightly over the course of years.  Actually, when it appears, it is just due to the earth’s rotation.

To guide the wise men from the east to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem, the star would have had to move from est to east, then north to south.  Something that literal stars do not do.

Stars also do not hover, as many photographs portray the star doing as it hangs almost within reach of the roof of the stable where Jesus was born.  (Another mistake, as the wise men did not come to the stable where Jesus was born.  They came to his house when he was a toddler: “It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was…..entering the house [not the stable or barn]]…they saw the child [not the baby] with His mother Mary,” Matt. 2: 9, 11)  If the star had hovered as often pictured, the heat from it would have ignited the roof of the house.

So, it we conclude this was NOT a literal star, what was it? 

It was the Shekinah glory, the visible manifestation of God, much like the pillar of cloud that led the Israelites through the Wilderness by day and the pillar of fire that led them by night.  “Skeine`” in Greek means to tabernacle with, which means to come and go. 

The Shekinah glory appears a number of times in the Bible.  As mentioned above, it appeared to the Chilren of Israel several times.  It also appeared to shepherds the night of Jesus birth when Luke tells that in Luke 2:9 that “behold the angel of the Lord stood before them and the GLORY OF THE LORD shone round about them”.

The greatest manifestion of the Shekinah Glory from Adam to Christ, however, was not the star, nor the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire.  It was Jesus Christ himself as He reflected His Father’s glory.

From Christ to the end of time, WE, as believers, are to be the Shekinah glory to others around us.  That is, we are reflect Christ in such a way that we are like a light in a dark place.  Ephesians 1:6 tells us we are to “to the praise of His glory” on our way to Heaven.  We are not to get the praise, we are to BE the praise.  He alone is worthy of all praise, honor and glory!

So this CHRISTmas when you see the star portrayed in manger scenes, CHRISTmas cards or photographs, just remember that is just an illustration.  The real star shines in your heart, if you are a believer.  Jesus is the star that illuminates our darkness and we are to, in turn, be lights to a sin darkened world. 

Pat Thomas

Make Every Day a Holiday

Christmas comes the same time every year, but are we every truly prepared?  After scaring away the goblins on Halloween, many of us go into a holiday frenzy as we stock our cupboards and freezers with everything needed for a Thanksgiving feast, decorate our homes with lighted trees and holiday knick knacks, and make our shopping lists for Christmas, even though we know good and well we cannot afford it.   Even though we tell ourselves each year that this will be the year we do things right by opening a Christmas Club account in January, somehow we never manage to start setting aside the money we need to pay for the holidays.  Before long we find ourselves as cranky as Ebenezer Scrooge, reeling as nightmares of unpaid bills dance endlessly through our heads.  Bah humbug!

As Christians, we have it all wrong.  Every day should be a celebration, a day of giving thanks to God for all He is and all He has done for us.  Each day we should look for opportunities to give to others our gifts of time, affection, and service.  Since when do we need a holiday to celebrate all the blessings God has showered on us?

The past few years have been challenging for many. Above and beyond the everyday stress of coping with difficult relationships, brokenness, and poor health, our economy has made it difficult for many families to even put food on the table or pay the rent.  The thought of having to come up with money to buy our children gifts, fund a trip to visit family over the holidays, and pretend to enjoy it all is simply overwhelming.  For those who cannot afford Thanksgiving or Christmas, the pressure to meet the expectations of others is unbearable and only leads to a bad case of holiday blues.  What should be a season of joy becomes a season of guilt, depression, and regret.  So, what is the answer?  How can we make every day a holiday?

True joy does not come from being able to throw lavish parties and give costly gifts during the holidays.  Nor does it come from the gifts we receive or the time we spend with loved ones.  While all those things bring momentary happiness, true lasting joy comes from knowing the Savior whose birth we celebrate.  Without Him, there is no joy – not at Christmas and certainly not the rest of the year.      

