"Operation Christmas Child"

"Big Smiles"

 

Operation Christmas Child only comes once a year,

And that time is coming, coming near,

Let's all pull together and do our best,

God says put your faith into action, and He'll do the rest,

Imagine blessing a child who didn't know it was coming,

As they open their eyes to find out they got something,

Jesus said, "for the least of these, you do unto Me",

The blessing may not come in this world, but eternal rewards you'll see,

The Greatest Gift has yet to be seen,

That each child has the chance to accept Jesus and be redeemed,

So now you see the importance to lend a hand,

And to make a difference for those who cannot stand."

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of being introduced to a project by Samaritan's Purse called Operation Christmas Child". Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has sent boxes to 130 countries and have provided 95 million smiles while doing it.  I was so moved by the testimony of the guest speaker, a Operation Christmas Child recipient, named Renan Perdoma from Honduras. I felt compelled to share it with everyone.

In 1993, Renan was a just a little boy and lived in a town of 800 people. He was one of the first children to receive a Christmas box from the Operation Christmas Child program. I have to tell you, tears rolled down my eyes as he told his story regarding wanting to attend school at the age of 10.
He had never stepped foot in a school before that. And the reason was, his parents couldn't afford the required pencil and notebook needed to enter the school. That's all he needed to attend school was a pencil and notebook. Doesn't seem like much does it? Well, let me give you some background on the house they lived in and how many were in it. There were 10 people living in a dirt floor house. It was a daily struggle for food. So, Renan prayed that somehow he would get to go to school and that God would provide all he needed.

To make a long story, short, he received one of the Operation Christmas Child boxes. And guess what was in it? You guessed it! There was a pencil, and notebook with some other things included.One of the neatest gifts included in the box was a book called The Greatest Journey. This book is a child's discipleship program that millions of children have come to faith in Jesus Christ. There are tens of thousands of trained volunteer teachers around the world that help guide the children as they commit their lives to Christ and learn how important it is for them to share the Good News. Once a
child completes the Greatest Journey Bible Study, they are proudly presented with a personalized certificate as well as a New Testament bible. May I also interject, that both the bible study and bible have been translated into more than 30 different languages.

Did you know love is an action word? God's love involves unselfish service to others, to show it gives evidence that you care. In Romans 12:9-12-"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." God has called all of us to have sincere love helping others to become better people. And this may demand us of our time, money and personal involvement.

Now here's how you can get involved in helping us spread Christ's love to lots of children. All you need is a shoe box, wrapped in Christmas paper. Below you will find a link for the drop-off location near you:  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Drop_Off_Locations/

I leave you with one thought; When you send a box, you're not just blessing a child, you're also blessing the country it's going to!

"My Maintenance Inhaler"

A couple of years ago one of my daughters was diagnosed with asthma. The doctor started her on what they called a "maintenance" inhaler twice a day indefinately.  These two puffs twice a day were so important so much to the point where it determined regular breathing or hardly breathing for my baby girl. So, you could imagine what would happen if we "forgot" to give her inhaler to her a couple of times?  We would start seeing my daughter having a difficult time catching her breath, especially in the cold weather.

You see, the maintenance inhaler is just that, it helps maintain a healthy breathing pattern. Well, our spending time with the Lord is much like it in the same way, in that we must maintain a relationship everyday. By doing so, it is much easier to handle the difficulties when they come, and they will come.

It's usually easier, no matter what it is in life, to stay caught up, rather than if you were always playing catch up. Would you agree? I think most of us would.  That's why I choose Jesus to be "My Maintenance Inhaler". He gives me eternal life and helps sustain my spiritual walk by spending time with Him. By seeking Him out, we get close to Him. In James 4:8- it says "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Just as by not using your maintenance inhaler correctly as prescribed by your doctor, could lead to a deadly situation, and in the same manner we could develop almost a spiritual anorexia in which we could be on the verge of starving our prayer life. 

So let me leave you with one question. Are you showing signs of suffocation because of spiritual anorexia? If so, lets all commit to taking our "puffs" from our maintenance inhaler (Jesus) daily and fatten ourselves up on the Word of God a bit.

"The Greatest Love"

"Jesus, You are truly the Light of my life,

You rescued me and gave me the strength to fight,

You are my everything,

I can't say with words how much to me you mean,

I can show You by giving You my praise,

And by singing aloud with my hands raised,

There is nothing in this world that I love more,

Since I asked You in by opening my heart's door,

Lord, You are there as I draw near,

And faithful to make my path very clear,

You are my Jesus whom I'll always love,

So, any difficulties I face in this life, I'll put You above"

"Truly Amazing"

"God has shown me the areas where I've been wrong,

Through the teaching of His Word and His Praises in the Psalms,

He is so determined to want us to succeed,

That He will go to the ends of the earth if that's what we need,

He's not a God that He see just one person left,

The Word says coming to the saving knowledge of Grace is for our best,

God is gracious to offer us His Mercy,

Even while we are still dirty,

He offers us a brand-new Hope,

One from Jesus, not the world, will stay afloat,

These rhyming words in this poem are nothing new,

But, the subject matter in God's Word, my life has found to be true."

 



"Your Free Gift"

"The Only way to God is through His Son,

Then your New Beginning has begun,

Jesus left us a Comforter as He ascended to the Father,

And by trusting in Him you would need no other,

The Holy Spirit will help you stay on the straight and narrow,

By following Him, He'll guide the direction of your life's arrow,

You see, God loves and cares for us so,

Not even the most intelligent person could ever know,

God's Ways are not our ways,

And He knows the number of your days,

So seek and find Him while you still can today,

Because waiting until tomorrow may be too late."



"Don't Waste Time"

"Do we waste the life we've been given,

Or do we answer God's calling and start living,

When we learn to hear God's own voice,

Doing what He says is always our choice,

He makes our hearts to want to serve,

All people even those we think don't deserve,

It's not up to us to judge,

And even more so to hold a grudge,

When we let go, and let God lead,

He will open our eyes so we can see,

I'm saying today is the day to make things right,

The Word of God says do it before ends night."

"Invisible Pain"

"The pain I feel you cannot see,

But, it is real inside of me,

You look at me and say "he's all good",

When in reality, you misunderstood,

I look normal until I begin to walk,

If you got to know me better, I'd talk,

The pain inside of me, you have no clue,

But this one thing I know to be true,

Because of what Jesus' Blood did for me,

His death took care of all my needs,

Yes, I still deal with physical pain no eye can see,

But my heart, and my spirit have been set free."