The True Meaning...

What is Christmas to you?  We have come to know Christmas for all of its commercialism...and most of us would say we hate it!  But there's also a host of other things Christmas is known for: Christmas lights and Christmas decor, even to the point of competitions; Santa Claus and his reindeer; snowmen; wreaths, stockings, and let's not forget mistletoe; a multitude of silly Christmas songs. The list goes on and on!  But what is Christmas really?  I'd really like to tell you!

Matthew 1:23 says this: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."  And Isaiah 9:6 says this: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 

This is the true meaning of Christmas! Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, coming to earth to die for us...born to die! This is the greatest gift mankind will ever know; but this gift isn't ours unless we turn from our sin and accept this wonderful gift of salvation! 

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  God's Son being sent to earth is truly the greatest gift!  Romans 6:23 also speaks of a gift.  In all actuality, it's the same gift, Jesus Christ being offered to us; all we have to do is accept that gift!  Let me quote the verse for you: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." ...but why must we accept it?  That verse tells us why at the very onset: we have all sinned, and because we have sinned, we deserve death.  Christ took our punishment, dear friend, when He died on the cross.  But like I said earlier, it is a gift.  He doesn't force it upon anyone.  But if we are to be saved from the punishment of our sin (in a place called hell, and more technically, the lake of fire), then we must turn from our sin, and accept this wonderful gift, God's gracious gift of His Son.   Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."  

That's God's promise...and God's wonderful, gracious gift!  Won't you accept His wonderful gift today?  

May you experience the true meaning of Christmas!

    

             Merle 

     

Restoration and Healing

Psalm 23:3a
"He restoreth my soul..."

What a statement!  He restores our soul!  Isn't that the ultimate of blessings?  There is so much in this world that seems to get in the way of our fellowship and walk with the Lord...or heartaches that seem too much for us to bear.  Some things are so heavy on our hearts--on our very souls-- that it's all we can do to get through the day.  Perhaps that's the point...it's too much for us to bear...but nothing is too much for our Savior to bear!  He desires to carry our load...no matter how deep it reaches into our souls.  Sometimes I think that is the purpose for some things taking place in our life...that we might turn to God.  He desires so much for us to turn to Him, to trust Him.  Oh, that we would!

You see, God promises to not only meet our physical needs, but He also promises to meet our spiritual needs, our heart and soul needs.  Ah, dear friend, Jesus Christ, Who bore our sin debt on the cross, He is so much to us.  He is the great I AM!  He is everything to us...least wise, He desires to be. We are the only thing that hinders Him from showing us all that He is, all that He can be to us.

Of all the things God is, He is the Healer.  Oh, what a precious thing that is!  He can heal the brokenhearted.  He can save our sin-sick soul...and He will, if you just turn to Him and trust Him as your Savior today.  [For further conversation on that subject, be sure to turn to my many postings on salvation.  God would love for you to trust Him today.  It is a simple matter, but also a very necessary matter.  We must call on God, asking Him to forgive us of our sin, and trust His wondrous and gracious gift of salvation.  He died on the cross, so that we wouldn't have to; but we must accept His gift of salvation, trusting Him by faith, or that wondrous gift is not ours.]  If, on the other hand, you've just strayed from the Lord--or are in need of releasing a heartache to Him--then know for a certainty--God desires to meet that need as well.  God so desires to restore our soul, to heal us of our greatest heartaches.  Healing...is that what you are in need of today, dear friend?  What a precious word that is--healing! 

       
I hope you indeed find healing today! 

            
             Merle                

He leadeth me...

Psalm 23:2b

"...he leadeth me beside the still waters."

At first glance, this sounds very similar to the previous posting, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."  They both sound very restful, very comforting.  But let's look at it a little different way today. 

We hear throughout Scripture the realization that "His way is perfect" (Ps. 18:30); "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Is. 55:8).  His ways are far beyond our ways, but that's not to stop us from obeying Him.  He says in James 1:22, we're to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only."  I could go on, but you get the point.  Put simply, as the Good Shepherd, He leads us; and as His sheep, we are to follow.

The second point I want to make (and I've spoken on this subject many times), but it's the fact that we--even as Christians--tend to just want to go our own way.  We as sheep are stubborn and willful, and just desirous of going our own way.  Be careful, Christian!  That can get you into a whole lot of trouble!  Just ask the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years!  We're just as rebellious.

