We remember that little ditty our mothers said to us as children….”Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me!” But the fact of the matter is that names DO hurt us! We have to learn to be careful what we say, and often more importantly, HOW we say it.

Words are like ripples on the calm water….they go on for  very long way. Time may erase them to a degree, but the sting of hurtful words are never forgotten totally.

Words said in jest are no better….they can be hurtful to others too. How often we remember what others have said to and about us, as a joke! We don’t forget in a hurry do we!

On the other hand, there are words that build others up, words that are worth listening to and taking notice of. That little old lady sitting in the corner has a wealth of experience behind her….take notice of what she has to tell you. Determine to learn from others’ experiences….don’t be like the teenager who said defiantly to her mother, “I don’t want to learn from your experiences, I want to learn from my own. You’ll be there to pick up the pieces!!”

Let’s make this our New Year’s resolution this year…..learn to be careful what we say and how we say it!

     Baby Joel, born to live!

People sing blithely about Christmas, not even realising what the word “Christmas” means. The following explanation is from Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia……

Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning  “Christ’s  Mass“) is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christand a widely observed cultural holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by billions of people around the world.

 Have you ever stopped to think that although all babies are born to live, the only baby who was born to die was Jesus Christ? He came into the world for the express purpose of dying to take away mankind’s sin. The angel told this to Joseph, the husband of Mary, “You are to call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins”. (Matthew 1: 20-23)

Peter tells us that it is only by the precious blood of Jesus Christ that our sins can be taken away (1 Peter 1:18-21), and that this was determined before the world was even created, before man was brought into being to sin. God knew, and Jesus knew, exactly what it was going to cost to bring a people to Himself, yet man was still created as he is.

What is being free? A land bird is free in the air, and out of its environment in the water; a fish is free in the water and out of its depth on the beach. So we see that to be free we must be in our natural environment. For  a Christian this is to be in touch with the God we profess to belong to. We can only be free while walking in obedience to Him….. once we are walking without the Lord we are out of communion with Him and have no real peace.

Our conscience works overtime at first, and then gradually fades and stops working until some trouble comes into our lives and we are driven to seek God’s face once more. The wonderful thing is, that He is willing to take us up again and give us a second chance. Not only does He give us a second chance, but He also restores our opportunities of service to us and as we find the wings of communion with Him again, we are once more able to soar into our natural environment and be truly free!

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

         I’m sure you have all been disappointed at some time or other. There isn’t a person on earth that hasn’t experienced that let down feeling! These times often come just after a wonderful time, and we wonder why.

We can either become better for it, or bitter because of it.

If we think of the disappointment as a test to build our character, it makes it a whole lot easier to bear. Just as an exam has only two results…a pass or a failure, so these tests leave us with only two results…. becoming better from it, or filled with bitterness!

As for why it often happens after a great time, that time was given to us to make up for the disappointment that was just around the corner. As we remember the wonderful experience, it shows us that life will still have its high points, and that all is not darkness. There is an old saying that goes like this….. “This too, will pass”. Another one is “Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning!”

So get up, stand up and keep up!!!

This question raises all sorts of possibilities in one’s mind, but what I’m asking is, “Are you a morning person or do you function better in the evenings?”

For myself, I’m a morning person, and have no trouble getting out of bed in the morning, feeling like getting on with the day. I have my Bible reading and prayer time first of all, and that’s my spiritual exercise. Next I have my physical exercise in the form of a brisk walk for about thirty minutes (unless it’s raining!). Then I’m ready for whatever the day might throw at me!

I find that if I don’t have this morning start, it feels as though something is missing. I’ve tried doing my exercise later on in the day, and it just doesn’t work. Other things crowd in, or the day gets too hot, and my start has all come to nothing. By night time, I’m flagging and ready for bed.

Perhaps you function better at the other end of the day. You find it hard to get moving in the morning but by ten in the evening, you are sparkling and still going. Whichever end of the day you function the best at, make sure this is the time you give to God. Read some Bible verses, think about them and maybe write down some notes.

Whatever happens, never miss this special quiet time during the day.

As I turned the corner during my walk this morning, the road ahead was swathed in fog and nothing was clear. I couldn’t help remembering times in the past when we had been boating and were caught in the fog. Nothing could be seen, and we had to edge very carefully along to make sure we were away from the shoreline. More than once, we found that we had been going in a huge circle and were back at where we had started from!

We are often like this in life and when things are dim and unclear, we find ourselves groping around and very often end up where we started from. We’ve made no progress at all!

But all is not lost! There is no need for us to grope around at these times, if we wait patiently, the fog will lift eventually and we will see our way clearly once more.

Another thing about the fog, is that as it begins to lift, it swathes itself around the highest points leaving the lower areas still in its mantle. This often makes for very interesting photos. So it is in life. As we come out of these foggy experiences, the things we have learned are to our benefit, and we can see what the Lord was teaching us as we groped our way through these times. Let’s make sure that we don’t stay in the fog, but keep looking up until it lifts and we are once more in the clear sunlight of seeing all God’s blessings that He has given us!