Day 1 in 26 Days of Alphabetical Christmas...A Words....

In 2017, I resolve to improve my ATTITUDE, which is said to be more important than APTITUDE for ALTITUDE,....AND to be like the Mind's Paintbrush, in that it can Color ANY Situation Rosy! LOL...

I Love the quote that is ATTRIBUTED to Michelangelo, the great ARTIST that said this when ASKED which of his Masterpieces he considered his Greatest: He said "My Next One!"...& ALSO said...

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our AIM is too high...& we miss it, but rather, that we AIM too low...& we hit it.)...Simply AWFUL.......

Happy ATTITUDING! lol....Laff & the World Laffs with us....Cry, AND they Laff Louder! LOL

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Day 17...R Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

Happy Birthday to the ROCK OF AGES, the lovely ROSE OF SHARON, Jesus Christ... Angels REJOICED at His biRth.... & RIVERS OF LIVING WATER arrived gently into the world to offer us REDEMPTION, REFUGE FROM THE STORMS...& a RANSOM FOR MANY 33 years later on the cross of Calvary...

That First Christmas Night Birth was such a Holy Night...Let us not forget that HE is the REASON for the Season as Christmas 2017 draws ever nearer...

7 Days to Go.....Looking at 'R' Words today in my 26 Days of Christmas.....

RIGHTEOUS BRANCH, RESTORER, REDEEMER, RABBI, RULER, REFINER...Whatever the name, Jesus is more precious than RUBIES, and He alone has the Words of Life & REQUESTS to be REMEMBERED each Lord's Day....

(My father-in-law, Bill Kennedy, once told me that his favorite country song was TIS SO SWEET TO BE REMEMBERED by Hank Weisman.).....

Most everyone wears a shirt each and every day with this invisible message:
MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT...LOL...True!

What does the Lord REQUIRE of us but to Do Justly, Love Mercy...& Walk Humbly with Our God...Micah 6:8.

REMEMBERING what the Apostle Peter, who our Lord gave the Keys of the Kingdom to, told the thousands assembled on Pentecost, when they asked, "What must we do? yelled the multitude when Peter's words had pricked their heart"...."REPENT & be baptized for the REMISSION of sins, was Peter's RESPONSE"...& 3,000 obeyed that first gospel message...& were added to The Church He Purchased with His Own Blood....

Aren't you glad we Serve a RISEN Savior that's in the world today...I know that He is Living, no matter what men may say. (From the song, HE LIVES)

REVERED REDEEMER, May we be REDHOT READY to RUN the RACE with RELISH...May we REACH out to You O God, as You REACHED out to us....With Your Darling Son, 

In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

Day 16 Q Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

Happy Birthday to the QUINTESSENTIAL Jesus, who is perfect in every way on this the Lord's Day...& will judge the QUICK and the dead at His Second Coming....
(The Next BIG THING!)...
Today is Q Day in my 26 Days of Christmas, which is coming QUICKLY...Next Sunday is Christmas Eve! Wow!
As Christmas draws ever nearer, many are thinking about that little old driver named Saint Nick, who is lively & QUICK...
& who moves through our houses QUIET as a mouse...LOL...
leaving gifts under the tree...
(Jesus is our Best Gift, for He died 'On A Tree' for... Whosoever Will.)..

Jesus said, "Behold I come QUICKLY!" And of course He wasn't referring to Christmas, but the Second Coming, which will come 'Like a Thief in the Night'....
THE NEXT BIG THING!

David instructed us in Psalms, Be QUIET, and know that I am God...Certainly, even Moses 'Exceedinly QUAKED' in God's presence at the Holy Mount...And Paul tells us in Hebrews that 'It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God." (Hebrews 10:31)...

QUICKEN our hearts for the QUALITY of life found only in You, O QUINTESSENTIAL Spirit.... 
(QUINTESSENTIAL means pure & highly concentrated in perfection.... & certainly our Savior is all that!)

the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:15 to take the 'Shield of Faith' that we might be able to QUENCH the fiery darts of Satan...
So 'Very' Important that we do this for Jesus said in Mark 9:43-46 that it would be better for us to cut our own hand or foot off, or pluck out our own eye than to go to Hell, where the worm dieth not & the fire is not QUENCHED.

Paul also instructs us to put up with 'one another'...And forgive 'one another'...If we have QUARREL with anyone...Forgiving 'one another' as Christ has Forgiven us.

So Very thankful this Christmas for the gift of life on God's Amazing Footstool, and that we can read what men inspired of God wrote with a QUILL many centuries ago...

QUICK! Let's get ready to meet Him around His Table on this the Lord's Day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

O Words...Day 15 in 26 Days of Christmas 2017.....

