"The Sound of Christmas" Series begins tomorrow at Rainsville First Baptist Church

 

Christmas, as we culturally know it, would not be Christmas without the sound of music.  Whether it's the sound of bells ("Silver Bells", "Jingle Bells", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"), the classic "Do You Hear What I Hear?" or the hymn "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King!"

Christmas would not be Christmas without a song.  But that is not just culturally, it is scriptural.  While Luke chapters one-and-two span longer than just the actual birth of Jesus, the chapters all deal with the scenario of the coming of Jesus into the world through His birth.  The announcement of Jesus coming set the world to singing.  

Why this emphasis on singing?  praising?

Christians, unlike the other religions of the world, are a singing people.  

The Angels sang during the powerful burst of creation of God's Word:

"When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:7

Our Saviour Sings!

"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

We are to sing as the saved people of God!

We sing in the morning:

"But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning:  For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble."  Psalm 59:16

We sing at midnight:

"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." Acts 16:25

We sing in the night:

"But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night."  Job 35:10

We sing to lift our spirits:

"To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness:  That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."  Isaiah 61:3

So since believers sing always, certainly there is no better time to sing than at Christmas.  We will listen to "The Sound of Christmas" from Luke 1 and 2 in the coming days.  Join us beginning tomorrow at Rainsville First Baptist Church at 10:15 for "The Song That Lifts" from Luke 1: 46-55.

"The Reflection of Man Turning 74" by Wade Trimmer

 On this my 74^th birthday, I’ve had several thoughts occupy my attention today, none more sobering than that of “TIME”.

Where has it gone so quickly? It’s obvious that I have far more time behind me than I do in front of me. With the average life expectancy of men around 78 years, I wonder if I’ll just be “average”?

The truth be known, we are the most time-conscience people in history. We have watches on our wrists, clocks on our cell phones, our computers, in our cars, and in practically every room in the house. The term “time” peppers practically every conversation we engage ourselves in. Hey, it’s about time. Time out, time in, time’s up, time flies, only time will tell. Time is money. Don’t waste your time going there. What time is it?

Time is a mysterious and majestic loan from God that requires the best of stewardship. We are to “remember” our Creator when we’re young (Eccl. 12:1); “number our days” (Ps. 90:12); “awake out of sleep,” (Rom. 13:11,12); and “redeem the time,” (Eph. 5:14-16). Life doesn’t belong to us. God just loans it for a while.

Time is the deposit each of us has in the bank of God and only He knows the balance. If we get to live, we all get the same amount of time deposited in our accounts each day, 24hrs., 1440 mins., 86,400 secs., and we must spend it all.

During today’s reflections on time, I decided it was time for a quick review of the subject to keep the alarm of my heart ringing out the truth that as a child of God, the best is always in the future.

Since there are only three tenses of time as we know it – past, present, and future – successful time-management requires only three things:

1. I Must Learn from the Past and Not Try to Live in It!

One translation of Philippians 3:13 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”

A. The Lessons of the Past Require Spiritual Evaluation

Evaluation Principle 1 – God Doesn’t Review Our Past in Order to Determine Our Future! Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.

Destiny is always ahead and not behind. The truth is yesterday ended last night. Yesterday has passed forever into the tomb of time and is totally beyond our resurrection of it. You and I will never be able to have a better tomorrow if we are thinking about yesterday today!

Evaluation Principle 2 – Bury the past experiences so that they become a foundation to build upon and not a focal point to be longing for!

My past should be a guide into the future and not a jailer that keeps me locked up with a prisoner’s mentality even though I’m out of the prison of sin’s condemnation.

I’m to learn from my past and not try to live in it. The past should be a springboard, not a hammock, a launching pad and not a lawn chair. It is more valuable to look where you are going than to see where you’ve been.

2. I Must Plan for the Future and not Worry Over It!

Philippians 3:13b “…and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,”

There was a man who was slowly losing his memory. After an examination, the doctor said that an operation on his brain might reverse his condition and restore his memory. However, the surgery would be so delicate that a nerve might be severed, causing total blindness.

“What would you rather have,” asked the surgeon, “your sight or your memory?” The man pondered the question for a few moments and then replied, “My sight, because I would rather see where I am going than remember where I have been.”

So, Wade, stop looking at where you’ve been and start looking at where you’re going. Life can be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. Look backwards with gratitude to God in that although your past may have seemed like “hell on earth”, you weren’t sentenced to “hell under the earth! “Then look forward with confidence that the prospects of your future are as bright as the promises of God!

3. I Must Live in the Present by Seizing Every Opportunity to Glorify God by Enjoying and Displaying Him in Every Area of Life!

Ephesians 5:16, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The word for redeeming the time means to buy up what will be lost forever if not purchased and bring it out of the market and remove from further sale. The picture is that we go into the market “to buy up an article that will be lost if we don’t buy it, in order to make the largest possible profit out of it.”  This is each Christian’s responsibility regarding Time.

