Jesus Christ VS. Santa Claus

As this Christmas season is drawing nearer, I see more and more people worrying over the best sales and the must have toy of the season. It's pretty sad if you ask me. You turn on the TV and all you see is Santa this and Santa that. Since when did this society forget the true meaning? I admit that with all the tinsel and lights and decked out Christmas trees, it's sometimes difficult to hold on to that lowly and humble manger scene. However, for the time being I want to compare these two cultures and see if, in the end, you believe what you say you believe. Let's determine which occasion is most worthy of a celebration. I'm going to do this by comparing the two icons of the season: Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. 


I'm going to begin with the more published person of this day and time: Santa. As we all know, Santa goes by many names. There's St. Nick, Chris Kringle, Father Christmas, and, well, you get the point. He wears a red suit  with a red hat, lives up in the North Pole, and has elves that help him make presents each year for all the boys and girls of the world. He has a white beard, drives a sleigh pulled by reindeer, and has all kinds of magical qualities. "He sees when you are sleeping and he knows when you're awake." He seems like a pretty amazing character doesn't he? Well, unfortunately, that's what a lot of people see nowadays, the red suit and presents in stockings. They rarely stop to think about the manger scene. 


Now, let's talk about Jesus. Just like Santa, Jesus goes by many names: Son of God, Lilly of the Valley, Bright and Morning Star, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Hope, Rose of Sharon. I could go on and on, but you get it. However, this icon didn't wear a red suit and hat. He wore swaddling clothes and a crown of thorns. Angels follow him and do as he commands, and, yes, he will have a white beard too. He has performed many miracles through healing. He doesn't ride in a sleigh, no. But, he is coming back on a cloud. He doesn't live in some barren waste land, but he lives, or can live, in your heart. You don't have to write a letter to him, because he's already wrote one to you (aka the Holy Bible). You can get in touch with him through prayer though. 


Isn't this sounding a lot better? That's what I thought. But, the most important thing about this is one thing. Santa didn't die for your sins, he didn't raise from the dead, and he's not up in Heaven making intersessions for you and I and controlling everything that keeps us living. Jesus did and is still doing that. That's my Christmas! What's yours? 


**In the words of Linus.........**

Tim Hawkins: The Food Prayer

New Siding

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." -II Corinthians 5:17    

      Within the past week or so, my papaw has had to redo the siding of his house to fit the insurance companies satisfaction. You know because apparently they discovered that wood is flammable. Who knew right? It's kind of crazy if you ask me, but some vinyl siding will perk up the outside of his wooden house. So far it's coming along great and meeting all expectations. It's a good thing too because I'm pretty sure insurance is necessary. This make over will defiantly look pretty great. Well, thinking about this situation earlier, God gave me something. And, I just love it when that happens.

     Do you remember what God did to you the moment he saved you? Yeah, that's right. He gave you a new spirit alive in him. Well, it's kind of like what we are doing to papaw's house. You see, the wooden siding was all beaten and worn because of time and encounters with each passing storm. Basically, it was ragged and unsafe (according to the insurance company). Well, that's like we were before we got saved. Ragged, beat up, good for nothing sinners. We had been beaten by the storms of the world and was regarded as unsafe. If we didn't find some way of fixing ourselves up, we would continue to have no insurance. So, that's when we called the Contractor. we didn't as for new siding, we asked for a new spirit. And that's just what he gave us.

     I wondered what was so good about my papaw switching to vinyl siding, so I researched its benefits. It turns out, vinyl siding is easy to install, affordable, offers better protection, has less maintenance, is more durable, and increases the value of your home. Now, let me relate that to our lives. Our new spirit is easy to install. All you have to do is ask. It's also affordable because it's free. We have better protection and durability to face anything life throws at us. There's less maintenance because our spirit is perfect, and it's value is unreachable and un-tradeable.

     Well, since my papaw is fixing up his house, the insurance company will hopefully show mercy on him and let him keep his policy. Aren't you glad that one day God didn't cancel your policy and send you to Hell but had mercy on you and gave you eternal life insurance. I know I am. And, even better yet, he thought the new siding made such a difference, he decided to move in the transformed house to abide forever. It's really amazing to know we have a God this good.

Grace Exceeds

Baby Christians

Have you ever had a time when you don't intend for something to happen, but it happens anyway? I'm sure you have. Well recently we've had one of those instances: our dog had puppies. We were all surprised because we never intended on waking up to find two little baby puppies. But we did. Anyway, I got to looking at how small and hopeless they were, and it got me to thinking. There's a lot of Christians like that today: babes in Christ. You know, the kind that decide they are not going to grow up.

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  -Hebrews 5:12-14 

When babies are born, they are hopeless in the fact that they can't care for themselves. They may be living and breathing, but they have no means of surviving on their own. They rely on the mother, father, friends, and family members to basically keep them alive and going. It may take them a while to develop skills as simple as opening their eyes, talking, and walking. These things come through time and maturity. Also, when a baby is first born and even up until they are several months old, they can't stomach real food. They can only have the mother's milk. Otherwise, their system goes into shock and causes sickness. They just can't take it.

Christians are the same way. When we first get saved, we don't know what to do or how to go about doing anything. We have gained eternal life, we just don't know where to go from there. Often times, we rely on others to help us in knowing right from wrong. I'm not saying that in a bad way because it's great to look up to others and model yourself after Godly Christians. But, that seems to be all that baby Christians depend on is the life of others like their parents, grandparents, friends, and family to do things like take them to church and keep them from wrong doings. It may take us a while to see things differently than we once did, talk the right kind of talk, and walk in God's will. That too comes with maturity in the word. God may not even be able to feed us all the good food because we wouldn't be able to contain it or know how to react to it.

