A REAL PRESENCE NO MATTER WHAT

 Here we are---The very last day of 2020. Approximately 19 hours away from a new year. Funny how one day follows another, yet it is man who marks them for times of celebration. Marks them as days to remember. We celebrate birthday's and anniversaries, but time keeps moving forward. Tonight there will be celebrations all across this world. People are anxious to put 2020 behind them, yet they move into the new year with all the baggage they picked up during this past year.

I take comfort in the words from Matthew 28:20. Jesus reminding His followers that He would be with them....That He would be with them Always. That He would be with them always, even to the end of the age.

They did not know what the future held...what might be out there waiting for them. But those words could be taken to the bank (so to speak). Jesus would always be a real presence in their lives. No matter what happened, He would never leave them. How could He make this claim? Because Jesus was going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to fill, surround, guide and direct those who were His own. In other words, the events of this world had no bearing on how the disciples responded, because they listened for the Holy Spirit.

Maybe we should take heed of this and follow their example while we hang on to the promise made by Christ. The promise that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age.

What about this Corona Virus? "Lo I am with you always..."

What about the election? "Lo I am with you always..."

What about the economy? "Lo I am with you always..."

If this is really true...I mean a blue-light-take-it-to-the-bank-true...then should we not stake our very lives on this promise? I think maybe yes is the answer. So maybe, just maybe this is the year of not fearing. Maybe this is the year of not doubting. Maybe this is the year when we fall upon God's truth and move forward from 2020 as a people who has gained a "spiritual back bone" and declared that we will not cower or draw back from 2021 and what ever it holds.

Oh yeah, there are some verses that come before the promise of Christ being with us always.....

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen!

Happy New year...and God on you...

Michael B

NEXT TO THE LAST DAY OF THIS OLD YEAR

 

John Wimber Quote of the Day:

"We must not ask God to bless what we are doing....We must see what God is doing and go and bless it.....learn from it....and work with it."

In fact, every aspect of following Jesus....(get it following..walking behind..seeing where He is headed) is cooperating with God. We only do what the Father gives us to do. We only say what the Father tells us to say. Boil it down to an even greater simplicity, and we are apprentices to Jesus. We are learning, on this side of eternity, what is taking place on the other side. Kind of a "spiritual" on-the-job-training.  Doing what I want to do, and then expecting God to bless it (kind of presumptuous on my part) is like spending my whole life making apple pies for God, only to discover that He never really cared for apple pies.

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Verse Of The Day:
Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

My help....my aid comes from out of the Lord Jehovah (the complete God...Father, Son And Holy Spirit)...the self-existent One. We are all in need of aid. No matter how successful you may appear in business, finance, academics, sports.....we all need God. The extent of human accomplishments are many....but at the end of every life, we all stand in need of a Savior.
Someone who can break the power of sin.
Someone who has paid the penalty of sin.
Someone who will defeat the presence of sin.
That someone is found only in Jesus.
Spiritually we didn't need any help to get where we were....totally running from God due to our sin.
But now, like Step # 2  implies....we need a "help" that is beyond ourselves. A help that is beyond our own abilities or capabilities. Don't you find it strange that it is us who are running from God? That in fact, God keeps chasing us, doing so with a  love that is beyond my understanding. 
I think Bryan Duncan said it best in his song We All Need



Only 366  shopping days till Christmas!
God on you...
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THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

Mark 1: 7 - 8
He announced, " Someone is coming soon who is far greater than I am...so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Third part of the Trinity.
Third part of the God-head.
God the Father.
God the Son.
God the Holy Spirit.
John the baptizer proclaimed that Jesus was coming on the scene. Jesus had invaded humanities time and space and had declared war of the works of Satan. One of the main differences was the idea of being filled with God's Holy Spirit.
Before we go any farther, I am not going to debate what constitutes a filling of the Holy Spirit. One work, a second work, multiple works. Not going there.
Prior to Jesus' birth, the Holy Spirit was given to only those that God deemed needed Him for the call and work that God had placed upon an individuals life. By the time you reach Act's Chapter 2, the lid is off, the Holy Spirit has come in power on the day of Pentecost and now is available for all who believe that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah and had died to pay the price for sin.

