Robbed before opening Christmas presents

Ripping open presents is fun except when it’s your presents and someone else did the opening. When I was in middle school, we were in the process of going to my dad’s for Christmas. We arrived at the house to find a window open and all of our Christmas presents open and all the presents were gone. Christmas was stolen from us. It was a life long memory I will never forget. I will admit it was a tough day. As tough as it was for us, in the grand scheme of things it was so small.

 

 

Many people all over the world don’t get Christmas presents. They don’t get the experience of Christmas. A chunk of the world is happy just to survive the day or have food to eat in a day. We have so much to be thankful and can help others. This is what the Apostles told Paul in his ministry…

“Continue to remember the poor, (Paul responded) the very things I had been eager to do all along.” – Galatians 2:10.

Paul understood the point the Apostles wanted to share with him. Give to the poor. Every church gets called with people looking for meeting the basic needs everything from gas to paying bills to a place to stay at night. The church is meant to help those in need. You could be a blessing to someone else.

We had insurance and a little while later we got the Christmas presents that were taken from us, so many won’t get a Christmas present, this could change. There is an organization with this goal in mind. To bring Christmas to kids all over the world and you can help.

Samaritan’s Purse has a project called Operation Christmas Child. http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

You can bring Christmas to someone else in the world. They take the Gospel message and present it along with your gift to people all over the world.

Every year I have our middle and high school students from my church do this ministry. They partner, bring money then go and buy Christmas presents to share with people all over the world. Each box needs $7 for shipping and we have a blast giving a present to someone that wouldn’t get one.

Paul calls us to take care of the poor. You can do this. You can make a difference help your community and help those in need. Check out this ministry and see what you can do to help. We might have had Christmas present stolen from us but at least we originally had presents waiting for us. Help someone else enjoy a Christmas present.

Have a great day.

You might die trying

The world is always changing. We can’t stop change but we can initiate it. We are people that can change the world with what we do and our actions. What can you do to change the world?

There is a great song from Dave Matthews Band, You Might Die Trying. The link to the song is here.

Strong lyrics and some of my favorite, “To change the world start with one step. However small, first step is hardest of all… If you give, you begin to live, if you give, you get the world.”

Giving is living. What if we tried to make the world a better place then we found it? Selfless giving is awesome, Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7…

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

There is amazing power behind giving. Paul tells us you get what you give. If you don’t give, don’t expect to get. If you give just to expect something in return, you are giving for the wrong reasons. You can’t buy love.  You can’t give out of guilt, there isn’t a guilt offering anymore. God loves when people give out of the goodness of their hearts. When you look at your own life, how do you give? Would you say you’re a taker more then a giver?

You can be a blessing to someone else. Have you thought about that? What you do with your time or money or abilities can be a gift to someone else. I once attended a church in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan in which there were several haircutters. They said they wanted to do something for the church. They weren’t wealthy but they had a skill and wanted to give. So they came up with a plan to cut hair for a donation on a Saturday. All the money they raised went to the church.

They could have made money but instead decided to give their time and abilities. Just like in the DMB song, it starts with one step. I have a great man at my church Dan. Dan is thoughtful and caring towards ministers and has fixed multiple things on my vehicles all for the cost of the parts. Dan has saved me easily over $1,000 dollars and given up a day off to spend the day working on my vehicle. I told him I would pay him but he won’t accept a dime, so I told him we owe him a nice steak dinner. He accepted.

You can make this world a better place. “It starts with one step. However small, first step is hardest of all. “– DMB

Make this world a better place, have a great day.