Jesus is not only the Reason for the Season, but He is the answer to every need we have.  For those who are lonely and hurting, especially during the holidays, He is our Faithful Friend  and our Comforter.  For those who are battered by the storms of life, He is our Shelter and Refuge, our Ever-Present Help in time of need.  For those who come from dysfunctional families, He is our Heavenly Father who has engraved us on the palm of His hands and numbered every hair on our heads.  For those who are financially destitute, He is the Provider of all we truly need, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  He is the Healer of those who are ill and the Prince of Peace for those who are unsure and afraid.  He is the great Redeemer for all who sin and seek His forgiveness, and the Deliverer from every temptation and addiction we face in life.  He is the Lover of our souls, accepting us just as we are and lavishing His love on us.  He is the ultimate Giver of all good things, sacrificing His very life on Calvary to save us from our sins so we could spend eternity with Him in heaven, where there is no sickness, no sorrow, and no pain.

As you prepare to observe the holidays this year and anticipate the fresh start of a New Year, take a moment to pause and reflect on your relationship with God.  Just as the city of Bethlehem was crowded and there was no room in the inn for Mary to bring Christ into this world, many of us are guilty of filling our hearts with meaningless pleasures and vain pursuits in an effort to find lasting joy.  Make room for Jesus this year.  If you have not invited Him into your heart and received His free gift of salvation, do that today!  No gift under your tree will satisfy you or bring you the lasting fulfillment that Jesus will.  Once you discover the joy of living a life of obedience and surrender to His Lordship, you will find that every day can indeed be a holiday!

by Dee Dee Wike

           

Symbols of Christmas

Several years ago I went on a CHRISTmas tour of homes.  One home in particular has remained in my memory. 

It was a large home, beautifully decorated throughout.  As you entered the home, you were in a large foyer with a winding staircase to the second floor…very elegant. 

An enormous CHRISTmas tree filled the foyer.  But as I looked closer I realized very quickly that this was not your ordinary CHRISTmas tree.  This tree was beautifully decorated with symbols of the names of Jesus.
There were small baskets of bread, symbolizing Jesus as the Bread of Life; wooly sheep representative of His being Our Shepherd; beautiful pink roses for the Rose of Sharon; small nosegays of lilies of the valley because He is called the Lily of the Valley; shining stars for He is our Star and on and on….  It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful, most impressive tree I’d ever seen. 

We often get so familiar with Bible stories that the details are overlooked.  We all know the CHRISTmas story of Jesus being born in a manger in Bethlehem.  We see countless nativity scenes throughout the holidays, we decorate with them.  There is nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it is a wonderful way to keep the focus on Christ during the holidays. 

But, maybe we need to take a moment to really think about what the symbols of CHRISTmas are really all about.  So for the next few days I want to draw your attention to the names of Jesus, to some of the very symbols we decorate our trees with. 

Today let’s begin with the sheep.  In every nativity we see sheep.  The shepherds who came to worship Jesus the night he was born may have been followed into town by a few of their sheep. In my nativity, a shepherd is carrying a lamb.  Shepherds often do that if the lamb has been injured. Scripture does not tell us whether the sheep came with the shepherds, but it does tell us about the shepherds.   I do believe it is significant that the angels made their first announcement of the Savior’s birth to a group of lowly shepherds out on a hillside.  Jesus did not come just for the rich and powerful. He came for the common man as well.  He came for all.

Shepherds were held in low esteem in Jewish society.  They lived out away from everyone.  They lived WITH their sheep.  No one lives with cows or horses.  But because sheep are so dumb and require constant care, a shepherd must stay with his sheep.  Interesting, isn’t it, that God compares US to sheep? 

Jesus is referred to in John 10:11 as the Good Shepherd, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” and in verse 14 He says “I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am know of mine”.  

A shepherd cares for his sheep with a watchful eye.  “All we like sheep have gone astray” Isaiah 53: 6. Without the constant attention of the Shepherd, the sheep will stray into dangerous territory or become pray to wild animals. 

