A White Christmas!

Hey Everybody,

I've been wanting to have time to sit down and have a leisurely time to write to you for some time about this.... But you know how it is with me....and you've heard it all before, so I won't bore you with all of it again! But the difference is that the enemy has been extremely hot and heavy on my trail these past few weeks like never before...but I will not be defeated!! God said,"Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." Psalms 105:15. "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans, 8:31. Halleluyah, Amen! I'm getting ready to shout here, y'all! Watch out!

You ever have one of those days where you just want to get on the rooftops and shout the magnificence of the Lord, so that the world may know...well maybe your neighbors, anyway?! (If they don't have you carted off in a strait jacket first :-)

Sometimes it's kinda frustrating to me (cuz I wanna share it, tell it, spread it, be it!) cuz when I try to share something spiritually exciting, and I see that the person I am talking to is just sitting there looking at me blinking.....in silence...with nothing but the crickets in the background....LOL!

I just wanna spread the joy, the excitement of God's wonderful love. Sigh! Each person has to experience God for him/her self. Nothing I can do, say or show anyone can do really do justice to anything about Him...It's all in His perfect timing, and their heart being ready to be open and receptive to the Spirit. So I will have to be content being a seed planter, spreading the joy. It will all come back to their remembrance when they have the "Holy Spirit understanding!" Amen!

I have been floating around in a wonderful stupor....completely speechless....all over the magnificently beautiful Word of God that I have been soaking up. Today was a case in point. My Pastor painted such a lovely picture of God's protective covering over us, that I have to share a small portion of the message with you. The message was very simple, yet very profound. I did not have the opportunity to buy the CD today, so unfortunately, this recounting of the message will be from memory, my handout notes, in addition to scriptures Pastor did not use, as the Spirit brought to mind for me as I listened.

The message was entitled, "A White Christmas."

Pastor Doolin started off recanting memories of things we associate with a white Christmas. Movies like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Frosty the Snowman," songs like "I'm Dreaming of a White Chirstmas," and of course the picture is not complete without a blanket of white snow on the ground. (He let a woman in the congregation try her hand at singing a line of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" (that girl has got moxy!...Pastor even sang a couple of lines too- My church is so much fun, yet we are serious about the Word!)

Okay, I'm back on track:

Pastor talked at length about how snow creates a slow measured supply of water to underground water reservoirs. Snow does more for the water table than rain, because rain has a tendency to run off, whereas snow slowly seeps deep down to the natural wells underground.

Analogy:

1. The Word, like snow, creates underground reservoirs (or reserves).
2. The Word once deep down in my Spirit is my reserve.
3. Since I read my Bible regularly, I can reach deep down and tap into the reserves, to the Word stored my spirit. I can call upon this Word stored in my spirit, in times of trouble, or even in times of joy.
4. The Word has to be deep within me to know the healing and peace of God for myself.
5. The Word will abound forth, but only according to what I have stored there. So if I don't feed myself and partake of the Word on a regular basis, therefore putting myself into a self imposed spiritual drought, what do I have to pull upon from deep within my spirit in times of trouble? Absolutely nothing!
6. Just like a car when the reserve tank is empty...sputter, sputter, cough, cough, nothing....that car is not moving until you put gas into it's tank...it's the same with us and the Word. We are not going anywhere spiritually without a constant source of energy and life, a constant diet of the Holy Word-which is living water for the soul, food for the spirit.

Proverbs 4:23
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Psalms 119:105
"Thy Word is lamp unto my heart and a light unto my path."

John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:14
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Jeremiah 29:13
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

John 7:38
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Isaiah 55:10-11
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

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Pastor related in detail how snow cover insulates the ground during the cold weather. It can be up to 20 degrees warmer under a blanket of snow than just exposed out in the open air.

Analogy:

1. Like the snow blankets the earth, when we are covered in the Word, it keeps us warm like a blanket in cold times, difficult times, and tough times. My mind, spirit and soul, need to be covered in the Spirit. The Word of God blankets me like a protective, comforter. One reason I don't like to spend time overnight away from home is because I don't have my own comforter with me. My comforter is not too heavy or too light, but like the little bear of the Goldilocks story, my comforter is just right for me to make me comfortable to sleep well.
2. And the Holy Spirit is my own personal Comforter! To me the 23rd chapter of Psalms speaks of comfort in the Lord.

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

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Pastor explained how when snow comes down through the sky, it purifies the air. I guess that makes sense if you think about it, because as it comes down it must collect different particles in the air, that you can actually see in the snow if you examine a cupful. (Hmm...that combined with whatever was in the water that formed the snow in the first place? Hmmph! No more snow ice cream for me! LOL!)

Analogy:

1. Just as the snow purifies the air, the Word purifies us. God's Holy Word does not go out and return to Him void. The Word is poured into me by hearing the Word of God, and by reading the Bible, spending time before God in prayer, in worship. The Word of God does its work in me without me ever having to consciously even think about it.
2. I am purified by the blood that was shed for me, and by the washing of the Word. Jesus was the Word who was made flesh. Being immersed in the Word is like bathing in righteousness. I wonder about the origin of the saying, 'cleanliness being next to Godliness'.
3. If I am drinking in the Word on a regular basis, that is like just sitting down one on one with Him, gleaning knowledge and biblical secrets from Him. Actually there aren't any secrets hidden from any of us...It just seems that way because more things are revealed to you, as you spend more time with Him.

Psalm 51:7
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

John 15:3
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. "

Ephesians 5:25- 27
"...even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

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Pastor talked about something that I still find hard to believe: That every single snow flake is different and uniquely shaped. There is not another one like it and will not be another one like it. God's intricate handiwork is on display.

Analogy:

1. We are all different and unique- special to Him, as if there were only one of us to love.
2. Even those of us who share the same parents have different talents and gifts, different personalities, different experiences, different outlooks.
3. In "The Purpose Driven Life," author Rick Warren spoke of our unique "shapes" designed by God that determined how we could be best used by Him.
4. All of these things make us uniquely special to be used by God in different ways in different situations.

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Going back to the White Christmas theme:

Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are covered by the blood, and covered by the Word, just as snow blankets the earth for a 'white Christmas'. While snow has the appearance of purity, it is not actually pure, as it collects the defilements in the air on its way to earth.

By contrast, in Jesus, we are actually purified and made sinless- by acceptance of the gift of salvation through Jesus. Our sins lose the label of crimson and scarlet, and become like the color that is symbolic of purity- white.

So our 'white Christmas' has nothing to do with the snow on the ground, or the movies, or the other things we associate with a 'white Christmas.' It is all about the purification of our sins. We are born again of God, fortifed by the reserves, the wellsprings of life, tucked away deep down in our spirits, accrued from spending time with God through the Word, prayer and worship.

John10:27
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

Christmas is our celebration of the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ...the beginning of the story of our salvation. Don't let the Christmas story stop there with the little baby in the manger. Accept the responsibility to learn about God's provision for our salvation, through the crucifixion of His only Son. Get to know the One who by God's grace and mercy, freely gave His life for our cleansing, salvation. Jesus came to reverse the curse!

This season make a resolution within yourself to get to KNOW your Saviour, or get to know Him even better...Jesus was the Word made flesh....you still can get to know Him through the Word.

Because of this message, I will never again perceive the words 'white Christmas' in the same light. A 'white Christmas', truly goes much deeper than just surface snow. It speaks to the core of our salvation, the cleansing of our sins. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

John 14:6
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 10:14, 15
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep."

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Everyday we should celebrate the birth, life, sacrifice, and promises of our Savior, not just in the month of December. "Jesus is the reason for the Season....everyday!"

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD..." Jeremiah 29:13, 14

\o/ Halleluyah, Halleluyah, Halleluyah!

If you'd like to purchase a copy of the original message by Pastor Doolin, just write and let me know.