Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays

The Most Expensive Gift

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‘Tis the season to be shopping! Relentlessly, we shop ‘til we drop. While enduring crowded malls and long lines, we are sustained by the thrill of getting our hands on the perfect gift for those we love. We search with diligence until at last we find it. Almost in unbelief, we pick it up and carefully examine it for any slight imperfection. Finally, we check the price tag to determine if its value is worth the cost. To our disappointment, it is simply too expensive and more than we are willing to pay. We place it back on the shelf and walk away. Perhaps we can find a more affordable, less costly gift.

 

But that was not the case on that first Christmas morning two thousand years ago when God gave the most expensive gift of all—the gift of His Son. The cost would stretch from the starlit hill of Bethlehem to the darkened hill of Calvary. It would be wrapped in swaddling clothes woven with pain and stained in blood. A ribbon of mercy would adorn this priceless gift of love. Oh yes, God knew in advance the cost of His gift. The cruel cross was in full view as God pondered His decision. The price tag would be high—the cost enormous.

 

It has been said that a friend would perhaps die for a friend, and many would die for their own child, but only the Son of God would die for a sinner such as I. You see, my life was laced with self-righteousness from feeble attempts at being good; my will bent on having my own way; my attitude in need of adjustment; my pride out of control; my body imperfect; and my destiny one of destruction. Yet God chose to pay an extravagant price to rescue me.

 

Only when we comprehend the tremendous cost of God’s gift will we have gratitude equal to its worthiness. Only when we recognize our pitiful state had the gift not been given will we grasp its significance. Only when we acknowledge the pain it brought to the heart of God will we understand its high value. And it is only when we accept the generosity of God will we adore the Gift and worship the Giver.

 

There has always been just one true message of Christmas even though it is often camouflaged among cheerful holiday ado. As we observe this Christmas, it is only fitting that we celebrate the most expensive gift ever given, the gift of Jesus. ~Janie Kellogg

Holidays

Finding Nemo ~ Finding Jesus

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A popular children’s movie a few years ago was the story of a father fish that goes looking for his cherished son, Nemo. He was determined to find and rescue him at any cost. That story reminds me of the Heavenly Father who goes looking for His lost children—us. He too is determined to find and rescue at any cost.

 

 

As the Christmas season is upon us once again, some will have a vacant chair at the table this year as the family gathers together for this holiday celebration. Whether our loved one has been called to fight a war in a far away land, or we have the permanent loss of one we know will not be coming back, the emptiness is undeniable. Many have lost jobs due to a stressed economy, and yet others face uncertainty because of enduring illness or a diagnosis that just wasn’t what we had planned for. Nonetheless, Christmas is here, and we simply must by an act of our faith discover once again the reason to celebrate.

 

 

I propose that like finding Nemo, we must find Jesus. While the commercialization of Christmas attempts to make us focus on anything but its real meaning, it is still there. It may be obscured among the hustle and the bustle, the mythical versus the divine, yet its message cannot be diminished. That powerful expression of love by our Heavenly Father in the extraordinary gift of His Son is tucked inside every carefully wrapped package we give and receive. It is found in the glow of every candle that transmits its soft light into a darkened room reminding us that the light of God’s love still shines in a dark and seemingly terrorized world. If we look closely, we can find Jesus in the twinkle of each tiny tree light as it blinks a message of hope for a brighter tomorrow. Oh, Jesus can even be found in the image of a cute little snowman when it brings a smile to the face of a child. And believe it or not, we can find Jesus in the ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ of jolly Ole Saint Nick, if in any small way it softens the heart of a Christmas scrooge.

 

 

While I once complained because the season seems to start earlier with each passing year, I have decided it is actually a wonderful thing that we celebrate more fully and completely the most miraculous event in all of history. For the coming of the promised Messiah into a lost and undeserving world merits much celebration! As you decorate your home with lights, color, and warmth, at the same time decorate your heart with the love, hope and peace that come from knowing the Savior. Like the shepherds on that memorable night so long ago, seek the One who is worth finding. Let us look for Jesus in every Christmas jingle we hear, every shopping trip we endure, each musical program we attend, and certainly in the midst of every gathering of family and friends. May we allow the generosity of God to overtake us as we look for ways to share our blessings with others, and in so doing, help them find Jesus too. After all, isn’t that what Christmas is really all about—finding Jesus? ~ Janie Kellogg

Holidays

Thanksgiving Day Fullness

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If there is one word that describes the aftermath of Thanksgiving Day, it would be fullness! You know what I’m talking about. We indulge ourselves in a feast of delicious cuisine from roasted turkey with all the trimmings to colorful and delicious sides, and top it off with a smorgasbord of desserts fit for a king. It amazes me that it takes days, maybe weeks, to prepare such a meal—planning, shopping, baking, cooking, and serving. Yet, thirty minutes after our families gather around the table, all we have to show for our efforts are a heap of leftovers, a sink of dirty dishes—and fullness.

