Mary Crisp Jameson - copyright material







Saturday, December 28, 2013

Oxi Clean- Stain Remover

     As I was watching a television commercial about Oxi Clean which claimed to be the number one stain remover, I couldn’t help but wonder what really was the number one stain remover. 
      After looking up the definition, a discoloration, a spot, a blemish, or something that penetrates, I quickly determined that Oxi Clean was not the “number one stain remover.”  We all have personal stains in our lives; stains that penetrate the surface and leave spots.  Some of which are not easily removed.  What do we do to scrub away the stain?  If we can't scrub it away, are we able to camouflage or hide it or just cut the stain out, patch the spot and hope no one notices it 
     In Luke 19 we find Jesus going to the home of Zacchaeus, a man known to be a cheat and a sinner.  He was stained.  Yet when Zacchaeu admitted his fault Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come this house.”
     In Luke 7 a woman in the city who was stained with sin brought an alabaster box of ointment and washed Jesus’s feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.  Jesus removed her blemishes and stains when he said, “Thy sins are forgiven.”
     Again in John 8 there was a woman brought to Jesus who was stained from the act of adultery.  Jesus simply asked the accusers which one was without sin and which one would cast the first stone.  Realizing that none of them were sinless they left one by one.  After they had all left Jesus lifted up himself and said to the woman, “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.”
     Now I ask, “Who is the number one stain remover?”

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Memory

     Christmas is a time for making memories!  We watch and delight in how our children and grandchildren react during their early childhood toward Santa and the twinkling, colorful lights of Christmas.  We stack brightly wrapped presents under the tree in anticipation of bestowing gifts to family and friends.  Even when plans are disrupted Christmas events are still memories.  One Christmas my family spent many trips traveling back and forth to the nearest shelter.  We could not open presents for the tornado sirens sending out warning signals of pending danger.  This Christmas, my memories will be filled with attempts to prepare a special Christmas dinner.  The   electrical power, and thus my cook stove, was out for two hours at just the wrong time.  The option was to have either a very late dinner or go out for hamburgers.  Another family spent the time opening presents by candle light and flashlight. 
     Overcoming unexpected situations may be just what it takes to make a memory special, but so many Christmas memories simply fade into the background unless we capture the event and revisit them as we thumb through the treasured pages of our scrapbook. 
     However, there is one Christmas memory which never fades, and it is the very reason for the season.  We remember the event of Jesus’s birth because He was born in a lowly, stinky stable.  He was a baby who was born away from home, and the only place He had to sleep was in a dirty, animal trough filled with dusty smelling hay.  Yet, there was joy everywhere!  Joseph and Mary could not have been prouder.  The wise men were so excited when they saw a bright star shining from the East that they went in search of the child to worship Him.  The shepherds were overwhelmed and afraid when “the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them…and a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”   
     Regardless of how the world celebrates Christmas and regardless of the memories each Christmas holds, the birth of Jesus is the only reason for Christmas and it is His memory we need to keep with us during the Christmas Season.  His is the only one that will give true joy.  Those who are trying to make “Happy Holidays” a memory will never be able to do away with “Merry Christmas” because the birth of the Christ Child is truly the only memory worthy of praise.  He was born to walk among men to tell the world about His Father.  He was born to give life, the greatest gift of all, when He created yet another memory of Himself hanging from two pieces of wood tied together to create a rugged cross.  From this cross He bled for our sins.  His Christmas gift is the joy that comes from knowing we have eternal life.
     “For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  Luke 2
     To truly make a lasting magical Christmas memory, we must keep Jesus in  Christmas.   

 

    

Sunday, December 15, 2013

If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep Your Plan

     “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. Period!  If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.  Period!”   This is what we heard from President Obama when he was trying to sell the American people on the Obama Healthcare Plan.  We continue to hear this in the news every day as people are finding out the majority of them, come the beginning of the year in 2014, will not be able to keep their plan and will not be able to keep their doctor.  There have been a lot of false claims made.   It appears no one even knew all of what was in the plan; it was not read and studied; it is too vague to prevent different interpretations of the law.   Nancy Polosis even said, “We need to pass it to find out what is in it.”  A great number of people supported it in faith, but the truth was not clearly provided; the people were deceived. 
     Now, I ask, “Why don’t people accept the teachings of the Bible and accept Jesus in faith?”   The Bible is more than a Book of laws and instructional information. It is God’s spoken word. It provides answers to our lives. A believer’ s “delight is in the law of the Lord.” Psalm 1:2a. We all need to read and study it for it provides the truth.  In Psalm 115:1 we find, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your loving kindness, because of your truth."

     The Bible presents a truthful plan; it tells about how to be healed. Jesus is the One who allowed Himself to be placed upon the cross for us.  He is the One we can trust.  If we accept His plan, we can keep it.  PERIOD!  Jesus  is the One True Healer and Doctor of our soul.  If we accept and trust in His plan we have salvation and eternal life.  We can keep our Doctor. PERIOD!  
      As the year, 2013, comes to a close it would be good to remember John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”      This my friends, is the truth. If you believe in Jesus, “you can keep your plan”- forever. Period! “You can keep your Doctor. Period!” If God said it you can believe it. Period! End of story.

     

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Constant Companion

     Technology has become my constant companion.  Suddenlink is my internet provider and its name supports its meaning, "coming quickly" and a "link".  Verizon is my mobile phone provider.  They both connect me instantly to businesses for home shopping experiences and to friends on facebook and email.  What would I do without this quick connection to them?   
     Down through the ages we have had different links and connections.  There was and still is the mail, the phone, the personal visit, and the computer but text messaging is fast becoming the favored method of communicating.  I have found that if I forget my phone and leave it at home I turn around, no matter how late I may be in getting to work.  I just cannot be without my phone.  I would be lost without it.  What if I missed a call or a text message? 
     As I think about all this growing technology, I have to admit that none of this will get me in touch and on a communication level with God.  None of this great technology can replace a personal prayer life and a daily walk with God through the pages of His Book.   
     There is one consultation for when I fail to offer up a prayer in the morning before I leave home for work.  I do not have to return home to get God.  The reason is that He is with me at all times through the Holy Spirit who lives within my heart.  What I do have to remember; however, is to slow down and allow God to talk with me.  I often miss His call because I just do not listen for His vibration within my heart like I listen for the phone vibration alerting me to an in-coming call.   
     Last Sunday our pastor requested  that the members of our church fast and pray one day a week.  This is something few of us do, but as I searched the scriptures I found that there were times when people fasted.  In Matthew 4 we are told that Jesus fasted.  In Matthew 6 it says, “When you fast.”   It does not say “If you fast.”  I do believe that God listens to every prayer and every request, but by fasting we are showing a deep desire to seek His will.  We are allowing God to slow us down to listen to us, to respond to us, and to allow us to praise Him, as well. 
     I personally want a sudden, coming quickly, link with God but, more than that, I must have a daily constant walk with Him.  He is the One who sustains me.  I need that constant link in order to get me through the events of my daily life.  In order to obtain this link to my Higher Power, I need to disconnect the  Suddenlink and the Verizon connection I have come to rely upon in order to keep me in touch with earthly people and things; otherwise, I will not create time to talk with God and allow Him to be my constant companion; the One who will refresh and nourish my soul.   
     The only excuse I would have not to disconnect my service is by down-loading a Bible application and reading it daily followed by a true connect to God through prayer.