Big deal, I've got the Holy Spirit.
You better believe it's a big deal. I can tell you right now that I've been teaching on the Holy Spirit and His baptism for 23 +  years and people still don't really understand the dynamics of a life that has been filled. A total disregard for the presence of God's Holy Spirit in their lives. I am in no way replacing the importance of Jesus Christ, no! But we need to see the complete God head in action to appreciate God's plan for our life.
God the Father, seated in heaven carrying out his plans to usher in his kingdom and defeat sin and Satan once and for all time. Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for the saints (not the New Orleans Football team). The Holy Spirit given to each individual who is saved, communicating the will of the Father and also communicating to Jesus the prayers and desires of the people.

John 16:8
And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
The Holy Spirit's first job is to break through the hardness that sin has placed over our hearts, our minds and our spiritual eyes. We are blind to the truth, but the Holy Spirit shatters that deception and allows us to hear the Gospel.

John 16: 13 - 14
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas. He will be telling you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever He receives from me (Jesus).
The voice of truth inside of us. God places a moral, spiritual and divine compass in each believer to guide us daily. Now if I am aware of this truth, does it not make sense that I should devote my energy to hearing and beyond that, doing the will of God.
It's not a crap shoot or roll of the dice. It isn't sticking a wet finger into the wind to figure out which way to go. It is the voice of God Almighty Himself speaking inside every believer. What I see today is a total disregard for the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We have got to get to the place of "listening" and "doing" again.
Quit trying to make decisions in our own strength and ability but, like King David, we listen and obey the voice of God.

What is He saying to you today?
Whatever you hear....just do it.....
God on you.....

EYES OF FAITH

 

Sometimes seeing means not using your natural eyes,

but rather the "eyes" of your spirit.

Seeing means letting God reveal things to you.

Things, that in your mind, will seem faint and distant almost

like a whisper.

But to your spirit, you will have a knowing that God is in fact

communicating with you.

Seeing with "eyes" of your spirit means that what is

discerned does not always match up with the logic of your mind.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart"
"Lean not on your own understanding"

This doesn't mean we check our brains and intellect at the door

when we start this new life with Christ.
It means that we establish ourselves in his word (Bible)

and communicate with him through prayer.

It also means that we spend time listening as we pray.

Psalm 103 is a good chapter that speaks of this new life we have given ourselves to.

V.1 - Praise the LORD, I tell myself, with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

I think the KJV reads, "Praise the Lord, O my soul".

I like this.
David is speaking to his inner parts not allowing them (the desires and wants and lusts) to dictate how his body responds.

V.2 - Praise the LORD, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me.

When we remember what God has done in the past, it strengthens us for the hard times and situations we are currently facing.

Remembering brings hope.

V.3 - He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

What part falls under "ALL"?

Everything.

All my sins.....My what a glorious thought that when I confess and repent and turn from my sins, God forgives everyone of them.

Check out the rest of Psalm 103 for yourself.
Read it slowly and put yourself in the verses.
Everywhere you see the word me, I or mine...insert your own name and see the precious promises that God has spoken.

2021 is fast approaching.

Prepare yourself to enter this next year with a mandate to follow God as you never have before.

God on you.....

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The Star Carol

This was a staple at the Bynum Household when I was a kid. My mother loved Tennessee Ernie Ford, and the Star Carol Album was one of her favorites.

Enjoy!

Mbb

LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING

 

Christmas....Christmas 2020. So many are leaning into Christmas this year because of all the separation, uncertainty, and spiritual darkness that has covered 2020. Many are projecting 2021 as the year that every thing returns to normal. I pray that it does.....normal would not be bad. 

I want to approach 2021 with the same attitude that the Apostle Paul wrote about in Philippians. "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want......I can do all things through him (Christ Jesus) who gives me strength."

So today, when the family gathers.........I will be content. resting in Christ, enjoying every moment of it. When problems come at me during the coming year.......I will be content, resting and trusting in Christ..knowing that He is still in control.

Today, lay all your junk......your emotional struggles........your doubts and fears....all the uncertainty....lay them all at the feet of Jesus. Take them to Him in prayer and tell Him..."You know, my shoulders aren't strong enough to carry these....I am going to cast them over on you, and I will work at finding contentment today.

