I always have at least one person on my list that I never know what present to buy them for Christmas. This person seems to have everything they need and I joke about just getting them ‘more of everything they already have.’ But, the challenge continues each year.

I am blessed and have been given much by God. I do not give Him Christmas gifts, but if I did, I feel stumped. I ask myself, ‘What can I give God?’ Many wonder why I would ask that because usually He is the Giver of all good things. (James 1.17). And, the Word tells us that ‘the Earth is the Lord’s and everything that’s in it’ (Psalm 24.1) and that ‘He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills.’ (Psalm 50.10)

So, God really is the One Being that has everything. He does not need anything. To be honest, I never think I have anything that could be good enough to give to God. I have flaws and failures and broken dreams and futile attempts at walking the line most days. What could I possibly give to the God of the Universe that would matter?

But, that being said, there is something He really wants us to give Him. When I was a young girl being pursued by the Living God, I heard Him speak to my heart one night. He said, “Give me your heart.” I was frightened because I did not know Who He was or What He was and did not realize I could trust Him and I did not realize how much He loved me and wanted great things for me.

It took me about one year of being pursued by God to want to give Him my heart as He asks us to do in Proverbs 23.26. I feel this it the ultimate gift that gives the Father pleasure – to have us be His children – to have His sheep know His voice, follow Him, and trust Him with their hearts and lives and everything every day. He treasures the gift of our hearts. It’s not what He needs, it’s what He wants. 

I recently learned that the composer (Hugh Martin) of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ also had these words to that tune —

Have yourself a blessed little Christmas
Christ the King is born
Let your voices ring upon this happy morn

Have yourself a blessed little Christmas
Serenade the Earth
Tell the world we celebrate the Savior’s birth

Let us all proclaim the joyous tidings
Voices raised on high
Send this carol soaring up into the sky,
This very merry blessed Christmas lullaby.

Let us gather to sing to Him
And to bring to Him our praise
Son of God and a Friend of all
To the end of all our days

Sings hosannas, hymns, and hallelujahs
As to Him we bow
Make the music mighty as the heav’ns allow
And have yourself a blessed little Christmas now.

He is a great God! Have yourselves a Blessed and Merry Little Christmas everyone!

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Dad I like to watch world news with David Muir each evening. I have never been a news buff because all the news seems like ‘bad’ news and never ‘good’ news, but David Muir always has something sweet at the end of his news.

During Halloween, he had a story about a little boy trick-or-treating. The young boy came to a home with a pumpkin basket on the porch; but there was no more candy in the pumpkin. The little boy informed his mom of the situation. It seemed he had a problem. At first, I wondered what he would do. Then, to my surprise – to fix it, he proceeded to take candy from his bag and put it into the empty pumpkin basket on the porch. Problem solved – the pumpkin basket was no longer empty. The sweetest thing is that he did not know anyone was watching, but this was all captured on the home security camera and that is how all of us in news land were able to see the kindness, sweetness, and innocence of this young man. I was touched once again that good things do happen every day.

I am called to be like a child. Even though Halloween is passed, the Advent is here. The time of year that the year is ending and I am celebrating the birth of the Savior. It is a time when I can turn my heart to how I can fill up someone’s basket that is empty. God promises that it is impossible to out-give Him.

I am first reminded in James 1.17 that, “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights..” Our Heavenly Father gives great gifts.

My motive, however, should be pure – just for the sake of sharing with others less fortunate, however, God’s Word promises – “Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6.38) I believe His promise of ‘pressed down, shaken together, and running over’ is to me and the ones I love and bless.

Genesis 9.3 lets me know that “(God) give(s) … everything.” And Proverbs 28.27 tells me, “He who gives to the poor will not want.” God’s Word is clear – He is a giver and I, as His child am be be a giver too – with the spirit that shows how grateful I am that God has given to me.

Luke 12.32 warms my heart with the words, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The Kingdom is Him and His salvation, goodness, faithfulness, provision, answers to prayer, and everything I have here and in my heart.

God Bless you this Season. I hope you find someone to bless.

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I am always amazed at how one small seed, planted in the ground, can cause a plant to grow and produce so much. From apples on an apple tree to corn on the stalk, it all begins with little seeds.

Genesis 1.29 tells us how God gave us seeds as a gift  – “and God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.” Our Provider is incredible beyond words.

The cycle of life is wonderful to me. The fruit and vegetables we enjoy are not only grown in abundance, they carry with them more seeds for planting and harvesting even more fruit and vegetables. God’s supply is generous and ‘superabundantly above all that we could ask or think.’ (Ephesians 3.20)

God tells us about seeds:

“…Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings. (Genesis 26.12) God multiples our fruits and vegetables and He multiples His spiritual blessings to us as well.

God tells us not to judge a seed by its size:

“Of all the seeds (the mustard seed) is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and find shelter in its branches, but look what it brings!” (Matthew 13.32)

And He also mentions the mustard seed in comparison to how much faith it takes for us to pray and believe and receive, “He said to them, … if you have faith … like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” (Matthew 17.20) Doesn’t seem like it takes faith much to make great things happen.

Jesus spoke of the Word being like seeds in our hearts:

“But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just (noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8.15) God wants His Word to take root and grow and flourish in our hearts.

God wants us to use seed to win others for the Kingdom:

“…he who goes forth bearing seed and weeping … shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalms 126.6) This is a very old-time way of speaking of winning souls for Christ.

Everyone plays a part:

” I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow and [He] gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3.6). Our efforts are never ‘fruitless’ because God is the Force behind all our efforts and He never loses and nothing is ever wasted.

It is true, seeds are small. Sometimes we see our gifts as small, but God takes those gifts and causes them to grow. What we need to do is sow our seeds. Our seeds of kindness, a smile, a word of encouragement, a meal, a token of appreciation, supporting a good cause, listening to ones who need us to listen, sitting by the beds of our friends and family when life is changing from earth to heaven, and more. Every day, we have seeds to sow and give to others. We may not always see the reward here or visibly see how we touched someone’s life, but we have God’s word on the matter, that what we do, He will make matter. Some of us plant, some of us water, but it is God that gives the blessing and increase! We can sow a lot of seeds this Advent Season.

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I love Thanksgiving. It is not only a time for special thanks and turkey and family, it means Christmas is very near again. YEAH!  I titled this ‘Always Thanksgiving’ because, while we have one  day we call Thanksgiving, the truth is that every day is a time for giving thanks.

I think being thankful is another way I give praise to God and acknowledge Him as great and as my Lord and show Him I believe He is good and providing for me at all times, even if it is not exactly what I had in mind.

There have been times it was difficult to be thankful. I have been jobless, homeless, foodless, hopeless, on the verge of losing everything, and wondered why and how these things happened in my lifetime. Recovery is great, but when going through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23.4), thanks is not the first impulse in my heart.

God’s Word tell me to “Thank God in everything – no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus – the Revealer and Mediator of that will. (1 Thessalonians 5.18) and that  “…all things work together for good to them that love God…” (Romans 8.28) So, if I really take God at His Word, then He knows everything and will make even the things I think are really bad turn out for good. It has taken some time to work these truths into my life.

One of my favorite movies is Pollyanna. In the movie, she is a 12-year-old orphaned daughter of missionaries who came to live with her rich and strict aunt. Pollyanna is a very cheerful, talkative and radically optimistic  youngster who focuses on the goodness of life and always finds something to be glad about, no matter the situation. She plays the ‘glad game.’ The game is where – no matter what is happening – you find one thing to be glad about. Once she had a broken leg. When she played the glad game, she was glad to have crutches.

I think I should have no difficulty finding more than one thing to be thankful for each day and in each circumstance. I have Jesus as my Savior, family, all my facebook friends, I live in a free country, I can pray, I have a Bible, I have a home now, and many more blessing each and every day. Now I have enough to share with others too. I want to always find something to be thankful for and meditate on that each day to help me walk through all the good and bad times of life. I am thankful for everything. I pray you are too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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I love pastry. One of my favorite things is creme-filled donuts. The more cream the better. “Fill them up,” I say. While donuts are not great for my weight watcher’s diet, I love chocolate or vanilla creme just the same.

The Bible talks about being filled – not with vanilla or chocolate creme though. It’s my spirit that needs filled. I know my spiritual tank feels like it is running on empty so much of the time. God knows when I am a little less patient, a little less kind, a little less thoughtful, a little less generous, etc. I think those times are because I am a little less ‘filled.’ My tank is on empty and I need a refill. Sooooo, I know I need to spend time in the Word and in prayer and fellowship with God.

One of my many favorite sections of the Bible is the wonderful prayer for all of us in Ephesians 3.16-19

“May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. 

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!”

Filled with God Himself! What a wonderful privilege to know that God does not just want to give me a little of Himself, but wants me to be filled with Him and to really know His love. When I am filled with God, my tank is full and I am able to be more of what He wants me to be and give from a full tank – so to speak.

There is no end to God’s supply – He tells me “the Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24.1) and that He “owns the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50.10)

God wants to fill us with His provision as well as His love, His mercy, His goodness, His patience, His kindness, His Presence and everything about Himself. He wants us to know personally what He is all about and His great love.