Let me remind you of something:  God's ways are always good and they always have a purpose.  Romans 8:28 says this: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."  First of all, it says all things...it doesn't say some things, or part of life; no, it says all things.  Now, that doesn't mean that everything in life will be good.  We're going to have bad things happen; we're going to have trials in this life.  That's part of living.  But God does go on to say that all things will work together for good.  All things are working together--much like a recipe, ladies.  If you were to take a recipe, some of the ingredients may not taste good by themselves, but to mix them all together with the remaining ingredients, well, then you have a hit!  You have something that tastes good...but it's not without mixing with those other ingredients, and it's not without going through some difficult procedures that often include heat.  All those procedures cause the product to form something good.  Let's not stop there though.  God goes on to say that it's all according to His purpose.  You see, God is a God of order and reason and purpose.  He never does anything without a purpose.  And what does this passage say is the purpose?  ...verse 29 b says that we might "be conformed to the image of His Son."  That is God's purpose in the mixings of our life, that we might be conformed to His image.  Question is, how much are we conforming to Christ's image?

Let me close with this additional thought:  Our verse says, "he leadeth me beside the still waters."  Water is oftentimes referring to the Holy Spirit.  God desires that we follow Him, follow the Holy Spirit.  He is guiding us; all He wants is for us to follow, one step at a time.  And dear one, those are still waters.  His way is restful, peaceful, tranquil, comforting!  Aren't those precious words?  God is all that, and more!  He is a loving, compassionate Savior...just desiring for us to follow. 

                      May we follow the Savior today!

                                  Merle

                            

God's Promise of Rest

If you're just joining us,  you've caught us at the third lesson of the well-known passage, the Shepherd psalm, Psalm 23.  Please feel free to go back and read the others.

 

Psalm 23:2a  "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…"
          

 

First of all, it says, "He makes me to lie down…."  There are times in our lives when God must make us lie down.  We're in need of some much-needed rest; some times we need to just get away and have some down time with Him.  There's probably a number of reason we might need some down time, but be assured, God knows best!

 

We just finished moving to the state of Washington.  I can say--without a doubt--it is like no where else I have been before!  Regardless...we have the privilege of having a horse ranch located behind our yard and neighborhood.  It is quite enjoyable to watch these horses run, play, and graze.  What I also find interesting is to see them lie down on occasion.  I suppose they are tired--I do not begin to know--but I find it interesting, as I don't see that very often.

 

My point is this, we--as Christians--also need to rest; we need some down time on occasion, for whatever reason.  A lot of times we get so busy and caught up with the day-to-day things of this life, that we miss out on time spent with Jesus.  We need time spent with God, dear Christian.  We cannot afford to live this life without Him!  So it is--if we do get too busy and forget God (or whatever reason), God realizes we need some much needed time to rest and recuperate.

 

Next point--rather a sub-point--is the fact that God makes us to lie down in green pastures.  The term green pastures refers to tender grass.   "He maketh me to lie down" in tender grass.  Our God is a loving and compassionate God that cares for our every need.  He knows when we need to lie down, and He knows that in order for our recuperation to be restful, the grass should indeed be tender and sweet.   God's Word--which we should be feeding upon--and God's ways are always tender and sweet!   Perhaps today, what you need, is to realize anew how tender and sweet--how truly precious--is our God and His Word...and all His marvelous ways!

 

In closing, let me share with you a couple passages of Scripture.  First, Matthew 9:36, which says, "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."  These were the lost sheep, those that still did not know the Savior.  He was moved with compassion on them because they did not know Him.  I wonder, dear friend, do you know Christ as your personal Savior?  You can know Him today.  Please feel free to reference any of the numerous postings I have written on the subject of salvation.  It is truly a matter of life and death...for all of eternity.  Please don't put such an important decision aside. 

 

Lastly, I'd like to share with you Matthew 11:28-30 (another well-known passage).  It says this: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  Those words are for Christian and non-Christian alike.  God so desires for us to come to Him.  If we do, He promises to us sweet, needed rest!  What a wonderful, compassionate God we have!

 

       May you rest in Him today!

 

                Merle

 

All that I Need

Psalm 23:1

"...I shall not want."                                                     

This is rather a continuation of the last posting.  Although I'm not inclined to use other versions of the Bible, sometimes it is good just to get an idea for study purposes.  Course, if I were a student of the Hebrew and Greek, I suppose that wouldn't be necessary.  At any rate, other versions would state it this way: "There is nothing I lack," or, "I have all that I need." 

 

God is so good to provide us everything that we have need of.  Course, our problem a lot of the time is, we get our wants and our needs mixed up.  Especially here in America, we have more than enough...certainly more than we need.  That ought to teach us something.  Particularly in these poor economic times, we ought to be willing to help those that truly are lacking.  That wasn't really the subject at hand, but it should give us something to think about, nonetheless.