Today...to all who have stopped by here to read this posting....I wish you Jesus. I wish you the completeness that you can only experience through a relationship with Christ. As you look into your Christmas tree today, I pray that you see the other tree....One that held the Savior of all mankind...the cross.

Merry Christmas 2020 to all of you from us!!!
Vicki and Michael Bynum

CHRISTMAS EVE 2020

 

Christmas 2020.....a mixture of great darkness and uncertainty. The line from the song Silent Night doesn't seem to fit too well, does it?  "All is calm....All is bright". Well, it doesn't fit if you have your attention focused on this old world. Putting your heart smack dab in the middle of the societal mess that our culture seems to have dredged up. All is chaos....all is dark.

More phone calls and texts than I can count of people who are really struggling this year. Covid....never really heard or knew much about this until this year. Financially businesses are just trying to stay afloat during this pandemic. I hate that word also while I'm on the subject...pandemic.

Yet during all this darkness there is a hope. Oh, not the kind of hope the world offers, but hope that was born in the heart of our creator. Hope that leads us to look up and not be consumed by the darkness around us.Hope in the form of an event that took place long ago. Hope in the form of a baby boy born in the darkest of dark times.

It is this hope that I cling to. It is this baby born in a manger with a cross in His future that I look to. Jesus! Not the religious Jesus........Not the Hallmark Jesus.........Not a denominational Jesus. But the Jesus who is the Son of Almighty God. Jesus, the only one who can offer real, true peace and hope during our own dark times. You see, I don't want there to be any room in my heart or brain for the chaos the world is constantly stirring to draw my thoughts and heart away from God.

I want to be able to say what Mary said when the Angel Gabriel came to tell of God's plans for her life. "MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD!!" Magnifies=makes larger, increases, draws attention to. I want to magnify God to the point that there is room for nothing else in my heart, soul or mind. That like Paul, I can say "The world has been crucified to me and I crucified to the world." 

It's Christmas Eve...2020. Tomorrow all my family will be seated around our table. I will look upon each one and be filled with wonder of how God has brought us to this point. Oh, we're not special or anything like that, but I'm just crazy enough to believe that God has blessed us beyond measure. It's not the number of presents around our tree. It's not us trying to create the perfect Jesus. No........collectively we will bow our heads and give thanks that God has kept His hand upon us during this year. We will ask for it to continue into the next year. 

I pray that you "magnify" the Lord, and that His hope, His promises, and His presence fill your Christmas to overflowing.

Merry Christmas from Vicki and Michael......."The B's in Attalla".

CHRISTMAS IS

 

Christmas is.....
Looking into the faces of the people I see at Wal-mart and at the mall.
Some faces are hard and cold. I don't see any joy or peace. I pray for those faces that they might run into this Jesus who has changed my life. I wish not to give false hope in telling anyone about my Jesus. He isn't a handy-dandy fix man who can undo all the damage I've done in my life. He is a Savior that can transform and produce a new way of seeing life.......a new way of doing business with the world. He can take my past and reform it in such a way that the memories do not bring up guilt and shame. 

Some faces I see radiate with the glow of God's Spirit. They may be about the business of buying presents for family and friends, but you see Jesus in them. Soft smiles and eyes that are filled with love. Even the very timbre of their voice can soften the hardest of hearts they meet with a "Merry Christmas". 

Christmas is......
Breakfast with my good friend, Jim Bentley at Jacks with coffee and conversation. Catching up on the week. Looking back at our past, wondering how we got to where we are. Appreciative of God's hand upon our lives and for the memories we share. Some good...some not so good......but none the less a part of our friendship. I have known Jim since the fall of 1968. We have a lot of shared history. He is my best-est friend. I also have another breakfast appointment with Wayne Wimpee and Barry Hooks, my partners in crime (so to speak). Actually the only crime committed is Wayne leaving the onions off his sausage melt sandwich.

