'TIS THE SEASON. Americans tend to believe something magic happens at Christmas that spreads good will among the populace. There was even a movie where the lead character exhorted the nation to extend this good will all year long.

Although there is a certain amount of gift giving and well wishing among friends, family and colleagues, I believe this general sentiment of good will is illusory. It is a figment of the imagination fueled by movies, sentimental songs, and delusional egg nog drinking.

We have, for example, been observing the holidays by having our cars robbed and vandalized. The College Girl's car was the first victim. Late night crooks bashed in the window and ripped out her stereo. This cost us some insurance deductible, rent car expenses, and lost time. Then, she parked my car in front of the house when she returned from college in it, only to have the window bashed in and her guitar stolen. Car insurance won't pay for the guitar, so add that expense to the previous mix.

I was working hard to get in the spirit this year. Usually I just don't make it, or don't make it there until Christmas Eve. I usually have deadlines at work, worry about how much money I'm spending, dread the choir Christmas party, and worry if the Little Woman will like my present to her.

This year, I even listened to some Christmas music, which normally drives me crazy. Really, if someone came here from another planet and listened to songs about sleighs, chestnuts, bells, and snow, they would think the whole population was on dope.

Anyway, I drank my coffee from the Christmas mug, wore the Christmas socks (although I wouldn't cross my legs), and generally tried to tune it up for Christmas.

Then, the two break ins.

Now I am back to thinking more about the depravity of man than I am peace and good will.

FROM GEORGE MULLER. "While I was staying at Nailsworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit of which I have not lost, though now, while preparing the eighth edition for the press, more than forty years have since passed away. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as a habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning.

Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord. I began, therefore, to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning, early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me, that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, and intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.

The difference then between my former practice and my present one is this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time. At all events, I almost invariably began with prayer, except when I felt my soul to be more than usually barren, in which case I read the Word of God for food, or for refreshment, or for revival and renewal of my inner man, before I gave myself to prayer. But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often, after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even an hour, I only then begin really to pray. I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it!) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.
It often now astonishes me that I did not sooner see this. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter. And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.

I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one!"

FOR MY PREACHER FRIENDS. "Whatever you do, let the people see that you are in good earnest. You cannot break men's hearts by jesting with them, or telling them a smooth tale, or patching up a gaudy oration. Men will not cast away their dearest pleasures upon a drowsy request of one that seemeth not to mean as he speaks, or to care much whether his request be granted." Richard Baxter

RELIGIOUS PRINICPLES. So, Buddha walks into a stop and rob and buys a hot dog and a large cup of coffee. The clerk rings up the sale and says "that'll be $9.50".

Buddha hands him a ten. The clerk takes the ten, puts it in the cash drawer, shuts the drawer, and says, "have a nice day".

Buddha says "hey, what about my change?"

The clerk says "sorry, change must come from within".

BIBLE STUDY NOTES FOR ROMANS 7.

7:1-3 (An Analogy From Marriage: Your Relationship To The Law)

Paul continues his discussion of the believer’s relationship to the law. The believer’s position is freedom from the law because he or she died to the law in Christ. Paul also uses the analogy of the marriage bond to explain it.

In verse 1, Paul states that the law only has authority over a person while that person lives. Death brings a release from the obligations of the law.

As an example, Paul holds up the married woman. (He probably used the woman rather than the man, because men were able to obtain divorces in Jewish law and women were not. See Matthew 5:31-32.) If she marries, she is bound to that man as long as he is alive. If she marries another man, she violates the law and commits adultery.

However, if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of marriage. She can marry again without transgressing the law.

7:4-6 (Freedom Through Death)

Just as the woman was freed from the law of marriage by death, so believers are freed from the law, and the sin it produces in us, by death. We die to one husband, sin, to live to another, Christ.

Verse 4 tells us we died to the law through the body of Christ. When we were baptized into his death, we died to sin. It no longer controls us. We died, not to live to ourselves, but to live to God. Remember how often the Bible talks of Christ as the Bridegroom of the church.

Paul says the purpose of our dying to sin is that we will bear fruit to God. I think this needs to be part of our evangelistic message. God does not offer us grace and freedom from slavery to sin so that we may live for ourselves. You might not know that if you got your preaching from television and a lot of popular books. His primary goal here is not your personal fulfillment, or the release of your negative feelings, or your physical health, or the accumulation of earthly treasure.

No, he offers you freedom from slavery to sin so you will bear fruit to God. Bearing fruit will bring glory to God. Jesus said, in John 15:8, “this is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” In verse 16, he said “you did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 1:12 and 14 says we were redeemed so that we might be for the praise of his glory.

You exist as a new creation is Christ in order to bear fruit that will bring glory to God. That fruit is the transformed life lived under the dominion of the Holy Spirit, which manifests itself in your personality, in your character, in your speech, in your work, in your good deeds, and in your personal holiness.

Galatians 5:22-24 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Matthew 5:16 says to let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

The first question of the Westminister Shorter Cathechism is: what is the chief end of man? The answer is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Verse 5 tells us that, before we were saved, we bore fruit for death. We were controlled by the sinful nature and the law aroused our sinful passions, and we bore fruit for death. We are now free from that.

Verse 6 tells us that we still serve. Before salvation, we served as under a written code. But now we serve in a new way of the Spirit.

Let’s go back to the bride thing for a minute. Just as Christ’s death frees the individual believer from sin, and as he works to sanctify each believer, he is sanctifying the whole church. Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us that Christ gave himself for the church, as a husband for a wife, to make the church holy, cleansing her, and presenting her, the church, to himself holy and blameless. He prepared us to be prepared for him.

We long for his return, as a bride would long for the return of her groom, her husband. Revelation 22:17, when the prophecy of his return is complete, tells us the Spirit and the bride say “come”.
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus warned us that the bridegroom would not return for a long time, and may would fall asleep. But, we should rather keep watch, for we do not know the day or the hour of his return. We want to be ready for him.

Revelation 19 tells us that, when the wedding of the Lamb has come, the bride will have made herself ready. She will be dressed in fine linen, bright and clean, that was given her to wear. That is a symbol of the righteous acts of the saints.

Revelation 21 uses the same image, showing the Holy City, the new Jerusalem (is this a picture of the church?) coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Isaiah 62:5 tells us God will rejoice over us as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

A CALVINIST CHRISTMAS CAROL.

I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas.
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas,
'Cause I ain't been nothin' but bad.

Think of it as Total Depravity for Tots.