HOWEVER.....

There does come a time in a Christians life when they need to start growing up. I'm not saying to jump right in and do it, because that's nearly impossible. With maturity, we eventually see, walk, and talk better. It just takes baby steps. But, a lot of Christians will choose not to grow up. They are just satisfied with what little filling the milk gives them. They enjoy being taken care of with just about no responsibilities. They get to the place where they become satisfied with the life God's given them and won't strive for anything bigger. God wants to give them meat. That's what we need to strive for is the meat. The meat fills you up more and does much better in supplying energy and developing a more efficient Christian. I know that after eating meat for so long, there's no way i would go back to surviving solely on my mother's milk. Many will miss out on the meat and the joy that comes with being a "grown-up." God can't use babies like he can adults. Just think about it: you wouldn't want a baby to be in charge of something like building your house would you? I figured not. Babies can't get as much done. It's as simple as that. They are limited. Adults, on the other hand, have the wisdom and maturity to get more done for God. They also have the capability of having a stronger, closer relationship with God.

So, how do you line up? It doesn't matter how old you are spiritually or physically. You can have a closer walk with God. Have you decided to grow up and mature in your Christian walk, or have you decided to stay a baby? There's a big difference and a bigger out come to your decision. Are you going after the milk or the steak?

That's What Friends Are For

I don't know about all ya'll out there, but I certainly feel blessed to have the friends I have. You know the kind I'm talking about: real friends. Not these people that will call you their best friend and then talk about you behind your back, not treat you right, or leave you when you need them most. Good friends, on the other hand, will stay with you through thick and thin no matter the circumstance. Yeah, I'm a pretty lucky girl, and I hope you can speak from the same point of view as me. Sometimes, keeping up a healthy friendship isn't easy. We may disappoint the other sometimes, get our feelings hurt, and just get plain mad at them. Like any other relationship, a friendship isn't going to be perfect. Trust me. There are always going to be places of improvement. So, for this entry today, that's what I'm going to deal with: true friendship.

Now, when you think of a group of friends in the Bible, who comes to mind? David and Johnathan? Paul and Silas? The disciples? Yeah, that's what generally comes to my mind too. However, lately I've found other friendship that's not really noticed. At least, I had never noticed it before. It's in Daniel Chapter 3. Yeah, that's right: the Three Hebrew Children. Often times we get our mind set on the miracle of Jesus walking in the fiery furnace and the children coming out unharmed, and that's good!! Don't forget that! To me, it's one of the most powerful stories in the Bible. But for a moment, I would like to focus on their friendship.

I encourage you to open your Bible to this story, but if it's not handy, I will summarize it for you. I'm sure we all know the story. King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue and told everyone to worship it. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to do so. So, as a punishment, the king order them to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. The King even order them to heat it seven times hotter than usual. So, they threw the children down bound into the furnace. Well, a little time goes by and Nebuchadnezzar looks down into the furnace to find, not three men, but four men loose and walking around, and one is likened unto the son of God. The King let's them out and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come out unharmed.

As I said earlier, this is a huge miracle, and we often just set our minds on that and nothing else. However, once you think about it, look at the friendship these Hebrew children must have had! I discovered a few similarities about these three men.

Number One: They stood out. "There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:12. They were the only ones not worshiping the golden image. Others might have looked at them like they were strange. The truth was, there wasn't many like them. They were noticed, and not always in a good way. But, God was saw in their lives. When you find a real friend, you'll notice how they stick out. You'll see that their beliefs are practically the same as yours and notice the power of God in their lives. You might even stick out together to where the world may see the power of God in your lives.

Number Two: They stuck together. Daniel 3:12. When you see these men mentioned, they are always as a group: Shadrach, Meshach, AND Abednego. They stayed together and didn't leave even when they faced judgement and the threat of the fire. It wasn't just Shadrach, or it wasn't just Abednego who got thrown in. It was all three. When you are faced with the troubles and the trails of this life, it's good to have a real friend by your side. They won't leave you in the fire, in fact, that's when it seems they're there the most. They don't worry about themselves and won't abandon you because of the treat to them. They'll stay no matter what.

Number Three: They stood their ground. "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol. They set in their minds that they would not betray their God no matter the cost. We all need to have this kind of friendship. We need to all stand for God no matter what the world may say. Our friends will stand for God no matter what, and won't go after the "new," "popular" things the world puts out.

Number Four: They survived the fire. "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth and come hither. Then, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire." Daniel 3:26. The three Hebrew children all when into the fire together and all came out together. I'm sure the fire got really hot, but they didn't leave each other. We may h ave certain friends that will say they'll go with you all the way, but when the going gets tough, they'll leave you to basically fend for yourself. You need to have a friend that won't leave you in the midst of the fire, and you need to be the kind of friend that won't let them give up and quit. We need to be there for each other, to encourage one another, and keep running the race.

Number Five: They were surrounded by God. "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Daniel 3:25. When the Hebrews were in the fire, God was with them. They weren't alone. Your friendship should be so strong because of the fact that God is ruling in your lives. You don't have to only rely on your friends, because, as I said, they may fail you sometimes. None of us are perfect. However, God is someone you can always depend on. He is our truest friend, and nobody can steal him away. But, he does decide to send certain individuals in our life. I've heard it said before: When God puts friends together, they stay friends forever. A real friendship is one built on the Lord, and it will never work unless you allow God to be in control. A lot of friendships nowadays are built upon wealth, popularity, etc. But, only a friendship on the things of God will survive the fire.

So, how about it? What kind of friends are you surrounding yourself with? What kind of friend have you been lately? Most importantly, what kind of role does God play in your friendship?

Didn't I Walk