We must use the present wisely by staying focused on the destiny we’re going to instead of on the problems we’re going through!

We must major upon opportunities and not on obstacles. We must major on possibilities and not on problems. We must use the present to talk about the great grace of God that is available, able, and abundant and not talk about the gross mistreatments or grievous mistakes or great milestones of our past. We must talk about the prospects of the future and not the successes and failures of our past.

We must remember that our time deposit in God’s Bank of Life can be closed at any time, without any notice! Now is the accepted time! Procrastination is the thief of time and the grave of opportunity.

Luke 9:62,“No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the Day!” (The Message)

Rom 13:11, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

So, Wade, practice what you preach – use today to glorify God by enjoying Him in every way, in everyplace, in everyday! Then when your time is up, you’ll be with Him in glory where you’ll never run out of time again!

 

What Are You Grateful For? by Dr. Charles Stanley

 What are you grateful for today?

Daily nourishment, a roof over our heads—at the very least, we can usually thank God for these things. And you’ll probably find quite a bit more, when you stop to “count your blessings.”

God’s gifts shouldn’t be taken for granted, but oftentimes we have to learn to appreciate them.

One such gift is the blessing of companionship.

When I was in college, I knew someone who understood what it takes to be a devoted friend. He’d stop by and ask whether I’d like to have lunch with him or if he could do anything for me. Even if I declined, he just kept coming back.

Eventually we became close, and I truly appreciated his persistence. He taught me what it means to really be a friend—and that’s a lifelong blessing.

Do you have friendships that enrich your life and fill you with gratitude?

In this age of social media, people have more “friends” than ever. But what about loyal companions who know you intimately and stick by you through good times and bad? We all need this, yet deep relationships are harder to find than ever before.

God created us as relational beings so we could interact with Him and each other.

That’s why after making Adam, He created Eve, saying, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Throughout Scripture there are accounts of companionship—Moses and Aaron, David and Jonathan, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Jesus chose 12 men to be His disciples, and three were even closer friends—Peter, James, and John.

The Lord doesn’t want you to walk through life alone.

If you feel a void in this area of your life, I’d like to offer you some help.

First of all, our intimate friends are usually few in number. And friendships don’t come automatically; they require time, effort, and unselfishness.

There’s also emotional risk because at some point, you may be hurt by a friend. But that shouldn’t stop you from finding a trustworthy companion and cultivating a relationship you both find fulfilling.

Building a long-lasting friendship requires a good foundation.

Mutual interests are the starting point in friendship, and the most important one is a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior.

Although we’re not to isolate ourselves from non-Christians, they won’t necessarily be our closest friends because their values, desires, and beliefs might be contrary to ours. The Bible warns that “bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33).

We need friends who draw us nearer to the Lord, not farther away.

The second building block is a relationship governed by biblical principles.

One of the reasons friendships fall apart is a failure to treat each other as God’s Word says. We need to be a friend, and have a friend, who is patient, kind, humble, unselfish, and forgiving—not holding grudges, becoming jealous, being easily provoked to anger, or acting ugly (1 Cor. 13:4-5).

Philippians 2:4 reminds us to look out for the other person’s interests more than our own.

If we enter a relationship out of neediness, it will soon become imbalanced. We’ll constantly lean on our friend to meet our own needs. That’s exhausting for the other person and will likely drive him or her away.

God wants us ultimately to lean on Him, not on another human being, because He alone is sufficient to meet all our needs, whether physical, material, emotional, or Spiritual.

Third, lasting relationships are built on mutual spiritual edification.

We encourage each other in the faith, share what we’ve learned in God’s Word, talk about the Lord, and pray for and with each other. When a close companion is going through a hard time, we give empathy and support, and if God blesses our friend in some way, we will likely rejoice together (Rom. 12:15). Sometimes, edification takes the form of a reproof given in a spirit of humility and gentleness (Gal. 6:1).

Fourth, an intimate relationship is built on mutual transparency.

It’s impossible to cultivate a deep relationship when one party refuses to open up. You can’t build friendships with someone who’s built a wall so high and thick that no one can get through.

The apostle Paul had this problem with the church at Corinth. He had laid bare his heart to them, but they were restrained toward him. So he pleaded with them to open wide their hearts in like exchange (2 Cor. 6:11-13).

Experiencing all the dimensions of a good friendship will make you profoundly thankful—both for the person you’ve befriended and for God’s goodness in bringing the two of you together.

My prayer is that you’ll find a loyal, trustworthy friend and that together, you’ll grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Following these biblical guidelines will open a path to contentment, joy, and fulfillment. That devoted friend could become one of God’s richest blessings in your life.

Prayerfully yours,

Charles F. Stanley