This year, I find my thoughts focused on what I do and do not have. Most people at some time or another feel a bit deprived. We all know people who just seem to have more than we do. They live in bigger homes, wear better quality clothes, drive newer cars, and take longer vacations to more inviting places. Meanwhile, we sacrifice, pray, and volunteer all kinds of time at church and perhaps community organizations, too, but seem to go without the things we want—sometimes without things we feel we really, really need.

These thoughts bring Jonah to mind. God gave him three days of time-out, so to speak, in the whale. There, during the quiet minutes and hours, he could meditate on what God wanted for him and from him. Or consider that Jesus himself spent 40 days in the desert, praying and reflecting and sacrificing even while Satan worked to dissuade him from God’s eternal plan that Jesus suffer and die to win our salvation.

As I reflect during Lent this year, my goal is to focus more on what God in his perfect love wants for me, letting that inform what I might think I need or want for myself.

God forced Jonah to contemplate. Jesus did it willingly. How about you? What might your Savior want to tell you? How might he want to change you? The weeks ahead are a perfect time to open your heart to his Word and find out.

Editor’s note: CTA’s new devotion book, “Power of the Cross,” would make the perfect guide and companion as you and others in your church meditate on the meaning of Jesus’ death during Lent this year. It’s not too late to order copies for your group or your whole congregation!

Actually, the “shadows” are not shadows. Nor are they reflections. Instead, they are projections. Stained glass does not reflect light. Rather, it permits light to pass through it.

As I sit in the worship area early in the morning, the image projected on the wall is far from clear. As the sun comes up and moves across the sky, the image formed by the light coming through the stained glass also moves. It slowly makes its way to the front of the church where, at one point, it frames a large cross. The closer the image gets to the window, the clearer the projection becomes.

This reminds me of how clear my own life becomes when I stay close to Christ and the forgiveness he freely gives through his cross. As I invest time in prayer and Bible study, a quiet peace settles in my heart, despite the changes and disturbing events swirling around me. As I take time to give of myself, I find clarity about life’s real priorities. But when I let life grow too busy, the peace and clarity fade. And I project a more distorted image of God’s glory. How thankful I am that he forgives our failures—every one of them!

And how exciting it is to think about what could happen if all of God’s people were growing daily in the kind of Son-shining-through lives he wants for us.

How will you stay close to him this week?

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV

Joy should be everywhere, shouldn’t it? Digging out from all the December craziness, we realize Christmas isn’t just a special day on the calendar. We’re journeying to Bethlehem in faith to kneel in awe and adoration at the little baby feet of the world’s Savior, Jesus Christ. We celebrate God’s gift of love, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, his gift that brings joy from heaven to earth. Jesus brings joy for the world—for everyone, everywhere. 

Jesus brings joy and blessings abound—enough for everyone! Maybe joy comes to you in new memories you create with relatives from out of town, in an unexpected bonus you receive at work, or in an extra measure of the Christmas spirit you feel in your heart.

Still, even with joy surrounding us, some of us  experience the “merry side of Christmas,” only to slide quickly into despair. Our fa’s are strong early in the season, but before long, our la’s fall flat. Some of us find our joy crumpled up like a pile of discarded post-Christmas wrapping paper.

Are you lip-syncing both the fa’s and the la’s, hoping others don’t notice your struggle to smile? Certainly, not everyone agrees that it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmastime can be a highly charged, emotional time. So many variables toy with our level of joy. Think about it . . .

• Some dread their first Christmas without someone they loved, while others anticipate their first Christmas with someone they love.
• Some receive a helpful end-of-the-year financial windfall, while others find themselves falling more and more into debt with no help in sight.
• Some find the season invigorating, while others find it nerve-racking.
• Some couples celebrate their first Christmas as husband and wife, while others experience their first as ex-husband and ex-wife.
• Some come to life, surrounded with people, while others come to deal with loneliness, even when surrounded by people.
• Some feel overly blessed, while others feel overly stressed.

As we come to adore our Savior, each of us brings blessings as well as burdens to the manger. So let’s pause in our journey to the manger to notice the people around us. We’re traveling together, and it’s important to realize we all travel by faith. We come, only because the divine Child first journeyed from heaven to earth. His birth, death, and resurrection conquers loneliness, anxiety, stress, and all our other burdens.

 Jesus’ gift isn’t necessarily a jump-up-and-down joy, although it certainly can be that. It’s primarily a joy that settles deep in our hearts. It’s a joyful, contented peace. This divine present comes with Jesus’ presence.

Jesus brings joy to the world. He also brings joy for the world. He knows our world is filled with sin and its accompanying heartache, pain, and grief. But let there be no doubt that he’s also intimately aware of every breath you take, every word you speak, and every situation you face. And he’s aware of your need for joy. So he wraps his miraculous joy within his gifts of forgiveness, help, and hope. It’s true! Jesus brings joy for the world—for everyone, everywhere.

Come and receive. Come and worship.

Come and go . . . sharing his gifts.

Editor’s note: Several Joy for the World gifts are available from CTA this Christmas. Get yours before they’re gone!

© 2007 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for ruse within a church or other Christian organization.

 The Scripture quotation is from the King James or Authorized Version.

If you’re like me, you’ve cringed at the thought of not being able to leave your family a larger estate at the end of life’s journey. Let’s face it: we usually associate “legacy” with fame and fortune, clout and capital. Memorial tributes to several celebrities in recent days have done nothing to diminish that view.

Graciously, God has been whispering to me lately that my greatest legacy will be seen in the lives of the children and grandchildren who come after me. The Psalmist instructs us as men to model God’s character and sew his commandments into the fabric of family life … “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands” (Psalm 78:6-7 NIV).