 

My point is, God is so good to provide all that we need; truly, there is nothing that we lack!  Let me turn your attention to Philippians 4:6-7.  It says this, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.     And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."       You see, God doesn't want us to be burdened down with the cares of this life.  He desires for us to cast those cares upon Him--literally, put those burdens upon Christ--and let Him carry them and tend to them.  And with those cares cast upon Christ, we're to be thankful or grateful for all that God does for us.  And dear Christian, when we are thankful, suddenly a peace will come upon us because we're no longer focused on ourselves, but on God!  That is how God desires for us to live: a God-focused life, not a self-centered life.  A God-centered life brings peace and contentment; a self-centered life brings only turmoil and discontentment.  Something to think about!

 

May we live a Christ-centered life!

 

                    Merle

                                                                                                   

The Good Shepherd

This is my attempt at starting up again with this blog. I know I have at least a couple people who check in from time to time, and that is encouraging.  There are countless others that just happen upon my blog, and hopefully this is used in their hearts and lives for a purpose.  What a blessing that would be!

I would like to start this time with different studies from God's Word...and to begin, I would like to start with the very well-known Psalm, "The Shepherd Psalm."
    

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

According to Wikipedia," a shepherd, or sheepherder, is a person who tends, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. The word stems from an amalgam of sheep herder….The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators. The shepherd was also to supervise the migration of the flock and ensured they made it to market areas in time for shearing. In ancient times shepherds also commonly milked their sheep, and made cheese from this milk; only some shepherds still do this today."

God does all of that for us and more!  He is the Good Shepherd, tending to our needs.  First and foremost, He came to this earth to die for our sins!  What greater need do we have than that?!  And He does not force Himself upon us, but graciously offers His sweet salvation.  He, of course, meets other needs as well, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual.  He meets all of our needs because He loves us so...all we have to do is trust Him.  Many times, we as humans, think we can fix whatever need or problem we may have.  We tend to think we don't need any help; but we do need help.  We need God's help most of all.  We need to go to Him, cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7), and know that God will tend to that need. 

God also feeds us.  This, too, can be thought of metaphorically.  He feeds us physically, emotionally, and especially spiritually.  He knows just what is needed and provides for that need.  Again, all we need to do is trust Him.  He knows us, loves us, and desires to meet our every need...and should I remind us, He knows what is best, as well.

Lastly, He guards His sheep.  He protects us.  In 1 Peter 5:8 it says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  Satan is always about, trying to devour us, or in the least, tempt us or get us down.  God allows this to a point; but He is always guarding us, protecting us.  Sometimes God allows us to go through difficult times, it is true; but He allows certain things in our lives to grow us and mature us in Him.  But always be certain, God is there.  He loves us and cares for us.

In closing, I'd like to share Isaiah 40:11.  It says this: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

How precious it is to know the Good Shepherd!  He ever loves and cares for his own!  I hope this has been an encouragement to you.  Keep coming back...I hope to continue this study in the Word of God, sharing what precious things God has to tell us.

Until then…stay in His Word and be encouraged!

               

Trusting the Good Shepherd,

           
            Merle

Fresh Start!

It seems it wasn't that long ago [September] when I was speaking of "New Beginnings" then.  My, how time just seems to slip by!  But here it is January, the beginning of a brand new year.  So, how are those "New Year's Resolutions" coming?  Are you sticking by them, or have they seemed to go by the wayside?!  Personally, I've stopped long ago making New Year's Resolutions.  I never seem to keep them, at least not for long...so I end up being more frustrated with myself...not the best of situations.   What I do try to do is set some realistic goals for myself, and by God's grace and power I'm endeavoring to reach them. 

 

I do like the thought of new beginnings...God does as well!  He desires for us to reach new heights and do greater things for Him and for ourselves.  Today, I just wanted to share some quotations with you, that might be an encouragement to you to reach higher heights and keep on keeping on for Him!

 

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.                 --Denis Watley

 

The gap between mediocrity and excellence is the difference measured by two things - indifference and determination.            –Mark Rasmussen

 

You are not a failure if you lose; you are a failure if you quit.               --Thomas Edison

 

"What gets planned gets done, but what we postpone we usually abandon.”

 

"Big things are built one brick at a time.

 Victories are achieved one choice at a time.

 A life well lived is chosen one day at a time."

 

 

 

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,      I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."        Philippians 3:13-14

 

 

What we all seem to forget is that each day is a new beginning; and even if we fail, as Thomas Edison said, we're only a failure if we quit.  If we decide to get up and try again, then we're not failures.  Satan would like to tell you you're a failure...don't let him do that!  Success means getting up one more time.  Press on for the Lord!  The victory is ours by His grace and power.  Claim all His many precious promises...cling to them and start again, if you have to.

 

 

Well, I hope this was an encouragement to you...and that you press on to do greater things for God!

 

         Pressing On!
 

               Merle