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Santa’s Visit: Guaranteed
Ever wonder how to make sure Santa visits your home?
Well, here is a list that is guaranteed to help secure a visit from that ageless, jovial fat man dressed in red and white; who tromps around in big, black boots.
First of all, make sure you have THE ROOM decked out! Your special Christmas Room. The Christmas tree should stand almost as tall as the ceiling, leaving about nine inches for either an angel or a star. The tree should have two strings of lights for each foot of tree height, and every branch ought to be laden with at least one ornament. Don’t forget the tinsel and popcorn strings. Plus, there must be a small table close by to place a glass of milk and a plate of Mrs. Grace’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies on. (Note-see post https://jangrace.com/mrs-graces-famous-chocolate-chip-cookies for recipe.)
Next, the Christmas music must be perfect! Not too loud, but not too soft.
And there’s no Christmas music that Santa would rather hear than Burl Ives singing, “Santa Claus is coming to town.”
Andy Williams singing Christmas songs works almost as well, but definitely not Mannheim Steamroller. You may like it, and I may like it; but Christmas isn’t about what we like or dislike. It’s about Santa’s visit!
Thirdly, you really need to have a chimney and a fireplace. I’m sorry, but the sewer vent just doesn’t cut it for a couple of obvious reasons. Unlocked doors and windows aren’t safe either. And, you can’t expect Santa to carry around millions of house keys in his sleigh. So, get that chimney installed. Or, perhaps you could borrow one from a friend. But Santa MUST have access to your home. How would it be if Santa swings by your place but can’t get in? It’d ruin the whole evening!
After you’ve taken care of those things, take a quick look around your home. Do you have anything lying around that could offend Santa? You know how picky he is! And he doesn’t miss a thing, either. After all, he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good; so, look around the house one more time.
There’s one final item on the checklist; and it’s the most important of all.
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Spiritual Worship
I think the song went something like, “I’m eighteen and I like it!” That was me. That was my “worship song”, though I didn’t call it that at the time. Married and 18, with visions of becoming a rock and roll star dancing in my head. Christian? Nah, didn’t have the slightest interest in God, Jesus, Church, or anything associated with that sort of stuff. Little did I realize…“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”(Romans 11:29 NKJV)
I didn’t believe in God but He believed in me. I wasn’t seeking Him, but He was in hot pursuit of me. He didn’t fit in my plans, yet somehow I fit into His. Simply amazing.
Anyone who has ever graced this planet has somehow fit into God’s plan. He has given everyone gifts and callings. Abilities that make the Kingdom of God shine even brighter, when used for the Glory and purposes of God.
Think about your life. Did you know that God has given you gifts and callings? He has something just for you. No one else can take your place. Whether you believe in Him or not, He believes in you.
He believes in YOU! He knows YOU inside and out!
The gifts and callings HE’S graced you with, will be those things you’ll use to worship Him.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1 ESV)
“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.” (Revelation 4:11 NLT)I was about 21 when He finally broke through my walls of resistance. The gifts and callings? They became less important to ME, but the Lord started His training program with me and began to reveal in me how my gifts were meant to serve the calling He gave me. All I have, in fact, all I am, is to be yielded to Him in true, spiritual worship.
You see, He plans to use my gifts and calling for all eternity, not just until I’m dead and gone.
Imagine what He’s placed in you. What could He do with someone like you submitted to someone like Him? Try and envision what that level of worship would be like.
Only eternity has the answer.
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What Does God Hate?
God is love, but He still hates!What does God hate? Does He hate tattoos, or Christmas trees, or little fat Santas?
Is He a hater of republicans, democrats, or both? Does He hate the United States of America, as some “prophets” have proclaimed?
Just who, or what, does God hate?
Maybe God hates Starbucks employees, because, oh, I forgot why.
I’ve heard He hates Proctor and Gamble products, but, again, I don’t remember why.
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Life Is Short
Life is short. So brief. It’s like an early morning mist covering a quiet, peaceful valley. For as soon as the sun rises, casting its illuminating rays into the valley, the mist and shadows are gone.
So short. So brief.
Even someone blessed to see their years extend into the 80’s, 90’s, and 100’s, have only had a brief pilgrimage here on earth.
But length of life does not equal value or importance.
The Lord has revealed to mankind the things He values in a life. Some things we know inherently, such as moral laws. Other things are revealed in His Word.
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)Mankind has a tendency to live as though this life is without end, like they’re indestructible, and any mention of an eternal reward or judgment is simply a myth.
What a shame! What a waste!
What are YOU doing with YOUR life? What will you leave behind when your life on earth is over?
