Saint Nicholas was about giving gifts to children. Santa Claus focuses
on receiving gifts. The Miracle on 34th Street, the Santa Claus
referred parents to other stores to buy
their children presents, because he was concerned more about the
children getting what they wanted, than the commercial store. To learn
that it’s more blessed to give than receive is above our former selfish
nature. That is not what is being taught in our society. Agape (God’s
unconditional) love does not come naturally. What comes naturally is
being a taker.
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35
The most precious gift of all was what Peter told Jesus when all the other disciples turned back (Jesus had as many as 70). No one else to go to who has the words of eternal life. John 6:68
It is strange to me that the E-generation wants the next video game, Blu-ray television, and better I-phones or I-pads. I remember my generation was protesting materialism from our parents, while Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were charging their high ticket prices for concerts and we were blowing our minds on hallucinogens and engaging in promiscuous relationships.
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
What is a “full or abundant life?”…is it material things or a “quality” of spirit and character on how we run the race of life? We can look at Hollywood stars and rich people like Howard Hughes and Michael Jackson and realize that money like the Beatles said, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” Is our legacy what we leave behind or how we lived our life? Is time and growing old an enemy? Or is time ticking away our constant companion to remind us that we are mortal and to live life to the fullest?
....I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Is the real world (reality television) supposed to be like the Kardashians or Ozzy Osbourne? Are we to seek the lifestyle of the rich and famous? Our society would have us believe that money will make us happy. If you don’t have money, it limits the ability to do many things. If I look on Google images, there are some elaborate sandcastles pictures I can find of what people have built on the beach. The problem with sandcastles is that we are building something temporary—not long lasting. The story of the three little pigs, one pig built his house on brick, one on straw and the other on hay.
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. f any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 1 Cor. 3:9-13
Are many ministers teaching what society is teaching? Are we only preaching to “tickle” people’s ears and so they will only hear what they want to hear that there is not any sacrifice in service to God? Abraham went out of his land and he chose a “road less traveled” like Moses gave up Egypt, where Lot chose the cities of the plains (the road more traveled).
It talks about leaving “sound doctrine” to suit our own desires:
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 2:3
God blessed Solomon with wisdom as a young king and God said he would add everything else with wisdom. The only –problem, we can’t help but wonder if Solomon really had wisdom (the maturity to handle all the things) because in the long run/haul, God was not pleased with Solomon. It says his foreign wives turned his heart away from the Lord.
(King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.)
Samuel 3:3 tells us that David married the daughter of a foreign king: Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Marrying a foreign woman was not against the Law of Moses - if she became a convert to the God of Israel. What did not ruin David did ruin Solomon.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote all is vanity, but we have a little clue in that Solomon talked about in the previous verses “my” this and my that. I like Joyce Meyer and her demonstration of the “me” robot.
I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. He undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Eccl. 2:4-10
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. vs. 11
I like the Rolling Stones song, “We don’t always get what we want, but if we try sometimes, we may find that we get what we need.” But there are times in life, we don’t exactly have certain needs either outside of food and clothes. The Bible talks about being “content” that we just have food and raiment. That is pretty basic or simple. Jesus said that he did not have a place to lay his head (no earthly dwelling).
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:8
God even asked Abraham to give up his only son? God provided a sacrifice in his place for Abraham. That is more faith than I have to sacrifice my child to God. It is rather bazaar, because God was against sacrificing a child on an altar. I believe it really is a sacrifice of the heart that God looks at in life.
True sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A broken and chastened heart, God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
I look at it that we can either be full of ourselves like Solomon or we get full of Jesus and being full of Jesus is getting full of the word and his Spirit (he was the word that was made flesh.)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colosians 3:16
We see the same thing with the man that Jesus talked about being full of himself and the rich man who refused to give Lazarus the crumbs from his table:
He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' Luke 12:18-20
In God’s word it talks about building our house by wisdom and understanding. Unlike Solomon, we can use wisdom on how to use our things and one of those things it to use our things for the gospel.
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Proverbs 24:3
They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. Romans 15:27
One thing I learned from my mother in being a widow is that she was always a great giver and server to her family and my parents tithed 10% to their church, but the one beef I had about my parents is that they did not do volunteer work for the community. They never set that example for me. I know my husband’s parents do volunteer work and my husband did a lot of volunteer work (Boy Scouts, Homeowners Board, Leading Teen Church Socials). I made up my mind I was not going to follow in my mother’s footsteps when my spouse died and focus all my attention on my children and grandchildren.
I never saw my mother rise above her grief in losing my dad like I see many widows who volunteer for the community, same with many divorced women I meet. I would go visit my mother twice a week after college, but she continued in that deep sadness until she passed away five years later. I have found that being active in helping others with loss, helps my grief. The saying, God helps those who help themselves really should be “God helps those who help others” like the good Samaritan helped the man beaten alongside the road. There are many people beaten up by death and divorce.
Does the world revolve around love, sex or money? What makes this world go round?
The earth and the universe is suspended by the word of God (it’s held in place by God’s word). God’s word is eternal – it says that heaven and earth will pass away, but his word endures forever (Mark 13:31). So if we lose everything in life, we know that God’s word is eternal (long lasting). Job lost everything in life including the emotional support of his friends and wife, but he still had his integrity. There is not much in this world that is long lasting. Material things rust, break and get corrupted, and it’s the same with our bodies, they break down. We don’t want to “gain the whole world and lose our own soul” even as Christians. What are we trading in life for our own soul, what do we spend most of our time doing?
