Month: December 2023

Tis the season to be jolly!  That familiar song lyric speaks of this time of year.  This is the holiday season!  Christmas and the other religious celebrations at this time of year are meant to be joyous occasions.  And they are quickly followed by the New Year’s Eve celebration, which is traditionally an uproarious good time. 

In general, people like to celebrate.  They want to be happy!  Even the ancients had designated holidays.  There were celebrations for harvest, for planting, for the cycle of the moon, for the solstices, for commemorating notable events, and various other reasons.  Although some of these were designed as solemn remembrances, most were meant to be festive occasions.  It is the same today.  In our country we have solemn holidays that honor fallen heroes, but most of our holidays are celebrations of life.

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus.  Although, December 25^th is not the accurate date of his birth, we can rejoice that people in our country are still celebrating Jesus Christ when it isn’t necessarily the popular thing to do in the current climate.  

One of my favorite sections of scripture is in the Gospel of Luke regarding Jesus’s birth.

Luke 2:4–14  (KJV)  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  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.

Talk about a momentous occasion worthy of celebration!  The whole world changed that night.  The angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”  We are included in “all people”! GREAT JOY!  That’s an understatement!  We are still experiencing that great joy over two-thousand years later! 

The great thing about this Biblical joy is that it not dependent on our surroundings.  In fact, we can have this joy even if we’re in a bad state.  The great joy of that night in Bethlehem is a spiritual joy that we have now as Christians.  Jesus Christ was born and lived his life perfectly, then he was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Because of all that, we have the gift of holy spirit in us and all the rights and privileges of being a son of God.  There is nothing in this world that can change that or take it away from us.  We are going to heaven and all hell cannot stop us!  When we remember this, we have great joy!  And rightfully so!  If our surroundings are crummy or we’re sick or broken-hearted, we still can have joy because the greatness of what we have in Christ surmounts whatever we’re facing in the world.

The Bible also says that God has given us the victory. (1 Corinthians 15:57)  If God gave it to us, it is OURS.  We have the victory now.  We may not see it in every situation we face, but in the end, when all is said and done, our victory is guaranteed!  Knowing that gives us joy regardless of what our eyes see. 

The proclamation that the angel spoke that night in Bethlehem still resounds in our hearts today.  We rejoice because we have a Savior who was born, lived, died and was raised from the dead, who ever lives to make intercession for us. 

So, claim the joy that has been given to you!  Enjoy this time of year with all its spectacle.  Enjoy spending time with your loved ones.  Enjoy the quiet peace of the night before Christmas and the excitement of Christmas morning.  Enjoy the cookies and dinners with all the fixings.  Enjoy giving gifts and receiving them.  But most of all, enjoy the love that your Heavenly Father has shown you by giving you His only begotten son so that you can be saved and have a life in His presence and with Christ Jesus that lasts FOREVER! 

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays.  Prosperous New Year.  God’s Blessings!  REJOICE!

Note to my readers:  No matter what presents you receive this holiday, don’t forget to open your gift of joy.  Thanks for reading! 

I apologize for the delay of my post, but family matters have filled my time and my mind for the last few weeks.  When I did have time, my mind was a flurry.  When my mind would settle, my time was spoken for.  And in the midst of all that, I seemed to have had writer’s block.  I could not decide what to write because so many things were going on in my mind. 

Then, I thought about a patchwork quilt. 

Although quilts date back to ancient times, we are probably more familiar with the early American examples.  At that time in our country, fabric was ver expensive and hard to come by. Most of it had to be imported from Europe.  So, the industrious pioneers utilized every scrap of that precious fabric to the best of their ability.  And without the modern convenience of central heating systems in their homes, they needed  the warmth of many blankets.  So, patchwork quilts were born out of necessity, but quickly grew into colorful expressions of art. 

