Author: Carol Purves

My dear friend’s husband has just died. Alec was 91. All his life he had been wondering what heaven was like and talking about it continually. Now he knows what it’s like. No more does he guess and imagine. He is there and he knows.

In some ways it was the opposite for Jesus. He had left heaven, he knew how wonderful it was. He then had to endure the troubles and restrictions of earth. He suffered pain, death, sadness and despair. He even had friends who could desert him when things got tough.

Christmas is the time when we remember. Jesus was born so that He could suffer, He was born so that he could die, rise again and then go back to heaven.

It is a thing most wonderful, almost too wonderful to be.                                                     That God’s own Son should come from heaven and die to save a child like me.

Carol

Before I get too busy I would like to wish all my readers a Happy Christmas, wherever you are in the world. In Russia, where many of my readers come from, you will have different traditions from ours.  Christmas in Australia will be different from one in Finland. And so on.

But wherever we are, in good times or bad, we need to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. It is about a little baby who was born, lived on this earth, was killed, rose again and then ascended into heaven so that we who believe Him may join Him. That’s quite a tremendous thought.

Carol

The first stone was probably quite small, but useful for chucking at a speaker he disagreed with.  This could have been followed by someone else finding a larger stone to throw. Then the mob, who were always willing to join in any uprising, all started hurling the stones. The first few would have grounded Stephen and then as the assault went on the life would have been battered out of him.

The crowd probably didn’t set out intending to kill the first martyr but one thing led to another.  The message that they were hearing from Stephen was not to their liking. It reminded them of the man Jesus who they had also managed to have put to death. Big bad things start in a small way.

Carol

I know many of you round the world can cross really big borders, but by travelling just one hundred miles I was able to spend a day in the capital of Scotland – Edinburgh. And very festive it was too with a large German Christmas market and hundreds of people.

I was especially please to buy a number of Christmas presents but I can’t tell you about them in case  one of them if for you.

Carol

Stones can’t make a noise. They are inanimate. But Jesus said the stones would cry out. Why and how? He said if the praising crowds were silenced even stones would praise God.

Not strange really when you consider that God is the author and maker of everything. He has control over everything, nothing is beyond His care. Our edict is to praise Him now while we can.

The time is coming when everything animate and inanimate will bow down and worship Him. In many cases people will not wish to worship Him, but they will have no choice. Plus their worship will come too late. Let us praise, worship and obey while there is yet time. Time to praise before the sheep are separated from the goats.

Carol

One of the advantages of being a freelance writer is the places I get to visit and the people I meet. My latest foray was a Christmas lunch with the Scottish Society of Authors in Glasgow. I nearly said ‘free lunch’ though it wasn’t but at the Radison Blu hotel it was well worthwhile.

I was able to meet other writers (we are a strange bunch) and was also able to do networking. We each took a wrapped copy of one of our books to exchange with another wrapped book. I thus obtained a book about the Sikhs of the Punjab by a Dr of Anthropology. Wow, a bit out of my comfort zone but a fascinating read.

Carol

It seems the devil is well acquainted with stones. When he decided to tempt Jesus he referred to them twice in just three temptations.

Firstly he says to Jesus ‘If you are the Son of God tell these stones to become bread.’ When we are hungry and weak we are more liable to fall into temptation. As the Bible also says ‘the flesh is weak.’ We cannot cope with too much hunger, heat or freezing conditions. In such circumstances we need to call on the strength of our God.

Then the devil quotes scripture back to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God throw yourself down, It is written ‘He will command His angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

Again the devil is questioning the deity of Jesus as he has to use everything to his advantage, even scripture.

Jesus finally defects him by quoting scripture himself, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’

Carol

Although we were not all from one family, nor had we any special American connection, we all had a Thanksgiving celebration together. Eleven of us contributed towards the meal, which we concluded by having communion. At one point we all said what we were particularly thankful for. All contributions included thanks to God.

A few people gave thanks for health and one person was thankful for sight as his friend was going blind. One lady who had been very ill gave thanks for her husband, who was also with us. Thanks were given for security. As a church we work with people who do not have security of home, money or family.

We had so much to be thankful for that it was difficult to single out just one or two items.

Carol

Children love the story of how young David was able to kill Goliath with one small stone flung from a sling. Goliath never envisaged he could be killed by a small shepherd lad. But as is so well recorded David went forward with words ‘ I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty  The power was the Lord’s, the stones the instrument of death.

David was no soldier or skilled fighter, but God had been preparing him for this day for years. His sling practise against the wild animals had been his school of learning.

Likewise God does not  suddenly use us to defeat the devil. It takes years of preparation in reading the Bible, learning passages, praying and pursuing Christian fellowship. We will then be ready when the day comes to fight our Goliaths on His behalf.

Carol

Nearly there. The Israelites had been wondering in the desert for years after leaving Egypt and for many of those Moses had led them. Now it was the turn of Joshua.

The river had to be crossed and through God’s miracle the waters parted. The priests went on the dry river bed first as they carried the ark. The rest of the Israelites followed.

Joshua wanted the miracle to always be remembered, so ordered the priests to collect twelve large stones from the dry river bed and erect them near the camp site. These were to be a memorial so they could tell their children and children’s children of what the Lord had done.

We too have memorial stones in our lives; times, places or events that God wants us to remember, or it may be a text, saying or memory. It can be a reminder of what God has done for us.

Carol