Happy Birthday to OUR POTTER, THE MESSIAH, CHRIST JESUS, who was born On a 'O HOLY NIGHT' in Bethlehem that First Christmas night..

TODAY, THE15th, LET'S LOOK AT 'O' WORDS PRIMARILY..... IN 26 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS...

ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER, OUR POTTER, OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, OUR CAPTAIN, OUR LIFE, OUR GUIDE, OUR PEACE, OUR KING, OUR LAWGIVER, OUR JUDGE.

SONG OF SOLOMON 1:3 SAYS, "BECAUSE OF THE SAVOUR OF THY GOOD OINTMENTS, THY NAME IS AS OINTMENT POURED FORTH"...THE OINTMENT CHRIST OFFERS IS FREE, ABUNDANT, READY, FRAGRANT & HEALING.

OUR LORD IS OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT & OMNIPRESENT...JESUS SAID IN REVELATION 3:20, "BEHOLD! I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK: IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE, AND WILL OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL SUP WITH THEM, AND THEY WITH ME." (I LOVE THE PAINTING BY HOLMAN, WHICH DEPICTS CHRIST STANDING AT A DOOR KNOCKING, AND THERE IS 'NO HANDLE' ON THE OUTSIDE...MEANING OF COURSE, THAT THE HANDLE IS ON THE INSIDE...WE HAVE TO OPEN THE DOOR!)

THERE'S A VERSE IN THE SONG,THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, THAT SAYS,"THE ONENESS OF THE PATTERN IN THE MIND OF MEN IS ODD." JESUS SAID THERE IS ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD & FATHER OF US ALL....

PRAYING WE HAVE ALL OBEYED HIS NON-GRIEVOUS COMMANDS, BEEN RE-BORN...AND ARE LOOKING FOR HIS SECOND COMING.....

ONLY YOU, O GOD, LOVED US ENOUGH TO OFFER UP YOUR SON, AS THE PERFECT LAMB OF GOD, WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH, TO MAKE A WAY FOR US TO GO TO HEAVEN....SOME SWEET DAY! ALL GLORY TO YOU AND HIM, 

IN JESUS' NAME I PRAY, AMEN

Day 14..N Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

Happy Birthday to the NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME...NOEL! NOEL! Born is the King of Israel...the NAZARENE, JESUS OF NAZARETH, who Isaiah called NEW BRANCH in Isaiah 11:1...And is also referred to as NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME... Today, Thursday, is Day 14...N words...Consider that the NEW BRANCH (Isaiah 11:1) is the 'Best Gift' ever Given... 

Jesus came to 'Make all things NEW', by being the Mediator of a NEW Covenant... Earnestly desiring for us to become a NEW CREATURE... and as NEW-Born babes in Christ to desire the sincere milk of The Word....

Christ Wants us to Love Him with All Our Heart, Mind & Soul this Christmas...

The ReasoN For The SeasoN!...

One other NAME for Jesus:
 NAIL IN A SURE PLACE... And I will fasten Him as a 

NAIL IN A SURE PLACE...Isaiah 22:23...

I heard of a business man who owned an old country store, and was converted to Christ at a revival meeting one night...To remind himself of just how much Christ had given and sacrificed for him, he placed a large NAIL in his cash register..... And every time he sold something...

Cha Ching!... He would see the NAIL, and realize his salvation was purchased at a treemendous price....Like the song:
Was e'er a Gift like the Savior given?
NO, NOT One!....NO, NOT One!

Almighty God, Help us to draw NIGH unto You, realizing that when we do, YOU will draw NIGH unto us. Help us to NOT stray from the NARROW Way... But Love our NEIGHBOR as ourself...We NEED You every hour, minute & NANOSECOND, O God, our Strength and our Redeemer. 

In Jesus's NAME I pray, Amen.

Day 13 M Words in 26 Days of Christmas...

Happy Birthday to our MARVELOUS MAKER, our MAJESTY ON HIGH, How MAJESTIC is His Name in all the Earth, and ever MORE noticeable in humankind as Christmas draws nearer...

12 days to go & halfway home on MY 26 Days of Christmas...

Our Father referred to Christ as MY BELOVED SON & MY FIRSTBORN...How aMazing at His birth in Bethlehem that the Angels called Him IMManuel (God With Us) .....

Noting He was also referred to as MAN OF SORROWS 33 years later at MOUNT CALVARY...

Thanking our MESSIAH for the Blood, Sweat & Tears He shed  for Thee & ME.

Praising You, O Father in Heaven for sending Your Son, who Your scriptures refer to as the MESSENGER OF THE NEW COVENANT. Realizing Father, that You are not willing for any of us to perish.... and that You created us to be 'Free MORAL Agents'...