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There are many ways to think about trees. Some feel trees are spectacular parts of nature, but others consider them a nuisance because they either want to make room for other things or they fall down on precious property with weather or aging conditions.  Others look at trees as providers of shade on warm days or as very fun to climb or hang a swing from or put a tree house in for play. Some use trees for art and change the direction of the growth to provide unusual and artistic forms to the trees. I have seen this in Key West as well as many Asian countries.

In addition, some feel trees are home to many birds and small critters like squirrels and, my personal favorite, at the Cologne Zoo in Germany, fun for the elephants starts after the holidays because they are fed all the unsold Christmas trees – soooo, the elephants see the tree as a delicious snack!

Where am I going with this? Well, I think life is a matter of perspective – not only about trees, but I also relate this to my difficulties. Most of the time, I see my trials as the worst thing that could ever happen to me and wish difficulties never happened. If I change my perspective just a tad – a major over hall for me –  perhaps I can see them differently. I have decided that I need to turn every worry, job loss, brothers and sisters struggling, car keys being locked in the truck, loss of health or a loved one, and all the other little things on my ‘what can go wrong today’ list  into an opportunity to see the greatness of God. I want to see for myself His faithfulness, kindness, love and care, and attention to every little detail in my life.

I admit that I have never been fond of James 1.2-4 – “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.  But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”

God’s Word goes on to promise, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God … and it will be given…” I sure do need wisdom, so I ask the Father for wisdom about how to view the daily struggles and how to see Him in everything.

Prov 24.20 tells me “(my) steps are ordered by the Lord.” He is in control of the Universe, but He is also in control of every step I take. Even if I think I have taken a bad one, He makes my “crooked paths straight.” (Isaiah 42.16)

I also have the assurance that “God has said, ‘I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!'”  (Hebrews 13.5) Amen.

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I love pandas. They are really cute. This one looks to me like he is praying, so I included him here today. He reminds me of what I need to be doing more and more of.

I feel like I am not alone in forgetting to pray. When I have a problem or feel I am lacking in something, I do everything except pray. The other day I was driving to work on a road we should have been able to go at least 60 mph on and, instead, I was forced to drive down the road at 45-50 mph for over 20 miles. Now, I realize I am in need of patience, however, I informed God that I did not want any lessons on the road this day. Needless to say, I received the memo from heaven that told me, “It’s either His way, or it’s His way.” I tried to say, ‘No thank you’ to the lesson today, but, needless to say again, that did not work.

So, I decided God wanted to slow me down and He wanted me to pray. I did. I spent the extra time on the road going through my list of personal prayers and prayers for family and friends that are so dear to me. I was also able to enjoy a radio teaching about prayer as well and was reminded how Apostle Paul never ceased praying.

“For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] …”(Colossians 1.9)

I was challenged to wonder if there is there anything in my life I value enough to never cease praying for. I am convicted of my lack of persistence in prayer for loved ones who – years later – still struggle. I know God has not given up on them and I need to remind myself to not give up on them or answers to my own prayers that have gone unanswered for many years.

I read one man’s devotion that said, “The devil is not troubled when … writes books or prepares sermons, but his knobby knees tremble when … prays. The devil does not stutter or stumble when you walk through church doors or attend committee meetings…..But the walls of hell shake when one person with an honest heart and faithful confession prays and also says, “Oh, God, how great Thou art.””

The devil keeps us from prayer. He tries to come between us and God and fill our hearts and minds with doubts and business that hinders us. But he scampers like a spooked dog when we pray. So let’s do.

Let’s pray, first. Traveling to help the hungry? Be sure to bathe your mission in prayer. Working to disentangle the knots of injustice? Pray. Weary with a world of racism and division? So is God. And He would love to talk to you about it.

Let’s pray, most. Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or teach without ceasing? Or have committee meetings without ceasing? Or sing without ceasing? No, but He did call us to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5.17)

Let’s pray.

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I think – that most think – talking about death is morbid. And I do think so – if I must say so – myself. There are times I am convinced that I will live forever – not only in heaven, but here on Earth. I am wrong; I do realize.

I recently found some tombstones I viewed funny though. One tombstone my brother and I found in a cemetery in Key West said, “I told you I was sick.” We laughed together reading it and he identified with that one because he was sick and no one seemed to realize it. He has since passed. He told us he was sick!

The stones I viewed ranged from funny to really funny stuff about a not so funny topic. Another I recently viewed said, “Don’t laugh, you’re next.” Others said, “Myra Mains,” “Here lays my husband, Tom.. Now I know where he is at night,” “Buttermilk Hatfield – Tried milkin’ a cow that was really a bull, Milk can’s empty, grave is full,” and “Ben Better” to share a few.