Christmas is.....
Revisiting Luke Chapter 2.
Trying to place myself in Joseph's shoes. What would I have done? Would I have been a man of integrity like Joseph? Or would I have fallen prey to the easy way out? I get angry when movies and television shows try and "Hollywood-ize" the Christmas story. This was a serious thing to be a young girl having a baby outside of marriage. It wasn't a story of warm cozy feelings and soft lights that seem to permeate and cast just the right shadows over the stable. It was a time of a king who was drunk with power and would do anything to hold on to it. Even ordering the killing of small children. In the midst of all the political intrigue and the religious fervor.......there stood Joseph whose primary concern was for his wife and for the baby that was to be born.

Christmas is....
My family.
Josh and Heather will be coming in from Athens, Georgia on Christmas day. Chad, Robin and the grand kids, Tyler and Ashley, will be coming from Southside Christmas afternoon. My wife, Vicki, will spend the morning in our kitchen working the cooking magic she does so well and spread out a meal that would rival the finest chef's found anywhere in the world. We will gather around that table and share more than a meal. We will share our love and laughter. We will share memories. We will be together. To me that is the greatest present a person can receive......family.

I saved this one for last.
Christmas is.....
The story of the birth of Jesus. 
It looked nothing like we portray it in our Christmas cards or plays at church. It was, to me, a pinpoint of light in a time of great darkness. The only fanfare was when the message was delivered to a group of shepherds, not in royal courts of kings and queens. It was in a stinky, smelly stable that reeked of urine and dung that Mary gave birth to God in flesh.

It is the defining moment in the history of the world, when God stepped out of heaven and took on the form and flesh of mankind. He invaded our time and space with a purpose. To take the next step in his plan to right the terrible wrong that took place in the garden when mankind fell from grace into a world of sin. To me Christmas is victory! Christmas is a joyous shout of triumph, and with each Christmas, we draw nearer and nearer to the ultimate finality....Christ return. Would ever a song be so true as to be present at that return and sing.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come.
Let earth receive her King!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Bynum's

Thank you for stopping by Greene Street

Michael & Vicki

IS YOUR CROSS BIG ENOUGH?

 

Philemon : 12 - 14 --And I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, who I wished to keep with me, that in your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel. But without your consent I did not want to do anything, that your goodness should not be as it were by compulsion, but of your own free will.

Paul is appealing to the master of a runaway slave who was converted by Paul in prison. Paul is asking that Philemon, the man to whom the letter is written, forgive the slave. Paul has brought the gospel to both men...Philemon (the master) and Onesimus, the slave, yet Paul is appealing for forgiveness saying that such is not based on compulsion but by choice. I think this is a sticking point with a lot of people. I don't think the church has done a very good job of teaching on forgiveness.  Somehow most of the people I run into all have the same notion that forgiveness comes from feelings.Forgiveness comes from choosing to forgive. A hard lesson that I continue to struggle with.

Church is always great and feels wonderful when we are surrounded by people we love. But what happens when our churches are invaded by those who have hurt or harmed us? What happens when we see those people seeking God? Does our flesh flare up and we become silently angry, hiding by a face of religion? Or do we help them?

 I read this statement from Quick Study Bible lesson for today: Is the Cross big enough for those who have deeply wounded me, or is it just big enough for me?  In other words, am I enjoying the benefits of this relationship with Jesus and only wanting specific others to have the same privilege? I dare say many would answer that question out loud, but in case you did, and in case you felt some conviction....then, like me, we both need to get a bigger cross. Or better yet, we need "self" to shrink and disappear so that only Jesus is left. More of you, Lord, and less of me. True forgiveness is never a felling or a mood; it is a choice that must be made over and over.

Mull this over and let God speak to your heart.
Today is the perfect day to forgive.
God on you.....
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STRANGE NIGHT SATURDAY

 Psalm 91:3 - For He will rescue you from every trap............

Saturday night was one of those rare nights when you very much aware that God is in control. I had come to our meeting with a message prepared (pretty good one too,even if I say so myself). During our worship time, I was sitting with my eyes closed when out of nowhere a thought comes to my mind. "PSALM 91".  
Nothing more than those two words....Psalm 91. 

I am definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I've been at this long enough to know when something comes with that kind of clarity, and that kind of "loudness" to my mind, I better take a look at it. So, laying aside what I had prepared, I took my Bible and turned to Psalm 91.

