Merry CHRISTmas and Happy HOLYdays

Ho Ho Ho...Hosanna...Merry CHRISTmas and Happy HOLYdays to one and all.

In light of the reason for the season...this poor Twilight Zone Santa...has been rode hard and hung up wet. Art Carney really is more than just a comedic actor...he bring meat to the table in roles like this.

TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS REVISED (With No Apologies To Clement Clarke Stone)

It Twas the night before CHRISTmas...And all through the world...all the people were frantic...
their minds in a swirl...the traditions were hanging by human standards with care...except for the reason for the season..as the nativity scenes were bare...The people were nestled in their comfort zoned beds...with political sugar plums...dancing and marching in their heads. And mamma in her kerchief...and me in my cap...had just settled in...with a separation of church and state slap. When out in the marketplace...there arose such a clatter...I sprang from my complacency to see what was the matter. Away to the window...I ran like a flash...ripped off my blinders and turned away from my cash. The moon on the front lawn...midst the new fallen snow...revealed something shocking...something I sure did need to know. What to my wondering eyes I did see...a manger with shepherds and animals...and a baby I did see. But the next thing I saw...took my breath away in such a fright...I saw Santa Claus...kneeling with tears in his eyes...Oh what a sight! As Saint Nick worshipped the reason for the season...knowing that this was so right...that the world had lost sight of the heavenly light. Tears did flow down...his jolly old red cheeks...and cried out thank you Lord for this ultimate gift...for the baby that would grow into a man...who would die on a cross...as part of God's plan. Then Santa began to lift up his hands...and praise God with joy...as he began to understand...about this little baby boy...that Jesus was not just born as a baby and quit...but grew up to be buried and raised from the dead..to give the devil a fit. And because He was raised...D.B.R was His call...Merry CHRISTmas and Happy HOLYdays...to one and to all.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman...and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise and tread your head under foot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel." (Genesis 3:15)

The serpent...devil...accuser of the brethren...the liar and father of lies was cursed for the part that he played in the fall of mankind (Genesis 3:1-24)...and Genesis 3:15 is a prophetic look forward to Jesus dying on the cross. The devil is being put on notice...his future. This picture is from the Paul McCartney project... RUN dEVIL RUN...a great little rocker...with a great message of what happens when Jesus comes on the scene.


RUN dEVIL RUN

Run devil Run
The angel's having fun
Making winners out of sinners
Better leave before he's done
When he gets through...he'll be coming after you
Listen what I'm saying to you...run
Run devil Run

Ya gotta wonder that when Jesus was RAISED FROM THE DEAD...triumphing of death...that if the words of Genesis 3:15 were remembered?

Of course we are in the midst of the season where we are celebrating the entrance of this devil buster into planet earth. Where God comes in the flesh...in the form of the weakest human being...a baby.

"In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was with God...and the Word (Jesus) was God. "(John 1:1)

"And the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His (Jesus') glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

"By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH is of God...and every spirit that DOES NOT CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH is NOT of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist (anti-anointed one and anti-anointing), which you have heard was coming and is NOW already in the world. (I John 4:2-3)

Of course...this little baby...that we celebrate on Decemeber 25th...every year...the one that the spirit of antichrist is trying to legislate out of existence...and put it on the same level as other humanistic days...did not stay a little baby. The baby grew in wisdom and stature...to 12/13 years old...and then the next time we see Him...He is a 30 year old man. For the next three years this man...with the anointing of God upon Him...went about...doing good and healing ALL who were oppressed by the devil...for God was with Him...to preach and proclaim the kingdom (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-3; Acts 10:38)...and manifest the will of God on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). At the end of three years...He started his journey for the real reason for the season...to die in our place...to be buried...and to be raised from the dead...aka the Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-3).


Now wonder the devil wants to negate the birth of Jesus. If he can distract from the birth of a baby to a virgin...by introducing a fat, jolly, man who is a mixture of fact and myth...he can convince us that this Jesus is also a myth.

"But if there is NO resurrection of the dead, then Christ is NOT risen. And if Christ is NOT risen...the our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that HE RAISED UP CHRIST, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ...we are of all men most pitiable. BUT NOW...CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD...and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
(I Corinthians 15:13-20)

FINAL WORDS...FINALLY

We want to wish each and everyone of you a Merry CHRISTmas and Happy HOLYdays...as you put to rest another year...and get ready for the next year closer to His return. Brenda and I really do appreciate all of you.

