Musings of the Day

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put way from  you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Eph 4:29-5:2

~How much more pleasant would our lives, homes, and relationships be if we applied these words to every area of our lives?
~"Be imitators of God as dear children." I've heard and said the phrase "children of God" so many times in my life, but I have so seldom stopped to think about what that should really look like. How do we imitate God? We must start by getting to know him. You can't imitate something if you don't know anything about it and the more you know about a person, the more you can imitate. God's Word was written for that very purpose, so that we might know and understand who God is.
Second you have to think about what the parent/child relationship looks like. To be a child means to be in under the direct authority of your parent. To be in submission, to honor, and to respect those in authority.  In our family, it was never permissible to question, back-talk, or disobey mom and dad. Of course we sin, we're human, and there are consequences for disobedience, but there are also blessings for obedience. It is the same in our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father.


"Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known Your truth to the children." Isaiah 38:17-19

~"You have cast all my sins behind Your back." PRAISE THE LORD!

CHRISTMAS -
Why do we decorate for Christmas? What is the purpose for things like greenery, Christmas trees, lights, etc. which don't have any correlation Christ's birth. What if things like trees have a pagan origin?

~First things first - we decorate because we are celebrating. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Savior! We all celebrate birthdays of our family and friends. Most of us with cake, gifts, and a verbal "happy birthday!" why should we not do so and much more in celebration of Jesus' birthday. Ok, so December 25th may not be His real birthday, but honestly, no one knows the real day, so lets just get over it and be willing to join with our brothers and sisters in Christ in celebration.
Ok, back to decorations - trees, lights, candles, wreaths, holly, etc. just shout joy and festivity! For me, having the visuals before my eyes every time I walk into the living room is a constant reminder of what this Advent season is all about. Amidst the greenery, tree, and lights, our house is also decorated with at least 7 nativity scenes. Anyone who walks into our house is going to notice what Christmas really means to this family. We are celebrating the gift of the Incarnation.
There are those among my friends and acquaintances who question the use of decorations because of their pagan origin, but we are in no way bound to the traditions of the pagans. In using a tree to decorate at Christmas, I doubt anyone is thinking about ancient Teutonic vegetation worship.

"Nichtzsche said that the difference between modern and ancient times is that modern man substitutes the morning newspaper for morning prayer." ~ Oliver Van DeMille (in A Thomas Jefferson Education)

"The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." ~Henry Ward Beecher