Because He is:

Woman without her man is nothing-- With no punctuation, so does it mean: Woman without her man-- is nothing! Or should it be: Woman, without her--man is nothing.

Words. Punctuation. It is so important to communicate your thoughts, and intentions. Without punctuation much becomes muddled and lost.

Words by Jan Lazo-Davis: Because He is We can be--

The words and lyrics of the old carol 'O Holy Night' were written by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure in 1847. He then realized that it should have music to accompany the words and his friend Adolphe Charles Adams(1803-1856)wrote the music.

O Holy Night!

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

We have heard fellow Christians denounce 'Christmas carols' because they oppose 'observing times and seasons' as it were. No where are we told to observe his birth, only his death. So the reasoning goes, but wait...

Many of these songs are just that, songs, and they teach--often--wonderful things. I don't know why we only sing them once a year...we need to ponder and sing them more often. They aren't necessarily just 'Christmas' songs.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,"

Before Christ the world lay in sin, but when Jesus came --the spirit, the soul--felt it's worth! And even though the wisemen did not come to the manger itself, but to the babe in an actual house...the feeling still reigns that they--the wise men, and we as well--can still come to the savior. We can come to the King of Kings, the all holy and powerful.

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21) But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Slaves! We were ALL slaves; servants of unrighteousness. Now we are slaves and servants of God! Before we were reaping the benefits of ungodliness, of sin and wickedness. Now, after becoming children of light... our wages are sanctification and eternal life!

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Truly, Because He is, we can be! Hallelujah! ~"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ~

Valley of Decision!

We sit watching the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life".   During the movie there are a number of the savings and loan patrons wanting, and in most cases, needing cash. One man demanded his whole amount -and receives it. Most, however, figure up what they need -to get by- and only ask for a small amount.  As the scene unfolds, George Bailey asks the question of his patrons, "What do you need?" Meaning of course, 'how much will tide you over until you can get more. The question catches my attention.

As I reread Bible passages, on occasion, just as in the movie, a scripture will jump out at me. I've seen it before, read it many times, but this time...

Joel~ the son of Pethuel; Joel~ Jehovah is God. Joel begins with a call to God's people for prayer and repentance...but toward the end of his short book he prophesies: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:14)


So, now, here we are at the Genesis of a new year. Not really a crisis, but at the end of a year we hear people asking 'what do you want for Christmas?' Or, just plain- what do you want? However, is that the right question...?

WHAT DO YOU NEED...?

Here are some things to put on your refrigerator: 
 1) Pray/read your Bible daily. This is number one. Get your life right with God.
2)   Do only acts of kindness spontaneously, make sure they really are the kindness the recipient needs. (The bum on the corner may look like he NEEDS money: he may need a job, a Bible, (or Bible study). He may need something different than a breath mint...
 3) Speak kindly; love others honestly.
4) Love yourself honestly.
WISDOM IN MANY FORMS:
 5) Learn to look down the corridors of time. When you learn this art, here are some things you will understand:
a) Not all that glitters is gold; not all that is gold glitters.
b) Jogging may get you somewhere faster, but if walking is as fast as you can go...by all means walk. c)There are things that will seem trivial today, but in the long avenue of life they will be very, very, VERY important. (I did not think it was important to teach my children the manner of 'Yes, sir. No, sir, etc. However, how important is respect? Respect of elders, respect of authority, respect of parents, respect of others, but most of all respect of God.)
d) Love is not pleasure, and the pursuit of happiness is not God.
e) With liberty and freedom comes responsibility. The more liberty and freedom the more responsibility. You can't have them, and expect someone else to pay for them. (Our ancestors and our soldiers may have fought for and in some cases died for these items.  Unless we are vigilant here on the home front...we will still lose them
f) Human beings, no matter how perfect, are not. They are not perfect, and THEY are not God. That includes yourself...give others, and yourself room for mistakes. We all need that room.
g) Just as no one lives in a vacuum, and no one is an island, what diminishes one person still diminishes us all.
 Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people."

Do not take things for granted... Time is not eternal, only God is. God is still the creator. And one day every knee will bow...
Romans 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God. 12) So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God."

Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13) And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:14)

As we stand in the valley of decision...What do you need...?