THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST...
It's been almost two years since my mother-in-law found her way to heaven. We are finally cleaning out her house
and getting it ready to sell. As you might imagine, our progress is
often impeded with random discoveries of long lost treasures which tug on our heartstrings, evoking bittersweet memories. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the Dickman was upstairs
pulling up the old dusty carpet when I stumbled upon a small Mason jar filled with two Zippo lighters and a western belt buckle. Rather than interrupt his progress, I put it away to show him later. Because I'm only a few
brain cells away from senility, several days passed before I remembered the jar. I took it to him, putting it in his hands without any explanation or preamble. Immediately, his eyes grew wide and filled with tears. He opened the jar and shook the contents into his hand. “Robin, do
you know what these are?! My Dad's belt buckle and his lighters... I haven't seen
them in over 50 years!” The contents of that old Mason jar were clearly priceless treasures to the
Dickman.
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THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT...
In between the Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie, we were visiting with our son and showed him the jar full of treasures. Lucas took immediate interest in one of the lighters, thoroughly inspecting it
while wondering aloud if a new wick and some lighter fluid might bring it back to life. [Now, if you don't know my Lucas, it is
important to understand that he is an absolute minimalist and has no
interest in collecting 'things'. Not only that, but he also
scores depressingly low on the 'Sentimentality Scale'.] I watched as he turned the lighter over in his hands, imagining his grandfather holding the same lighter so many years ago. Impulsively I asked, “Do you want the lighter Luke? You can have it!” As soon as the words left my mouth, it occurred to me that the lighter
was not mine to give. I quickly glanced over at Dickie who was [thankfully!] nodding in agreement. Luke looked at his Dad and said,
“If you don't mind I would love to keep it.” It was touching that our son wanted to keep this unlikely link to the past – a connection to the
grandfather he never met.
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THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE...
A few days after he returned home, Lucas sent this picture to his Dad. Not only had he managed to get that old lighter cleaned up and working again, but he and his family were using it to light their Advent candles. Our son had taken something broken and lovingly restored it to bring a glorifying light to God.
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Sweet friends, I don't have to tell you
how broken our world is. One look at the news, one headline on the internet, one trip through a forgotten neighborhood... that's all it takes
to know. Satan has relentlessly filled our world with evil and corruption. Some days it feels like the bad guys are winning.
Today was one of those days. I'm
ashamed to say that my heart was full of negativity as I opened my
Bible. My hopeful spirit sought to find comfort in His Word.
And man, was God ever ready for me! Only a few verses into Ephesians and this is what I found:
"... this was His purpose: that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are - in heaven or in earth - to be with Him in Christ forever."
Wow. I stand amazed that over two thousand years
ago, through the inspired words of an apostle imprisoned and in
chains, Jesus gives us hope for today... and for every tomorrow!
God will gather us together into ONE
glorious kingdom under ONE sovereign King. Holy. Incorruptible.
Unimpeachable.
And in His perfect time, harmony between Heaven and Earth
will once again be restored.
This broken old world has never been more in need of that harmony and unity.
The richness –
the fullness – of that promise fills my heart with joy! And you
know what's even more exciting? The gathering has already begun.
Can't you feel it... hearts that are
yearning for so much more than this world has to offer? Eyes searching desperately for
that which is meaningful? The increasing boldness of believers unashamed to declare His salvation in love?
It's happening, y'all. We don't always
see it because satan distracts us with discord and division. He limits our focus and depletes our hope, making us forget the Promises of the Father... His boundless mercy, His unfailing love, His piercing light. His Perfect Plan.
The prevalent evil in our world today is temporary. God is already
transforming the world in big and small ways... the gathering has begun.
We can help Him, you know.
All
it takes is a little dusting, a little polishing, some re-fueling... and
God will ignite the Spirit within us with a light that defies a hopeless world and illuminates the darkness around us.