MAY we choose to follow You, realizing Your MIGHTY Works of Old all point to Your MARVELOUS Son.....

Born in a MANGER..... so that we could MAKE our way back to You.

MAY we Praise You like David in Psalm 144:2...MY GOODNESS, and MY FORTRESS; 

MY HIGH TOWER, and MY DELIVERER.... MY SHIELD, and He in whom I trust....

In Jesus's Name I pray, Amen.

Day 12...L Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017...

Happy Birthday to THE LIGHT OF THE MORNING, The One whose birthday is coming soon.

The One Who called us the LIGHT of the World, and instructed us not to hide our LIGHT under a basket, but set it on a hill for aLL to see.

Thank God for THE LIGHT this morning as we LOOK at L Words in  26 Days of Christmas...

 God has Blessed us & LOVES us this morning> Perhaps we need to be like the LAME man that Peter healed in Acts: He went LEAPING and LAUGHING and praising God!

The Sun is on the horizon and a New Day is Dawning! 

Thankful for our LORD, who is  LORD ON THE MOUNTAIN...& THE LILY OF THE VALLEY

The LAMB OF GOD, LORD JEHOVAH, LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE LIFE, THE LION OF JUDAH, the LIVING STONE, LIVING WATER, LIVING BREAD, LORD OF LORDS, LIGHT OF THE GENTILES...Who is also called LOVE...

Almighty God, LEAD us this day that we will allow ourselves to be LED by the GOOD SHEPHERD, who came to Earth nearly 2,000 years ago, to Redeem mankind by LAYING down His LIFE, a ransom for our sins...Greater LOVE has no man, than to do that! 

In Jesus's Name I pray, Amen.

K Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

Happy Birthday To The KING! No, Not Elvis...How about KING IN HIS BEAUTY, KING OF GLORY, KING OVER ALL THE EARTH, KING OF NATIONS, KING OF SAINTS, KING OF HEAVEN, KING OF THE JEWS...All Bible Names for the One whose Birthday is in 13 more days...This is my Post on Day 11 of 26 Days Of CHRISTMAS... K Words....Thankful Today for The LOVE OF CHRIST which Passes All KNOWLEDGE. (Ephesians 3:19)

Christ was 'Born to Die' as the Perfect Lamb of God, without Spot or Blemish, but at Christmas we think of Him as a Baby & Thank God for Babies! Thank God For KIDS! This Christmas, may we Humble ourselves as a little Child, and come to the KNOWLEDGE of the Truth...May we be KIND one to another, as Paul instructed in Ephesians 4:2..& isn't it true that if we're Not KIND, we're the Wrong KIND. lol

Peter instructs us to Grow in Grace & KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 3:18... Like the Church Sign...WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM....May we come to KNOW Him more intimately...& Heed His Words in Matthew 10: 28..."Do Not Fear those who KILL the Body, but are unable to KILL the Soul; but rather, Fear Him Who is able to cast both Body & Soul into Hell." So thankful that God Answers KNEE-MAIL..

KNOCKING on bended KNEE O God, to KINDLY Thank YOU for Your KINDNESS in sending a Savior to Redeem Mankind...Help us to KEEP On KEEPING On For You. In The Name Of Our KING, Jesus Christ, I Pray, Amen.

J Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

Today is J Words & J stands for JESUS in my 26 Days of CHRISTMAS.
How could I even begin to be JOYFUL, JOLLY or JUBILANT without JESUS, The Mediator of a New Covenant, Who was born to die as The PERFECT LAMB OF GOD, without spot or blemish...nailed to 2 JOINTS of wood with 3 Nails.... so we could be 4-Given.

The story is told that a Candy Maker in Indiana wanted to tell JESUS'S Story with a candy cane, so he made he made it hard (Hard, because he wanted folks to realize that JESUS was the Rock on which his life was built.)...

THE ROCK OF AGES...Also, White, to symbolize the sinless nature of of JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR.

He shaped it in the form of a J for that reason also, but also wanted people to realize that when it was turned upside down, it symbolized a Shepherd's Staff, and JESUS, as the GOOD SHEPHERD....

Shepherd's used their Shepherd's Staff to hook a leg of a little lost lamb when they got tangled in brambles in a ditch of life.. to pull it to safety....The Candy Maker realized that JESUS had rescued him.

The Candy Maker also painted 3 Stripes on his JESUS Stick, to symbolize, "By His Stripes we are healed"..Isaiah 53:5...

He also placed one large RED Stripe to symbolize that JESUS'S Blood was shed for our sins to make us 'Whiter than Snow'...

The Candy Maker wanted kids & adults everywhere to think of these things & experience the Sweetness & JOY that only JESUS can bring.