If the stone in the blog is difficult to read, it says ‘Here he lies, but he never died!’ Praise God. That is one thing I think I would like on my tombstone. We never die when we know Jesus. If Jesus left the grave behind Him, so will I. During devotions one day, I read someone else’s thoughts. He said:

“Recently I discovered it’s possible to record a message for my tombstone. And if I do, this may be what you’ll hear:

Thanks for coming by. Sorry you missed me, but I’m not here. I’m home. Finally home! At some point my King will call, and this grave will be shown for the temporary tomb it is. You might want to step to the side in case that happens while you are here. Hope you’ve made plans for your own departure. All the best, ….. “

I am in the position – like so many others – of impending loss and having had much loss already in life. Sometimes I think life is all about loss. I, like most, like to avoid the very sad topic of departing to heaven and, even though this should be a celebrated event, it does not seem to be.

Psalms 116.15 assures us, “Precious (important and no light matter) in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (His loving ones).”

Jesus has promised, “I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live” (John 11.25) and it will be with Him in Paradise. (Luke 23.43)

I would like to say, “I can’t wait!” but I think I want to wait until the Lord calls me home. For the ones I am walking with along their long and winding roads that are leading this way, I pray for the words to comfort them and assure them that Jesus is waiting for them and it will be great! He promised.

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Anyone who has ever read my blogs knows I have a million favorite parts of my Bible. Another one is the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11. While the account itself is amazing and beyond words, I love the details in the middle of the story. Mary and Martha.

We all know the account – Jesus hears Lazarus is not well. He intentionally does not respond quickly. Lazarus dies. Jesus arrives at the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. When the girls hear Jesus has arrived, they are so distressed they begin to say some things we may consider objectionable. Martha says, “Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (v.21) When I read this, I can only imagine her grief and how upset she was and essentially said, “If You were here, doing something to help us, being the Friend you are to us and the Jesus we know You to be – my brother would not have died. The terrible thing that has happened would not have happened.”

It is Jesus’ response that melts my heart. He never scolds her or tells what her problems are and how little faith she has or how dare her accuse Him in any way of not caring. I can hear His soft, sweet, kind voice say, “Your brother shall rise again.” (v. 23)

Some in the crowd made similar accusations – “Could not He Who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (v. 37)

Then Jesus wonders where Mary is. When she comes, same thing – “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” (v. 32) Then, our wonderful Savior, does not scold her either or wonder if there is any faith to be had anywhere. He is so touched by her crying and grief, He cries too. (v.35)

Just like Mary and Martha and me too – when times are overwhelming and we cannot understand and we are filled with grief and questions and upset, we may wonder about things. But God is right there with us. Holding us in His Everlasting arms. No condemnation, just love. He is still God. He is still good. He is still real. He is still our Father. He will walk through the times with us when we feel the most lost. He will weep with us.

Isaiah 53 reminds us He carries our sorrows and griefs – we do not have to carry them. “Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], ….He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” (Isaiah 53.4-5) 

God understands everything.

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The other day I heard a story about a little girl who returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, “Did you learn anything?” “I guess not,” the girl responded.  “I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day…” I laughed as I thought, ‘Well little one, that’s life and that’s learning.’ That is how it is for me with my life lessons and teaching.

Sometimes I think God asks me if I’ve learned anything? I think I am in remedial (special ed) Christianity. I have accepted that I am a slow learner and need lots of patience from my Teacher and am very lucky He is very patient and kind and bears all things and believes all things good about me and never fails me. (1 Corinthians 13)

Throughout the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the Teacher. He spent much of His time teaching His disciples and the crowds. The lessons I have to learn, I feel like I have been learning all my life – how to not be anxious about the days’ activity, how to not say the wrong words at the wrong time, how to have patience when that’s the last thing in the world I want, how to give when I want to keep, how to not complain when circumstance is a little uncomfortable, and how to be more like Jesus in everything I do.

Learning can be easy at times and some lessons are quickly grasped, but some seem to take a lifetime and longer to embrace as character traits that are so much a part of me I do not remember how I used to handle situations.

And we are to teach others what Jesus taught – “Yet [in spite of the threats] they never ceased for a single day, both in the temple area and at home, to teach and to proclaim the good news (Gospel) of Jesus [as] the Christ (the Messiah).” (Acts 5.26) as well as teaching may be a special God given spiritual gift – “[He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching..” (Romans 12.7)

And for all believers, God’s Word is an important teaching tool for “every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action)” (2 Timothy 3.16) because “the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4.12)

I look to God for my daily lessons and pray for all my lessons to be encouraging and understood as good for me. My prayer is the same for everyone else.

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