Keeping the Main Story the Main Story

“Let us remember the proclamation of the angel: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). May our hearts go out to the unconverted people…who have no blessed Christmas day, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord” (Nehemiah 8:10).by ~ Mrs. L.B. Cowman Streams in the Desert

Outside of telling the main story of the birth of Jesus there is more we can and need to do to reach the unconverted. The true unedited message of the baby is a simple one that seems to have gotten complicated over the years. Not because God has added to it or taken away from it but because of us. We seem to have created our own version of illiteracy by reading things into the story that are not even there. We do that with the entire Bible.

Some look at the story and see a baby that will grow up to be a dictator. They see something they can’t believe in and that is the virgin birth so they scrap the whole message. They figure because people can’t place the shepherds, wise men, or kings in the right place at the right time there must be something wrong. They see no need for a Savior in the first place so why this little tike.

It’s what happens after Christmas, after we have told the story that becomes the most important thing. It is here where we will reach the unconverted. The story doesn’t end with the babe in the manger that people need to know about it continues on all the way to Easter in our hearts. No not Easter in April but Easter in our hearts where true conviction and transformation takes place.

As quickly as the Christmas decorations go up they seem to come down just as fast. Nice and neatly or in my case crowded and deeply they are stored in the closet only to come out one year from now. In order to reach the unconverted Christmas needs to stay up in our hearts. It doesn’t belong in the closet of our heart wrapped in swaddling layers of dust and cobwebs only to come out one season a year.

People need to see the blessing that Christmas can be but the only way we can do that is to demonstrate it for them. It’s our job as Christians to join this fashion show and model Jesus, this babe in the manger up and down the run-ways of life for all to see. It begins at the manger and continues on with the reaching out to those around us sharing a meal, buying a gift for those who have nothing, and so much more. Once again we can’t stop when Christmas is over because it needs to continue on in all we do.

Maybe I’m crazy which I know I am, I wonder if it was a mistake years ago to declare Christmas a “holiday.” When they did they made it a seasonal event that was designated to come and go at a certain time and stay away one year in between. We can’t wait for people to come and visit the manger we need to bring the manger and Jesus to people year around.

As soon as this declared Holiday is over we need to stop and take a look at ourselves and ask, “Did I put away Jesus with the decorations or is He still garnishing the walls of my heart, mind, and soul.” As political correctness, selfishness, and spiritual blindness kills this Holiday we need to keep it alive in the lives that we lead. Let’s keep the main story the main story forever and ever for all to see and experience with us.


Our host today is Patricia dear who is trying to type and drink her coffee at the same time. Get on over there to her blog at Typing One-Handed and join her and the rest of us in sharing today’s quote.

It Is Correct!

“When the trials of life unravel the fabric of our plans. When we face the deep confusionof painful circumstance. When our feeble strength is broken, and we stand with empty hands. That’s when the Father whispers ‘Trust the pattern I have planned.’ ” Lyrics from song, The Weaver

Year ago, back in the days when I was more ambitious, I decided to make a quilt out of denim squares. I had done it before but this time I wanted to try for something different. I wanted it to have a rugged ragged kind of a look to it. In order to get it the seams were going to have to be facing out instead of inward for them to unravel over time and give it the look I wanted.

Surprisingly enough I think it was one of the most difficult quilts I’ve ever done. I had to go against my training of putting the right sides together and making sure the seams were on the right side as well. Everything I needed to do was opposite of what my mother taught me. After accomplishing my task the reaction I got from one of my grandkids was, “Grandma you sowed this on backwards.” “No, trust me its correct although it doesn’t look like that just now” I replied.

During the whole process of creating the quilt I had to reassure myself that doing this backwards was what I wanted. I had to trust the pattern I had designed for the quilt. It would take several washings and a lot of wear and tear but eventually the quilt came out looking as I originally wanted it to.