Over the course of this last year, especially since February, I have felt the need to point all my teachings toward "growing up and becoming mature in Christ". Being a recovery church, I have seen way too many people get clean and sober and think that is the end of the journey. Truth is, sobriety is only a small part of this journey in Christ. It only affords us the mental and spiritual capability to learn how to deal with life and not run away.

The part of Psalm 91 that really caught my attention was the eight words I started this posting with from verse 3. "For He will rescue you from every trap". First off it tells me that there are things out there they possibly may be hidden that I am not aware of. Traps designed to stop me in my sobriety journey. Traps designed to do me harm, discredit my new found relationship with Christ. Traps that want to lay hold of me and keep me bound up. But verse 3 tells me.....no! It promises me that Christ will rescue me from every trap.

Maybe I'm stretching this, but here's the way I see it. If we have been saved to new life, then we are called to follow Christ (Luke 9:23). If I am following Christ, then how are we aligned? He is in front, and I am directly behind Him. That means that He sees the traps before I do. He knows where they are, and will warn me before I get there. He will point out where the trap is, as well as what kind of trap. My part is to simply follow His lead. I don't think this verse is to be taken lightly or discounted for any reason. I truly believe such is a hard fact of the heart of God.

It goes on to say in verse 4 - "His faithful promises are your armor and protection". His promises keep me from falling into places, danger, and with others who mean to bring harm to me. Maybe I need to spend some time studying the promises of God. 

I know this wasn't a Christmas posting today, but I felt that someone needed to read this. Keep watch on each other during this holiday season. Let's be there for one another. Let's gather together next Saturday night and see what God would show us.

God on you....

Merry Christmas from Vicki and Michael----The "B's" in Attalla

DARK DAYS

 

Matthew 2:16
Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance.

We have a tendency to forget things, don't we?
At least I do....
I look at the picture above and I think to myself, "What a peaceful scene....so serene....so quiet..just a perfect night for the Son of God to be born." But somehow I believe that night, or that time was anything but peaceful or serene.

Jesus entered a world that had the boot of Rome on its neck. Roman rule....Roman law....Roman taxes had been the vehicle God used to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem so that prophecy could be fulfilled  (Micah 5:2). People lived in fear....People would sell out their neighbor if they thought they could curry favor with the Roman government that ruled the region.

Needless to say that there probably wasn't much hope running high the night of Christ's birth. Yet it all transpired just the way God the Father had planned. The answer to mankind's problems came in the most way. Jesus wasn't born in the decorative halls of a King's palace. Yet He left the halls of heaven to come down into the mire and muck humanity had brought on itself. His birth was not heralded by fanfare, trumpets, and proclamations for nation to hear. God sent an angelic company to tell a few shepherds who were working that night outside of Bethlehem. In that day, Shepherds were considered to be the lowest of low element of society. Yet God....the God....the one who created everyone and everything chose these men to proclaim the message of the birth of His Son.

Because of Jesus' birth, other parents lost their sons by the swords of Herod's soldiers. God had nothing to do with this...this was all the handiwork of the one we call Satan....the devil.....the serpent. His true colors came out that dark night in Bethlehem. You see, Satan had been looking for the birth of Messiah every since God proclaimed it in Genesis 3:15. Through the years, the devil did every thing he could to stop the birth of this male child who was prophesied to crush his head. We see the mass murder of Jewish baby boy's in the book of Exodus when Pharaoh ordered that they be thrown into the Nile river.

It is not my in this writing to be all gloom and doom, despair and hopelessness, because the wonderful news is that despite all that is wrong with this world....wrong with humanity....has not been able to stop Jesus. Even today, His plans are being carried out in our world. Even today, with all the fear, hatred and division we find in our country, the church.....the real church that Christ is the head of, is hard at work loving, feeding, praying, doing deliverance on those who are under the real bondage of Satan, crying out to God for healing. In many ways, our current time and season reflects what we read about that was taking place when Jesus was born.  What was it the Angel told the shepherds that night? Oh yeah. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior .....yes, the Messiah, the Lord----has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David."  That, my friend, is where we need to park our hearts and minds. On the simple truth that our deliver is with us. Don't focus on the darkness. Don't let the troubles of this world rob you of the simple joy of KNOWING Jesus. He is so much more that presents wrapped in pretty paper. His voice is so much sweeter than any Christmas song we hear. His very presence is so overwhelming, you just want to sit still and not say a word. Just simply be with Him.

