Dear
Fellow Children of God,
Christmas Day is approaching, quickly.
So . . . are you ready with all the gifts which you hope to give to
others? Kathy and I scheduled our gift
shopping this year for Thursday, December 7.
But, we always wonder about which gifts to give for those on our
list. Do you ever struggle with what to
give for Christmas? When our family was
younger, Kathy and I would work hard to give appropriate, faithful gifts to our
children. Sure, our children received some
toys or sports equipment. But, I / we
did not want to just give them what everyone else was also getting. We did not want to give a gift that would be
exciting on Christmas Day, but forgotten a week later. We did not want to give a gift which was
cheaply made and would break easily. We
also did not want to give a gift which could give the wrong kind of
message. We tried not to give toys or
gifts which spoke of values different than those to which Jesus calls us. Instead, we tried to give gifts which lasted,
gifts which could educate, gifts which shared positive values, gifts which even
spoke of the love of Jesus. I’m not sure
we always succeeded in our goals, but we tried to give gifts at the celebration
of the Savior’s birth which would help our children grow as Christians. In many ways, we have the same goals today
for our grandchildren.
How about you? Do you ever struggle with which gifts to
give? Do you have some of the same
struggles and questions which Kathy and I had?
If you have those questions in your mind and heart I have a suggestion
for you. This gift suggestion does not cost a lot of money, but gives wonderful
blessings. My Christmas gift suggestion
is this: ask your loved one what is on their heart for which they would like you
to pray. Then faithfully pray for your
friend or loved one daily concerning that issue in the coming year.
When you pray for someone else, you
are praying that God would act in His love, in His power and His mercy in their
lives. You are asking God to be with
them, and to accomplish His purposes of love for them. Could we give any better gift than God’s love
in our lives today, or any better gift than God’s love for eternity?
Paul asked the gift of prayer from
the Christians in Ephesus. After
encouraging these believers to “Put on the whole armor of God,” he then asks
help for himself. “19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I
am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (Ephesians 6:19-20) Paul asks the
Ephesians to pray that God would help him in sharing the good news of
Jesus. Perhaps the scripture record of
Paul’s effective missionary work shares with us how well God did answer these
prayers. Prayer is powerful. And God answers prayer!
I share this
recommendation with you after a conversation I had on Sunday evening, November
27 with friends Wayne and Mary Mize. I
had led worship at two churches on the Kenai Peninsula that day, made a couple
of home calls, and taught an evening class.
On past trips, after serving in these peninsula churches I drove home in
the evening, even though it is a three and a half hour drive through the
mountains. But, it was November, and
dark, and I remembered a drive of terror last December. So I stayed the night in Sterling with the
Mizes.
In November 2021 Wayne
and Mary kept our dog, Mat, while we were in Florida. I drove down in early December to bring Mat
home. After a short visit, I climbed in
my truck with Mat and we started driving toward Palmer. Around Cooper Landing the snow began falling. I was delayed for about an hour as rescue
workers took care of a serious accident.
Then I drove the 50 miles over Turnagain Pass. It was snowing so hard I could not see the
road in front of me, nor the tracks of others.
I thought of stopping, but what if someone else could not see me, and
hit me from behind? I tried to turn off
into some of the rest areas I knew, but twice I almost got stuck in the deep snow
berms. My wipers kept the snow off my
windshield, but when I would hit a drift, the snow exploded, covering my windshield
with deep piles of snow. Driving about
25 miles hour, or a little more, or less, my hands gripped the steering
wheel. As I started down out of the pass,
I saw another vehicle, coming straight at me in the only tire tracks there were. But, since we were both traveling only 15
miles an hour at that time, we were able to drive around one another. Finally, after about two hours or more of tension,
I made it down the mountain pass, surprisingly safely.
As I visited with the Mizes
this November 27, we discussed that I would spend Sunday night with them. I did not want a repeat of last year’s
drive. Mary then said something that,
when I later thought about it, really struck me. “When you left last year I kept praying for
you all the way home.” I have many people
on my own personal prayer list. I have
rejoiced many times in God’s gracious answers to these prayers. But, it surprised me to think of being the recipient
of the blessings from someone else’s prayer for me. As I thought about that drive again, I am
sure the Lord was with me, and He was answering Mary’s prayers.
Do you ever struggle with which
gifts to give to loved ones as you celebrate Jesus’ birth? Again, my Christmas gift suggestion is that
you ask your loved one what is on their heart. Ask them what they would like you
to pray about to God for them. This does
not have to be a cheap way to get out of giving other gifts. You can still buy them beautiful material
presents. But, perhaps you can give a
card, speak your love, and then ask, “What’s on your heart? What would you like
me to pray about to God for you?” Give
time for them to respond in a personal way.
Then faithfully pray for them daily concerning that issue in the coming
year. Christmas after all celebrates the
gift of God’s love. You may give no
better gift this Christmas!
A Child of God, Suggesting a Way That You Can
Give the Gift of God’s Love Again this Christmas!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. St. John
prepares for Jesus’ Christmas coming with Wednesday evening Advent meals and
worship services. On Wednesday, December
7, there is an Advent meal at 5:30 p.m., and Advent worship at 6:30 p.m. Come and join others in preparing to receive
the Christmas gift of Jesus.
P.P.S. I saw some
beauty in God’s winter creation again this past week. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/qbrD8fQDNCfEesEu6
P.P.P.S. I went
ice fishing on Monday, December 5 with Kym Miller. We did well. We caught 20 or more nice trout, and kept
7. The Rockey family ate trout for
supper on Monday night. J Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/31divwkYR3Jer61o9
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord,
Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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