Santa's Loot

I recently posted some pictures to my Facebook account showing the before and after photos of the playroom at our house. Before our big cleanup day, it was a wreck. It looked like Santa's workshop had exploded. After the cleanup, it was nice and clean, and hopefully it will stay that way. A friend of mine named Kay Kay Sharp wondered if it was a messy playroom or Santa's loot!

That makes me pose a question: how many others children wind up after Christmas with way too much in their possession. My mother-in-law said they're only little once; however, my theory is there should be a limit to how many toys that Mr. C can bring at this time of year. I keep having to clean up our house and take boxes and bags of toys to the basement because we have too many messes to clean up otherwise. Just to prove my point, I've posted some pictures of the before and after views. Tell me what you think.

For a better look at the pics, go to my account on facebook. You can view them in a larger size there. Enjoy!

The Greatest Gifts

Introduction

What is the greatest Christmas present you've ever received?

• Is it a big wheel?
  
• Is it a diamond ring?
  
• Is it a Barbie?
  
• Is it the complete set of Star Wars movies?
  

Whatever you might consider your greatest Christmas gift ever, we are very aware of the fact that we as Americans are extremely blessed with ample material possessions.

With so many people focused on gifts that we give and receive this holiday season, I wanted us to pause tonight and reflect on some of the greatest gifts we have ever received from our heavenly Father

1. He gave us His Son
   
   1. After the fall of mankind, the world needed reconciliation with God
      
      1. We had lost the perfect relationship
         
      2. Sin had reared its ugly head
         
      3. We needed a Savior
         
   2. It was prophesied as early as Gen. 3:15 about the coming Christ
      
      1. Isaiah 7:14 said "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel"
         
   3. At approximately thirty years of age He began His ministry
      
      1. He taught the people
         
      2. He healed the people
         
      3. He provided the perfect example for the people
         
   4. The climax of His time here was spent in agony as the Jews tried him and sent Him to suffer at the hands of the Romans
      
      1. The gospel accounts reveal that Jesus was mocked, beat, slapped, blasphemed, spat upon, scourged and crucified
         
      2. Jesus told the disciples in John 15:13…
         
      3. What a great gift He gave us in His Son
         
2. He gave us His Spirit
   
   1. Jesus had promised the apostles that after He left He would send the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit
      
      1. When the church was established that first Pentecost after the ascension of Christ, Peter made that promise to the multitude that those who obeyed the gospel after repenting and being baptized would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:38-39
         
   2. We don't know much about the work of the Holy Spirit, but some things we do know:
      
      1. Those of us who are Christians have the indwelling of the Spirit – 1 Cor. 3:16
         
      2. The Spirit intercedes in our prayers for us when we don't know how to pray as we should – Rom. 8:26
         
      3. The Spirit serves as a seal of our promise and the pledge of our inheritance that we have a reward waiting for us – Eph. 1:13-14
         
      4. We are led by the Spirit in that we can bear fruit of the Spirit – Gal. 5:16ff
         
3. He gave us His Word
   
   1. We have in our hands 66 books written over a period of at least some 1,600 years
      
   2. We've got 1,189 chapters or 31,273 verses which God has blessed us with to read and study
      
   3. We have both Old and New Testaments
      
      1. The Old Testament contains the books of law, poetry, wisdom literature, prophecy and apocalyptic literature
         
      2. The New Testament, which contains the law we're under today through Christ, includes the gospel accounts, history of the church apocalyptic literature and letters to churches and dispersed Christians
         
   4. He gave us everything pertaining to life and godliness – 2 Pet. 1:3
      
   5. Truly we have a treasure in our hands which is an immeasurable gift from God
      

Conclusion

I want to challenge all of us as we exchange gifts this holiday season to remember what James said in 1:17: "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow"

Among some of the greatest gifts ever:

• He gave us His Son, which He sacrificed for our sins, because He wanted to renew a right relationship with us
  
• He gave us His Spirit, which is given to all who obey the gospel, showing we belong to Him
  
• He gave us His Word, which we have to guide our lives, so we can know what God expects of us
  

With all of these gifts, there are some responsibilities:

• We are to tell others about what His Son did for us
  
• We are to teach others how to bear fruit worthy of the Spirit
  
• We are to study God's Word and teach it to others
  

Is Christmas not a time of giving and receiving?

If you have received, then freely give the knowledge of these things to others so they can be blessed

'Preciate It!

I think all of us remember the story Jesus told of the ten lepers who were healed, only to have one come back and express appreciation (Lk. 17:11-19. He speaks of the others who did not come back to give God the glory in contrast to this one Samaritan who truly appreciated what was done for him. At this time of year, I can't help but make an analogy.

