Friday night I attended a special meeting at church for those who are grieving or have experienced loss around the holidays. With me was our good friend R., who recently lost his mother.

It was a quiet, healing time for all. Some, like R., who lost a loved one this year, were deeply comforted by the love of God shared and simply being together.

Others, like myself, had time to reflect on other kinds of losses we have experienced, and how God’s grace and goodness have carried us through.

Jesus tells us that here on earth there will be sorrow, yet in Him we find peace:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

Seasons of trials, loneliness, and sorrow come to all of us at times. They don’t just disappear because we turn the calendar to December.

While songs of holiday joy fill workplaces and shopping malls, hospitals remain full. For some, loved ones will not be home for Christmas. Family in the military, broken relationships, illness, loss of loved ones, and a thousand other trials big and small continue to fill people’s lives, even through this season of “cheer.”

Christmas isn’t about pretending everything is fine when it isn’t. It’s about turning our eyes to things above, accepting God’s love into our hearts, and remembering the greatest gift ever given: His wonderful Son.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:1)

The holidays present a special time to extend the love of Christ to those in need, to bring hope to the hopeless, and to shine as lights in a dark and troubled world.

Do you know someone who is feeling the sting of loss this Christmas?

Reach out to them this week with the love of God, and remind them that they are not alone.

It may be the greatest gift they receive.

Copyright © 2018 Cheryl Elton

The post You Are Not Alone appeared first on Cheryl Elton.

Every December the street behind our local high school becomes a tourist attraction for young and old. Cars wait in line turning onto the street, people stop to take photos, and the oohs and aahs of delight can be heard—all in front of one house—the one known far and wide for its incredible display of Christmas lights.

There’s one in every town, isn’t there?

During the time of Christ’s birth there were no laser lights and inflatable reindeer, but rather, the most spectacular light display ever—“the glory of the Lord”—that shone round about a few modest shepherds who received word from an angel of the birth of the Messiah.                      

The shepherds quickly went to Bethlehem to see if what they heard was true. After finding Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger, they told everyone what had happened, returning to their flocks glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard.

Light is a prevalent theme throughout Scripture. In Genesis God spoke “let there be light.” First John 1:5 says:

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, declared that He was the light of the world:

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) 

Where light shines, darkness flees!

Where the light of Christ prevails, the dark places in our lives disappear.

As Christians, we’re called to be light-bearers, proclaiming the message of Christ and displaying the light of Christ to a world encased in darkness.

“ . . . that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” (Philippians 2:15-16) 

We are God’s Christmas lights! 

We were created to bring our heavenly Father glory. As people see Christ living in us, as the shepherds who couldn’t help but share what they had seen and heard, others will also glorify our heavenly Father!

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

May our light shine brightly, not only this Christmas season, but also every day of the new year!

Copyright © 2016 Cheryl Elton

The post God’s Christmas Lights appeared first on Cheryl Elton.

With holiday time in full swing, it’s interesting to consider the traditions associated with Christmas. What do decorated trees and wreaths, yule logs, Santa Claus, Christmas cookies, and jingle bells have to do with the birth of Christ?

Answer: Nothing!

What does December 25 have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ?

Answer: Nothing!

Research reveals that Jesus was actually born in the fall of the year. Almost all the customs of Christmas stem from ancient pagan festivals honoring other gods, and didn’t begin until some 300 years after Christ’s death.

And although the Bible records details about the birth of Jesus Christ, there is no record of anyone celebrating it.

So does God really care about all the hoopla surrounding Christmas?

Probably not.

Rather, He cares about our hearts.

Do we become so immersed with activity that we forget about Him? That in our busyness we lose the wonderful peace of His presence?

As we glean the good of the season—helping those in need, talking with others about Jesus at a time of year when needs surface, exchanging gifts with loved ones, appreciating family—may we remember God’s most lavish gift to the world—His Son Jesus Christ.

Please enjoy the following excerpts from Ephesians 1*, reminding us of how special we are to God; the greatest gift, His Son; our wonderful calling to exemplify Christ to the world, and the joy we experience in His presence.

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. 

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. 

It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. 

That’s why . . . I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! 

All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe . . . no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

* From chapter one of Ephesians, Eugene Peterson, The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 2015 Cheryl Elton

The post God’s Lavish Gift-Giving appeared first on Cheryl Elton.

Well-known radio broadcaster, the late Paul Harvey, told a heartfelt story on air every December that people loved. It portrays why an invisible God sent His Son to earth as a man.

What follows is a condensed version of the story. Enjoy!

Once there was a skeptical, non-religious man who just couldn’t swallow the “Jesus story” about God coming to earth as a man. One snowy evening as he sat by the fire reading, he was startled by a loud thud against his house. Then another, and another.

He went outside to discover a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. Caught in the storm, they had been desperately seeking shelter, and tried to fly into his living room window.

His heart went out to the stunned little creatures. He didn’t want to let them lie there and freeze. He thought about his barn. It would provide a warm shelter—if he could direct the birds into it.

He opened the barn doors wide and turned on the light. He waited. The birds did not go in. He thought food might entice them, so he sprinkled a trail of bread crumbs on the snow to the doorway of the barn. But the birds continued to flap helplessly in the snow.

He tried catching them. No success. He tried shooing them into the barn, but to his dismay they scattered in every direction except toward the warm, lighted barn.

Then he realized they were afraid of him!

To these helpless small birds he was a huge terrifying creature. “If only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me, that I’m not trying to hurt them, but help them,” he thought.

But how?

Any move he made seemed to frighten them. They would not follow him.

“If only I could be a bird,” he thought, “and mingle among them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. I could show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them, so they could see, hear, and understand.”

With that thought—an epiphany!

In stunned silence he dropped to his knees in the snow . . . 

For this man the gospel message and John 1:14 suddenly made sense: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”

Hebrews powerfully sums up this truth: 

“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.  

Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” (Hebrews 2:14-18)

In the life of the man Jesus Christ we see God. And now, for those who believe, we can know the joy of His presence with and within us!

A powerful message that never grows old!

Copyright © 2015 Cheryl Elton

The post The Man the Birds and the Barn appeared first on Cheryl Elton.