Just Jehovah, Thanking You today for JESUS OF GALILEE & JESUS OF NAZARETH, but really JESUS OF HEAVEN, Who now sits by Your side, and is also building a mansion for all those who have obeyed His non-grievous commands .....& have been Added to THE CHURCH that He Purchased With His Own Blood...Acts 20:28...Realizing that 'TO JOIN The Church' is not found in Your Holy Word....Desiring Mercy O God, and not JUSTICE, Because of Your Grace, In JESUS'S Name I pray, Amen.

I Words in 26 Days of Christmas 2017...

Day 9...'i' Words...(in preparing to celebrate the Birthday of Christ.)
Jesus solved the i problem...if we'd listen, when He said, "It is more Blessed to Give than Receive. But isn't it True that S.I.N. (Self Indulgence Now) entices us to think What's In It For Me...We 'All' have a tendency to tune in to that very popular radio station....WIIFM...Jesus said, 'I AM THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD...AYE! AYE! CAPTAIN OF MY SALVATION!

Jesus also affirmed: I AM THE DOOR, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, I AM THE LIVING BREAD, I AM THE LIVING WATER, I AM THE VINE, I AM THE FIRST AND LAST, I AM THE ROSE OF SHARON, I AM THE LILY OF THE VALLEY, I AM THE ROOT AND OFFSPRING OF DAVID, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS...And at least 50 other I AM'S In the Bible...Plus, Jesus said, I AM THAT I AM...Jesus is our Great Gift with 'All' of the Answers to life's questions...Jesus is IMMORTAL and so are we...There was once a time we never were, but after we were born, there will 'Never' be a time we will not Be....& we get to Choose: Smoking or Non-Smoking...

TEA PARTY
I had a little Tea Party this afternoon at three-
Twas very small....three guests in all,
Just I, Myself, and Me;
Myself ate all the sandwiches,
While I drank all the Tea...
Twas also I that ate the Pie...
And passed the Cake to ME.

IMMORTAL I AM, Grant that we will search out ways to 'Give Back' with this Day You've Given Us. Help us not to Hog the Tea, the Sandwiches...or the Pie. Help us Not to be 'Me Deep In Conversation', but rather, Realize that 'Everyone' knows something we don't know, and are The Crowning Touch of Your Creation...Help us to Share Love & Goodwill...and Miles of Smiles, IMMANUEL....O God, You Are Truly With Us! In Jesus's Name I Pray, Amen.

H Words in 26 Days of Christmas...2017

‎"Children are a HERITAGE of the Lord," David said in Psalm 127:3...And since today is 'H' Day...Day 8 on my 26 Days of Christmas, I want to wish my firstborn son a HAPPY Birthday in HEAVEN. Larry Andrew Fields would be 46 tomorrow. (More about the circumstances of HIS HORRIFIC death later, but first, let me write about the FIRST BEGOTTEN OF THE DEAD who was born on a HOLY NIGHT that first Christmas Day.)

HARK The HERALD Angels Sing...O HOLY Night when the HOLY ONE OF GOD became the HOPE OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL ( Israel means 'Lover of God'...hence, Lover of God today also refers to Gentiles, and 'all' those who HONOR, HUMBLY follow...& obey HIS precepts.)

HOSANNAH! HALLELUJAH! God sent HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, HIM WHO MY SOUL LOVETH. (Song of Solomon 3:2)...Thanks be unto God for HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT...HIS Gift HUNG on a tree for us...The Perfect Lamb of God, without spot or blemish, died for our sins that we might choose HEAVEN over HELL by putting on the HELMET OF SALVATION and enjoy the HARMONY of HIS HEAVENLY HANDIWORK.

HE THAT LIVETH FOREVER AND EVER, HEIR OF ALL THINGS HORN OF SALVATION, THE HIGHEST, HEAD STONE OF THE CORNER, HEAD OF THE CHURCH, HIM WHO MY SOUL LOVETH...(All Names attributed to Christ.)

Forty-six years ago tomorrow, I was waiting, with great expectation, outside a delivery room at Clinch Valley Hospital in Richlands, Virginia. Finally, after several hours, the doors burst open, and the doctor said to me:
"You have a healthy son, and your wife is fine Mr. Fields!...

Sweetest words I had ever heard!

My son was screaming in the background , and I was streaming tears of joy! After Hugging my Mother-In Law, Polly Kennedy, I left immediately to make two telephone calls.... on a pay phone (no other was available...It was a different time.)

The first call was to my Mom, who was anxiously waiting at her Harman, Virginia home, and since Dad couldn't get off work that day He was a foreman at the Harman #1 mine. I knew she would pass along the good news to him somehow...the second call was to Grundy Junior High, where I was teaching at the time.