 

In reality, fullness is a two-sided coin. Certainly, it is a result of having enjoyed plenty of the foods we love and that bring back memories of past family gatherings. It is those favorite dishes that excite our taste buds as we linger long, savoring every bite. It’s our encounters with Grandma’s dressing or Aunt Susie’s famous pumpkin pie that inevitably causes us to lose all sense of restraint. After all, it only happens once a year.

 

But fullness also means that we’ve had plenty of other things as well. The joy of being with family brings an abundance of familiarity to our hearts. We are filled to the brim with gratitude for the fellowship of those we hold dear and who make this holiday warm and inviting. No one tells jokes like Uncle Ben or stories like Grandpa. It matters not that we’ve heard them before—they just never get old. And it is the fullness of life shared with those who mean much that intoxicates us and causes us to repeat the same process year after year. You see, there’s just no place like home with the family.

 

Did you know that the word fullness in the Bible? The Apostle Paul prayed that we would have it. In Ephesians 3:19, he wrote “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” I don’t know what all that entails, but I sure would like to. I suspect, just like the fullness from our Thanksgiving celebrations, it means we have enjoyed God. We’ve lingered long, savoring every bite from His Word. It is our encounters with His Presence that cause us to lose all restraint when worshipping and praising Him.

 

There is also the fullness we feel when we gather with God’s family. We are filled to the brim with gratitude for the opportunity to be with those we hold dear and who make our fellowship warm and inviting. We love to hear their testimonies and stories of how God has blessed them, and us. It doesn’t matter if we’ve heard the stories many times over—they too just never get old. And yes, it is the fullness of the life of God shared with those who mean much that intoxicates us and causes us to do it over and over. You see, there’s just no place like home with God’s family either.

 

Regardless of how your family celebrated Thanksgiving, I trust that you came away with fullness, both physical and spiritual. I am personally seeking for all the fullness that Paul prayed for me to have and that God has to offer. I know that “eye has not seen nor ear heard….the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor. 2:9), but I am doing my best to see them and hear them this side of heaven. Someday, I hope to be filled with all the fullness of God that is possible for a human being. In the meantime, I plan to continue enjoying the fullness that comes from being with God, family, friends, and God’s people. I hope you do too. ~Janie Kellogg

Holidays

Happy New Year with some fresh new thoughts~

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There is so much I like about the word new. You know what I mean—the possibilities are endless—a new job, a new house, a new relationship, a newborn baby, new shoes, new hair-do. Every morning when my husband leaves for work, he steps outside, takes a deep breath and says, “Ah, it feels good to breathe some air that hasn’t been breathed before.” Of course, he’s talking about new air.

We stand on the threshold of a new year, and no doubt there will be new resolutions, new diet and work-out plans, and new beginnings of all sorts. The word new is one of those catalyst words that help us leave the old behind and arrive at a different starting place. It has a hint of hope attached to it, a positive ring that tells the world we’re on a bigger, better path than we were before.

But then I like the word new even better when preceded by the word fresh. Think about it. We all like a fresh new look. We get excited about a fresh new idea. We admire someone with a fresh new approach. Doesn’t everyone appreciate the chance to get a fresh new start? Let’s face it, a fresh new anything has appeal. Except that is, when it comes to our Christian faith. There we might be a bit skeptical of anything that says fresh or new. After all, we are confident that we know what we know, and what we know is the only way to think about it—isn’t it?

Christians today are perhaps the best educated in the history of the Church. We own no less than four or five different translations of the Bible, numerous commentaries, concordances, and have attended dozens upon dozens of Bible studies, seminars and retreats. We have tried theory after theory, and formula after formula, yet we still find ourselves thirsty for more and lacking passion in our walk with God. Could it be that the problem is not what we know or don’t know, but how we look at things? Maybe what we need is not more knowledge, more seminars, or even more blessings; but a fresh new way to look at what we already know. My blog is about that very thing—a fresh new look at our knowledge of God and His promises to us.

I have been a seeker of God most of my life. My search started when I was little girl growing up in the mountains of Southeast Oklahoma. I often sat on the creek bank that ran behind my home and skipped flat rocks across the small stream. I remember looking up into the vast blue sky against the beautiful piney-woods backdrop and asking, “God, where are you?” I have continued that search throughout my life, always looking for what the Bible calls “the pearl of great price.” My thirst to know God has brought me to where I am today, one who continues to ask, seek, and knock, fully believing that “everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”(Luke 11:10 NKJV).

If you are seeking a fresh new spiritual outlook, perhaps my blog will speak to you. I will not be sharing another method to attain financial blessings or success. Instead, I will be sharing my journey into the deeper, hidden things of God where the blessings and the riches are not of this world. As a believer in God, who “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV), I want to challenge you to take a fresh new look at the hidden life in Christ, how to discover or re-discover the secret place, and how to abide there. If you are looking for a challenge in 2012, I hope you will join me on this fresh new journey.  ~Janie Kellogg