A Miracle of Faith (on 34th Street)

I love the old traditional Christmas movies.  This one is no exception.  Miracle on 34th Street is story about a single mother and her daughter, and the efforts of two men who try to offer a world of imagination and faith to each of them.  Susan's mother has raised her to only accept absolute truth, and never to learn fairy tales or believe in the things unseen.  This is stemmed from the way she herself views the world after her own life experiences.

Susan was growing up to a world without faith.  She was distrustful of the things she could not see or verify for herself.  Let's consider the definition of faith.  "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." ~Hebrews 11:1 (NLT).  Faith cannot exist without hope.  It was the desire for good things that was ultimately missing in Susan's and her mother's thoughts.  Each was afraid to hope, afraid to desire the good things, thus not even being able to imagine the unseen or have confidence in that hope.  

Have you ever lost hope?  Just imagine what you felt like as a little child, unspoiled by the world on the eve before Christmas morning.  You were filled with hope for things desired, full of anticipation for the things to appear below the Christmas tree.  You had faith in Santa Claus.  

I would like to challenge all of us adults to renew that childlike hope for God's promises.  When our hope grows, then our faith becomes renewed.  It is by faith… well, read the rest of chapter 11 of Hebrews to see what the people of old could accomplish through faith.

"O Lord, You alone are my hope.  I've trusted You, O Lord, from childhood." ~Psalms 71:5 (NLT)

Expressing Gratitude

What does it mean to be thankful?  As we start the prep work for our annual day of Thanksgiving in the United States, we should stop for a minute and think about the things we are grateful for.  The Bible often points to David as the ultimate example for how to live a thankful heart.  Consider Psalm 100.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before Him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are His.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving;

go into His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and His faithfulness continues to each generation. (NLT)

David had a pattern of thinking that helped him to think on the positive things, making the feeling of gratitude grow within his heart.  The psalms he wrote was an outward sign of this gratitude: the expression of thanksgiving.  

I recently heard a quote at a community thanksgiving event that struck me.  I found the quote in an article written by Thomas S. Monson.  "Often, we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don't get around to it.  Someone has said that 'feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.'" 

Thank-you for the things you are doing.  Thank-you for the attention you give your families, your churches, your communities, and your Lord.  

Remember Who the Real Enemy Is

The movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a compelling one.  This is the second movie of a trilogy, based on a book series by Suzanne Collins.  It is a compelling book series, and I highly recommend reading all three books.

When I saw this movie, I was struck by a single line, "Remember who your real enemy is," spoken by Haymitch Abernathy.  He was referring to the Hunger Games - an arena type game where the 24 tributes selected by the Capitol rulers are forced to kill one another until there is only one left.  None of the tributes are allowed to have mercy for the others if they wish to remain the one alive.  This barbaric game is meant to distract and entertain the capitol city, while at the same time keeping the outlying districts afraid and remain in line.

With the conditions in the arena this way - kill or be killed, it is easy to forget who it was that forced them into the arena, the Capitol rulers.

As Christians, we often come across people that stand in our way, bully us, or even persecute us.  We become hyper focused on the evil ways of these people and think about how we can "fix" them.  If the people are doing these evil acts, they are under the influence of Satan.  Among other things, Satan uses people to stand in the way of Christian fulfilling the purpose that God set out for us.  If we allow ourselves to become distracted by this, we fail in sharing the Good News.  Christ died for us to save us from our sins, and He rose again defeating death.  There is a place for us in Heaven, if only we just believe and accept God's grace and mercy.

Stay united with your Christian brothers and sisters and always remember who your real enemy is.

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are."

~1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)