Lord

December Sunset – 2013 Rises

/ Bill Jones / 6 Comments
December Sunset

December Sunset

Here’s a beautiful south Georgia sunset in late December. Now 2013 has come in and we begin another year thanking God for the blessings He gives us and asking Him to guide us in what we do – all to His glory.

“Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Psalms 25:4-7 NKJV

Making Sense of Christmas

/ Bill Jones / 12 Comments
Birth of Jesus Matthew 2:1

Birth of Jesus Matthew 2:1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(This post is part of the ChristianWriters.com blog chain for December – The theme is Christmas sense(s))

I struggle at times making sense of Christmas. Why did the God of Creation leave Heaven and come to earth – especially as a baby?

Then, at some time in the season, God blesses me with a glimpse of clarity. Last year, as it has often been in past years, it was our church’s Christmas Cantata. The theme was “Peace” – the peace from God, peace with God, the peace of God. It was a beautiful, focused hour of worship, with Scripture, meditations, and songs celebrating the birth of Jesus. The Son of God became a man and dwelt among us – and His life, death, and resurrection redeemed us and brought us peace.

The songs spoke of that redemption and that peace: “Bring the hour that banished sadness, brought redemption down to earth” (Stars of Glory). “Hail, thou ever blessed morn. Hail, redemption’s happy dawn (See Amid the Winter Snow). “The Prince of Peace has come, rejoice and sing Noel!” (Watchman).

The reading of Isaiah 53:5 reminded us that our peace came at a high price. “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” ESV

The sorrow came later in His life on earth, but, on that first Christmas night long ago, there was rejoicing because the promised and long awaited Messiah had come. And, on the night of our cantata, the voice of a child reading the story brought tears to my eyes as the truth was revealed once more:

“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 Savior, 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.”  Luke 2:8-14 KJV

Peace, as man defines it, will not occur – no matter how hard we try. However, peace, as defined by God, has been accomplished through that baby born in Bethlehem – and He is Jesus the Christ. I still can’t make sense of it all – but I do greatly rejoice in it!

“Infant holy, Infant lowly…Christ the Babe is Lord of All.” (Infant Holy, Infant Lowly)

Blessings from God – Peanuts!

/ Bill Jones / 10 Comments

Peanut Field in Georgia

Well, along with the Cotton, they’re also harvesting peanuts around here. This is the field across the road from our house. The peanut plants were turned over a few days ago and are now dry and ready to harvest.

Peanuts Closeup

Above is a closeup of the dried peanuts. And below is the harvester that picks up the vines and separates out the peanuts.

Peanut Harvester

Our gracious Lord has provided thousands of plants in abundance that give us food and clothing. And an extra blessing with peanuts is the chance to have some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”  Psalms 36:7-9 ESV

Blessings from God – The Shirts on our Backs

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments

Cotton Field in Georgia

I see on the Weather Channel and in quite a few blogs that it has already been snowing in a lot of places. Here in south Georgia, we do have some fields of white. But, they’re white from the cotton that’s being harvested.

Cotton Close Up

Another amazing blessing from our Lord. A plant that has fibers that can be spun into thread, that can then be made into shirts and hundreds of other things. And somewhere along the line, He gave somebody the brain to think and figure out how to do that.

And He gave us brains to think on even greater things:

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.” Psalms 48:9 ESV