Author: John Page 79 of 166

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Luke 2:11-14 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

On Christmas Eve 1946, President Truman started his annual Christmas address with the following thoughts:

“Ladies and Gentlemen and fellow citizens everywhere, again our thoughts and aspirations and the hopes of future years turn to a little town in the hills of Judea where on a winter’s night two thousand years ago the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled.  Shepherds keeping the watch by night over their flock heard the glad tidings of great joy from the angels of the Lord saying, ‘Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace, good will toward men.’  The message of Bethlehem best sums up our hopes tonight.  If we as a nation, and the other nations of the world, will accept it, the star of faith will guide us into the place of peace as it did the shepherds on that day of Christ’s birth long ago.”

Indeed, our thoughts, aspirations, and hopes should all be focused on our Saviour.  He provides us glad tidings of great joy.  The reminder of His birth should bring praise and glory to our lips.  If we follow His lead, he will guide us into a place of personal, communal, national, and global peace.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE PRIMACY OF CHRIST IN OUR LAND.  He is the crowning fulfillment of all our hopes and aspirations!

Psalm 23 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:  he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul:  he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:  for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:  and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

As we enter the Christmas season, it is worth spending time considering the power and the meaning of the birth of our Savior.

Trench warfare during World War I demonstrated the most brutal and animalistic instincts of mankind.  Yet, on the Western Front in 1914, up to 100,000 German, French, and British troops set down their weapons together and celebrated the birth of Christ.  It was known as the Christmas Truce of 1914, and provided a small glimpse of hope for mankind in the midst of death and despair.  Christ’s entrance into this world on the first Christmas day did the same of all of us.

These soldiers in 1914 stopped their conflict for a day and a half – from afternoon on Christmas Eve until the morning of December 26^th.  They greeted one another with wishes for a merry Christmas.  They exchanged presents.  They played soccer.  They held joint memorial services, and read scripture together like Psalm 23.  It was described as “a short peace in a terrible war.”

As we approach Christmas, we need to take time to cling to His peace.  We need to embrace His goodness and His mercy. We need to remember that His comfort can last longer than a day and a half.  It can last throughout the year and throughout our lives.

PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD RECOGNIZE CHRIST’S GLIMPSE OF HOPE FOR MANKIND.  It is not just a small glimpse of hope, but an eternal glimpse of hope.

I John 4:14 “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”

A few weeks ago, movie blockbuster Justice League was released in theaters featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman.  These superheros are given the responsibility for saving the world from an alien invasion.  As a part of the pre-movie hype, Ben Affleck who plays Batman stated the following:  “We certainly are in need of heroes in 2017.  There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary.”  Affleck went on to say: “Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment:  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”

Ben Affleck is right, and fortunately there is.

As we enter the Christmas season, we should be ever-mindful that God sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.  He fulfilled our wishes.  He met our need for a hero.

In light of the scary stuff that’s going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, God sent us someone who can save us from all this; who can save us from people who are evil.  Most importantly, He sent us someone who can save us from ourselves; who can save us from the consequences of our actions.  Jesus was sent to do it all.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RELY UPON THE REAL SUPERHERO – JESUS CHRIST!  God sent him to us to be our Saviour, the only Saviour!

(The idea for this post stemmed from an Al Mohler podcast on November 17^th, 2017)

Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Jeremiah 4:22 “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding:  they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”

President Teddy Roosevelt reminds us that “to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

As our nation drifts away from a moral basis for our educational system, we find ourselves crafting those who create problems for society instead of cultivating progress in our society.  Our institutions crumble around us.  Our families are torn apart.  Our government is destabilized.  Our courts sway recklessly with popular opinion.  Our churches find themselves without a foundation.  Even this esteemed educational system is rotting from the inside out, creating parasites instead of promoting citizens.

Education for education’s sake is not a proper or useful goal.  Instead, education is meant to foster citizenship.  It is designed to accelerate societal progress.  It is intended to improve our land.  Unfortunately, its lack of foundational principles is promoting self-sufficiency, arrogance, selfishness, and pride.  It has become a menace to society.

None of this is to say that we should dismiss education.  Our counter-cultural stance should not be to accept or glorify ignorance.  Instead, we should build our education on a proper moral foundation.  We should provide the stability for our knowledge that enables progress.  We should educate in mind and morals.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO EMBRACE MORALLY-GROUNDED EDUCATION IN THIS LAND.  Doing so can enable us to counteract a system that menaces society.

Isaiah 41:20 “That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.”

Diana Kapp’s 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Raising Children With an Attitude of Gratitude” is interesting and thought-provoking (see the link to the article below).  She explains that “concrete benefits come to kids who literally count their blessings.”  Specifically, she describes how expressing gratitude produces more gratitude.  It also results in a better outlook on life and greater life satisfaction.  Furthermore, it produces less envy, decreases depression, and even yields higher grade point averages.

Furthermore, Kapp laments that thankfulness isn’t being modeled by adults and parents in our society.  Our gratitude is being consumed by materialism.  It is being absorbed by a society in which comfort is the norm and self-sufficiency is elevated.

In many cases, Kapp is spot-on.  Yet, she misses one critical thing – the ultimate object of our gratitude.

It is the hand of the LORD that has done these things.  He is the One who has created all of it.  It is His goodness that we must see, and know, and consider, and understand.  We should certainly do so during the Thanksgiving Season, but also throughout the year.

PLEASE PRAY WITH AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ALWAYS DIRECTED TOWARDS OUR LORD.  After all, He is the ultimate object of everything for which we have to be thankful.

Please see the article at:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/raising-children-with-an-attitude-of-gratitude-1387839251