God definitely knows the pattern He has picked out for us. Whether that requires sewing wrong sides together and putting the seams on the outside it doesn’t matter. Our part is to trust the one doing the designing that He knows what He is doing. As a kid I had no problem trusting my mom to correctly make my clothes. She had done it enough that I had already seen a lot of her end results. Standing there in the living room in full cooperation to what she was doing, almost paralyzed in fear of getting stuck with a pin I was putting my trust for the final product into her hands.

We need to stand still before God in the same way giving Him our full cooperation. We may not need to stand there paralyzed in fear of getting stuck by a pin but who knows. If we wiggle around enough and not remain still during the process we could get stuck by the choices we make in life. Decisions made in haste as we take the process of the end result out of His hands long before it’s finished. If we are so willing to put our confidence in the person designing our wedding dress or tailor made suits we need to be even more than willing to trust in God.

God is fitting us with our spiritual clothes and we need to be still before Him and wait patiently for the final product to be revealed. Often before the end product is done life appears to be unraveling seams not yet hemmed. Our instant reaction is to stand there with our shoulders shrugged telling God, “You sowed this on backwards. You forgot this spot!” No, trust Him its correct according to His plans, His design, and His pattern. The true beauty of it all may not come out until a few more washings and a little more wear and tear but trust Him it is correct.



Our host this day is Loni at her blogspot Writing Canvas. You need to get over there quickly and read and share with the gang, yes that’s correct, just do it!

God's Presence, the greatest gift of all

“If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: “God with us.” We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a Baby in the manger is the truth that this promised Baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!” by ~ John F. MacArthur, Jr.


What the angels said that night to the shepherds about “We bring you good news of great joy” remains our excellent news to this day. The good news of great joy wasn’t just the fact that a baby was born in a local manger. The angels weren’t there simply to deliver a birth announcement there was more to it. That child, that very child wrapped in swaddling clothes meant more than that. He was the Immanuel, the beginning of a new way of life with the equation of “God with us” being in it.

Imagine what the reaction of the shepherds would have been if the angels had announced it was God who had come instead of an infant. I could hear and visualize it now, “Hey guys, we’ve got news for you! God has arrived on earth and you can see Him at this address.” I don’t know about the other shepherds but if I had been one of them I would have been scared to hear such a thing. However, the announcement of a baby in a manger arouses our curiosity but the trail still leads to God.

Instead of picking out baby clothes and wishing Mary well we need to stop and ponder what His birth is truly all about. We needed a Savior, someone to come and rescue us from ourselves. It was a task too big for anyone but God. We had messed up royally and it was time to get His children back on track. His arrival and exit would open a very large door giving us direct access to the One who was and is indeed “with us.”

What is so awesome about the whole thing is God remains WITH us and we get the choice on whether we want to remain with Him or not. This Christmas we need to concentrate on God’s Presence instead of the presents we may want or get under a tree or in a stocking. It is His presence that is the greatest gift of all.

The sad thing today is we see so many people fighting for all they are worth against that presence. They want it out of the school, they want it out of the work place, and they want it out of Christmas. This year they even fought to get it out of Thanksgiving. What next Easter, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, the local church, the local charity, private homes?

I was almost going to say, “where does it all end?” Praise the Lord we know where it is all going to end, it ends WITH God. For all eternity we can either be in His presence, WITH Him or separated WITHOUT Him. The choice is ours. As pretty as we would like to make the second option appear, being somewhere without God, it will never be what we would like. We can take a Christmas tree out and replace it with a couple of snowmen or remove a manger and dress it up with pretty lights instead but we will never be able to replace eternity in Heaven WITH God with anything “just as good.”
No matter where we go with it. No matter what we try to do the trail leads back to God. We can either be on the good side of the equation or on the other. God’s presence is here and we must never lose sight of it. For indeed it’s not going away no matter how hard we try to kick it out and make it look like something different.

God WITH us, means God with me and I like that!

Happy Birthday Jesus, Happy Birthday!

Our host this cold winter day is Jennifer at her blog, Scraps & Snippets so you better run over there and join the fun in the sun. Oh, we don’t have sun in Oregon right now its 9 degrees below zero and my toes are cold!