Wow! I can have an impact on generations yet to be born! Now that’s what I call a legacy.

Dads, we underestimate how much influence we have with in shaping our sons and daughters. Granddads, your role is still valuable. It gives some of us a second chance to follow our heavenly Father’s example in loving unconditionally, sacrificially.

As we commend God’s works to another generation (Psalm 145:4), he will be faithful to grant us a legacy of children who put their trust in him.

Check out CTA’s new Living a Legacy product line for Grandparents Day and other occasions.

Most of them would do what they do, even if no one ever stopped to thank them. Still, when we recognize that each of our volunteers comes to us as a gift from God, when we see that our Lord chooses to work through people and to answer our prayers through people, how can we not want to honor him by honoring them?

CTA’s new appreciation theme, Serving in His Steps,  includes a variety of products you can afford to give those who serve–even in your organization’s largest programs! There’s something for everyone here from daily devotions to pocket planners/calendars to a pedometer! And all at affordable price points.

Besides all that, you can download a whole set of free materials and use them to create a unified theme on that day you set aside for recognition and thanksgiving. You’ll find a Ministry Message that can be used as a sermon or devotion, bulletin cover art, newsletter copy you can adapt to advertise your event, an invitation postcard, and a poster that could double as a placemat if you decide to offer snacks or even a brunch!

Christ-centered. Firmly rooted in Scripture. Beautiful art. Thoughtful helps for busy leaders. CTA has done much of the planning for you. All you need do is take the last few steps to create an event that will energize your volunteers for months to come!

Go to www.ctainc.com and type “Serving in His Steps” into the search engine to find everything you need to get started!

Just this week, our church bid on a 15-passenger van through an auction. We won the bid! The dealership that was helping us sent a transport truck to the middle of Ohio to bring our van back to the middle of Illinois.

Then I received a call from the salesman. He told me the other dealership had sold our van!! We had been looking for months, and I had thought our hunt was over. My mind was thinking some not so Christian thoughts, but faith says, “God allowed this for a reason. Maybe there was something wrong with that van that would have caused us problems.”

Faith trusts God at every turn of life, even when our heart doesn’t want to. I am thankful for God’s grace that forgives our failures in faith and enables us to trust him, even in life’s disappointments. I am thankful that God’s promises are not dependant upon how I feel. Faith is not an emotion; it is a decision. Let me encourage you to walk in faith today. God is in control. Nothing takes him by surprise!

I believe it is important to have visible reminders that help us remember we can depend upon our invisible God. One such tool is available from CTA–the Mustard Seed pewter pocket coin. Keep it with you. When you reach into your pocket and feel that coin, say in your heart, “I’m going to walk by faith. My God is in control.”

And then there’s one of my personal favorites: sesquipedalophobia (fear of long words). Maybe I’m the only one who finds it funny that it takes 18 letters to … nah, just forget it.

Anyway, the same smart folks who come up with all of these tongue-twisters tell us that we are born with only two fears: the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. So all the other couple of thousand phobias are learned behavior.

Have you ever heard that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible? (Who counts these things, anyway? Thank you, Mr. Strong, or whoever is responsible.) Regardless of the numbers, we are told again and again to face our fears, to expose Satan’s lies for what they are.

Whatever you’re facing today, isn’t it rational to believe that the Creator of the universe is bigger than your problem? Indeed, to believe otherwise would be irrational.

So, to borrow a line from FDR, the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself. That’s called phobophobia, by the way.

Please don’t think I’ve lost my way or that I’m ready to abandon my faith. My walk with the Lord is more real than ever; indeed, I think I’ve grown closer to Him during this season of struggle.

But stuff happens. The loss of a son to suicide. Distance with a grieving spouse. Fathering two head-strong teenage daughters. The financial pressures of being the lone breadwinner.

In such times, any sign that God knows and God cares is a welcome relief. Strangely, I have found that relief in recent days from an air freshener. That’s right, an air freshener from CTA that hangs from the rear-view mirror in my Buick.

The Lighthouse Car Air Freshener has been a surprising reminder – to both my nose and eyes – of God’s blessings in my life. Every time I get in my car, the fresh “ocean” scent and the visually striking lighthouse let me know that my Savior is bigger than any problem I face and that He will guide me through the darkest nights of my life.

Who would have thought an air freshener could do that?

These gifts were purchased as Christmas Gifts for the men in the Sunday School Class. I want to get them something they would use and look at often.The wording on the clip I thought would be a constant reminded of the walk God has appointed for men & the card could always go in the wallet as another reminder. They were well liked. They are also excellent Father day Gifts.

From Virginia about the Happy Birthday Jesus Party Pack

We have a birthday party each year for Jesus in our Children’s Ministry. What a pleasure to have everything ready for the big day with my purchase of the Happy Birthday Jesus pack. The stationery was a big help in promotion of the event, and the kids loved the take-home cup and goody bag.

From Midland, Texas about the Nativity Angel Ornaments of Faith® Dimensional Greeting Card

We are a Christian business and your products send a wonderful “message of Love” to our clients.

From Greensburg, Indiana about Ornaments of Faith

I felt the card and ornaments were like 2 gifts in one. The price was reasonable, and made it possible for me to send a message to many school helpers and volunteers. Thanks for your help.

From Birmingham, Alabama about Jesus the Sweetest Gift Tote Gift Set

The Jesus the Sweetest Gift tote gift set was the perfect addition to our Christmas Eve service. It looked much nicer and more professional than the simple candy cane we had done in the past.