Who are YOU devoted to? Who are YOU investing in? What will be YOUR legacy?
You are writing your obituary; you are living out, demonstrating, how you want people to remember you. So, how WILL people remember you?
What kind of conversation will you have with God, when your short life is all used up?
“…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14 ESV)
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O Worship The King
Who is like our God? Who else is worthy of all our worship?There’s only One who is powerful enough to create Heaven and Earth; everything seen and unseen. Yet He’s tender and gentle enough to hold us in His arms.
God alone hates evil with a pure, righteous, and unselfish hatred. And although His hatred is justified, He loves the soul of every person, regardless.
He alone is worthy of worship!
While we were yet sinners, rebellious in nature, His love transcended our condition by giving His life as a ransom for many.
To Him alone is our worship due.
Nothing compares to the incomparable God. Our vocabulary fails to describe the indescribable One. Eternity isn’t sufficient to express all the glorious attributes of God Almighty.
Humble and gentle, Our God Supreme
Mighty and awesome, this One unseen
All worship is due, the One Who is King
So with yielded heart, to Him I will sing.Here is a song I dearly love. Written about 180 years ago, it is an anthem connecting worshippers throughout many generations. It’s message is clear: no one, and no thing, compares to the One called The King.
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend; worship Him, forever!
O, Worship The King
1. O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing God’s power and God’s love;
our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.2. O tell of God’s might, O sing of God’s grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
whose chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is God’s path on the wings of the storm.3. The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, thy power hath founded of old;
hath stablished it fast by a changeless decree,
and round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.4. Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.5. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.By Robert Grant (1833)
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m sitting here, kicked back on my couch, wondering how the phrase “Happy Thanksgiving” ever got started. Do you know?
And why is it “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Christmas”? Any ideas? Oh, well.
But what kind of a world would there be if people quit being thankful? I imagine a world without any kind of beauty, friendship, or love; none of the attributes of God. A world of hatred, violence, spiritual darkness, and complete chaos. Without thankfulness, all that’s left is ungratefulness; people demanding their own selfish way.
That would not make for a happy world!
Thanksgiving is giving thanks. Thanks for something specific, something in general, and possibly, just because.
Giving is an act of caring. I care for someone, so I give my love, my time, talents, and treasures to them; not so they’ll do something for me, but because I care. Giving is without strings.
So, we give thanks because we care. We are grateful, generous, and kind. We put other people first, above our own wants and desires. Because we care. Because we’re thankful.
This holiday season, how about laying aside all the “gotta-have”, “gotta-do”, and “gotta-see” feelings and take inventory of what you already have; things you can be thankful for.
It’s a great way to add beauty and love to your world. It’s a great way to build a friendship.
It’s an acceptable way to worship God, as you give thanks to His Name.
And, it’s a wonderful start to building an eternal relationship with the Living God Who sent His Son for you and I. Because He cared.
Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 NLT)
Happy Thanksgiving.
Be a blessing to someone around you!
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Black Friday / Black Plague
Well, it’s almost here…Black Friday. A time for all consumers to do one thing; CONSUME!!!
Time for the merchants to feed the cravings of their pigeons.
Get up at half past dark, throw on your clothes, and start driving even before you wake up. Battle your way through the war zone called Department Store. Fill your carts with whatever you can wrestle away from fellow combatants. Then, swipe your credit card before you have time to add up the charges.
When you finally make it back home, after completing a dozen or so “military campaigns”, you unload your car just before the suspension gives way. As you drag the spoils of war into your “headquarters”, you barely make it to the easy chair.
Black Friday has consumed you!
The store owners just about love you to death!
Black Friday reminds me of another plague, commonly known as “The Black Plague”, or Black Death. Here’s a bit of information for you from Wikipedia:
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Worship is not a Magic Lamp
“Do we sometimes treat worship like a modern day Aladdin’s Lamp?”God is not trying to hide from you. He hasn’t locked Himself away from you, expecting you to figure out the lock combination before He’ll “step out into the open.” He doesn’t dwell inside a beautiful, old, lamp; just waiting for us to rub it so many times in a certain direction. He does not want our worship to be a production, dance steps, or an equation of so many fast and slow songs. None of those things will automatically produce the Presence of God.
God will not be manipulated. He will, however, respond to simple, from the heart, worship. In fact, Psalm 22:3 says God is enthroned, or seated comfortably, on the praises of His people.
See if you can sense God’s desire to fellowship with His people:
Gen 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.Ex 25:21-22
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat…Ex 40:33-34
So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.Ps 84:1-2
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.Rev 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
[all scriptures NKJV]God never intended for us to treat worship like an Aladdin’s lamp.
