“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
(2 Corinthians 9: 15)
The Christmas season has begun, and the shops are crammed with gifts, overshadowing the real reason for why we are celebrating as shoppers are encouraged to forget restraint and spend, spend, spend. We lose sight of the fact that we are the recipients of the most incredible gift ever given to man and by the Heavenly Gift Giver, our Heavenly Father. His gift of his son, Jesus Christ would surpass any of the gifts already given to the nation of Israel. He was to be the long-awaited Messiah, the deliverer of the sacred gift of forgiveness the one who would allow us to have no barrier between us and the Father.
One of my friends was telling me that she will never forget one particular Christmas season. She was working in a small Australian town and one morning in December, she was walking to work and looked up to see a huge banner stretching across a cliff face just outside the town. On the banner were emblazoned these bold words;
Jesus Is The Reason For the Season
A wonderful reminder for us all to have emblazoned across our hearts this season
One of the ways to ensure Jesus remains the centre of our family celebrations is to constantly talk about him to our children. In the book of Deuteronomy Moses tells the Israelites to teach God’s words to their children, not just on Sunday, but whatever one is doing everyday so the Lord’s presence is mentioned in all ways of family life.
“Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 11: 19)
One of my daughters was given a Christian Advent Calendar, with a little pocket for each day of Advent. Not holding a piece of chocolate like those world calendars, but a tiny little booklet with the story of Jesus continued every day Wonderful to read to her little seven-year-old son and his little three-year-old sister. The little boy decided to make sure his little sister knew who the story was about and told her Jesus was the one they were saying “thank you” to when they said grace at the table. Out of the mouth of babes comes the word of truth.
The fact that Jesus was a divine gift to us emphasises the we have done nothing to deserve such an indescribable gift. It is because he loves us and through his grace and mercy, we can celebrate this Christmas with grateful hearts that we are the recipients of such an amazing gift
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3: 16 – 17)
Several years ago, when I was visiting relatives in Australia, my sister took me to a heritage farm that was still functioning and using the old equipment used by the first settlers and the farm is now funded by the Government and turned into a tourist destination. I was fascinated to see two cows yoked together pulling a wooden plough. When they stopped, visitors were able to ask questions to the farm worker. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the cows and asked him was it hard to put them together with the yoke. I was surprised by his answer. “Not at all”, he replied. “In fact, we always put the same cows together and they form a bond with each other, and the yoke is not heavy, and you can see when two are together they can pull the load so much more easily”.
Here in Canada we are going into winter and the days rapidly become shorter and the dark nights longer. As the darkness comes, I feel my own darkness stronger and almost overpowering me. One of my daughters gave me a set of three large battery, operated candles. They look exactly like real candles and when they light up one cannot tell the difference. Last week another daughter set the timer for the batteries to automatically come on as dusk begins to turn to darkness and a day later, I was once again overcome with my own darkness when suddenly the candles turned on and light flooded the room. Then Jesus’ words also flooded the room and I remembered his promise to light up any darkness that threatened us and comfort also flooded my heart as I realised that he was with me.
When John the Baptist, was heralding the coming of the Saviour, the long, awaited Messiah, he described him as the true light that will give light to everyone.
We had an interesting question in our recent Bible study recently that asked:
Belonging to somebody gives one a sense of love and acceptance, a feeling of safety, a sense of having somebody to lean on, a feeling of comfort during tough times, a sense of peace.
the family. I belong to God’s family, I am accepted just as I am, I have a loving Father who cares for me and protects me, and I have a huge family of believers who are my brothers and sisters. Learning to live in this family is a growing experience and as Paul points out we need to be clothed in humility and patience and most of all forgiveness, so the world observes how differently the family of God behaves, because of the bond that holds them together is their love for the Jesus Christ.
We have just celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada. Families gathered for dinners of roast turkey and pumpkin pie. Stopping to give thanks to our Heavenly Father was the original meaning of this celebration, but too often lots of food and family fun become the main attraction. Many years ago, my husband, who was a dentist, received a letter in the mail form one of his patients at Thanksgiving. His patient was a Christian and he was writing to thank my husband for his kind and careful treatment. He added at the bottom of the letter that this Thanksgiving he was going to remember those people in his life he wanted to thank. My husband and I were very touched by the letter, a good reminder for us to stop and thank people in our lives.
