O Little Town of Bethlehem

This has been a favorite song of mine for many years. I was glad to find out the history.

On Christmas Eve, 1865, Phillips Brooks was in Jerusalem, a trip intended to inspire spiritual rebirth after the horrors of the Civil War. Just a few months earlier he had spoken at the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln. That clear night as he walked the streets of the Holy City, he had a sudden inspiration. Renting a horse, he set out for Bethlehem. After a solitary journey under the clear night sky, Brooks reached the tiny remote village and was surrounded by the spirit of the first Christmas. His impoverished soul was refreshed as he considered what had happened there so many years before. Three years later on Christmas Eve, 1868, as he sat alone in his study preparing his sermon for the next day, he felt inspired to pen the words to this beautiful carol.

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; 

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above.

While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wondering love.

O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth.

And praises sing to God the king, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given;

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child,

Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild:

Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,

The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

As this new Christmas season has arrived and we get caught up in the shopping, the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I hope we will often stop to remember that night in Bethlehem. And then pause to dwell on the reality that He is the reason for the season. 

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Happy Thanksgiving

I found the following poem/prayer online and wanted to share it with you.

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day

When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing 

Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those
Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure
Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place
And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided
And bless each and every person invited

Amen!

--Scott Wesemann

I especially like the last part of the prayer. I want to make it my prayer as well. 

Thank you for letting me share with you. Please visit Spiritual Sundays where many inspirational posts are shared each week. Click HERE to go to that blog.

WHO'S TAKING CARE OF THEM?

Since I alluded to the birds and flowers in my Spiritual Sundays introduction this week I decided to say a little more about them.

"I tell you not to worry about everyday life ― whether you have enough. Look at the birds. They don't plan or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" (Matt. 6:325-27 NLT)

God not only provides food for the birds, he has given them instincts that people still have not figured out. How do they know where they are going when they start their migration? This has always amazed me. They seem to know where water is also. There is an open field close to our house that is usually dry as a bone but when it does rain (which isn't very often) water collects there and forms a pond. This happened a few days ago and now when we drive by there we see a lot of ducks on that water. I wonder if they were on their way to somewhere and stopped there for a drink and to rest a bit. The water is only there for a few days, then dries up and no ducks are around.

"Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of heaven above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." (Matt. 6:32-33) NLT  Did He promise to give everybody everything they need? Did you notice the sentence before the promise to give you everything you need? Seek the kingdom of heaven above all else and live righteously. If we do those two things He has promised to give us everything we need. Too many times we seek everything under the sun except the kingdom of heaven and righteousness and then wonder why God is not providing our needs.

Heavenly Father, please help us to get our priorities straight. Help us to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness and we know you will take care of us. Amen

Be sure to visit Spiritual Sundays if you didn't come here from that blog.

Precious In His Sight

Psalm 116:15

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁵Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

More and more people are living until into their 90s. Last week in my Spiritual Sundays post I told you about Ruth. Two more precious saints have gone on to be with the Lord since Ruth died. Leah and Lahoma are the latest two (both in their 90s).

Lahoma I have known all my life although I have not been in touch with her directly for many years. I just recently became Facebook friends with her daughter. Lahoma was married to one of my dad's first cousins. Although that would make her my cousin I always thought of her as my aunt because she was of my parents' generation. She was a beautiful gracious lady. She was a Christian. I know she is precious in the sight of the Lord. Picture at the left is Lahoma at her 90th birthday celebration. She sure didn't look that old.

Leah, age 93, is the other saint to pass away just a couple of days ago. Leah went to India in the 1940s when she was in her 20s. She and her friend Dolly went together and were planning to stay at least 3 years. They had no idea at the time that they would both spend the rest of their lives in that country. They founded the Kulpahar Kids' Home in the little town of Kulpahar. They raised hundreds of children who did not have parents to take care of them. These children have grown up, married, had families, and now they are spread all over India. What a wonderful influence she has been in the lives of so many. This picture of Leah, Clif and me was taken on Leah's birthday which she celebrated while we were there in October of 1999. My birthday and Leah's are just four days apart so I celebrated my birthday in India that year as well. 

We just received news a couple of days ago that Leah had died. She will be buried in the little cemetery by the church on the mission compound next to Dolly who preceded Leah in death by about 15 years. Leah gave us a tour of the cemetery while we were there and pointed out where she would be buried. Leah came home to the states every few years and traveled around promoting the Kids Home. At one of the Christian Colleges where she was speaking someone asked her how she could go to India and stay for over 50 years. She told them you had to believe with all your heart that was what God wanted you to do. I feel so blessed to have known Leah for the past 20+ years.

The scripture in Psalm that is quoted at the top of this post is especially meaningful to me when I think of all the saints that are precious to me have gone on to be with the one who is the most precious. It is because of Jesus that we all have hope of reuniting with Him after death and spending eternity there. Wow! Can you think of anything in this world that even remotely compares to this? I sure can't.

The website for the Kulpahar Kids' Home is http://kulpaharkidshome-school.org/

Thank you for letting me reminisce about these two wonderful women. You will find links to many inspirational posts by visiting Spiritual Sundays. You can click HERE to go to that blog.