Two recurrent themes from Grandma Adams…. (1) “that the days seemed to run together and (2) that time seemed to be rushing by with great speed.”  She knew Psalms 115:18 “this time forth.”
 Didn’t Christmas just happen last month?  Didn’t the kids just start school yesterday?  Didn’t I just graduate a few days ago?  Yes, yes!  We are hurling toward eternity!  Get ready to see the great maker and eternal one!
 So as our friend Dr. Adrian Rogers said “Time will lick all the red off your candy!”  By the way, back to that graduation subject:

 Write down the year you graduated (or will graduate
 from High School ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .________________
 Double this number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ________________
 Add 5 to it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ________________
 Multiply by 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ________________
 Add your age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ________________
 Subtract 250 for the total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ________________

 The first four numbers in your answer will be the year of graduation from High
 School and the last two numbers will be your age.  WOW!

Deuteronomy 15:11 – Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors.

As the Israelites settled into the Promised Land, God instructed them to do something quite shocking.  At the end of every seven years, they were to cancel all debts.

Also during that seventh year, they were to put down their tools and relax.  It was to be a year of rest from both toil and obligations.

Why?  Because God wanted the Israelites to understand that everything they had come from him.  And so, knowing his openheartedness toward them, they should likewise be benevolent with others.

God is a giving God, and he wants his people to be generous as well.  Today, be open-hearted with those who are in need around you.  

The true message of Christmas is found in John 3:16.  Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
 This is the heart of Christmas. Jesus is God’s great love gift, because Jesus came to give His life that we might have life and “have it to the full” (John 10:10). Without a doubt, love came down at Christmas.
 Now because Jesus loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins, what better Christmas gift could we give others than to share His love with them, that they might have life? Love is a gift our world desperately needs this Christmas season.

By Dr. Adrian Rogers