By Steve Higginbotham
For many people, Christmas is the
"most wonderful time of the year," but for others, it
can be the most painful time of the year. While many
will be together laughing, and sharing expressions of
love during this holiday season, others will be sitting
alone, broken, and forlorn.
It's difficult for those who have not
suffered loss to appreciate the pain others feel during
the holidays. However, if God allows us to live long
enough, we all will experience a Christmas without a
loved one for the very first time. Instead of being
surrounded by family and gifts, our companions will be
loneliness and grief. Even in a room filled with family,
one may find himself alone in his thoughts, memories,
and grief.
So what can be done? Here are some
suggestions
- To
the Joyful ... Surprise someone who is grieving with
gifts, cards, letters, and visits. Get the whole
family involved in the project, children included.
Make it thoughtful, sacrificial, and memorable.
Allow it to be a teaching moment of God's love for
the recipient, our children, and ourselves.
- To
the Joyful ... Help someone create new memories. Be
sensitive to the fact that for some people,
Christmas never was a time of joy due to a
dysfunctional upbringing. For some people, the mere
thought of Christmas drudges up painful memories.
While we can't change the past, we can change the
present and create pleasant memories to be recalled
in the future.
- To
the Joyful ... Don't forget to thank God for what
you have. Cherish every joyful moment as His gift to
you. We live in a fallen world that sooner or later
will affect our lives. God won't exempt us from
heartache and pain in this life, but He did promise
eternal peace and joy in the life to come. Don't
take your present joy for granted.
- To
the Hurting ... Don't give up. Don't wallow in your
grief. Fight it. Choose what you want to think
about. Work at finding joy. Count your blessings,
name them one-by-one, and it will surprise you what
the Lord has done.
- To
the Hurting ... Serve others. Get outside yourself.
It's a paradox, but if you want to lighten your
load, you need to pick up the load of another. It is
more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
Busy yourself in doing good for others and you'll
create your own joy and be distracted from your
pain. Remember, we were made for good works
(Ephesians 2:10). Functioning according to the
"Owner's Manual" will always provide the best
results.
- To
the Hurting ...
- Don't forget to thank God for what
you have. I don't mean to downplay your hurt and
heartache, but if you are the Lord's, your blessings
far exceed your problems. Look beyond your pain and
you will see countless reasons to give God thanks
"Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to
comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort
with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2
Corinthians 1:3-4).
- Steve Higginbotham preaches for the Karns Church of
Christ in Knoxville, TN. He may be contacted through the
congregation's website at http://www.karnschurch.org
Copyright © 2019 MercEmail
By Edd Sterchi
There is a gift that you can
give to others that is absolutely amazing and it does
not cost a thing (monetarily, anyway). It is never the
wrong color or size. Everyone who receives this gift
always loves and cherishes it. And, amazingly enough,
when we give this to someone, we also receive something
in return. It’s a win-win. Ready to hear what it is? It
is the gift of forgiveness.
The Oxford English
Dictionary defines forgive as: “to stop feeling
angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offense or
mistake.” Our English word forgive comes from the Old
English words “for” and “gifan” (give). So forgiveness
in the original root means to give (as in give up). In
forgiving someone, we give up on anger, resentment, and
revenge – and in doing so, we give the person we are
forgiving something, and we are giving ourselves
something, also.
I’m sure you have heard the
phrase, “forgive and forget.” Notice within those words
are the words “give” and “get.” When we forgive another,
we give them a renewed relationship, but we also give
ourselves peace of mind – those thoughts of anger and
resentment have been let go.
Jesus gave the reminder that if
we want forgiveness from God, then we must forgive our
fellow humans (Matt. 6:14-15). It is God’s design that
forgiveness is a gift to others and to ourselves.
Paul, through inspiration,
wrote in Col. 3:12-15, “Therefore...put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ
forgave you, so you also must do. But above all
these things put on love, which is the bond of
perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts...” When we learn to give forgiveness to others,
we make it much easier for the peace of God to rule in
our hearts.
So do you want to give a great
gift and receive a great gift at the same time? Then
learn to forgive. Two for the price of one – what a
deal! Forgiveness is truly the gift that keeps on
giving!
