Christmas Indeed!

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. Luke 2:1,4-5 (KJV) 

Christmas 2017 brought a special blessing to our family. About a week before Christmas our daughter came to visit us with the news that her mother and I were going to be grandparents for the first time in our lives. On Christmas Day, when the family was gathered together, she would announce to the rest of the family the child who would be born in the year 2018. 

There is something almost magical about the announcement of the birth of a baby. A child brings with it joy, hope, happiness, and love. And the birth of a child brings a clean slate, a fresh start in the world. One child can change the world, bringing inestimable good to mankind. Think of the birth of Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, so many individual births that brought good to peoples, nations, entire races of mankind. And of course, the greatest birth of all: Jesus! He brought salvation to an entire world! 

The announcement of my daughter being pregnant and the upcoming arrival of our first grandchild brought joy to my wife and I. Our daughter beamed with happiness, as well as her husband beside her, at the promise of their baby's birth. Such a blessing fills us all with wonder at the miracle of life and God's kindness to humanity. 

When Christ's birth was announced by angels to shepherds in a field they must have felt wonder, amazement, and joy as they looked upon the angels and heard the announcement that a special child had been born. Then they went to see the miracle for themselves. 

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,     and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:13-15 (NIV) 

God is good to us in so many ways. Next to the gift of Jesus and promise of heaven, perhaps the greatest gift is that of children, babies born into the world with all the hope and joy they bring with them.  

No matter how old you are, or how hard your life has been, even crankiest of people when looking down upon the face of a newborn baby must smile. Babies bring joy. And Jesus's birth upon this planet brought the greatest joy of all. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, life can leave us grouchy, weary, and cynical. But the birth of a baby washes all that away in the amazing gift of life and hope we find in the face of a child. Thank You Jesus for being born upon this earth. Happy Birthday Jesus! Amen.

Your Affliction Can Make You Bitter Or Better

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV) 

  

  While recently visiting a friend who has been recovering from a serious affliction for many years it struck me how different he might have been. He was cheerful, optimistic, and mentioned how God and the Holy Spirit are helping him through his long recovery process. 

  It would be easy for my friend to be bitter, to blame God for his suffering, and to be filled with negativity. It seems natural to react to terrible circumstances with an equal measure of complaint and griping to match the situation one finds themselves in. 

  Yet my friend joked with his nurses and spoke positively about the future. One cannot help but wonder how we might react if in the same circumstances. 

  If someone is a few minutes late bringing our food we gripe. If we must wait in line an extra minute or two we complain. If we have something more serious like an ache or pain we bewail our sad lot in life. Our world can come unglued by the smallest of things. What would we do in the face of a serious problem or affliction? 
 

  To become bitter or better--that is the question before us. When serious illness or huge problems beset us we must decide whether to react with fear, lashing out in anger and frustration, or to react with faith, wisdom, grace, and hope. 

  No matter who you are life will throw problems in your path. Afflictions come to us all. The test of your life may be one very big hardship, or a series of small afflictions. How will you face your time of testing? Will you become bitter or better? 

  I am determined to become less agitated over the small difficulties in life. And I pray that I suffer through the large afflictions that come my way with grace and perseverance like my friend. I will certainly reconsider the tiny inconveniences and my reaction to them. I have spent enough of my precious life angry and upset at the specks of nonsense that seemed mountains of inconvenience at the time. With God’s goodness and grace before me I will do better. How about you? 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive us our foolishness at striving over the worthless things of life. Strengthen us for the real tests that are coming our way. Give us grace and courage to finish our race well through whatever afflictions beset us. Amen. 

  
Karlton Douglas
Copyright 2017

Things In Life That Make Us Sigh

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Mark 7:32-35 (NIV) 

In the above verses something stood out that had never really struck me before. Jesus "sighed" before He healed the man. It got me to thinking, why did Jesus sigh? 

Recently I had a small incident that made me "sigh". I cleaned out my ear with a Q-Tip just as I have done for more than 40 years. But When I pulled the Q-Tip out of my ear I saw that most of the cotton was missing from the end of the Q-Tip. What I said to myself was: You have got to be kidding me. But I might as well have sighed as I thought about the stupid things that happen to us in life. My hearing was restored by a trip to an Urgent Care facility where my ear was irrigated and the cotton ball was removed from deep inside my ear. It gave me a very tiny taste of what that poor man experienced in a far worse way in the verses above. 