I was thinking of Paul’s words as I was preparing for this Thanksgiving and was prompted to stop whatever I was doing, and think seriously of all the friends I had and realised I wasn’t thanking Our Heavenly Father for them and then I thought of people that were not actually friends, but who I came across and thought of my husband’s patient. Have I thanked my family Doctor lately? What about the person who delivers my paper, have I left a note of thanks? We have a janitor in our building, do I thank him for cleaning so well?
We sing a beautiful song at our church, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Lord”, which is taken from Paul’s expression in his letter to the Ephesians. It is very thought, provoking if we start to think deeply about it. In our present society, outward appearances assume the upmost focus in our Western world. Constantly the media blasts us with messages of how we look to the outside community in which we live, what clothes we should wear to impress others, not only clothes signs of how successful we are need to be shown by lovely homes, and expensive cars. We must display happiness, even if we are breaking up inside. We are reluctant to show the world our true selves and constantly pretend so we fit into what society expects.
problems of the day, but she has a short prayer to God and then spends time listening to him.
I had the lovely task a few weeks ago of minding my seven-year-old grandson for the day and just like all countless grandmothers before me, I spent the day spoiling him. Firstly, we walked to McDonalds hamburger shop for lunch, then to the ice cream shop for a huge ice cream and then of course to a toy store, where we left with a present, by the time we wandered back to my place it was mid-afternoon and as a special treat he was allowed to watch cartoons on the T.V. When his mother came to pick him up he announced loudly, “I want to live with Nana.” I tried to explain to him that was not possible as I lived in an apartment and not near his school and was getting too old to look after a little boy every day. He just looked sadly at his mother and said, dramatically, “Nana has abandoned me”. How he knew that word I don’t know, but of course I consoled him by telling him that I loved him and another time we would have another fun day together.
When one of my daughters was a little girl, she was fascinated with water and I remember one incident when all my three daughters were playing in our garden, my eldest daughter ran inside to tell me that the youngest had managed to turn on the hose and was busy hosing herself with the water. When I came outside, she was laughing with delight as the water soaked her hair and of course all her clothes. She was drenched from head to foot! 
Jesus talks about this amazing love in terms of water when he is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well when he asks her for a drink of water. She is surprised by this request, as he is a Jew and Jews did not associate with Samaritans. She is more surprised when he talks about living water and asks him to explain; 
God was sending a message that his Son would allow the Father’s love to surround us and we could take delight in that incredible knowledge. 
We recently celebrated a wonderful family wedding. My granddaughter was getting married and it was to be held in a beautiful mountain side location. The site chosen was surrounded by huge mountains and as the ceremony was being held outside, the mountains provided a majestic type of cathedral created by God’s own hand It was impossible to sit there and not be awe inspired by God’s creation. Many members of the family were to be part of the ceremony and my little seven-year-old grandson and his little four-year-old sister were to be the ring bearer and flower girl. My grandson had confided in me the day before the wedding that he was frightened, about his role in the ceremony and was nervous about how he would perform, I told him I had asked God to bless the wedding. He was perfect! I was staying with them and that night after all the celebrations, I was saying a prayer for the little ones before they went to sleep, just as I finished my grandson began to pray by himself and his prayer brought tears to my eyes. This was his prayer;
Once we become adults, we tend to shake off the shackles of childhood and revel in making our own decisions and taking control of our own lives. This often becomes a barrier to trusting a loving Father to teach us his paths and walk with him allowing him to direct us. Once again Jesus speaks to the crowds and reminds them of the pitfalls of doing this and is very definite about us all returning to child like faith;
One of my darling granddaughters was married this weekend and as I looked at this beautiful woman, dressed in flowing white gown with such a sweet smile, her face covered with happiness, I started to remember this young woman as a little girl and memories flooded my mind. She had a child like faith in God and one of the stories her mother had relayed to us was about quite a serious snowstorm the family were trapped in, on their way to visit us at our cabin.
As she grew older her faith deepened and she had to remind me of the Father’s power. The family were again visiting us in our cabin and this time my daughter became ill. I was worried as we were in an isolated place and a long way from any help. My little granddaughter noticed how worried I was and said quite simply, “Nana just ask God to make her better” Simple child like faith and I prayed with her and the other children and once again God responded.
During the ceremony the pastor used these well-known words still so important today as they were when the apostle Paul wrote them;