A Visit from Saint Nicholas by C C Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring:

Not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung

By the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas

Soon would be there.

The children were nestled

All snug in their beds,

While visions of sugarplums

Danced in their heads,

And mamma in her kerchief,

And I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains

For a long winter's nap -

When out on the lawn

There arose such a clatter!

I sprang from my bed

To see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew

Like a flash:

Tore open the shutter

And threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast

Of a new-fallen snow

Gave a lustre of midday

To objects below.

When, what to my wondering

Eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh

And eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver,

So lively and quick,

I knew in a moment

It must be St Nick.

More rapid than eagles

His coursers they came

And he whistled and shouted

And called them by name.

"Now Dasher! Now Dancer!

Now Prancer and Vixen!

On Comet! On Cupid!

On Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch,

To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away!

Dash away, all!"

As dry leaves that before

The wild hurricane fly

When they meet with an obstacle

Mount to the sky,

So up to the housetop

His coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys

And St Nicholas, too.

And then, in a twinkling,

I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing

Of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head

And was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas

Came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur

From his head to his foot

And his clothes were all tarnished

With ashes and soot.

A bundle of toys he had

Flung on his back

And he looked like a peddler

Just opening his pack.

His eyes, how they twinkled.

His dimples, how merry.

His cheeks were like roses,

His nose like a cherry.

His droll little mouth

Was drawn up like a bow

And the beard on his chin

Was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held

Tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled

His head like a wreath.

He had a broad face

And a little round belly

That shook when he laughed

Like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump

A right jolly old elf

And I laughed when I saw him

In spite of myself.

A wink of his eye

And a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know

I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word

But went straight to his work

And filled all the stockings,

Then turned with a jerk

And laying a finger

Aside of his nose

And giving a nod,

Up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh,

To his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew

Like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim

Ere he rode out of sight 

"Merry Christmas to all,

And to all a goodnight!"

Random Limericks by Yours Truly

1

A very wise person once said

The wrong partner can mess with your head.

I'd rather be lonely,

And live for God only,

Than be most unhappily wed!

2

I hate going shopping for shoes!

I never know which ones to choose.

Would comfort be best,

Or good looks? I'm so stressed!

It's enough to drive you to booze!

3

Choose computer passwords with care,

For hackers abound everywhere!

Make sure that it's long,

And don't be like the song,

Logging in on a wing and a prayer!

4

I thought a new hobby I'd try

So I bought fabric paints and some dye

The clothes I design

Would outdo Calvin Klein

If viewed from afar - with one eye!

The Wanderer

When sun's last rays have westward fled
And gibbous moon shines overhead,

Within the shadows, dark and dread,

A figure moves with silent tread;

A creature of the night.

While weary world is fast asleep,

This nightmare beast doth softly creep.

He wends his way through darkness deep

Some fearsome rendezvous to keep

And shuns each shaft of light.

He tests the ground with snuffling snout

And crouching low he casts about,

His pointed ears a-twitch throughout.

What purpose draws this creature out

From his accustomed lair?

Close-by he hears a hooting owl.

The snarling fiend emits a growl,

Baring fangs in grimace foul.

Then, gingerly, resumes his prowl

With a mistrustful air.

Too soon the moonlight will be gone.

Blackness thrives where light once shone.

He knows his quest is almost done

And quickens pace to carry on

Toward his journey's end.

At last he sees bright lights, a street.

A shining path before his feet,

And sensing home and hearth and meat

He runs, his master for to greet,

Who welcomes him with tasty treat

And pets him, his relief complete!

Come home is man's best friend!

Loaves and Fishes

I've just watched a YouTube post from Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the series The Chosen, where he tells of a message he was given by someone he hardly knew, which gave him comfort and strength in a time when he couldn't see his way forward. Thank you, Dallas, for sharing this testimony with us.

The message he received was that it wasn't his job to feed the 5000, but to just provide the loaves and the fish, as the disciples did! (Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass.Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.)

This is a powerful and humbling message because sometimes we overreach ourselves, in our jobs, in our relationships, and in our daily lives in general, thinking that we have to do it all on our own. We forget that we aren't on this journey alone. 