- Edd Sterchi preaches for the Broadway Church of Christ
in Campbellsville, KY. He may be contacted through the
congregation's website: http://www.broadwaychurchofchrist.net/
By Gerald Cowan
Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard
Nor has it entered human minds
What we expect in God to find,
According to His Holy Word.
The wonders that the Lord has done
In ages past He’ll not repeat.
The words and works are now complete
Since Christ has our salvation won.
All is complete. No more will come
Until from death we rise again
To stand before the Lord, and then
Know what he saved us for and from.
No words or pictures can reveal
The truth of heaven or of hell.
Symbolic terms are used to tell
What in eternity is sealed.
But this we know, now is the time
When we can make a valid choice
That gives us hope we will rejoice
Eternally in heaven sublime.
Hell’s horror we will never know
Nor ever then for mercy plead
If to God’s heaven we accede,
And it is there we want to go.
- Gerald Cowan, a longtime preacher and missionary, is
retired from full-time pulpit preaching. Gerald
publishes an e-mail newsletter entitled GERALD COWAN’S
PERSONAL PERIODICAL WRITINGS. He is available for
Gospel Meetings and he may be contacted at Geraldcowan1931@aol.com
By Johnny Hester
Old Bill was quite a strange fellow
who fell victim to a rare mental disorder, the Cotard
Delusion — a condition in which the affected person
holds the delusional belief that he or she is already
dead. One morning he awoke thoroughly convinced that
he was dead! His wife did her best to persuade him
that he was still very much alive, but he clung to the
delusion that he was dead. Bill’s children and
grandchildren all had a go at convincing the old
fellow that he was still in the land of the living,
but he point-blank refused to believe it. He knew that
he was dead and nobody would persuade him otherwise.
Eventually his family became so
concerned that they took him to a psychiatrist. The
doctor spent many hours with Bill over several weeks,
but all his skills were of no avail as the stubborn
old gentleman continued to insist that he was stone
cold dead. After one particularly fruitless session
the psychiatrist was ready to give up. But just then
an idea struck him.
Taking down his medical books, he
used them to illustrate the irrefutable scientific
fact that dead people do not bleed. After about an
hour he asked, “So Bill, do you agree that dead men
don’t bleed?” “Of course,” agreed Bill, “everybody
knows that!” “And do you still insist that you are
dead?” “Doc, I’ve told you a thousand times, I’m as
dead as a doornail.” At this point the psychiatrist
took a pin and suddenly jammed it into Old Bill’s
thumb. Immediately a trickle of blood leaked out. “So,
what do you think now!” said the psychiatrist
triumphantly. “Well, I’ll be a blue-nosed gopher,”
Bill exclaimed, “dead men do bleed!”
At times I’ve been like Old Bill in
the refusing to budge from my preconceived notions and
foregone conclusions. The attitude exhibited was “I
know what I believe—I’ve made up my mind, so don’t
confuse me with the facts!”
Brothers and sisters, let’s fight
against such tendencies—especially regarding spiritual
truth—and be receptive to what God has clearly
indicated in His Word; whether by declaration,
command, example, or necessarily implication. When we
ascertain what God has said about any matter, we may
have confidence that what He says is accurate and
true. As Jesus prayed for His disciples, He asked of
His Father, “Sanctify them through the truth; your
Word is truth” (John 17:17).
I love the attitude, “If God said
it, that settles it.” This is the attitude every
Christian should take when it comes to learning,
loving and obeying God's inspired and inspiring Word.
- Johnny Hester preaches for the Matthews Church of
Christ in Matthews, MO. He may be contacted at johnnyhester@yahoo.com
By Jeff Arnette
Fondly, I remember these words from
my grandfather. Sometimes, I long to hear his loving
voice telling me, “Jeff, you need to get your want to
fixed.” It took countless years to finally hear the
love, wisdom, and hope in his words and I am grateful
for them.
His words remind me that motivation
is a funny thing and often we do not want to do
something because our motivations are askew, or, other
things are competing with the important things in our
life. These words of wisdom from grandfather remind me
to examine my motives and inspire me to give it my
all, even when I do not feel like it or want to.
