Christmas Countdown - Dec 20

The Lost Sheep (Lk 15:3-7 / Mt 18:11-14)

Jesus told a story one day about how much He loves each person on earth.  Here is that story:

A certain man had 100 sheep.  One of them wandered away and got lost.  The Shepherd made sure that the 99 sheep were safe and secure, and then He went looking for His lost sheep.  He searched high and low, climbed mountainous areas and hiked through deep valleys.  He searched and searched until He found His little lost lamb. He was SO happy to find that sheep.  He carried it all the way back to where the other 99 sheep were waiting, and then He called His friends together and said "Let's celebrate!  My sheep was lost, and now he is found!"  

Jesus said, "That is how it is with each person.  There is much celebrating and joy in heaven each time a person comes to Me - they were lost, but now they are found, and belong with Me."

(the link to the full post is:  http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-20.html)

Christmas Countdown - Dec 19

^{I Am the Light of the World}

^{"Then Jesus spoke to them . . .saying, '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)} 

^{This is a wonderful truth that Jesus tells us - He is light!  Sometimes I am afraid of the dark.  I can imagine all kinds of scary things.  When I pray to Jesus He helps me remember that He is right here with me.  When I close my eyes to pray, I can see His light in my mind.  Knowing Jesus is light and He is with me helps me not to be afraid.  Even when I lay down in my bed at night and see the darkness, it is not dark to Jesus.  He can see everything just as clearly as if it were day.  That makes me feel brave.}

^{Sometimes things happen to me that make me feel sad or bad.  People can be unkind, or I might fall off of my bike and get hurt.  When I talk to Jesus about how I feel, He understands me.  He shines His light around me, and I don't feel so sad or bad.  It helps me to know that Jesus is with me, that He knows how to help me, and that He will stay with me no matter where I go.}  

^{(the link to the full post is:  http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-19.html)} 

Christmas Countdown - Dec 18

The Unforgiving Servant  (Matt 18:21-35)

Peter asked Jesus a question one day:  "How many times do I have to forgive someone, Jesus?"  Jesus answered by telling him a story.  

There was a man who owed the king a great deal of money, like the huge pile of gold coins above.  He didn't have the money to give the king, and he begged him to have mercy on him, to give him time to repay him.  He asked him to let him repay him little by little until it was all paid back.  The king felt sorry for the man, and decided that he would forgive the debt - this meant that the man didn't have to repay it at all!  The man could hardly believe it!  He walked out of the king's palace as a free man!

But then he spotted a man who owed him a little amount of money.  Suddenly, all he could think of was wanting that man to pay him back!  The man begged him to give him some time, that he would repay him little by little until it was all paid back.  But the first man wouldn't hear of it - he demanded that the man be arrested and thrown into jail.

When the king heard about this, he was furious!  He had the first man brought to him.  "I forgave you the HUGE debt that you owed me, but you would not forgive this other man the little bit he owed you.  You are an ungrateful, unforgiving man.  Now YOU will work for me in jail until you have repaid all that you owe me!"

Jesus' message to Peter was clear:  You want God to forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.  God will forgive you because you believe in Me.  But My Father expects you to forgive other people for the wrong things that they do."

Is there someone that you need to forgive?  You don't need to wait for them to say that they are sorry - you can forgive them today.

(the link to the full post is:  http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-18.html) 

Christmas Countdown - Dec 17

Jesus Heals 10 Lepers  (Luke 17:11)

Jesus was walking toward the city one day, and ten men were gathered a ways off by the road He was walking on.  They had a disease called leprosy, and they had to live far away from other people, so that others would not catch the disease.  When they saw Him, they cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  Jesus saw them and answered, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  And as they started walking toward the temple where the priests were, they were healed!  One man, when he saw that he was healed, turned around and ran back to Jesus, falling at His feet, praising God and saying "Thank You" over and over again. Jesus said, "Where are the other nine men?  Weren't there ten men who were healed?"  Then he said to the man who came back, "Arise and go your way.  Your faith has made you well."

All ten of the men were healed - and they were SO happy!!!  Now they could go home to their families and live in their towns again.  They were glad that they were healed.  But only ONE man recognized that it was God who had healed him, and went back to worship and thank Him.  Jesus told that man that His faith had made him well.  

All the men had their bodies healed, but only the One who recognized Jesus as God was healed inside, where no one but God could see.  God does many good things for us - He gives us air to breathe, and food to eat, a family to love and care for us, the sun in the sky to keep us warm - but He wants us to love Him for who He is, not just for what He does for us.  The man who came back knew that it was great to be healed, but it was even greater to have met Jesus, God Himself!  

(the link to the full post is: http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-17.html)

 

Christmas Countdown - Dec 16

I Am the Door  (John 10:9)

Jesus knows that it can be hard for us to understand Him.  God is very different from us.  So He uses words as pictures to help us understand.  Jesus said "I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."  What does Jesus mean?

Opening a door and stepping through a doorway takes us from one room to another, or from one place to another.  You stand in the hallway, open the door, walk through the doorway and now you are in your room.  Jesus knew that we would understand about doors.  

He tells us that He is the door - on one side of the door is being away from God.  On the other side of the door is being with God.  Jesus is the door that leads to God.  When we believe in Him, we go through Him as the door and then we belong to God - we become God's child, and God promises to be with us always.

(to link to the full post is:  http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-16_17.html)

 

Christmas Countdown - Dec 15

 Little is Much When God Is In It  (Mark 6:30-44)

Today's story is about a miracle that Jesus performed.  Many people wanted to hear Jesus talk, and they would gather around wherever He was to hear what He would say.  One day, Jesus had been teaching them all day long, and it was getting to be dinner time.  His disciples told Him to send the people away so that they could each go buy themselves something to eat.  Jesus said "You feed them."  His disciples were shocked!  There were at least 5000 men, along with their wives and children!  They told Jesus they didn't have enough food for all these people.

Jesus said, "What do you have?  Bring it to Me."  The disciples brought Him what they had:  five loaves of bread and two fish.  Jesus told them to have all the people sit down in groups.  Then He took the bread and the fish in His hands, raised them up to heaven and prayed.  He broke the bread and the fish apart and began handing the pieces to His disciples to give to the people.  Guess what?!!!  The pieces just kept coming and coming and coming!  All the people got to eat bread and fish until they were full, and after that, the disciples gathered up 12 baskets of leftover bread and fish!!!   Only God could do a miracle like that!

Sometimes God will ask you to do something, and you will think it is too big of a job, or too hard, or just something that you cannot do.  Jesus performed this miracle so that all the people would have food that day.  He also performed it so that you and I would know that even when we think we can't do something, God can!  

(the link to the full post is: http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-15.html)

Christmas Countdown - Dec 14

God will take care of you!  (Matt 6:24-34, Matt10:28-31)

Jesus knows that we need food and water, clothes to wear and a place to live and sleep.  Some people spend a lot of time thinking about those things - we call that worrying.  Jesus does not want you to worry.  He wants you to trust God to take care of you.

Jesus tells us "Look at the birds of the air;  they don't plant seeds to grow their own food - your heavenly Father, God, feeds them.  And God knows where each bird is, all the time.  You are much more valuable than a bird - if God is so aware of what each bird needs, how much more aware do you think He is of what you need?"

God loves you very much, and He is watching out for you all the time.  He will make sure that you have everything that you need.  He is always with you, taking care of you.

(the link for the full post is:  http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-14.html)