With Christmas being a time of year that we give and receive gifts, it is very easy to "depreciate the 'preciation." What I mean by that is sometimes we can forget to say thank you. I have to admit, I am not good at thank you's in general. When it comes to writing thank you notes, I am probably one of the worst ever. It's not that I'm ungrateful, but I do forget to express it like I should. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to write thank you cards for all of your Christmas presents. What I am saying is that we need to be very mindful of what we receive as gifts every day of our lives. Make sure to express your appreciation to those who have blessed you with something.

Who knows, when you say 'preciate it, you may even hear a 'preciate the 'preciation in return!

New Bible

I wanted to let everyone know about one of my early Christmas presents from Dianna. I was able to locate a good deal on an ESV Journaling Bible from Crossway. It just so happened that I ran across one on their website one day, and I liked the thought of having the two inches of lined margin space in which to write notes. I received it last Monday, and I am thrilled about it.

I typically use the NASB, but I like the ESV as well. I was wondering if any of you have tried the journaling Bible? The one I bought is premium calfskin, hardback and black. It's great! If you get some time, tell me which Bible version you're using now and why.

Changing Course

A while ago I was out bowhunting when I witnessed something I had never seen before. One of the biggest fox squirrels I had ever seen was working his way toward me as he meandered at a steady pace as a "rodent on a mission." I was sitting in a ladder stand on a black walnut tree, to which the squirrel finally jumped onto above my head about twelve feet. Before, I've had gray squirrels hit those walnuts and knock them down to the ground. Yes, I felt like ducking for cover when they came falling to the ground!

This fox squirrel didn't do that. He was only interested in getting across to the other side of field to the red oak tree. As he made his way out on one of the limbs, he got ready to jump by hunkering down, but he didn't proceed. He backed up, jumped up to a higher limb that reached across the field more, and then he jumped with all his might to the old oak. I pondered to myself as to why he decided to change course.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that we could learn a lesson from that squirrel. He changed his position before he jumped because it was too far for him to jump. What would happen if more of us human beings contemplated that certain moves wouldn't be the best for us to make? That squirrel knew he might fall if he jumped the first time. Many times I think we don't take into consideration what might happen if we act without thinking. Let's learn from the fox squirrel as I continue to look for little things in nature to teach us lessons.

Hunting Report

This was my fourth time to go hunting this season, and I was bowhunting within the city limits of Columbia, TN. There were three does already out in the field when I got there about 3:45 this afternoon. I watched several more does throughout the evening, as the rain began to fall lightly from the overcast sky. The problem was I couldn't get the does within bow range. My comfortable range is out to about thirty yards, but it wasn't happening.

About ten minutes before dark, I began hearing a deer walking up the bank from the creek behind me. If you can picture my setup, I was dressed in camo sitting in a white plastic chair in the woods about five yards off the edge of a field. When I heard the deer, I knew I was in trouble if the deer came straight toward me; he did! I had simply turned my head around to see what came out, and I watched a small spike appear over the rise. He walked up within three yards of me sitting in this white plastic chair. As he got behind me, I began moving intentionally because I thought I heard another deer in the field. He finally spooked, but he only ran a few steps further.

I don't like shooting young bucks, but as he sat there staring at me, I can't say the thought didn't cross my mind. Nonetheless, I waited until he left before I walked back to my car. It was truly a nice evening to be out there.

I Hadn't Noticed That Before!

Do you ever see things that you knew were there all along but seemed like they suddenly appeared to you? I'm sure you've heard people use expressions such as "I couldn't see the forest for the trees" and "if it would have been a snake, it would have jumped up and bit me!" Sometimes we just don't pay enough attention to our surroundings to see something important. The reality is that although we might not have noticed that something, it was really there all along.

Such was the case with me yesterday while I was out looking for another treestand location at a spot I hunt here in Columbia. I had been looking for a spot to put an extra ladder stand, but I was having trouble finding the right tree. I don't know how many times I had walked by this one spot, but it had never entered my mind that it could be the one spot I wanted to find. Covered up by quite a bit of brush and smaller trees was a humongous red oak. It was only when I fixed my eyes on it that I realized how good of a stand location that could be, especially given the cover that is around it. I immediately began to think ahead to next year thinking what I would be planting to hold the deer there.

The tree had been there the whole time, but I never got a good enough glimpse of it due to all of the brush in front of it. Somtimes Bible study is like that. How many times have you been reading a passage of Scripture when you discover something new? I've heard many people utter a phrase similar to this, and I've even experienced this myself. God's Word is so full of information, we can't help but discover new things if we continue to study it. Are you going to look for things that you haven't noticed before?

2 Tim. 2:15
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."