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35
The most precious gift of all was what Peter told Jesus when all the other disciples turned back (Jesus had as many as 70). No one else to go to who has the words of eternal life. John 6:68
It is strange to me that the E-generation wants the next video game, Blu-ray television, and better I-phones or I-pads. I remember my generation was protesting materialism from our parents, while Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were charging their high ticket prices for concerts and we were blowing our minds on hallucinogens and engaging in promiscuous relationships.
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
What is a “full or abundant life?”…is it material things or a “quality” of spirit and character on how we run the race of life? We can look at Hollywood stars and rich people like Howard Hughes and Michael Jackson and realize that money like the Beatles said, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” Is our legacy what we leave behind or how we lived our life? Is time and growing old an enemy? Or is time ticking away our constant companion to remind us that we are mortal and to live life to the fullest?
....I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Is the real world (reality television) supposed to be like the Kardashians or Ozzy Osbourne? Are we to seek the lifestyle of the rich and famous? Our society would have us believe that money will make us happy. If you don’t have money, it limits the ability to do many things. If I look on Google images, there are some elaborate sandcastles pictures I can find of what people have built on the beach. The problem with sandcastles is that we are building something temporary—not long lasting. The story of the three little pigs, one pig built his house on brick, one on straw and the other on hay.
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. f any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 1 Cor. 3:9-13
Are many ministers teaching what society is teaching? Are we only preaching to “tickle” people’s ears and so they will only hear what they want to hear that there is not any sacrifice in service to God? Abraham went out of his land and he chose a “road less traveled” like Moses gave up Egypt, where Lot chose the cities of the plains (the road more traveled).
It talks about leaving “sound doctrine” to suit our own desires:
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 2:3
God blessed Solomon with wisdom as a young king and God said he would add everything else with wisdom. The only –problem, we can’t help but wonder if Solomon really had wisdom (the maturity to handle all the things) because in the long run/haul, God was not pleased with Solomon. It says his foreign wives turned his heart away from the Lord.
(King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.)
Samuel 3:3 tells us that David married the daughter of a foreign king: Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Marrying a foreign woman was not against the Law of Moses - if she became a convert to the God of Israel. What did not ruin David did ruin Solomon.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote all is vanity, but we have a little clue in that Solomon talked about in the previous verses “my” this and my that. I like Joyce Meyer and her demonstration of the “me” robot.
I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. He undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Eccl. 2:4-10
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. vs. 11
I like the Rolling Stones song, “We don’t always get what we want, but if we try sometimes, we may find that we get what we need.” But there are times in life, we don’t exactly have certain needs either outside of food and clothes. The Bible talks about being “content” that we just have food and raiment. That is pretty basic or simple. Jesus said that he did not have a place to lay his head (no earthly dwelling).
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:8
God even asked Abraham to give up his only son? God provided a sacrifice in his place for Abraham. That is more faith than I have to sacrifice my child to God. It is rather bazaar, because God was against sacrificing a child on an altar. I believe it really is a sacrifice of the heart that God looks at in life.
True sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A broken and chastened heart, God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
I look at it that we can either be full of ourselves like Solomon or we get full of Jesus and being full of Jesus is getting full of the word and his Spirit (he was the word that was made flesh.)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colosians 3:16
We see the same thing with the man that Jesus talked about being full of himself and the rich man who refused to give Lazarus the crumbs from his table:
He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' Luke 12:18-20
In God’s word it talks about building our house by wisdom and understanding. Unlike Solomon, we can use wisdom on how to use our things and one of those things it to use our things for the gospel.
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Proverbs 24:3
They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. Romans 15:27
One thing I learned from my mother in being a widow is that she was always a great giver and server to her family and my parents tithed 10% to their church, but the one beef I had about my parents is that they did not do volunteer work for the community. They never set that example for me. I know my husband’s parents do volunteer work and my husband did a lot of volunteer work (Boy Scouts, Homeowners Board, Leading Teen Church Socials). I made up my mind I was not going to follow in my mother’s footsteps when my spouse died and focus all my attention on my children and grandchildren.
I never saw my mother rise above her grief in losing my dad like I see many widows who volunteer for the community, same with many divorced women I meet. I would go visit my mother twice a week after college, but she continued in that deep sadness until she passed away five years later. I have found that being active in helping others with loss, helps my grief. The saying, God helps those who help themselves really should be “God helps those who help others” like the good Samaritan helped the man beaten alongside the road. There are many people beaten up by death and divorce.
Does the world revolve around love, sex or money? What makes this world go round?
The earth and the universe is suspended by the word of God (it’s held in place by God’s word). God’s word is eternal – it says that heaven and earth will pass away, but his word endures forever (Mark 13:31). So if we lose everything in life, we know that God’s word is eternal (long lasting). Job lost everything in life including the emotional support of his friends and wife, but he still had his integrity. There is not much in this world that is long lasting. Material things rust, break and get corrupted, and it’s the same with our bodies, they break down. We don’t want to “gain the whole world and lose our own soul” even as Christians. What are we trading in life for our own soul, what do we spend most of our time doing?
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