Thirty minutes later, when I went upstairs (taking them 3 at a time.) to the Nursery, I looked through the glass for a glimpse of my son...

What I saw was a million times worse than any HORROR show I'd ever watched...From the Delivery Room to the Nursery, Larry Andrew's lungs had collapsed, and he was now in an incubator fighting for his life.....
I prayed and watched and cried, my breath fogging the glass, even as Larry Andrew's breath fogged his incubator...

"What plans I have for you little fella," I thought as I watched, and willed his little lungs to get stronger, his little heart to keep beating....A nurse came out and said they were doing everything they could, giving me a glimmer of hope...
"He's a fighter!" she said..."He just might make it!"...

Come on Larry Andrew! (We planned to call HIM Andy.) 
You just have to see the room we've fixed up for you! We've worked on it for months! You're Gonna Love It.... But right now, I better go see your precious mommy & O How I've got to be brave!...
My feet were like lead as I slowly trudged down the hall to HER HOSPITAL room....

Sandy immediately sat up when I entered HER room, smiling through HER pain, for she too HAD HEARD HIS HEALTHY screams, and thought all was well with our world...

Sadly, she saw the pain through my smile, and we cried and prayed and HUGGED...For two days, I went back and forth from HER room to the Nursery, where I watched and prayed and cried, and willed Andy to breathe on his own....

At the graveside service several days later at Mountain Valley, the preacher quoted what King David said when he had also lost a son:
"Absalom! Absalom! My son Absalom, would God I had died for thee! You cannot come to me, but I can go to you."

Andy's Grandparents had to be helped to their vehicles ....

{Sandy was still in the HOSPITAL, and wouldn't be released for several more days after a difficult delivery....

(It had been an extremely difficult few days. We were not expecting death...That always happened to other people..)...This was supposed to be the HAPPIEST time of our life..

After little Andy breathed HIS last on the 10th, I made my way back to Grundy in a daze where I had a chance encounter with my former boss & HERO, John HASH, who was now selling cemetery plots for Mountain Valley,  John had been my boss at the Harman Mining Company Store, working evenings and summers for about 6 years.

I made the deal for three plots....& Bill & Polly Kennedy purchased two...

I had the following engraved on Larry Andrew's marker:
OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Luke 18:16: Suffer (Allow) the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for 'of such is the kingdom of God...

Yes! Children are a HERITAGE of the Lord, and God blessed us to HAVE another son, Laddy, who is often referred to as Superman by his friends and family....We now HAVE two precious Grandchildren, Ellie Grace Fields, and HENRY Clark Fields...Ellie has the same initials as my Dad, Earl Gratton Fields...He would be so proud! 
HENRY will be celebrating HIS 2nd Christmas & birthday soon... & Ellie's birthday is just after Christmas on the 27th...

God is Good, for remember, Laddy was a Miracle Baby. He wasn't supposed to be born....But  three years after Andy's passing...Laddy was born in February of 1974.

May our HAPPY HEARTS Rejoice in HIS HEAVENLY HANDIWORK! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

G Words in 26 Days of Christmas

‎"GLORY to God in the Highest and on Earth, Peace! Good will to men!"...That was the Angel's announcement at Jesus's Birth, and today is 'G' Day, Day 7 in my 26 Days of Christmas. Hope we can draw closer to the GOOD SHEPHERD today....
Since this is Throwback Thursday, remembering the 30 years I spent at the GRUNDY HIGH SCHOOL & GRUNDY JUNIOR HIGH...5 years as a student in this building & 25 as a teacher.

Jesus is also referred to as GOVERNOR at his CHRISTmas Day birth...In Matthew 2:6..."And thou Bethlehem, out of thee shall come a GOVERNOR that shall rule my people Israel.

He is the GREAT LIGHT! Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 9:2 "The people that walk in darkness have seen a GREAT LIGHT: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined."....

When Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead, all of the people GLORIFIED GOD, saying, "A GREAT PROPHET is risen up among us and GOD has visited His people!"....

Sing with me, How Great Is Our God! Glory!...Praying we will be ready for that GREAT END DAY, where Jesus said in Matthew 24:30 "They shall see the SON OF MAN coming in the clouds of Heaven with Power and GREAT GLORY>

GLORIOUS GOD, Praising you this Thursday for the GREAT Victory we have in Your Son, and the GOOD GIFTS You GIVE us each & every day....not the least of which is GRACE, Your unmerited favor O GOD.

May this CHRISTmas approach the Beauty of the First One...On a Starry Night in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago.
In Jesus's Holy Name I pray, Amen.

