MY AWAKENING

It has been five months since I’ve been here and many lessons have been learned. The strongest one is OUR GOD DOES NOT CHANGE. He may add but He does not subtract. God has done that with me and I’m sure its a lesson learned by many of you. The tone of this blog is going to change from devotionals to observations or things I’ve learned in my time with Him.
While reading the parable of the sower in Matthew, I was moved to check out my old blog site, www.faithfultraveler.wordpress.com to see if there had been any activity on it since starting this one. There had been some but only slightly causing me to think, “Well, this just proves I’m right in not writing anymore”.
Earlier in my time with God, I had watched a video study that focusing on  the Christian based store Hobby Lobby and the family who owns it. During one of the episodes, one of David Green’s family members was faced with a situation where one of the managers during a training session gave her testimony and basically did an “altar call”. Immediately, being legal counsel for Hobby Lobby, he thought of all the legal implications and costs that could be incurred by this incident and if it was repeated. Alarmed, he called a meeting with David and some executives of the company and explained the situation. David listened intently as the legal counsel laid out his concerns. When the legal counsel was finished, David asked him how many had accepted Christ as a result of this situation and he responded 11. David looked at him and said, “Let me ask you a question, what is the price of one soul?”
This was the very next thought that came to me after thinking I was right in not writing anymore, “What is the price of one soul?” So I went to this site to see if there had been any activity. This is information only I can see. Again, the number was low. Again the thought, “What is the price of one soul?”  This time I checked the countries on each site and they were from countries where Christianity is not prevalent. Once more, “What is the price of one soul?” Then I remembered a conversation I’d had with one of my daughters around Christmas where she told me maybe I wasn’t suppose to write devotional but observations.
Writing is a gift God gave me when I made the decision to walk His path, not mine. That is a story for another time. It’s a gift that I didn’t accept joyfully. For years, it was a double-edged sword. On one side it was a very heavy burden. But while writing, it was a joy to be partnering with God. For the words and thoughts are His, I’m only the instrument He has chosen to use.
In August when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston and the Texas Gulfcoast, God impressed upon me to start a ministry of quilts and pillowcases to send to Texas. Then Hurricane Irma hit in my home state of Florida, then Hurricane Maria hit in the Caribbean. So, my ministry quickly expanded to include disaster victims of natural disasters. All to say, this is in the very first stages of getting established.
 “How was I to do both?” Quickly, God showed me it’s not an “either/or” situation. The writing can be done anytime. When one is completed, work on the other can proceed. What’s important in this process is to know I’m the instrument of the One who says in Matthew, “IF YOU HAVE FAITH AND DO NOT DOUBT”. So, one day at a time...both ministries will proceed. My Partner has a plan, I trust Him.

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS TO YOU?

Since the middle of October there has been Christmas decorations in the stores. People started their Christmas shopping and Black Friday officially started the Christmas season. Cities across the world are having lighting ceremonies. Stores are having sales for that special Christmas gift. Little children live in great anticipation of Santa coming with that special gift they can't live without.  There are the Christmas parties, families traveling from afar to spend this special day together, Christmas caroling, and schools and churches having Christmas or holiday pageants. In September ones start counting down to this one day. But why?
What does this day, this time of year mean to you? What does this little babe wrapped in swaddling cloth represent to you? This little babe is not just a doll wrapped in a blanket, He is God, He is Savior. Seven hundred years before this baby was born a man predicted his birth. Isaiah is not just a book in the Bible but he was a human no different than you or I. Listen to what he said, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..."
The One who created this universe, who knew you in your mother's womb before she even knew you were there, came to this earth as a "little babe in swaddling cloth". This babe will grow to be the man who bore your sins on a cross he was forced to carry to a place called Calvary; this Man suffered being whipped so by His stripes you are healed, this Man sacrificed Himself on this cross so you could have an everlasting relationship with God.
If you are celebrating the birth of your Savior this season, let it be a season of joy, a season you draw closer in your relationship to this little one called Jesus. If you don't know this little one, let me introduce you to him; this is Jesus. The Man who sacrificed himself as an atonement for your sins so you can have a relationship with God by believing this little babe is the Son of God. For "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Let this little babe be your "special gift" this Christmas for he is God's gift to you and I.
Come, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...CELEBRATE!!!

GOD'S GIFTS

No, I haven't discontinued my series Lessons of Christmas. The remaining lessons concern groups associated with after Jesus' birth. Therefore, today I'd like to focus on blessings or, as I like to call them, God's gifts.
In a few days, the majority of us will be be opening presents given by friends and loved ones. All to often we miss the most important gifts of all; the ones given to us by God. His most precious gift is Jesus. "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16, NIV. However, God gives gifts to us every day. Some people call them blessings. Personally, the word "gift" seems to be more applicable this time of year. Those totally unexpected, unexpected, unexplained events which happens that benefits you. Money, healing, a car moving just in the nick of time; any one of many occurrences that occur in our daily life.
Many times we attempt to explain them away or they go by completely unnoticed because we are not in the habit of looking for them. Unfortunately, all too often we are like children. On Christmas morn the children are excited to open their presents. They gleefully, thankfully receive them. They are overjoyed. And then, time passes. We go into their room or their play area and there the once treasured gift lays on the floor, dirty, broken, sullied, forgotten. Or we may be the child who absolutely must know how a toy works so he takes it apart and there it lays strewn all over the floor, unable to be put back together again. The healing we prayed for over and over, the answer to the long asked why He finally answered, the relationship He healed, the marriage He healed, the job He guided opened the doors to, and the list goes on. Which one are you?
From this moment forward, when we receive a "gift" from our Heavenly Father let's not fling it aside, tear it apart, or allow it to gather dirt in the recesses of our life but thank Him for it, tell others what He gave us. It is these experiences that comprise our "story", our testimony of how Jesus or God interacts with us in our life. It is one of the many reasons we know Jesus is our Savior.
This Christmas if you haven't accepted God's most precious gift, Jesus, I pray this Christmas you will  accept him as your Savior. Marry Christmas!! Happy Birthday, Jesus!! See you next week with another Lesson of Christmas--The Magi.