I guess what I've been trying to write is that we don't have to let world dictate what they have changed Christmas into. For they have taken it and drained it of the importance that God  intended it to have. Keeping the name only, they have removed the light of the world and proclaimed the holiday for themselves as they stand in the gaudy glow of commercialism.  I will visit that stable once again during this season. I will stand and marvel at how such a tiny person could hold the second part of the God head. I will listen to the sounds of the animals that inhabited that stable. I will look into the face of the parents marveling at how they surrendered their lives and their future to be the instruments that ushered in the Prince of Peace to a time that so needed peace. And I will think to myself, "This little baby truly is THE GOOD NEWS.

Merry Christmas from the B's in Attalla....
God on you...

GOD AND LIFESAVERS

 

Usually by the time we reach this point in the years, I have a tendency to share some memories of my growing-up-years. I don't know if they are of value to anyone else, or that they contain some kind of moral. But they are a part of who I am.

Most of you recognize the picture above.
The ol' "Book of lifesavers" candy.
What does that have to do with me?
Plenty.
From the first grade through the sixth grade, whenever Christmas rolled around, we drew names at school. Now the gifts were not to be expensive, usually under a dollar. You have to remember this was 1950-60's dollar, so you could actually get a pretty good bit for that amount.

But excitement was the name of the game as the names were drawn. We played these silly games of "I'll tell you whose name I got if you'll tell me whose name you got".  Trying in vain to figure out who got our own name. Then we could drop subtle hints as to what we wanted. Did I say "Subtle?" Subtle like an atomic bomb...
"Hey, tell him that I want a model of the U.S.S. Missouri, o.k.?"

But in my own life.....
From the first Christmas in the first grade...
until the last one in the sixth grade.....
I received the same gift each year.
I got the ever popular book of lifesaver candy.

You might be thinking, "Why so bummed?"
Well, guys around me were getting model planes and model cars.
They were getting bags of army soldiers or cowboy's and Indians. (Yes, Virginia, we could say "Indian" back in the day and no one got bent out of shape).
Some got yo-yo's.
Some even got comic books....
There were cap pistols and rolls of caps.
But here I was....
Book of lifesaver's in hand, walking around looking at everyone else.

That wasn't so bad....
But the same thing happened in the second grade....lifesavers.
Third grade? You guessed it. Lifesavers.
Fourth grade was particularly memorable. Why? I got the lifesavers at school, and then I got another one from my Aunt Vertie. Double whammy.
I think during that 6 year stretch, I personally kept the Lifesaver company afloat and from going under.

Christmas came..and Christmas went, but the gift I received never changed.
And so on and so on....The Lifesavers came at me like an endless tidal wave of multi-colored wheels.
My mother kept telling me that it was the thought not the gift that counted.
Hard to swallow when guys are playing with P-40 Tomahawk airplanes, or setting up an epic battle with their soldiers. All the while you're stuck with "Cherry or Grape?"
Truth be known...
I was being selfish.

I was not being very nice and it took a while for this to sink in.
Especially when I noticed one kid in my sixth grade class who didn't get a present at that year. He didn't get one because he didn't draw a name. His folks couldn't afford to spend money on such things. 

I kept hearing my Mother's voice..."It's the thought, not the gift."
I remember going over and sitting down next to him.
"Hey, would you like some of my lifesavers?" I saw him smile. Then I saw his face light up as I handed him half of my book of lifesavers.
I think at that moment I began to understand what Christmas was really all about.
Giving....
not getting.
Giving even the simplest of things.
Like lifesavers.

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.

God on you..
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HE IS A PRETTY AMAZING GOD

 

You will hear some refer to Christmas as a "magical" time of the year.....
I'd probably throw in my two cents by saying that it is a celebration of the supernatural.
I'm always taken by that tern....supernatural.....because it is a word that has been created by man to define our understanding of God. Truth be known, everything God does is quite natural to Him. We, humanity, live at such a lower place than where God is, anything He does is supernatural to us.