I found this interesting…  Loosely quoted from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

In the early 19^th century, American produced cotton became readily available in an array of prints and colors, thus enabling more pieced and appliqued quilts to be affordable.  The invention of the sewing machine in the 1840s radically changed household sewing. Thanks to the pay-by-installment plan popularized by I.M. Singer, many had access to a treadle machine that quickly finished essential sewing, leaving time for more leisurely pursuits like embroidery and quilting.

I tell you all this because I think of our minds like patchwork quilts.  We take a thought from here, one from there, and another from somewhere else and sew them together to make a quilt that is exclusively ours. We determine what thoughts to put into our quilts and the overall design that we want our quilts to be.  There are not only unique and special thoughts in our quilts, but also many common useful ones.  Vibrantly colorful and solidly strong thoughts make the best quilts.  And ragged ugly thoughts make dreadful ones.  If a thought in our quilt gets worn out, we can replace it with a better one. We are thrifty to not waste thoughts, and careful to be good stewards of our quilts.  The finished product is an incomparable mix of the memories that left impressions on our hearts and the ideas that help move us forward.  And all the thoughts together make one wonderfully unique and beautiful expression of our lives.  Thoughts upon thoughts, our quilts are constantly growing and changing. 

Colors and patterns vary from quilt to quilt, and some quilts might even clash with ours.  A quilt may be simple, and another complicated.  Some quilts are made with bright bold colors, while others have subtle shades.  Some quilts are organized, and others may be scatterbrained.  We may enjoy another’s quilt or find someone’s quilt annoying.  Regardless of what we might think of anyone’s quilt, we are only responsible for our own.  That is not to say that we cannot help someone with their quilt, but in the end, every quilt can only be maintained by its owner. 

If you have ever quilted or known a quilter, you know that the particular fabrics used in a quilt can make or break the finished product.  If substandard fabric is used, the quilt will fade or tear, or wear out too quickly.  If the fabric’s colors and patterns don’t mesh, the result is not pleasing.  No quilter would choose such fabrics.  Furthermore, making a quilt is a meticulous labor of love.  Considering all the work involved, a quilter pays attention to details to facilitate the most desirable outcome.  If care is not taken to sew the fabrics together correctly, the quilt can easily fall apart.  If the workmanship is shoddy, it will be readily apparent. 

The same is true of our mind’s quilts.  We cannot allow substandard thoughts into our quilt.  They will undermine its quality.  We must make every effort to put the best and most congruent thoughts in our minds so that our quilt is the most functional and beautiful.  We cannot ‘cut corners’ or take shortcuts when assembling our mind’s quilt.  We must keep the desired finished product in the forefront of our thinking and work diligently toward that goal. 

Outstanding quilts contain beautiful fabrics, intricate details, and spectacular workmanship.  I’ve seen quilts with a million tiny pieces put together with mind-boggling precision.  I’ve seen ones with amazingly intricate stitching and others with the most eye-catching fabrics.  And I admired all of them, not only for their beauty, but also for all the skill that went into making them. 

Having outstanding mind quilts, requires using beautiful thoughts, intricate attention to detail, and our best workmanship.  When we have those things, the finished product will be pleasing, not only to ourselves, but also to all who know us.  The quality of our labor will be easily recognizable. 

The most beautiful and profitable thoughts that we can put into our mind’s quilt are the thoughts of God’s Word.  We search the scriptures with attention to detail for the thoughts we need.  We demonstrate our workmanship by rightly dividing the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).  Then when we sew the perfect thoughts of God’s Word with intricate stitches of red thread, we will have a glorious quilt that is an expression of all the great things that God has given us.  Our mind’s quilt will reflect the love of God, protect us from the cold harsh world, and keep our minds at peace.  And just like the early pioneers developed their quilting skills, we can develop our skills in making our mind’s quilt. Our quilts can go beyond the level of bare necessity, into a wonderfully artful expression of the goodness of God.

 Note to my readers:  Happy quilting!  Thanks for reading!