Love and Resurrected Kisses
Rodney "Celebrating CHRISTmas" Boyd

IT'S AN AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, LIFE

Greetings O Ye Fans of Life. Is your life WONDERFUL...full of WONDER, or is your life full of hopelessness, a constant stream of disappointments, and one dream after dream short circuited by situations, circumstances and derailments?

GODISNOWHERE. As you view this phrase...you will either see GOD IS NO WHERE...or you will see GOD IS NOW HERE. It all depends on your point of view. How you view what is happening in your life...will determine how you will deal with your life.

As I do a voyeuristic journey in Facebook...looking at pictures...reading comments...you can get a limited feel about your "friends" views of life. Some are positive, upbeat, lovin' life...while others whine, complain, grouse, about every little thing in their lives...and I am sure...a lot of it is warranted. As noted in the title of this Rambling..."IT'S AN AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL LIFE..I have added the words AWFUL and BEAUTIFUL. One of my favorite songs is by Darryl Worley...whose song AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL LIFE has the line..."I love this crazy tragic...sometimes almost magic...awful, beautiful life." Add in the title from the movie It's A Wonderful Life...and you have an interesting perspective...that depending on how you view GODISNOWHERE...will as we said...will determine on how you deal with life.

Well...Tis Da Season...when one of my favorite movies is dragged out of the CHRIST-mas closet and makes it's rounds on T.V...IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

The movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE originally had it's roots in a short story called THE GREATEST GIFT by Philip Van Doren Stern...that he made into a Christmas Card and sent to 200 friends and family members in 1943. Though a series of events...THE GREATEST GIFT fell into the hands of Frank Capra...who saw the potential to make a movie. It was made into a movie in 1946 that was initially considered a box office flop...even though it received 5 Oscar nominations (no wins). It became a Christmas Classic and is a personal favorite of Wayne "Zuzu's Petals" Berry.
NOTE: Have yourself a Berry Berry CHRIST-mas.

The liner notes in the IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A NOVEL states:

"Here is the timeless tale of George Bailey, a small town nobody who wants to make a difference without realizing that he already has...In its poignant and sensitive way....IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE encourages us to asks the question...what would life have been like wif we hadn't been born? During one CRISIS FILLED night, in the little town of Bedford Falls, circa 1945, George Bailey--father, husband, and president of the Bailey Building and Loan--facing the prospect of scandal ad ruin, finds out. With the not -quiet an angel Clarence (Angel 2nd class...no wings)...at his side to show him...George is given a gift anyone might wish for...to see the world as if he had never lived in it. As if he had never met his wife, saved his family's business, rescued his brother from drowning, or single-handed freed his lovely town from the greed and selfishness of a rich, old man (Mr. Potter).

George Bailey received a gift of a different perspective on his life.

George went from having dreams of a life...with constant interruptions and distractions where he becomes trapped in his not so wonderful life... to the point of despair and hopelessness...to the point of suicidal ideations...to the intervention by an angel...that was moved into motion by the prayers of those who loved George Bailey...to the point of reaching bottom...and crying out to God. The cause and effect of all of this was restoration to his family...and the realization that as Clarence wrote him..."Dear George...Remember, no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love Clarence."

Well...what a wonderful movie...with wonderful thoughts. Oh if we could only see beyond where we are...to see who we are in Him. Oh if we could only see smack dab in the middle of stuff that is happening to us...that God causes ALL THINGS (the good, the bad, and the ugly), to WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD...to him/her who (1) loves the Lord (2) are called according to HIS PURPOSE. (Romans 8:28) If we could only see...as Phil Keaggy's song off of his LOVE BROKE THROUGH album..."DISappointment...HISappointment."

GODISNOWHERE. Depending on how you view it...this AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL LIFE...can be lived to the fullest in the moment...even when bad is surrounding us. As I tell my patients when they don't FEEL...or SEE any improvement..."You are to close to your situation... and you can't see the progress that you are making." Family, friends, and in my case the Speech Pathologist...sees from a different perspective.

Love and Wonderful Life Kisses
Rodney "God is NOW Here" Boyd