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Nov 4/09
Remembrance Day
My grandfather lied about his age so he could enlist and fight in WWI. My father fought in WWII. There are no words to describe what they, and the others that fought beside them, endured. They were apart from loved ones for many years. They saw friends fall. Some of their friends just never came back, fallen to an unknown fate. They witnessed horrendous atrocities. Is remembering enough.?
Starting with the Boer War, Canada has fought on the world stage many times. We still are. With too much regularity we read of another Canadian that has fallen while serving his country. All of our soldiers need to me thanked and remembered.
We must keep in mind that there will always be conflict somewhere in the world. In Isaiah 2:4, God tells us that only after the return of Christ will there be peace. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”(KJV) Peacekeepers are needed and we need to pray for our soldiers and for an end of conflicts, but only after Christ’s return will there be everlasting peace. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 7:9 KJV) That will be a glorious time.
Nov 11 9
Imitating
As my children grew up I sometimes found it scary the number of things they did that they saw me do, but that’s how children learn. Some of the things they copied were good, and some not so good. It would be nice if we could somehow teach children only to copy and imitate the good things that they see.
Our example for copying should be Jesus, because that is what He did. When talking about Himself in John 5:19, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (NKJV) Everything Jesus did came from what He saw His Father do, just as our children do what they see us do. Jesus could only do that which He saw the Father do.
We then should shape our lives around copying Jesus and doing what we see Him do. Jesus was sinless and able to copy His Father perfectly. We, unfortunately, are not perfect and cannot copy Him perfectly. We can however, examine our lives and try to live as He would have us live.
Nov 17/09
Abandoned?
All of us go through times of our lives we sometimes may feel that God has abandoned us and depression seems to overtake us. Most times we manage to pull ourselves out of that pit and continue on with our lives. Sometimes, that feeling tends to linger and we may have trouble shaking it off. For some, that pit becomes a trap with no exit. It is at these times that we may feel totally abandoned by God.
What we need to remember is that God will never leave us alone. No matter how deep we sink, how far we wander, or how desperate we try to run away from Him, He will never leave us.
In Deuteronomy 31:6 we are told “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (KJV) So, take heart, no matter what your condition, you can be assured that God will not forsake you. It may seem like you have been abandoned, but in reality, God is there and will never forsake you. He loves you no matter where you are or what you have done.
Nov 24/09
Christmas
The Christmas season, the celebration of Jesus’ birth, is fast approaching. I think most people today realize that Jesus was not born on December 25. Nowhere in the Bible are we given the exact date but because of references to shepherds in the fields and people travelling for the census, most scholars accept his birthday as being late September or early October. That in itself is no reason to abandon Christmas.
Celebrating the birth of Christ should be a festive event. When we have a birthday for one of our children, that child becomes the centre of attention. Everything planned for that day is to celebrate that child and to let him know we consider him to be important. The same should happen when we celebrate the birth of Christ. No matter which day we choose, we should have everything centre around Him. There should be nothing on that day that should take our attention away from Him.
In many parts of the world, the celebration carries on for over a month and Christ seems totally left out. We have even begun to leave Him out by name. We wish people ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas’.
When you celebrate this year, take a look at the things you do and take time to see if they put Christ at the centre of this special day or season. |
