Time For a New String Of Lights

There has been a picture in my head; a scene from a movie lately. What I have been seeing is a very large ball of Christmas lights that are all tangled up and need to be unraveled. 

If you have ever seen the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, then you will know what I am talking about.

Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas; including the perfect decorations and lights on the outside of his house. 

The plan is to install the 250 strands of lights (with 100 bulbs on each strand for a total of 25,000 light bulbs, enough to make the power company turn on their auxiliary nuclear generator…)

But, before he can install them, he needs to untangle massive balls of lights from the last time they were installed on the house. Clark enlists his son Rusty (Johnny Galecki) to help him in this endeavor.

Clark tells Rusty; “Come on, unravel these. You have to check every bulb”

“There’s a little knot here…you work on that!” he continues as he hands Rusty the world’s largest ball of Christmas lights.

“I’ll get the other box.” Clark says as he makes his way back into the garage to retrieve another set of lights.

That picture, along with a recent message I heard on ‘forgiveness’, has been on my mind.

Why, I ask myself, does Clark even attempt (or have Rusty attempt) to unravel that massive ball of lights? Why not simply throw out the ball and purchase another set of lights?

And it got me thinking; There are times in life when no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot untangle the mess that was created in the past.

Sometimes the best thing to do is simply throw out the old and admit that it is time for a new string of lights and go from there.

I will admit that I have lost countless hours, days, and weeks of my life trying to resolve things only to get further away from the end goal of reconciliation.

I will admit that I am hardwired to check every jot and tittle to make sure that every area and viewpoint has been looked at so that both sides can really know that everything has been discussed.

I will admit that I have done all this in an attempt toward reconciliation and so that it will never happen again.

I will admit that I had to come to the point of realizing that sometimes in forgiveness and relationships there are times when it is almost impossible to untangle the minutia and one simply needs to start over in the relationship.

That sometimes the best thing to do is simply do is throw out the old and admit that it is time for a new string of lights and go from there.

In first Corinthians chapter thirteen verse 4-7, the Apostle Paul wrote:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

One version of the Bible translates verse five as;

“it keeps no record of wrongs.”

In other words; “Love keeps no record”. That doesn’t mean that we don’t remember, but in order to move on we need to stop trying to go over and over every detail. We need to keep no record.

Jesus expands on the seriousness of not letting go in Matthew chapter six verse 14-15

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

I will let His words speak for themselves and add:

Sometimes it is time for a new string of lights 

HOPE'S CHILD

In the darkness of a quiet night,  

Hope found a place on earth.

From eternity to measured time 

arrived through virgin birth.

In a new born child Messiah dwelt

Though no one really knew,

The day would come when called upon

To see this mission through.

His mother watched her child grow strong,

and too soon become a man.

In sorrow knowing deep within

He would complete God's plan.

He healed the sick, and raised the dead,

still few would dare believe,

This man was who He said He was

We just could not conceive.

Then one dark day the time arrived 

His mission was complete.

I watched as He was beaten, 

nails in His hands and feet.

Compassion still shown through His eyes

Like none I'd ever known.

He closed His eyes and hung His head 

To His Father He had flown.

The next two days had stumbled on 

The future held the same.

The third day broke the darkened sky

And once again Hope came.

Oh death where is your victory,

Oh grave where is your sting.

This child born into darkness wins 

and with Him HOPE He brings.

Larry Houghton 12-09-2019
 © 2019 All Rights Reserved
Used With Permission from the Author 

Someone Needs A Timeout!

Someone once said;

“Christmas would sure be a lot more fun if it didn’t come at such a busy time of the year!”

The reason that Christmas may seem to be too busy is that (oftentimes) we don’t take time to focus on the real purpose for the celebration: JESUS CHRIST.

If this year has been crazy and super busy for you as you attempt to be some kind superhero parent, spouse, uncle, aunt, neighbor, or friend…

STOP and let me remind you of why we set apart this time of the year.

Darlene Zschech (singer/song writer) reminds us that we celebrate Christmas because of a “LOVE that caused heaven to stand still, a son to be born with the purpose of an early death, so that we would know the fullness of TRUE life.”

Take time, real time, to read SLOWLY the following scripture…

In order to once again center yourself on what is really important in life.

Then and only then, will you be able to complete the tasks on your plate between now and Christmas.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son.

And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was.

He came to help, to put the world right again.

Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted;

Anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it.

And why?

Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him.” (John 3:16-18 MSG)

Merry Christmas my friend! I’m pulling for you to have the best Christmas of your life!

Pastor Tommy O

The Message (MSG)

All Scripture form The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson 

It’s Another Christmas Miracle!

Family gatherings come with a mixed bag of emotions.

On one hand, great food and beverages as friends and loved ones gather to catch up on all of the past year and to celebrate.

On the other hand, for some, it is an opportunity to once again be reminded that they really haven’t changed in the past year(s). 

We talk about and identify ourselves (and others) by what happened eighteen or twenty years ago. We use terms like ‘felon’ or “divorced” or drug addict” or “alcoholic” or…

We seemed fixated on keeping people stuck with who they were; instead of seeing each other (and ourselves) for who we are today; this Christmas.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that he was determined not to know anyone in the flesh.

“So, we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!” (2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT)

The Christmas message tells us that God’s grace is greater than our sin. The sin issue was settled at the cross on which was hung Jesus Christ. That is the gift that we celebrate on Christmas day.

The Christmas message has not changed in over 2000 years; God is still with us. And that is what the people who will be spending their Christmas gatherings with us NEED to hear! And some one has to tell them; perhaps you?

My friends, those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ (Christians); have been given so much. 

We need to be grateful for all that God has bestowed upon us. 

This is a day to rejoice!

If Jesus was going to go to the family gatherings, He would be rejoicing and sharing love! 

Jesus knows the Father’s love! Jesus knows the Christmas message!

We as Believers also need to love as though we know this message, instead of looking as though we hate being with our families because ‘they aren’t saved’.

We need to let our lives show that we know the One who died for all sinners and rejoice and laugh and love those whom we are spending time with (see Romans 12:9-21).

This year, let each of us make a commitment to receive each other for who we are today and sit down and hear each other’s stories about what they did this week; as well as what they did this past year.

 

Let’s give each other a break from our past!

I know we all could use that!

This Christmas is a great time to be ‘mission-centered’ and reach out to those in our world. We are all called to be ambassadors as though God were pleading through us (2 Corinthians 5:20).

My prayer is that God will show each one of us how and to whom He would like us to reach out this Christmas.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

The Birth of Jesus

"At the point of our deepest betrayal, when we had run our furthest from Him and gotten so lost in the woods we could never find our way home, God came and died to rescue us." - from 'The Sacred Romance' by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge

“About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped Him in a blanket and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:   

        Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
         Peace to all men and women on earth who please Him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!” (Luke 2:1-20 MSG)

All Scripture from The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson