With light and darkness men change, women change, and life changes.”
                    –James Oliver Curwood (The Valley of Silent Men a Story of the Three River Country)

       “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
                    –2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)
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Darkness, in the middle of lights and celebration?  Absolutely!  The lights, the fanfare, the bells, chimes, and celebrations are often indications of darkness.  Men and women run to them to escape their dark souls, to rationalize the sin in their hearts.  Many will not even acknowledge that they are sinners.  Darkness!  St. John of the Cross wrote, “For the sensual part of a man has no capacity for that which is pure spirit, and thus, when it is the spirit that receives the pleasure, the flesh is left without savor and is too weak to perform any action.”  Man does not want the true light to shine on his spirit for he loves to live in darkness, in his evil thoughts, that is one reason he fights to the conviction that comes to him.  Therefore, he often seeks the pseudo-light thinking that it will ease his conscience.
     St. John of the Cross continues with the thought that man’s palate was accustomed to the tastes and flavors of Egypt.  He enjoys it, he savors it, and when he is removed he will complain that he wants and prefers the food of Egypt; he complains about the food of heaven.  Thus when the light shines he shuts his spiritual mind against what it represents.  Oh that we would see the true light!  Let the lights on your tree remind you of the One who sent the Light into the dark world; to remind you of the Light that flooded the darkness of your heart and spirit.  
     Isaiah reminds us, “There will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish.” (9:1, NASB)  The NLT translates it this way, “Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever.”  In verse 2, Isaiah writes, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” (NASB)  At Christmas we think of the “star”, the light that led with wise men to the Child.  Light will cast out darkness, and in the spiritual realm so much more.  “The light of grace was breaking into the self-inflicted gloom of sin.” (Alistair Begg)  Begg continues his thought, “The good news of Christmas is that the God of the Bible is the God of grace, who comes into the darkness and emptiness of our hearts to bring His light, His joy, and His peace.”
     So don’t get into a frenzy with the lights of Christmas, as they represent the greater Light.  If there is darkness in your heart, don’t use the lights to try to brighten your soul, it will not work, and it will not last.  You, I, and all must come to the one Light, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The light of Christmas should not be seasonal, or even one day of the year.  “It is a Merry Christmas all the year round to a soul that has an unstaggering faith in the promises of the blessed God.” (Charles Spurgeon)  Live in the Light, live in it daily, hourly, and gaze at the wonder of the Light that has now come to your life.
     “May your Christmas be filled with grace over perfection, presence over pressure, and love over everything else.” (unknown)  In other words as the Light shines in your heart let it glow so that others may see and have hope.

When you brighten the day of someone else, you’ve given them about the best gift there is.”
                    –Donald L. Robertson  (The Hanging Star)

       “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
                    –John 3:16 (ESV)
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As the embers glow and glisten in the campfire I want to give you two thoughts to ponder.  The first came to me when I was reading a hymn by Charles Wesley, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”  I am not familiar with it, but there was something that caught my attention.  The second line of the first stanza:  “Joy of heaven, to earth came down…”  The thought came to me, what was heaven like with Jesus not there?
     Was there sadness in heaven?  Several years back there was a song, a good song with a good melody and was inspirational, but it had some faulty theology–“The Angels up in Heaven Must Have Cried.”  First of all, I have no proof from Scripture that angels cry, and secondly, there is no sadness or tears in heaven.  So there is the answer to that first question, no, there was no sadness.  Did the angels understand what was happening?  I don’t know, they are part of the supernatural world, part of the world where Satan battles and rebels, so do they know what is going on?  But they cannot know the fullness of grace–that is reserved for man.
     But that still does not answer my question.  The Joy of heaven, came to earth.  There must have been something missing, but I don’t understand the full meaning.  Jesus never laid aside His deity.  On earth He was still God, in His fullness.  What Paul seems to say, He “made Himself of no reputation,” or “He emptied Himself.”  He laid aside His “glory” (the “kenosis”).  The NKJV Study Bible states, “He did not empty Himself of any part of His essence as God.  Instead He gave up His privileges as God and took upon Himself existence as a man.”  Oh, what a wonderful mystery!  When the angels looked at the throne they did not see the Son of God, however, when they took notice of earth they saw Him walking as a man, coming to redeem mankind.  The thought is beyond me, it is too wonderful for me.
     The second thought that hit me this week in my reading came from the idea of gifts.  Christmas is a time noted for the giving of gifts.  It might be a good time to review Matthew 25:14-20, where the Master gave talents (gifts) to His servants.  “We’ve all been entrusted with something.” (Gary Wilkerson)  Get that in your mind.  If nothing else we’ve been entrusted with life itself, but even more, we’ve been entrusted with the great gift of the Father of His Son.  What will you and I do with that profound gift of Jesus?  What will you and I do with our lives?
     I do like what Wilkerson suggested regarding our wonderful gifts.  He said, “We were made with the design of serving and working out God’s purpose in the world.  In many ways, salvation is simply accepting this and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us so that we can achieve God’s purpose for us.”  Think of that.  The Gift is there–accept it or reject it.  Make something of it, or bury it in the sand.  Remember, however, the Master is coming back to see what we have done with the gift of His Son.  
     We all, as believers, have been “entrusted with some capacity or ability to expand the kingdom of God….  Never say, ‘I have nothing to offer.’  God has given you a gift to move His kingdom forward in some way.” (Wilkerson)  Get with it this Christmas and use your gift, however insignificant you think it may be.  A smile or hug goes a long way, and it is amazing how the Holy Spirit can use such a gesture.  First, accept the Gift of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that eternal gift.  “God’s gift of Himself has huge implications for our lives and how we move through the world.” (Wilkerson)  Then get on with life, that wonderful gift of breath and strength and I will say, time.  Use those gifts to the best of your ability knowing that they come from the Lord and that it is our responsibility, duty, and obligation to be giving them back to Him.  May we be about the process of preparing our hearts for Christ’s return, looking forward to the day when we “cast our crowns, before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise!” (Wesley)

