A Little Family Time Before Christmas

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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 1:18 KJV

The story of Christmas began with one family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Those three are not featured much in the store-displays anymore, they are featured in the Biblical account. God chose to begin His mission on earth by including a young, engaged couple, in an obscure village in Galilee. I haven’t written much in the last couple of weeks because we have been having some much-needed time away with our family. Though we didn’t have to ride a donkey to get here, we treasure our time together because when hugging our grandkids takes a twelve-hundred-mile trip, we don’t want to miss a minute of it! Though we won’t head home till tomorrow, I will do my best to share some stories of Christmas with you as I find some moments early in the morning while everyone else is still sleeping. May God bless each of you on this year’s Advent journey as we touch base again, not only with our families, but with the family that God created when He sent Jesus to Mary and Joseph after that ninety-mile trip on a donkey, two-thousand years ago!

One Final Thought

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Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise Ye the Lord!
Psalm 150:6

My morning reading ended with the final chapter of Psalms. And as I paused to consider its message, I was struck by how God finishes with a personal call. Yes, we need to praise him with timbrels and dance, yes trumpet players, harpists and drummers should honor God too. Even birds, animals and fish are commanded to worship, when He says, “Everything that hath breath.” In earlier passages even sun, moon and stars, are directed to praise and thank God. But God wants us to know that we have an even more important place. Here, in this final phrase, of the last verse, God closes with the command: “Praise ye the Lord!” It is as if God is shouting, “Hey you! …Yes, I mean you there! …. Don’t just stand around waiting for someone else to do the job. You get busy and start praising God too!

So, let’s remember in the middle of the football, the turkey and family time that our number one job and most important part of our day is to give God praise!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A Time for Praise

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 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. James 5:13 ESV

The other day as we looked at the hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” I wrote about the times when we need to simply fall to our knees and watch with the Lord in our own Garden of Gethsemane. But there are also times when God delights in a tidal wave of praise and gratitude, such as James describes here. There are few places where such praise seems more out of place than a long-term care facility, but my friends there teach me that sometimes there is nothing better than good old-fashioned hand-clapping praise. Last week, they showed us just how that is done, when as my former pastor used to say, “If you can’t clap on that song, your arm must be broken!” I do hope that whatever situation you find yourself in this Thanksgiving, that you will find a way to praise, whether in health or sickness, surrounded by family or alone in your room, because God loves us and sent His only Son, to pray for us, heal us, wash away our sins and to die in our place. How can we not find times of joyful abandon to simply: “Call Him Up” – “Have a Little Talk With Jesus,” and tell Him that we are the ones who are “Standing in the Need of Prayer?”