Day 19...S Words in 26 Days of Christmas

Happy Birthday to Our SAVIOR, The SON OF GOD....Time is rapidly approaching to that SHINING Holy Night...when Christ our SAVIOR SPRANG forth into this world, Heralded by Angels, Worshipped by SHEPHERDS & Wisemen, who were guided by a STAR to where SWEET Jesus lay, and the Angels SANG!...Day 19...S Words in 26 Days of Christmas...

SEARCH & SANCTIFY our heart , O SUSTAINER OF LIFE, that we might STILL SEEK Him this Christmas, both in SOULS and HOLY SPIRIT breathed SCRIPTURE, which is SHARPER than a 2-Edged SWORD......

SPEAK O God, and may Your SERVANTS, the SHEEP of Your pasture, find SHELTER in the STORMS of Life from SATAN, who is SEEKING whom he may devour with his fiery darts....

Be our STRONGHOLD O God...

While millions await Christmas for a visit from Jolly Old SAINT NICK, who claimed to be a Christian, and actually put Christ at the center of his life ...by giving SACRIFICIALLY to the poor and children. 

The real Saint Nicholas lived in the 4th Century, and was known to drop anonymous gifts through an open window to those in need, whether rich or poor...In reality, the real Saint Nick was a model of how Christ would want His SERVANTS to live, even though 'Gift-Giving' probably started with the Wisemen bringing Gifts of Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh... 

Just as Christ would want us to give our Best...Feel certain also, that He would want us to enhance the STARRY-EYED WONDER of kids at Christmas.... & throughout the year....Joy!

SANCTUARY, SERVANT, A STAR, STONE CUT WITHOUT HANDS, STRONGHOLD, STRENGTH TO THE POOR AND NEEDY, SPRING OF LIVING WATER, SALT OF THE EARTH, A SOWER, SANCTIFIER & SURE FOUNDATION...

Just a few of the names for our Messiah, which means SAVIOR, and was also referred to as SON OF GOD, SON OF THE HIGHEST, SON OF THE BLESSED, SON OF MARY, SON OF DAVID & SON OF MAN.

When Jesus was born, the aged SIMEON SPOKE, as recorded in Luke 2:30: "Let thy SERVANT depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy SALVATION."

We can see the SAME SALVATION that SIMEON SAW through Faith + Obedience...As the Apostle Paul STATED in Hebrews 5:8 & 9..."For though He were a SON, yet learned He Obedience through the things which He SUFFERED; And being made PERFECT, He became the Author of Eternal SALVATION unto ALL that Obey Him.

SAVIOR like a SHEPHERD lead us
Much we need Thy tender care...
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas YOU...Day 25 Y words...

YELL it from the housetops! Jesus Christ is born!....When they (The Wisemen) had heard the king, they departed; And Lo, the Star, which they saw in the east, went before them, til it came and stood over where the YOUNG CHILD was. Matthew 2:9...

Today is Y Day in 26 Days of Christmas alphabetically....Z tomorrow on the 26th...

Hoping all YOUTH get to hear the Christmas Story (as in the Bible) this Christmas Day, and since we're all YOUNG at Heart, doesn't that include YOU...and me???
Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of YOUR YOUTH, while the 'evil days' come not, nor the YEARS draw nigh, when YOU shall say, 'I have no pleasure in them'."

Satan told Eve in Genesis 3:5: about partaking of the Tree:
"For God knows that when YOU eat from it YOUR eyes will be opened, and YOU will be like God, knowing good and evil."..
Eve bit in disobedience to God, and so did Adam...They Both YIELDED to Satan...And S.I.N. (Self Indulgence Now) entered the world.

I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me: 'YOU are My Son; today I have begotten YOU." Psalm 2:7...
Nice bit of prophecy don't YOU think?

In Ephesians 3, Paul told the Ephesians about the Grace of God which was Given YOU-WARD.
(Nice Direction...Huh?)...LOL....
YOU & I certainly want Grace & Mercy..... & not the Justice we deserve...

Jesus said in Matthew 11:30.."My YOKE is easy, and my burden is light,"...and lots of folk say "What??? It's Hard being a Christian Lord! Not according to the Lord...The Wayfaring man has it 'Really Tough'...
In reality, we 'Enjoy the Price we Pay for Serving God'...
We 'Pay the Price' when we fail to do this...& the Wages of Sin are much more than YOU or I want to pay.

YOUTHFUL FATHER, I YEARN for YOUR Ways....Today we celebrate the birth of YOUR only begotten Son. When all the presents have been opened, when the feasts are cleared away, when the shreds of wrapping paper are wadded up and tossed, and when all of the sparkling lights are turned off and stored away, this will stay with me:
THE REMARKABLE LOVE OF OUR MAKER......

