Christmastime

We always celebrate Christmas

For it is the birthday of Jesus Christ.

We always celebrate Christmas with the thought that Jesus Christ was born on this day. So, in accordance to this holiday we always thank our Father for sharing to us His Beloved Son Jesus Christ.

It is just appropriate that during Christmas we always have to share our excesses to other people who are in need. Just like our Father God who shared Jesus His only begotten and precious Son to us to redeem us from the sins of Adam and Eve. He deliver Jesus to us without hestitation and selfishness because he loves us so much and dearly.

So, during Christmastime we always follow this kind of example in our lives. Christmas is a very long tradition of Christian to commemorate Christ Jesus' birth. And we always share our gifts to others be it a family, friends, or strangers. We give our unconditional love to everybody during this time because the Lord God was been delivered to us unconditionally.

Christmas is the time of giving and sharing. A time to forget all ill feelings and spread the true meaning of love and peace and not hate and destruction to anybody. Let's always celebrate Christmas with Peace and Love just like our Father Almighty who in one way or another didn't rebuke us for our sins but instead send his only Son to be with us. Merry Christmas! - AAP

Candlelight Wisdom

What's important is not how much we do for God,

but how much God does through us.

While traveling in Finland, I appreciated the Finns' lavish use of candles. They never treat them as mere ornaments. Candles bring warmth and light into their their homes during short winter days. The Finns know that a candle's purpose is missed unless it is burned. But candles should burn at one end only - a lesson I needed to learn.

When my husband and I began our missionary work, I longed to burn out for God. Within several years I had burned out all right, but not for God. Mine was a classic case of useless burnout on by many self-caused stresses.

One night I hit rock bottom and discovered that the rock was Christ. As He began teaching me dependence on Him for all things, the candle of my life was relighted for His use.

I now see a difference between so-called "Christian burnout" and "burning out for God". Burnout stems from wastefully burning the candle of our lives at both ends - means our lives are spent wisely in His service - an echo of Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:15. Once used up for God, we'll be raised up for heavenly service. It is for this purpose we were made! -JEY

Good Question

Fruitfulness for Christ

depends on fellowship with Him.

Several years have passed since the publication of my book Finding the God-Dependent Life. It's the story of how I learned to depend on God through the gradual breakdown of my self-sufficiency. My inadequacies forced me to depend on Him. In time, it became clear that the same principles that helped me in a crisis could surely help me all the time. So God-dependence became my chosen way of life. The result was greater wholeness and fruitfulness.

A churchgoer who read my book commented to a friend, 'If you ask me, Joannie Yoder depends on God too much!" To help me explain the God-dependent life, I've turned that comment into a question: Is it possible to depend on God too much!

Let's answer that question by asking another: Is it possible for a branch to depend too much on a vine? Catherine Marshall wrote, "The point is not that the branches will do better when they are attached to the vine. Unless attached, the branches must wither and die." Jesus taught that unless the branches (you and I) abide in the vine (remain dependent on Him), it's impossible for us to bear his fruit.

Is it possible to depend on God too much? Not if we are to be fruitful branches. What kind of branch are you? -JEY

Help Them To Achieve

A little spark of accomplishment

can ignite great endeavors.

Newspaper columnist Jean Calmen once wrote about a teacher she called Miss K. In her youth, Calmen had been a student of Miss K's, so she sent the teacher a copy of a column she was especially proud of.

Miss K had always taught her students to have confidence in their abilities. That's why Calmen was disappointed when her aging teacher responded with a handwritten note that said; "I was aware of the fact that you were intelligent, but I never thought that someday I would be reading articles from your pen in the newspaper." Calmen had exepected her former teacher to say, "I knew you could do that."

If anyone should instill hope and bring out the best in others, it should be the Christian. In Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul let his "students' know that he prayed for them constantly. And he did so with great expectations. He wanted them to rise above self-serving behavior and develop the character and likeness of Christ. He told them they could do anything God wanted them to do through Christ who would strengthen them.

As we experience God's power in our own lives, we can encourage others. Together we can help each other achieve great things for Him. -MRD II

Gripped By Greed

Greedy people always lose more

than they gain.

Advertisers constantly appeal to consumer greed, trying to convnce us that we need certain products.

An executive of an electronics firm boasted, "When we introduced pocket radios years ago, nobody needed them, so they didn't sell. We had to convince the consumer that he needed our products. Sales have bommed ever since."

The desire for more and more money, things, or power isn't unique to this century. Thousands of years ago, Elisha's servant Gehazi saw a chance to get money from wealthy Naaman. He would be able to buy clothing, olive groves, vineyards, sheep and oxen, and servants. Greed took over.

Greed can quickly tarnish our integrity. I know some Christian business owners who work hard and make lots of money, but they are slow to give raises to thei remployees. I also know another Christian who earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a years, but some of his practices are unethical. Greed often motivates otherwise good people.

We are susceptible to the powerful grip of greed. That's why it's good to pray., "Lord help me to be concerned about how I can please You, not how I can gain more for myself." -DJD

Three Tenses Of Trust

Feeling tense about the future?

Remember that God is always present.

Rahab had a remarkable faith. Although it seemed incredible that Joshua's unequipped army would be able to break down or scale the walls of Jericho, she remembered what God had done for the Israelites in the past. So she put her trust in Israel's God by protecting the spies, and by staking her future on the hope that God would do what seemed impossible. Her trust in God involved the past, the present, and the future.

I have ministered to suffering and dying believers who have handled their pain with serenity and who faced death with hope. Some may consider such people naive or gullible, but they do so because they don't know the three tenses of trust.

Concerning the past, we know that God has proven His love and power, especially in giving His Son to die for our salvation and in bringing Him back to life. In the present, He speaks to us through His Word, hears our prayers, and provides grace in our trials. For the future, He promises that we will live with Him forever.

Remember, trust involves three tenses. Reflect on God's faithfulness in the past and present. You'll have good reason to trust Him for the future. What a wonderful God! -HVL