He provides for their needs.  Psalm 23 says “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. . He makes me to lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.”  A shepherd must constantly be moving the sheep to where there is grass.  Left on their own, a sheep will just continue to graze right down to the dirt.  He must be taken to clean, pure water.  Drinking from a stagnant pond could mean death to a sheep.  And, sheep will not drink from a moving stream.  It must be still water. 

Yes, sheep require a lot of care and attention….just like we do.  And, the shepherd must be constantly at their side.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  He provides and protects.  He leads us, He guides us, He tenderly cares for us. 

This CHRISTmas as you view the sheep and shepherds in your nativity, recognize the meaning behind the symbol and thank God for your GOOD SHEPHERD.

Pat Thomas

Related Articles

• The Good Shepherd (lovemeanyway.wordpress.com)
• Is It Illegal to Celebrate Christmas in the Schools? (dakotavoice.com)
• The Voice Of The Shepherd (samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com)
• John 10:1-21 (asorensen.wordpress.com)

The Christmas Sweater

Last week I was getting my nails done and struck up a conversation with the lady next to me. She had just retired from Fed Ex and our nail tech had given her a beautiful wrap that we were both gushing over. She commented that now she’d have something new and “snazzy” to wear during the holidays since she guessed she’d have to retire her CHRISTmas sweaters. I asked her what she meant.

She said her daughter was a student at Ole Miss. She had called her earlier in the week and asked if her Mom could quickly mail her one of her CHRISTmas sweaters. The reason? She needed one to wear to a CHRISTmas “tacky” party!! Ouch!!

I love CHRISTmas and for years I had quite the collection of CHRISTmas sweaters….pullovers, cardigans, and vests. I loved having something CHRISTmasy to wear every day of the month. It seems the tradition started quite a number of years ago when everyone was decorating sweatshirts. There were these iron-on appliques that you then outlined in glitter paint. Oh they were quite the craze!! My favorite was a deep blue sweatshirt with a huge Santa and sleigh with all the reindeer climbing into the night sky with all the stars aglitter above. I got many compliments on it every time I wore it. In fact, I wore it out! Now I wouldn’t be caught dead in it.

I’d begun to notice over the last few years….even before my conversation with the Ole Miss mom…that only people MY age were wearing the CHRISTmas sweaters. So I had narrowed my collection down to the more subdued ones and to tee shirts with just a little something on them.

I got to thinking about how fads come and go. One year something is so the rage and the next year you better NOT wear it or you will be a fashion disaster. I know that Stacy and Clinton just go nuts every time they find a CHRISTmas sweater in someone’s closet!

Lots of things besides CHRISTmas sweaters come and go. Car models change from year to year. Remember the llllooooonnnngggggg cadillacs of years past? Just look how far we’ve come from the Model T!

Decorating styles change in our homes. If you had a kitchen in the 70′s, you had orange, avocado green and gold. (Hopefully none of you STILL have that !! HA!) My mother built her house in the mid 60′s when turquoise was the “in” thing. She still has her turquoise appliances and every time someone sees them they are amazed because you never see those any more. And, yes, they still work!!!

I remember growing up seeing some people with the aluminum CHRISTmas trees. There was a multi colored light that swirled beneath it to make it change colors. Now you can get trees in every color under the rainbow. I have even seen trees that hang upside down!

Change …..it is part of life.

But there is one constant in our lives that never changes. JESUS. He is the “same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) And, His Word never changes. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)

Isn’t it wonderful to know that JESUS will never go out of style and that His word remains the same? We do not have to constantly be checking for revisions. There are no amendments to His Word.

You can buy a computer today and by tomorrow it will be obsolete. You can drive off the showroom floor today with a $50,000 vehicle, but by tomorrow it will have already begun to depreciate. Yet Jesus just gets sweeter with time. The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows!!

The CHRISTmas story never grows old. God sent His only begotten Son in the form of a baby, to be born in a manger, born of a virgin so that He could be our Savior. Think about that story today and thank God that it never changes.

Pat Thomas