John 3: 16
“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.”
Right now…before
you get bored and say…I’ll read this later, would you stay with me for 5 minutes. let’s focus on the first portion of
this Bible verse. “God So loved the
world”…that’s us….he loved us so much “that he gave His only begotten Son” God gave…because he Loved us. I love that.
I love to think about the little word – so -. How much did God love you and me? SO much! I remember when my boys were babies; I'd hold each of their hand and say, ”Mommy loves you Sooooooo much”.
And I would take his hands and spread them wide…as I said the words
soooo much! I get tears right now as I remember the baby
laughing right out loud.’ As we decide to show love to others…let’s remember to do everything as if we were doing
it for Jesus. Look at this portion of
Scripture. It blesses my heart every
time.
Matthew
25:35-40
King James Version (KJV)
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and
gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Remember it is Christ that we want to please and show our love
first of all. In these verses we see
the very heart of Christ. As we are kind and loving to others Jesus says...it’s as if we were doing it for Him. I like that! Because we love him we will want to reach out to others. Remember that we love Him because He first
loved us. Ladies, this is a reminder for me, but it’s also for any one else who
might read this blog. Christmas is a time for giving, not getting. How crazy is it that its Christ’s birthday, and we get the gifts. Oh I know we have our “List for
Santa”. It made me
sad to watch the TV advertisement and see the “out of the gate” attitude for
more stuff. Don’t get me wrong…it has its
place, its fun, but that place has to be 2nd or even beyond. Let’s put Christ into the very center
of our Christmas at home.
As Christians, we need to get out of our “personal” comfort zone
... show others, especial those who are lonely, someone who has lost a loved
one recently, or maybe even take 30 minutes and visit a shut in, or an elderly
man or women who lives all alone, send a card, or stop by and see visit that
person who is feeling all alone. Just a friendly hello might not seem like much
to you, but to someone else, it means someone cares. I always like to have
something to give them. This time of year, a small Christmas cactus can be
purchased for a couple dollars, or even take your children with you, and before
you go, have them, make a card, put out some craft paper, crayons, and maybe some
stickers, and tell the children we are going to visit someone and have them make a
picture or card and let them give them to the person you are visiting. Trust
me, it will be a blessing to all of you...and a wonderful lesson for your
children. You don’t have to stay long, just give them the one thing we all
appreciates...a few moments of time. My mother is a shut-in, she’s 92 years
old...and loves it whenever someone unexpectedly stops by, Yesterday when I
called she was so happy, a Christian family that lives a few miles away,
stopped by, brought their musical instruments and played Christmas carols and
one of her favorites “Oh Holy Night”, and she was thrilled. It’s made her
day! Was it Hallmark that had the
advertisement ”Reach out and touch someone”. Why not do it? Every year, I have been thinking of the many
hospitals across American where our wounded warriors lay in beds. I can’t even
imagine what they are feeling right now when all across American...people are
“going home for Christmas”, or like at our house, the kids are coming
home! If you live near a military base,
there are many men and women who can’t go home for the holidays, how about
inviting one or two of them to join your family for Christmas dinner? When you
go to church, look for that one who comes in every Sunday alone, perhaps you
could reach out to them. Something I like to do is make fresh banana bread or
now is the season for pumpkin bread...make an extra loaf, even one of those
mini loaves, wrap it up and give it away. There is a favorite Bible verse that
keeps me on my toes...John 13:35 (read verse 34 too ...it’s good stuff) “By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” You cannot love one another and do nothing. Love is an action word. I
am putting a small gift out for the postman on Monday. I have some homemade candy, a loaf of pumpkin
bread and guess what else? I will
include a tract. I’m doing the same thing with all my neighbors. Use every opportunity to share the Christmas
story…you never know, but a life might be changed for eternity because you were giving
instead of wanting to GET ! I can’t do
much physically, but I can Give. I can
show love toward others.
In closing, let me mention that next week I will have my 92 year old mother here with me...and she does not like me on the computer, so unless I can do my blog while she is napping, I may have to skip next weeks MMMusing all together. If so, then the recipes I’m posting later today will be my last blog until she goes home. Have a JOYOUS CHRISTmas, and be sure to thank God for sending His only Begotten SON. Merry CHRISTmas!