Within this story of Jesus' birth, we find angels showing up to announce future events. O.k.....there are still angelic visitations today, right? Right. But back in Jesus' day, God had not spoken a word for 400 years (see Amos 8:11). So all this divine silence was shattered by the comings and goings of angels. Two women become pregnant. One who is to old to bear children, the other a young virgin who has never slept with a man. There in the middle of these two women's stories is a verse that declares the power and awesomeness of God....Luke 1:37 -  For with God nothing shall be impossible. This has not changed.....

God has not grown frail or weak to the point that He cannot reach out and save whoever calls out to Him.
God has not gone out of business, or given up on the human race.
God's plans do not change...nor his ways of engaging us daily.
God will always be, to me, supernatural.....supernatural x 10....

So what am I trying to say this morning?
That God is worthy of me praising Him....
He doesn't need it...
He doesn't fish for it...
He doesn't have an ego that needs to be stroked with an "Atta boy God!"
He is simply worthy of me praising who He is, and His plans for my life.

Even though my body is wearing out, I am being renewed, healed if you don't mind me saying so, to become a new man daily.
That is worthy of praise.
Even though the times and seasons seem to be growing darker spiritually, I am held in the palm of His hand. Not so that I can escape hardship or suffering, but so He can be revealed through me to those who don't know Him or are not aware of who He truly is.
That is worthy of praise.

So, to me, Christmas is a celebration of a definite point in our time and space when God came down to us.
He came in fullness to a world that was empty and dying.
He came with hope to a time and place where hope was a rare commodity.
To be honest with you, the very idea that He could come is amazing....
But that is God, isn't it?
Amazing?

God on you....
and Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.

ALIVE!

 

Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us ALIVE  together with Christ by grace you have been saved.

He had made us alive.....
Alive....the ability to experience life.
Jesus provided the power, authority and ability to take us out of our spiritual darkness, and transfer us to a new level of existence that had eluded us.
But do you really understand what it means to be alive?

It means we have the capability to experience the Joy of  the Lord. But sometimes that Joy comes in the middle of intense darkness. Sometimes that Joy comes when there seems to be no answers to what we are facing. Religion wants to cast out sweet, cute platitudes that truly have no substance. It's like eating cotton candy. Tastes good in your mouth, but has no nutritional value what so every. Religion has no spiritual nutritional value. The Joy of the Lord is food and water for our spirit in a dry and thirsty land.

The Joy of the Lord comes at the most unexpected moments when, in following Christ, we are consumed with doubts and fears. "Surely I have missed it somewhere along the way, as I have tried to follow Jesus," is a thought that precedes this joy sometimes. Hebrews 12:2 speaks of this Joy : Who for the Joy that was set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame....Life in Christ provides us with a vision to see beyond life. To see, with eyes of faith, the promises of God. To understand that faith is more than a fancy religious word for believing. Faith is the very substance on which my mind, heart, spirit and soul are nailed to. It is more than a belief system or a religious exercise. It is LIFE!

Being made alive in Christ helps us to face whatever life here on earth throws at us.
Pain? Sometimes pain is the only thing we possess that lets us know that we are alive. Yet Christ is no stranger to pain. He takes the pain we are experiencing and wraps us in His love and presence, telling us that His grace is sufficient to carry us through this momentary affliction. One of my most favorite lines every written in a song, comes from Pat Terry.  ....And it's funny how pain can touch you.....and it only makes you better, or it robs your heart and soul. All in all it defines the separation......between growing up.......and growing old. Left to me, I would run away from every pain....cower in the corner when fear comes to me.....pull the covers over my head when grief and despair knocks on my door. But being made alive in Christ, means I get up everyday with purpose and resolve to see the day through. That no matter what comes my way, I will look to the author and finisher of my faith, Jesus.

Christ has made us alive in spite of our pain....
Christ has made us alive in spite of the doubt and fear....
Like the three Hebrew men, in the book of Daniel, who were cast into the furnace to be burned alive for not worshiping the statue of the King.....Christ is with us in the furnace of daily living. The King looks into the fire and then asks one of his lessor's..."Did we not cast three into the fire? I see Four...and the Fourth looks like the Son of God." Whatever furnace you may be walking through today, know that you are not alone. Like those three Hebrews.....you have that Fourth man walking with you.

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla!
God on you...
mb