It is just speculation, but I think Jesus may have sighed at the absurdity of the things we endure and suffer through on this earth. Crazy things happen to us and the vicissitudes of life assault us in a multitude of ways that give us good reason to sigh. After Healing so many people with a variety of infirmities I think Jesus's sigh showed His humanity, and perhaps His frustration, regarding the many crazy things life throws at us. 

Whether our afflictions are small or large, temporary or long lasting, life causes us to sigh over its many irritations and difficulties. It makes us human, or perhaps reveals our humanity when we take the time, if even in a small way, to express our emotions regarding the unfairness and sometimes ridiculousness of life. 

Whatever life has thrown at you today ask the Lord to help you through it and to heal you of it. Ask Him to give you strength and the help you need to get through life's frustrations because He truly understands what we endure. 

Prayer:  Dear Lord, life causes us to sigh for many reasons. Help us through our frustrations and hardships, give us patience and strength to endure and overcome. Amen. 

Karlton Douglas 

Copyright 2017 

What Happens When You Are Diagnosed With More Than One Illness?

“Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” 1 Timothy 5:23 (NIV) 

  

  

  During a recent doctor visit I told my doctor: “I don’t need another problem.” He replied: “I know.” 

  Additional illnesses and extra diagnoses are things we do not want. If you are like me, you really just want the affliction merry-go-round to stop. I’m guessing that you feel the same frustration as I do when additional illnesses are added to your already overburdened affliction account. 

  My “extra” illness is diabetes. I’ve been non-diabetic, pre-diabetic, and now am diagnosed as diabetic. I have a meter to carry around to check my blood with, and an additional medication, and one more thing to worry about. 

  Sometimes you feel like you have “paid your dues.” You have had your share of suffering, have done your time in the prison of affliction, and need a reprieve from illness.  

  Life is not fair, that is the most difficult pill we have to swallow; it is the hard reality we face. As our list of afflictions grow we can find ourselves lacking the resources to meet the obligations our afflictions force upon us. 

  Pray, pray, pray, every Christian with their own list of afflictions must take those cares before the Lord. I’ve said more than once that I have no idea how those who do not call upon the Lord can survive chronic and continual afflictions. Prayer energizes us and gives us hope, peace, and strength. Prayer reminds us we do not carry our burdens alone. Prayer puts into motion the resources from above that we will need to endure and overcome and simply survive affliction. 

  My fellow Christians in affliction let us encourage one another in the Lord, and lift each other up in prayer. We do not walk alone in our afflictions, and we are not without help. Let us continually remind each other of this important truth. For the Lord is our strength and help in affliction. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, as added burdens come, give us added grace, peace, and strength. Amen. 

Karlton Douglas 

Copyright 2017 

  

What Will Your Legacy Be?

“‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’” Acts 17:28 (NIV) 

  

  Recently a dear neighbor died. She was amazing. At just a few years shy of one hundred years old, she was always outside, raking her leaves in the fall, shoveling snow in the winter, mowing her grass in the summer. Always active. Always busy. She had family and friends that would have done those things for her, but she enjoyed activity. She was unstoppable. 

  After I heard that she had died I thought to myself that they should write the following on her tombstone: 

  

“The Only Thing That Could Stop Her Was Death” 

  

  I admired her tenacity and zest for life. I envied it. Up until she died I would have truly said she was in better shape than I. To live your life fully until death stops you in your tracks, that is the way to go. 

  Sadly, too many of us crawl rather than run through life. We would run if we could, but life has slowed us down through disability, disease, and various afflictions. We envy those who can go with stopping, run without slowing down. For it is hard to be a spectator in life. 

  Yet I believe we can find ways to run our race, to forge ahead when affliction would stop us in our tracks. We may not be running. But with cane, wheelchair, even hospital bed–we can forge ahead, keep moving, run our race in the best way we can. Affliction may stop us, but we can choose to move forward in whatever way is available to us, for we do not move alone. 

  Those of us who have fellowship with God understand that He is with us in our affliction. We have a Partner in the race. When life itself has thrown roadblocks in our path, we can call upon God to aid us in the fight, to give us strength to lift our head when we are too weak to move otherwise. And within we are standing up, fighting, rising to the challenge by having our spirit fortified with His Spirit. 

  Be encouraged by those who can run well, those who keep moving when life should have stopped them in their tracks. And when you are weak and can barely walk, lift up your head, rise up in your spirit, and call upon the Father to give you strength to move forward. Continue your race. Perhaps when your life is over they will write on your tombstone: 

  

 “The Only Thing That Could Stop Them Was Death”. 

  

  Prayer: Dear Lord, life throws many things in our path to stop us, help us to continue running the race, and to finish well. Amen. 

Karlton Douglas 

Copyright 2017