It isn't up to us to do every little thing, otherwise there would be nothing left for anyone else to do. We are only expected to do so much - use our individual skills, yes, but also to employ the appropriate co-workers, provide the necessary tools, resources and equipment - to complete the business in hand. We should not forget that we are small, albeit important, cogs in a much larger machine. 

This applies to all of us, but most especially to those of us that are journeying with God and are co-labourers with Him, for without Him we can do nothing. All of our efforts will fail if God is not at the centre of it all. We don't know the whole of God's plan, but we each have a vital part to play in its fruition.

I know that we all want to do the best the we can in all aspects of our lives but we need to know that God doesn't expect us to do everything. We only need to do as much as we can, to the best of our ability, and He will do the rest. If we only trust in Him all will be well.

Just give the Lord all that He is due - your faith, your love, your heart, soul and mind - and leave the miracles to Him.

All glory to God in Heaven. Let our praises ring out to show the world that God is a wonderful Father and that we are His chosen children!

Amen

The Peace of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding.

In these turbulent times, with storms - both physical and emotional - raging at us, trying to unsettle us, we need to understand that Jesus is alive in us and if He is with us and for us, who or what can be against us? 

When storms seemed to be about to capsize the little boat that the disciples and Jesus were in, did He go into a panic and shout out that they were all going to die? No! Just remember that Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat - they had to wake Him up - so if He wasn't concerned or worried about the storm, why should we worry?

Mark 4:35-39 "On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm."

Jesus knew that He wasn't in any danger. The disciples were in a state of panic, but He was so completely at peace that He was sleeping like a baby! The disciples' faith clearly wasn't strong enough, but then, at this point they had no Holy Spirit to guide them! We have this advantage over them.

Psalm 46:1-5 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn."

I love this passage! It tells us that God will overcome every storm the world or the enemy sends against us if we just give it all up to Him. We have the Holy Spirit flowing through our veins and He will give us the peace that we need to barricade ourselves against the howling winds and torrential rains that buffet us throughout our lives, trying to bring us down! We are so blessed!

Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

When storms come, and come they will, we need to rest on God's promise that He will always be there for us, will listen to our prayers and answer them. I have faith that when I cry out "God help me!" He will hear and he will act on my behalf. I know He has my best interests at heart and that He wants me to know that I can call on Him whenever I am under spiritual, emotional or physical attack. 

James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Know Jesus, know peace! No Jesus, no peace! It's a no-brainer!

So take heart, friends! Peace, be still! God's got this!

Amen

"Take My Yoke Upon You"

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Pastor Steuart Payne used this passage as the basis for his lesson today and while I was listening I saw pictures in my mind of, firstly, what a yoke is and, secondly, how powerful that image is.

The yoke Pastor Steu was talking about  is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen to enable them to pull together when working in pairs and looks something like this:

The pairing needs to be equal in order to be efficient so you need to yoke two animals of similar size and strength like this:

You can see that the yoke falls across the shoulders of both oxen so that they share the load.

That is what it looks like to be yoked to Jesus. He told us to take on His yoke for His yoke is easy. This means that for us to yoke ourselves to Him we are working alongside Him and being led by Him. He will help us to carry our burdens and fears so that we are not overwhelmed by them. We can only gain strength from this, but we must make sure that we are always walking alongside Him throughout our daily lives.

Many of us carry our burdens all by ourselves like this:

Isn't it great to know that we don't have to - that there is someone who is not only able but willing to help with the load? Thank you, Jesus!

Others turn to the wrong kind of help - to those who will in fact only increase the weight we carry. This is what the enemy wants us to do. He wants us to turn from God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden and follow the ways of this world, which are not God's ways. He wants to separate us from God's love and light!

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

Here is an example of what an unequal yoking looks like:

The yoke isn't even touching the mule's shoulders! Which means that the ox is not only carrying the whole load but the weight of the yoke as well! The ways of the world are like that mule - no help to you whatsoever - because the world in general doesn't really care, and in some cases will add to your burdens and bring you down further. Yes there are good people out there who don't believe in God, but they are merely human and will fail you eventually.

The yoke of Jesus, who is both fully human (so understands human frailty) and fully God (at one with the Father) - this is the only yoke you can rely on!

I'm reminded of the yoke that Jesus had to bear for our sins - the cross!