In 2 Cor. 13:5-6, Paul encourages
us to examine ourselves to see if we are really living
up to the standard that God has set for us, to see if
we are really in the faith. In all fairness, I should
say that it gets easier with time and experience, but
it never gets easy. I think this is why God
continually reminds to look within and examine our
motives. Let me share with you some things that should
help us as we strive to “get our want to fixed.”
Something that should motivate us
to keep going is knowing that we’re not alone in this
journey. Surrounded by a huge family who loves us,
cheers, and supports us; we are encouraged to keep
trying. Just remember that all of us are at different
points in this journey of faith but we are striving
for the same goal of Christlikeness.
Something else that motivates us is
the Lord’s Supper. Every time we gather around the
Lord’s Table, we’re reminded to look inward.
Reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus helps us to get
the world out and replace it with more of Jesus. It
reminds us to live in such a way, that we glorify and
honor the One who loved us and died for us.
Something else that helps us is the
worship services. Every time we gather together to
worship and praise our great God and Christ, we are
reminded to look inward. We should take worship
services seriously because it is the primary way God
will motivate and encourage a deeper walk with Him.
These are a few of the things that
should motivate us to consider our motivations and get
it fixed. I am sure you can think of other that I
don’t have the space to even consider but I hope you
get my point.
It is my prayer and heart’s desire
that we will all be motivated to serve Jesus, His
people, and this church with all the love that we can
muster. What will it take to get your “Want To” fixed?
- Jeff Arnette preaches for the Central Haywood church
of Christ, Clyde, NC. He may be contacted
through the congregation's website: https://centralhaywoodcoc.com/
By Larry Miles
In Eph. 5:7-10 Paul reminds us that
we are "in Christ" and that our lives must reflect
that identity. He warns that we must "Display Our
Lives By Not Joining Those in Darkness." Paul
has warned the Ephesian Christians, and us, that if we
live like the ones who revel in the "works of
the flesh" instead of living a life
permeated by "the works of the Spirit" we will share
in the punishment of the ones who rebel against God.
Eph. 5:7 reads as follows,
"Therefore do not be partakers with them." We are to
be the salt of the earth. Remember, we are to live in
the world, but not of the world (1 John 2:15-17). The
folks in the world must be able to see the love of
Christ in us. They must know by our lives that we love
them, while not loving their sin. It is not easy to
separate the sin and the sinner, but we must always
ask the Lord to help us attain that and live in the
Spirit as we seek the lost and strengthen the saved.
- Larry Miles lives in Louisville, KY and publishes "Larry's Lines"
several times a week. Copyright 2019. Visit his
website: http://larryslines.com/
By David Bragg
At the end of May 2018, 515 young
people (ages 8 to 15) gathered for the 2018 Scripps
National Spelling Bee. On the last day the field had
narrowed to only two contestants: Naysa Modi (12) and
Karthik Nemmani (14), both from Texas. Naysa was given
the word “bewusstseinslage,” which she misspelled (it
is a technical term from the field of psychology for
"conscious mental states which cannot be associated
with specific sensations or images;
psychologydictionary.org). Up next was Karthik Nemmani
who correctly spelled the word given to him, the word
that led to his being crowned the 2018 Spelling Bee
champion, the word "koinonia" (www.usatoday.com).
Many are the benefits derived from
faithful and consistent attendance to our Bible
classes and worship. Chief among them is the
opportunity for meaningful fellowship. If the word
“faithful” describes your attendance, you will
probably recognize the word koinonia, it is the Greek
word regularly translated as "fellowship" in the New
Testament. Not only was "koinonia" the winning word
for Karthik Nemmani in 2018, it a winning word for
Christians every year. Fellowship will make you a
stronger, more faithful Christian. It will help you to
win the greatest competition the world has ever known;
the spiritual battle for your soul.
David Bragg
- David Bragg serves as one of the ministers at the
Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC and is
co-editor of BulletinGold. He may be contacted through
the congregation's website: http://www.nwchurchofchrist.com/
or his blog: http://davidbragg.blogspot.com/