I have my problems. One of them is anger when I see a fool in action.”

If women are the spoils of barbarous conquerors, they are also the sinews, the strength, the soul of defenders.”
                    –Zane Grey  (The Desert of Wheat)

       “Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.  The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!”
                    –Psalm 118:15 (NLT)
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I am going to only look at another portion of Deborah’s hymn/song.  You can go back and read all of it at one time.  But pause to think of what is happening; it would be good to read Judges 4, then come back to Deborah’s Song.  The people were living in fear.  William Petersen says, “Fear paralyzes; faith frees.  And a fearless faith inspires others.” Keep that in mind as we read the next few verses from Judges 5.

          12 — Awake, awake, Deborah!  Awake, awake, sing a song!  Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away, O son of Abinoam!
          13 — Then the survivors came down, the people against the nobles; the LORD came down for me against the mighty.
          14 — From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek.  After you, Benjamin, with your peoples, from Machir rulers came down, and from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter’s staff.  (NKJV)

     Fear had paralyzed Israel, that is all except for a woman named Deborah.  Deborah was not the one to lead the armies; it was to be Barak, but he too was frightened and was not up to the task.  Finally, he said he would not go to war unless Deborah went with him.  Deborah, obedient, went with him into battle and the Lord brought about a great victory.  As we read these verses and the rest of the song, we note that there were some of the tribes that did not follow her.  Perhaps it was because she was a woman, and whoever heard of a woman leading an army into battle.  Perhaps it was because they were too afraid.  Either way, they simply were not obedient to the call of the Lord.
     We read in Judges 4:14 where Deborah said to Barak, “Up!  For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand.  Has not the LORD gone out before you?” (NKJV)  Get this!  The Lord has already paved the way for our victory if we would but take the step to follow Him.
     There is one more little section I want to draw your attention to simply because I like the little rhyme, “Jael, drove the nail.”  

          24 — Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed is she among women in tents.
          25 — He asked for water, she gave milk; she brought out cream in a lordly bowl.
          26 — She stretched her hand to the tent peg, her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; she pounded Sisera, she pierced his head, she split and struck through his temple.
          27 — At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.  (NKJV)

     If we are obedient the Lord will act on our behalf.  If we have the courage to take the step He will give up faith and then add more faith, until the victory is won.  It may not be the way you expected.  The Lord may have someone to “drive the nail,” or He may simply confuse the enemy but if we have faith, He will supply the means and the victory.  We either accept challenges that come our way with fear or with faith.  Let your faith inspire others.  

               “Encamped along the hills of light, ye Christian soldiers rise,
               And press the battle ere the night shall veil the glowing skies.
               Against the foe in vales below, let all our strength be hurled;
               Faith is the victory, we know, that overcomes the world.”
                           –John H. Yates