Help us to YIELD to YOUR YOKE!
In Jesus' Holy Name I Pray, Amen.
MERRY CHRISTMAS in Heaven.

Day 24 X words Christmas Eve....

Happy Birthday to the X-Alted One...Jesus Christ...O Come let us X-Alt (Exalt) Him & X-Tol (Extol) Him on the eve of His Most Xcellent (Excellent) Birthday....And you thought Ol'Corn couldn't come up with X Words...LOL...
Day 24...X-Words...
Some folks say 'MERRY XMAS', which is generally frowned upon... but not necessarily positively a 'Bad' thing...In a sense, an X is a Cross...or a 'cross-out'.... & 'That' is the sole purpose of our Savior's coming to earth...to 'CROSS OUT' our sins by being 'The Lamb of God', without spot or blemish, slain for the sins of the world...
Laying down His Life on the Cross of Calvary....
(2 pieces of wood that crossed each other....that we might be 4-given.)

Christmas Eve & everybody's X-CITED! Praying we will X-ALT Him Who makes our Salvation Possible...The Way Of The CROSS (X) Leads Home.....Merry Christmas X-TENDED to All...

God wants our Presence more than our Presents, but certainly our Greatest Gift is not one Wrapped & placed under a Tree,...but was 'Wrapped & Placed In A Manger over 2,000 years ago....

& Later..Nailed to a Tree....1 Peter 2:24...
"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body 'On' the Tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto Righteousness: 
BY WHOSE STRIPES YOU WERE HEALED."...

Let's X-TOL HIM!...

And remember that Christ's birth was X-Traordinary, because the rest of His life was devoted to giving a little X-tra!....
A Whole Big Lot Actually! 

X-tremely so!!!!!

Happy Birthday to WONDERFUL SAVIOR, THE WORD...Jesus Christ...Cooperation is spelled with two letters: W E...WELL, today is 'W' Day in the alphabet, the 23rd letter of the Alphabet, & December...Look WITH me at 'W' WORDS today as WE prepare our Hearts & Minds for Christmas 2017...

The first 'W' I WANT to share is from the book of Numbers 23:23 "WHAT hath God WROUGHT?...This WAS the 'First' message ever tapped out on the Telegraph, by Samuel F.B. Morse in 1832... on wires that had been strung from Baltimore to Washington D. C....Technology has come a long way baby since that Communications Miracle! WONDER WHAT Sam WOULD think about a WORLD gone WIRELESS?

Of course, God has always been 'Just a Prayer away! And in John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the WAY, the Truth, and the Life...Not only that, but John said in John 1:1 "In the beginning WAS the WORD, and the WORD WAS WITH God, and the WORD WAS God."

Proverbs 8:12 says, "I, WISDOM, dwell WITH prudence, and find out knowledge of WITTY inventions...In Reality, God has made it All..."For WE are all His WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS, WHICH God has before ordained that WE should WALK in them." Ephesians 2:10...

For unto us a Child is Born, unto us a Son is Given...And His name shall be called WONDERFUL...Isaiah 9:6...

Jesus said in John 4:14...But WHOSOEVER drinks of the WATER that I shall give, shall never thirst;But the WATER that I shall give shall be a WELL of WATER springing up into Everlasting Life. How WONDERFUL is that?

One announcement of Jesus' Birth came to Shepherds, WHO WERE keeping WATCH over their Sheep by night. Luke 2: 8...

David said in Psalm 37:96..."Those that WAIT on the Lord shall inherit the Earth." Certainly, all of those that had WAITED for centuries received a Great Blessing that night, and lowly Shepherds WERE at the forefront...They WERE among the first to see the Babe WRAPPED in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger....

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not WANT...So heartening to hear about 'Layaway Angels' that are paying off layaway debts for thousands across the country. Jesus has also paid our debt, as the Perfect Lamb of God, The Light of the WORLD paid our 'Sin Debt'...Glory!

David said in Psalm 139:23 & 24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts...And see if there be any WICKED WAY in me, and lead me into the WAY everlasting."...

Jesus is also called a WATCHMAN, and a WALL OF FIRE (Zechariah 2:5), The WORD, and WORM AND NO MAN.....Psalm 22:6: " But I am a WORM AND NO MAN, and despised of the people...How sad that our Lover WAS hated & rejected...both then & today...But please not us, as WE approach Christmas...May we be WITNESSES, and WORSHIPPERS...

Praying above all that our names WILL be found WRITTEN in the Lamb's Book of Life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Day 22 in 26 Alphabetical days of Christmas...

Happy Birthday to the VINE who gives us the VICTORY, not through His birth, which was VERY wonderful, but through His death & resurrection as the first fruits of those that sleep...

