I wish that Jesus would make a commercial. I wonder who would watch it. I think, at first, because it would be so unique, the commercial would be a hit–and, knowing marketing as I do, it’s likely Jesus would only have one shot at it. I think it would be fun if,  during the literal five minutes of commercial advertising during a prime-time TV show, we would see Jesus appear on TV, standing in front of stacks of ”boxes of salvation,” telling everyone, “You must have it!” And…to top it off, Jesus would be telling us…”and it’s FREE!”

As much as we don’t believe in “free” anything, I suppose it would be difficult for people to even believe Jesus in a commercial. What they don’t realize it that Jesus would be telling us the truth–salvation is free…to anyone who believes in Him.

This Christmas season, take a good look at the Nativity on your table. It’s not just a Christmas decoration; it’s the story of Jesus Christ, come to earth as a baby, born to die for our sins on the Cross, so that we can truly receive His free gift of salvation.

I hope you will receive the Free Gift offered to you this day by Jesus. May God bless you and keep you this Christmas!

Ginny

I don’t know if you’re familiar with anxiety, so let me explain a couple of things: During an anxiety attack your first thoughts are that you are surely going to drop over dead. Your heart pounds, you feel lightheaded and you’re unsure if it’s anxiety or a heart attack.  It’s painful and frightening. Anxiety attacks occur after the body has released adrenaline to handle a stressful situation. That’s the odd occurrence–the attack happens anywhere from a couple of hours to many hours after the stress, not during– so you’re not expecting it.

I stepped out of the shower and started quoting Scripture to calm myself, knowing that’s what needed to be done.  “Be anxious for nothing.” (Philippians 4:6) I closed my eyes and concentrating on the Lord I kept repeating it, be anxious for nothing, be anxious for nothing…. Shortly thereafter my heart stopped pounding, I could breathe normally and my whole system calmed down. I could then hear the Lord saying to me, “Be anxious for nothing,” and that brought gentle peace to my heart.

In times of trial when you are stressed out about life situations, keep the words of the Lord in your mind and trust Him to be in those situations. All through the Bible we read how God is in every situation and He truly cares  about the outcome…more importantly, He truly cares about us.

Close your eyes, concentrate on the Lord, take a cleansing breath, and be anxious for nothing…for God is in control.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had utilized my last thread of creativity. I could think no more about who to talk to about what; about negotiating with the insurance company; about “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” So I simply disappeared to a favorite place of solitude with a cup of tea and said to the heavens, “Hello, God, can you hear me now?” I simply asked Him if He could please, please help Ken find a job–today. That was the end of my prayer; nothing more, because there was no more to say.

When I got home, Ken told me he had received a phone call from some company–didn’t know the name–who offered him an interview this week. When I asked him for more information, he didn’t have any to offer. It was weird to say the least, but he’s going to go. I was frustrated with the lack of information–what is it about men?–but he said he should go. After dinner last night, Ken received a second phone call from another company that saw his resume and wants to interview him. It was not a human on the phone, so no chance to ask questions. Ken was instructed to leave his phone number if he was interested in receiving a second phone call with more information. How sad that business these days apparently doesn’t require the use of human beings–thus, Ken’s situation of unemployment.

All of this to say, God taught me a lesson yesterday. In our moments of doubt on whether or not God took a vacation from our lives–the answer remains an emphatic no! God has promised us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5) but I, for one, in my darkest hours, am generally so focused on what I am going to do about it that I forget to make enough space in my thoughts for God to show me what He is going to do about it. So when you feel like asking God, “Can you hear me now?” don’t ever forget Hebrews 13:5–[God] will never leave you nor forsake you. Yes…He can hear you now…and forever.

My grandson’s response immediately triggered a thought in my mind, which I believe was God’s message for me today, so I wanted to share it with you: As Christians, alive in Christ, should we ever have just another day? Did Jesus ever say, “This is just another day for me?” Actually, that vision kind of makes me chuckle. From all we read in Scripture it is hard to fathom Jesus having just another day, isn’t it? He always seems so busy as we read through Scripture.

I suppose as human beings we all feel at times that this is just another day. And…if we don’t do something special on our birthdays, when someone asks us “What did you do for your birthday?” we often respond, “Not much…it was just another day.” So, let this be a reminder to all of us that living in Christ should never be “just another day.”  There is always something for us to do…for Him…that can make our day–everyday–something special.

Go and be a blessing today!

Ginny

As my tagline says, God does indeed provide for all our needs, and I look forward to telling you all the good ways God is working around the world.