[Faith-talk] the true meaning of Christmas

[Amy Ragain]

Morning Thoughts for Thursday, December 1, 2011
> 
> Psalms 145:1-21 (NASB)
> A Psalm of Praise, of David.
> [145:1] I will extol You, my God, O King,
> And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
> [2] Every day I will bless You,
> And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
> [3] Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
> And His greatness is unsearchable.
> [4] One generation shall praise Your works to another,
> And shall declare Your mighty acts.
> [5] On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
> And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
> [6] Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
> And I will tell of Your greatness.
> [7] They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
> And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
> [8] The LORD is gracious and merciful;
> Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
> [9] The LORD is good to all,
> And His mercies are over all His works.
> [10] All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
> And Your godly ones shall bless You.
> [11] They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
> And talk of Your power;
> [12] To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
> And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
> [13] Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
> And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
> [14] The LORD sustains all who fall
> And raises up all who are bowed down.
> [15] The eyes of all look to You,
> And You give them their food in due time.
> [16] You open Your hand
> And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
> [17] The LORD is righteous in all His ways
> And kind in all His deeds.
> [18] The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
> To all who call upon Him in truth.
> [19] He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
> He will also hear their cry and will save them.
> [20] The LORD keeps all who love Him,
> But all the wicked He will destroy.
> [21] My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
> And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
> 
> Good morning my God, my Savior, my King!!  Your Glory, Power, Wisdom and Grace are beyond measure for those who love You, and Your Terror is likewise for Your enemies!!  How grateful I am to be secure in Your protection!!!  Father, Your ordained order in all Your creation, and within mankind, You created covenant relationships between a man and a woman, and from that holy relationship, You blessed the created family.  You have made the family the very foundation of our society, and have shown us of the power of the covenant that holds it together.  Father, I am heartbroken at every scene of life I see before me in which the covenant relationship You ordained has been discarded for the sake of convenience, lust, passion and emotion.  Forgive us . . . me O Lord, for not being the priest of my family You ordained.  I have failed on so many fronts, failed You, Father, failed my precious wife, failed my beloved children and grandchildren.  Every time I think of myself first, my joys, my pride, my convenience, my desires and hopes, and do not first commit everything to the covenant commitment I made to my family, I have failed.  So I come to You in my failure Lord, and seek Your forgiveness as I also seek to turn from myself and follow only that path You carved out of the love of Your precious Son, Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Renew my heart today, O Lord, to fulfill my covenant responsibilities to my wife, children, grandchildren and all You place within my circle of influence.  Grant me wisdom, understanding, compassion and boldness to walk in the full power of Your Holy Spirit, and be glorified in my journey.  I Love You Beyond Expression!!!	
> 
> Good morning precious family!!  This message is part of a thought that has been heavy on my heart for a long time, and it focuses on the responsibilities of all men: Those who would be "players" and those without direction in particular, but also for those of us who claim to be trying to follow God's Will in our lives.  I'm starting with a story I received yesterday.
> I saw a cashier hand a little boy his money back at the mall, the boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.'' The little boy turned to the old woman next to him, ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?'' She replied, ''You kn...ow that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'' Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.' I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this, 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.'' My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of himself. He was laughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll!'' OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money. The little boy said, 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!' Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose.'' 'My mommy loves white roses.' A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state of mind from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy? Two days after this encounter with the little boy I read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine, and in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.
> 
> Yes, this story was a tear-jerker, but it portrays the impact and opportunity of two characters I want to focus on.  The drunk driver first:  How many times have we read in the papers about the death, destruction and heartbreak caused by the drunk driver!!  I the area around me, drinking alcohol or doing drugs seems to be almost a right of passage, a declaration of manhood, just as does the penchant to get a woman pregnant.  This lack of focused thinking most likely comes from within the home, from the leadership (rather, the lack of leadership) displayed by parents, siblings, peers and idols.  How many men (and women too) live with regrets from which they will never escape - the taking of another life, born or unborn, because of some selfish, thoughtless, careless moment; or the crippling of another's body for life, all because of a foolish judgement call.  I look back on my life as a young man and thank God at every thought for the mercy He showed me by allowing me to experience only the most insignificant losses due to my negligence, sin, self-centeredness.  Nevertheless, I know there were damages done to other lives that I don't even comprehend.  This drunk driver symbolizes the fallen nature of our human character.
> 
> The second character is the father of the little boy, the widower, having lost both wife and daughter.  He represents the opportunity each of us share, to enter into the life of another, perhaps within our immediate families, or outside those "boundaries".  There is a father for the little boy, but how many situations and circumstances are you aware of in which the father has abandoned the family he helped create?  Around here, that's far more frequent than I first imagined.  Single mothers raising their children - or in many cases, allowing the state to raise their children.  How many fathers spend time with their children after school, or participate with their wives in home-schooling their children?  Probably only a small handful.  The primary "responsibility" of fatherhood has been to work and bring home the "bacon".  Scripturally; however, the role of the father was to teach the family in the ways of the Lord.  How far from the path of God have we come???  
> 
> Now, during this season of Advent, is the time for real men to commit to the role and responsibilities for which we were designed.  It's a paradigm shift for many of us, a complete change in the way we view life.  But our God is strong, courageous, all wise and all powerful.  He knows our hearts, and he knows His design for each of us.  Now is the time we need to begin anew, to repent for the sins of our past, to seek Him through His Word (the Narrated Bible in Chronological Order, NIV Translation is a good start).  Take this to heart you men of courage, and seek God as never before!! He will show us the way!!
> 
> Be richly blessed in the pleasure of God as you seek to follow all His ways!!
> 
> With great love, hope, peace, and expectations, all in the security of God's Word and His Son, Jesus Christ!!
> 
> <3Steve:-))