The truth is – GOD is the One Who has been chasing man for the past 6,000 years.
He’s the One Who created man, filled him with His heavenly breath, and fellowshipped with him throughout the day. God’s the One Who told Moses to build the Tabernacle; a place where God and man could fellowship.
God is the One Who filled the Tabernacle with His Presence, much like He filled Adam’s lungs with His breath.
And, it is God Who has planned to tabernacle, dwell, fellowship, with man forever and ever. It is God’s Son Who offered His blood so we could have eternal fellowship with Him.
Who needs a lamp and a genie?
But don’t expect every “worship experience” to be the same. Sometimes, when the Lord steps into our room, it is simply to receive our worship and fellowship with us. He doesn’t make a huge entrance; but those who expect Him, “wait” for Him. “Seeing” Him walk in, they usher Him to His favorite chair. From His place of enthronement, He communes with His family. He and His kids, enjoying each other’s company.
Other times His appearance may even be more subtle; one won’t even know He’s in the room. People all around, talking, laughing, enjoying each other’s presence. He’ll sit quietly, listening to our conversations, ready to join in. But only when asked. Though He is jealous, He isn’t rude. He loves us so much, yet He will not force Himself upon us or into our world.
He man step into our world like He stepped into Abraham’s. In the heat of the day (Gen. 19) God came calling. Abraham recognized Him and asked Him to stay a while so he could serve Him properly. So Abraham worshipped God by feeding Him. THEN, the actual purpose of the visit became clear. Worship led to intercession, with God drawing Abraham into His plans and purposes for the deliverance of Lot and family.
And then there are moments…yes, those times when His Presence in the room is much larger than the room itself! As He enters, everything within us wants to fall prostrate before Him. Our shouts of joy are silenced by His eternal awe and beauty. Songs become mere melodies within the presence of His Glory. Even our breath responds to His Presence, becoming so “thick” we cannot speak, as He adds His breath to ours. The Eternal God, fellowshipping, communing, with man.
He rejoices with us! He sings and shouts with us! “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
He DESIRES to be with us. Whether we’re doing well, hurting, mad or happy. He desires to be in our presence; it’s been that way since the foundation of the world.
So, throw away the magic lamps, special charms, or anything else you feel you need to “conjure” up God’s Presence. You don’t have to talk Him into coming!
Simply worship Him.
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Halftime!
What a game! Did you see it? I’m referring to the Broncos/Patriots game last night. Wow!I must say, I was hoping the Broncos would win. And at halftime, with the score 24-0 in favor of Denver, I was tempted to shut the TV off and read a book.
I would have missed quite the show!
I wonder what Coach Belichick told his Patriots in the locker room?
Patriots scored their first possession in the second half, and eventually led Denver 31-24. Finally, with only 3:06 left in regular time, Denver scored a TD, tying the game.
Overtime was interesting, as well. It looked as though Denver would score early. They had first possession because Belichick declined it, choosing to opt for playing with the wind rather than against it. But, no score by either team for about the first 13 minutes of OT.
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Judah and Simeon
“Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. “Judges 1:1-4 NKJV In the above passage of scripture, Judah was told to lead the battle against the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Most people understand the name, “Judah”, means “praise”. That’s one reason the idea of “praise” marching against the enemy is taught. But some people read this passage and believe God always sends His worship team into battle first. God has done such things a few times, but few doesn’t equal always.
The words Canaanite and Perizzite have meaning as well. Canaanite is “to humiliate” or “vanquish”. Perizzite means “open” or “unwalled”. In other words, “praise” was to go up against a formidable foe that had the reputation of humiliating and vanquishing all of their enemies. And if that wasn’t enough, the other half of the enemy combatants were so powerful they needed no walls of protection for their cities. They could defend their territory without anything but their ability to fight.
Judah had an idea. I believe it was an idea we as worshippers should adopt. Judah (praise) said to brother Simeon, “will you please help me?” Simeon means “hearing”. The picture behind the word isn’t just the physical act of hearing. It means “to hear with the intent of obeying”.
So “praise” said to “hearing, with the intent of obeying”, “please help me defeat these enemies who have the ability and the reputation of defeating all who rise against them.” “Hearing” agreed, and TOGETHER they cleared their land of the enemy.
When we as worship team members and leaders stand in front of a congregation, singing songs should be one of the last things we’re concerned with. Singing praises alone doesn’t automatically open windows for victory. We must keep our heart and mind sensitive to God’s voice, and to the leader’s heart (and the pastor’s).
When we unite praise and obedience to God’s voice we will see God’s Kingdom come and His will done in our world.
Jan Grace
adding God's Word into my world…
