What Christmas Means To Me

The following is courtesy of Alice Mills of Frederick, Maryland:

Christmas means many things to me.  Family and friends are an important part of my holiday – seeing my daughter and son-in-law, my grandchildren and great grandchildren, and many dear friends.  During my life the Lord has blessed me to see my family grow – from my husband, daughter and me, then expanding to include 3 grandchildren and their families and now great grandchildren.

God also has blessed me with many dear friends and, although my purse tells a different story, oh how rich I am in the things that truly matter!  As the years pass and loved ones move away we can no longer bring everyone together in one place at one time on Christmas.  Some years the gatherings are larger, some years they’re smaller, but we always make the effort to gather together as much of the family as possible during the holiday.

I’m also very much aware of family and friends no longer with us – particularly Doug, my husband of 42 years.  Although Christmas sometimes is bittersweet, the best cure for easing these feelings has remained the same over time: friends and family.

Christmas is a time for exchanging gifts with those we love.  The greatest of these gifts is the one given to us by our Heavenly Father, the giver of every good and perfect gift.  Christmas is a season when all of us can focus our eyes on the marvelous fact that God took on a human nature and became a human being so that He could be the Savior of all who would believe on Him.  What a joy it is for me to know beyond the shadow of a doubt the truth that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”.  More than anything else, that’s what Christmas means to me.

Note from Jeff: Alice Mills is my 99 year young grandmother.  Merry Christmas Nana — and to everyone else!

Thoughts About Reformation Day

Only Christmas surpasses Halloween when it comes to money spent on decorations.  How sad that little or no attention is given to Reformation Day. Today’s posting is one meager attempt to change that.

Reformation Day dates to October 31, 1517 (499 years ago!).  It is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of his church in Wittenburg, Germany.  This was the beginning of the liberation of the church from false teaching. 

Luther probably never imagined his writing would ignite such a furor.  Likewise, in July of 1741 when Jonathan Edwards delivered his famous sermon “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”, he reportedly read it from a paper and spoke in a monotone voice — and yet God used it to break the hearts of many and begin the Great Awakening. 

(Rom 1:17 KJV) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:17 was the catapulting verse that stunned Luther when he read it. The key was living by faith and not by works.

There are some guiding principles to be gleaned from Reformation Day and the actions of Martin Luther:

1. Never consider anything done for the Lord as insignificant – no matter how small the deed.
2. Realize that no matter what type of decision we make, whether big or small, it will always have a ripple effect in our life.
3. Realize our actions affect not only ourselves but others too. Consider the effect Luther’s 95 Theses have had on the world during the last 499 years.
4. Christ is strategically involved in the small phases of our life as well as the large ones.  2 Kings 6:5-6 But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. .
5. Obedience in small things leads to obedience in large things.  Christians learn obedience one step at a time. Increasing maturity in our Christian walk yields greater and greater blessings.  We obey and act in faith – and leave the results to God.

If you have never read the 95 Theses of Martin Luther, you can see them here: Luther’s 95 Theses

To God Be The Glory!