Only things of real beauty remain.
In the face of glorious brightness,
all passing darkness fade away,
all lesser lights bow down,
to make way for the brightest light of all.
God’s Grace penetrates all passing shadows
all our little troubles
and all the little riches we strive for.
Only His light matters,
and once the Light of that beauty shines through,
we forget all else,
and we gain everything
that’s worth living for.
Are You Ready To Start at Zero?
I will soon be starting out a new life in a new country, in a totally different kind of world from the one I knew and grew up in.
Although there is a very exciting feeling, there is also a certain fear that bothers me. Because for the first time in a long time, I will get out of my comfort zone. And what a great leap it will be!
Am I ready to start out at zero again? Am I ready to start where I have to find a new job, a new house, a new set of friends, and a whole new way of living altogether?
We are often afraid to start back at zero. We’re afraid to set aside everything we’ve learned, everything we’ve ever worked for and accomplished, and that led us to where we are today.
Thinking about it though, what are we so afraid of? So what if we start at zero again? Didn’t we all start at zero when we were born?
We all started out as fragile helpless little babies who could do nothing but cry, and yet look at where we are today!
Are we less able then than newborn babies are? Are we less equipped? Are we even more vulnerable than they?
It is a miracle how babies come to life, and how they grow up to become like you and me. God still works His miracles today. And if we only be willing, He’d do the same for us, even if we should start back at zero over again.
A Time For Reaping
There is a blessed time when God grants you the time to reap your rewards for the good that you have sown. Savor this moment. Receive the joy that was meant to be yours.
Take it easy. Rest in God. And don’t feel guilty if all that God would like for you to do is to do nothing but let Him make you smile.
You’re worth it! You are His child, after all.
You have leaned upon Him in times when you grieved, when you thought your moment shall never come.
But you have made it. Through faith in God, you were able to hang on. You persevered. You have risen from every fall that brought you down.
And now here you are. This is your moment! You have seen the grace of God and of His wonderful works. Claim it! Fill your heart with all the joy you could possibly receive. For this is the time for reaping, when God shall perform His wonders before your very eyes!
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself…
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).
Ten Things To Do On Christmas Eve
1. Forget your worries
2. Wrap your gifts with love
3. Feel like a child again!
4. Wait for Santa
5. Be cozy in bed
6. Sing JOY TO THE WORLD!
7. Be with the people you love
8. Decorate your Christmas tree
9. Taste some snow
10. Thank God for JESUS who died and lived for me and you 😉