THREE DAYS

  “There are two days in the week upon which, and about which I never worry – two carefree days kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension.

  One of these days is YESTERDAY.  Yesterday, with its cares and frets and all its aches and pains, all its faults, its mistakes and blunders has passed forever beyond my recall.
It was mine; it is God’s.

  And the other day that I do not worry about is TOMORROW.  Tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its perils, its large promise and poor performance, its failures and mistakes, is as far beyond my mastery as its dead sister – yesterday.
Tomorrow is God’s day, it will be mine.

  There is left for myself, then, but one day in the week – TODAY.  Any man can fight the battles of today.  Any woman can carry the burdens of just one day; any man can resist the temptations of today. It is only when we wilfully add the burdens of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow (truly such burdens as only the mighty God can sustain), that we break down.  It isn’t the experiences of today that drive men mad.  It is the remorse of what happened yesterday, and fear of what tomorrow might bring.
They are God’s days.  Leave them to Him.”                Anonymous

  Many years ago, I sat with a group of preachers listening to a Psychiatrist, John Dorsey, speak.  He was a very prominent man in his field.  We hung on his every word.  I can see him yet.  He smoked a big cigar, leaned back in his chair and talked.  Yet, out of that special event, I can remember only one thing Dr. Dorsey said.  This I share with you. Dr. John Dorsey said, “We live in an explosion of NOWS. The only moment we have is now.”   

  It is my prayer for you that this New Year will be filled with much joy and contentment because you have Jesus living within.  In Him, our past is forgiven and our future is assured. Be faithful to the Lord and His Church.

HE SWITCHED BABIES

  The story is told of the early settlers in Eastern Nebraska sharing in a big dance.  The families came to enjoy themselves  They came early and stayed late. Near the end of he evening, a fiddler, wanting to play a joke on his friends, went to the room where all the babies had been left. There he switched caps and blankets on all the babies. When the parents came to get their baby, the hour being late, they picked up the child that had the cap and blanket which they knew.  What astonishment for the parents when the next day they discovered they did not have their own baby.  It was reported that it took a week to get the babies all sorted out and back to their rightful parents.  The fiddler created quite a surprise by switching babies. 

  But, not as great a surprise as it is to us and our world, when it seemed that God switched babies.  God sent a surprise package in the birth of His Son, Jesus. This baby is not what the world expected then, nor what we expect now. The Jews refused to accept such a baby. They thought that God would not come to earth like that. How could God be born as a baby in a manger to suffer sorrow, be abused, persecuted and finally killed in crucifixion on a cross?  It just should not have been.   
Surely, God switched babies on us.  He should have come as a conqueror, taking charge over a world of greed and sin. He should have come to take care of all our physical and material needs, miraculously healing us, never allowing us to get hurt or to suffer.  He should have come as the answer-man not leaving us to struggle to learn and to know the truth.  He should have made it easy for us.  Surely God switched babies on us.

  JESUS IS NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED.  But, when will we understand and accept the truth that God knew what He was doing?  God sent a baby to show us sacrifice, humility, obedience, service, love.  We too must grow up like this child, Jesus.  We too must struggle against self and sin. We too must learn obedience by the things we suffer.  We too must learn that there is no crown without a cross, that victory comes out of surrender.   

  Even though the baby Jesus is not what we expected, still He is exactly what we needed.
God knew what He was doing when He switched babies on us.
“In the fullness of time, God sent His Son.”   Galatians 4:4
“You shall call His name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21

  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad that Christ did come and that He is coming again to take us to be with Him.

“BORN TO DIE”

                                   “BORN TO DIE”
“I think that I can almost see that small Judean town
That night, two thousand years ago, when Christ, the Lord, came down.
The inn, the shops, the flat-topped homes where weary pilgrims slept.
The near-by softly rolling hills where fleecy flocks were kept.
And then I think I see the sky aglow with heav’nly light. 
As angel messengers proclaim: “The Christ is born tonight.”
I see the shepherds hasten to where the Baby lay.
A stable  bare, a manger bed; But – “God with us” that day. 
And when I think of Bethlehem, I think of Calvary:
A lonely hill, a rugged cross, a death of agony.
For He, the Babe of Bethlehem, was born, His life to give.
And willingly He gave His life that you and I might live.”
                                                                     Geneva Showerman

It is well that we celebrate the birth of the Son of God. But, it is a terrible error to leave Him there, a baby in a manager. This baby grew up, He became a man. He lived here on this earth as we do.  “He was tempted as we are tempted, yet He was without sin.”   Jesus was abused, persecuted, arrested, and by cruel hands crucified.  All because He claimed to be uniquely God’s Son.  Jesus’ death “for our sins,” His burial, and His resurrection became the heart of the Good News from God to man.

Sin can only be conquered by the power of sacrifice.  That sacrifice was made for us in the blessed death of Jesus Christ.  When the Apostle Paul writes of God’s remedy for sin, he employs three picture words:  redemption, justification, and reconciliation.

Redemption sees a person as a slave to sin and self.  The sacrifice of Jesus is the purchase price to set him or her free. We are redeemed, bought back, paid for with the price of the perfect life of Christ. 
Justification sees a person as condemned in a court of law.  Legally man is guilty but through Christ, God counts man just-as-if he had never sinned.  For those in Christ, there is now no condemnation.
Reconciliation sees a person as alienated, separated, from God and from one another.  In Christ, we are united to God and each other.  “Oh, be reconciled.”

 Seneca, the Roman philosopher once wrote: “All my life, I have been seeking to climb out of the pit of my besetting sins.  And I can’t do it, and I never well, unless a hand is let down to draw me up.”
Take hold of the hand of Jesus and allow Him to lift you up and to unite you with the Heavenly Father.

LORD, PROP US UP ON OUR LEANIN’ SIDE

Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old fellow, who always prayed, ‘Lord, prop us up on our leanin’ side.’ After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.
He answered, ‘Well sir, you see, it’s like this…. I got an old barn out back..  It’s been there a long time; it’s withstood a lot of weather; it’s gone through a lot of storms, and it’s stood for many years.

It’s still standing. But one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn’t fall.

Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that  old barn. I’ve been around a long time…I’ve withstood a lot of life’s storms. I’ve withstood a lot  of bad weather  in life, I’ve withstood a lot of hard times, and I’m still  standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, ’cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times.

Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness   leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning  toward a lot of things that we shouldn’t . So we need to pray, ‘Lord, prop us up on our leaning side, so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord.”                                                                                     Selected

Amen, this is my prayer. I sure need proping up because I get to leaning.   How about you?