He had to carry this through the streets of Jerusalem being jeered at, spat upon and reviled by all those He passed - and all this after being beaten and whipped till His flesh was torn so badly that He was almost unrecognisable! He had objects and insults hurled at Him all along the route and was finally nailed to that awful burden to die a horrible death at the end of His long and arduous walk. 

This was His yoke! All of our sins were laid upon that cross. He literally carried the whole weight of our sin with Him to His death. And when He died, all our sins died with Him so that we can choose to live free and be back in relationship with the Father.

Since He did that for us, why wouldn't we choose to take up our cross and follow Him? This man, this Son of God, the Word made flesh showed us how to live in love and peace and harmony. He taught us that there is no other way to the Father but through Him. Yes, it's a narrow path but a sound one and He will be with us throughout our journey, helping and guiding us, through the Holy Spirit whom He sent to be our constant partner, friend amd companion. 

John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

John 16:13-14 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."

Hallelujah!

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Salvation! Ever present, ever faithful, always approachable! Wherever you are, He will be with you! Just call on His name and He will hear! Don't struggle alone - give yourself to Jesus and He will help you with whatever it is that is weighing you down. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

All I can say to that is,

Amen!

Outside the Box!

Pastor Andy Elmes spoke today about seeing Jesus for who He actually is, not for what we think He is, and having a childlike faith - innocent, trusting and vulnerable. Children see Him clearly as someone who loves and cares for them. They don't have to see Him with their eyes, they trust Him because they "see" Him with their hearts. We need to make sure that we don't lose that simple faith in Jesus. 

Children don't see the world the same way we do as adults. Younger children in particular see with much more clarity of vision. They haven't yet learned to filter what they see. As adults we do this far too much. Consider what we see on social media these days, where you can take a photo of someone and completely transform it into something more acceptable to the world's eyes. Filtering out what the world considers to be blemishes and imperfections until it becomes a total lie! 

I looked up synonyms of the word "childlike" and came up with words such as guileless, naive, unsophisticated and unworldy! That last word - unworldy - struck a chord with me because as Christians, though we live in the world, we should not be conformed to the world! So taking that a little further, we are called to be unworldy - ergo childlike!

Matthew 19:13-14 "Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:1-5 "At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."

Pastor Andy also brought up another aspect of what it is to see for yourself who Jesus really is rather than just seeing what we want Him to do for us. Throughout Jesus' time on this Earth there were people who had preconceived ideas of who or what He should be. Those people were happy to put the Messiah into a box that fit in with their plans and wants and desires, not realising, or perhaps forgetting, that while He was fully human, He was also fully God! So when He didn't "tick all the boxes" of their preconceptions because they had been expecting some great warrior or charismatic religious leader who would smite their enemies and free them from Roman rule, they spurned and condemned Him.

Colossians 2:9 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"

John 10:30-33 "I and My Father are one." Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

Now let's talk about boxes! 

The problem with boxes is that, no matter how big they are, they all have set limitations! If we say that Jesus is this way or that way we are putting Him into a box - which is not only wrong, it's ridiculous! God doesn't have any limits! He doesn't fit into a box! 

The Jesus that I serve is working "outside the box!" Just look at those He chose as His disciples. These 12 people were not religious or political leaders, they weren't influential, weren't even teachers or speakers. They were just ordinary, run-of-the-mill, human, fallible people. Some would say the dregs of the Earth! He said they were the salt of the Earth and the light of the world! 

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

God works in mysterious ways and chooses the unlikeliest of people to do His bidding because He sees who we truly are and brings out our true potential.

So, the message is - remain childlike, joyful, innocent, and don't put Jesus into a box! Instead we should put the world, it's views, it's religious dogma, prejudices, fears - anything that's negative and doesn't come from God - into a huge box and lock it away out of sight and mind! 

All we really need to know about Jesus is His kindness, His mercy and His great and abiding love for us! Of course that shouldn't stop you from digging deeper into His word and finding out for yourself what kind of person He is!

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

He is the Word made flesh, the Son of God, Saviour of the world! My best friend! I have felt Him move in my life and the lives of those I love! 

Oh, how I love you, Jesus! Thank you for always being there, working inside me and through me! You are my guiding light, my heart's delight and my protector! 

I am Yours forever!

Amen