"Emmanuel," Our God is With Us......
What a joful season! As we approach the celebration of the great day set aside to honor the birth of our Lord and Savior, may we indeed truly give Him the reverence as the One on Whom we dote our love and attention. What a grateful people we should be that a loving Heavenly Father would have such compassion on us to send a Redeemer (all His own) to give us a place in His Kingdom.
It's all about to take place. We will gather with our loved ones, share wonderfully prepared foods and pass around gifts in our traditional customs. How precious these moments with family have become, and so should always be. Yet, with each celebration, it seems that surely there's something more that could be brought before the One we claim as the Honored Person, "Emmanuel."
Though sent to us as a babe through a virgin so long ago in Bethlehem, the excitement of each season never seems to fade. The excitement of those men who saw the Star in the East guiding them to the place of worship should still stir our hearts in realization of the Great Gift we have been given.
Our God with us, remains with us by His Spirit that He sent after His work on this earth was completed. Now we know that He is seated at the right hand of our Father, God in heaven where He works for us in never ending prayer. Isn't that an awesome thought? This "Emmanuel" didn't leave us helpless, but sent His Spirit to live within the heart of man to guide him. He also promised to be our Intercessor to the Father while we soujourn through this life on earth. What a blessed Gift!
May we truly be mindful to give Him every honor possible through the means that He has provided unto us. Even this can only be done because He gave us the love within to be able to love Him in a proper respect.
Thanks be to God for the Gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! "Emmanuel, Our God is with us!" May we rejoice in this wondeful season as we worship Him.
Merry Christmas,
Julie
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"A Time of Revival"
I am having a difficult time this week getting direction and purpose for my posting. I am reminded of something Gene, a friend of mine has posted on his website. It is a quote by Franklin, something to the nature of, "If you are going to write, write something worth reading."
So with that in mind I leave you with the following thought:
In 1904 a great spiritual awakening had occured in Wales bringing to light a young evangelest by the name of Evan Roberts. At the same time such awakenings began to emerge around the world. Here in the States there were beginnings of pockets of revival springing up. In 1906 came the Azuza Street Revival that changed the face of our Nation and sent out the Gospel to many other parts of the world.
It was in this enviroment that President Theodore Roosevelt had this to say to us as a nation.
"Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus, the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much.
I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganizm is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice between the two is upon is." (2)
"The material progress and prosperity of a nation are desirable chiefly so far as they lead to the moral and material welfare of all citizens. Just in proportion as the average man and woman are honest, capable of sound judgment and high ideas, active in public affairs, but, first of all, sound in their home life, and the father and mother of healthy children whom they bring up well, just so far, and no further, we may count our civilization a success.
We must have . . . a genuine and permanent moral awakening, without which no wisdom of legislation or administration really means anything." (3)
Well, here we are, how well have we done?
May God bless each of you,
Merry Christmas!
David
(1) Theodore Roosevelt. 1909. Ferdinand C. Iglehart, theodore Roosevelt - The man As I Knew him ( A. L. Burt, 1919). "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlbouough, NH: The Plymouth rock foundation), p. 6
(2) Theodore Roosevelt. Noah Brooks, men of Achievement - Statemen (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904), p. 317.
(3) Theodore Roosevelt. 1910, in his message "The New Nationalism." Richard D. heffner, a Documentary History of the United States (New York: The New American Library of World literature, Inc., 1961), p. 225