Let's VANISH despair, and take hold of all of the VIM & VIGOR we can on this Fab Fry, three days before Christmas 2017...VERILY! VERILY! Let's VOW to have a VERY Merry Christmas!

A VIRGIN did conceive! Shepherds did VISIT! Angel VOICES did sing 'Glory to God in the Highest! .....that Holy Night in Bethlehem...

33 years later, Jesus requested that everyone that would follow Him should hear His VOICE: Behold! I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my VOICE, and opens the door, I will come in to them, and will sup with them, and they with Me." (Revelation 3:20)

Jesus said, "Except you abide in the VINE, you can do nothing. Jesus is the VINE; we are the branches...All else is is VANITY...We can be a VICTIM or a VICTOR by allowing Him to change our VILE body into one like His Glorious Body, as Paul said in Phillipians 3:21....

May we be VIBRANT & make our body a VESSEL of honor...

Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

What we are is God's Gift to us....What we Become...is Our Gift to God....

Jesus, The Good Shepherd, wants us to hear His VOICE, as 'Sheep of His Pasture', and 'Follow Him'...He wants to lead us through the 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' as it says in the 23rd Psalm....There can be 'No Darkness' with The Light of the World...

Eleven years ago (October 6, 2006 to January 10, 2007), I was flat on my back in UVA Hospital at Charlottesville, undergoing three 'Brain' surgeries & fifteen 'Lumbar Punctures', getting about a pint of excess spinal fluid each time. (Dr. Jane wanted to send me home w/o a drainage bag on my side.)...During that four month time period, I prayed the Alphabet constantly...

A to Z many times a day & all night long....(Words still fascinate me today & this is the reason I am doing 26 alphabetical days of Christmas this year)...

Talking to God in this way was the 'Only' thing that gave me peace...Realizing, that I was VERY close to death...

My family was told that if I survived, I would likely have to learn how to walk & talk all over again...Praise God it didn't happen! 

I still pray the Alphabet today. It seems to give order to my life..

God, Brilliant Brain Surgeons...& the Alphabet...Saved my Life! VERILY! VERILY!

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or of 'good report'...If there be any VIRTUE, or any praise, think on 'These Things' (Phillipians 4:8)

Thanks be to God, Who gives us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord....O grave, where is thy VICTORY....O Death, where is thy sting? (I Corinthians 15: 55-57)....

Merry Christmas to All.... WXY& Z on deck...

U Words...Day 21...

Happy Birthday UNTO Him that loved US and washed US from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1:5): Jesus, our Savior...Today, Thursday, the 21st, is U Day...U words... 4 days to go, but let Us not forget that our Lord requests U-TURNS from US....I URGE U to pUt Christ in Christmas & UR life...It's URGENT!

Remember that First Christmas when the Angel announced:
"UNTO you is Born This Day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ The Lord!" (Luke 2: 11)....
Before that night, everything was UNTO (In the direction of)...He's Coming! Proclaimed the Prophets in the Old Testament: 
The 'Fullness of Time' came that 'Starry Night' in Bethlehem...The One Who Loves US & is able to Save to the UTTERMOST (Hebrews 7:25) Came, not UNTO...But TO! The Most Glorious Night Ever! 

Jesus came to set the captives free...That's US!
Paul tells US in Romans 10:10: For with the heart man believeth UNTO righteousness and with the mouth confession is made UNTO salvation...

Question is how do we get INTO Christ? Paul tells US in Galatians 3:27: "For as many as have been baptized INTO Christ, have pUt on Christ."....We get to Choose. whether to pUt Christ On & INTO...& Today is the Day of Salvation.

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, said in Proverbs 4:7: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and with all your getting get UNDERSTANDING."

Jesus came that we might receive the 'Engrafted Word' that is able to save our Souls to the UTTERMOST (Hebrews 7:25)...

In the Judgement, Jesus will not let UNFORGIVEN sins go UNPUNISHED, and declares in Matthew 25:30 that He will cast the UNPROFITABLE servant into 'outer darkness' where there shall be 'weeping and gnashing of teeth'...along with 'UNQUENCHABLE Fire'....
To many, this is UNBELIEVABLE, but our Loving God 'Hates' Sin & Jesus was the 'Blood Sacrifice' for our Sins... 

UNTO You, O God, I come to UNBURDEN my Heart to Your UNENDING Love...It is only as I UNDERSTAND Your Plan for Mankind, and 'Share Your Amazing Love', that I feel UPBEAT & USEFUL...
Thank You for Sending Your Son! Merry Christmas in Heaven, In Jesus' Name I Pray, Amen.....

We can do anything for one day. So, just for today, let US be UNAFRAID of life, UNAFRAID of death, UNAFRAID to be obedient and receive His salvation and UNENDING love forever.