The Most Special Gift of All

Finished your gift shopping yet? Or perhaps you haven't even started. What special gift you would like to receive this Christmas? How about the gift of Love?

Today is Christmas Eve and we celebrate the fourth week of Advent and the focus is on Love. Love is the most precious gift of all.

Yes, love is about giving. Someone asked me last year why I give presents at Christmas. I was stunned. Giving is love in action. Giving shows I care and am thinking about you. Giving is getting out of my selfishness and into your desires, wants, and needs. Giving is about pleasing someone else.

Love is what God showed us when he gave us the gift of his precious only son - Jesus, the Christ, so that we could see what Love truly looks like in human terms.

Love comes in different forms. Love can be shown by giving forgiveness, kindness, generosity, mercy, and understanding. Love listens, shares, trusts, and touches not just the flesh but the heart as well. Love is spending time with. Love knows no limits. Love is sacrificial, not self-centered. Love endures and hopes. Love believes all things and is pure. Love is loving the unlovely. Love, as it says in 1st Cor 13, never fails.

Who can you show love to this Christmas Eve? Is there an unwed mother, like Mary, who needs shelter or a place to stay? A weary traveler who needs a hot meal? A baby who might need clothes? Or perhaps a stranger or orphan who has no family of his or her own?

Yes, love is a gift and it truly is the most special gift of all. Today, I wish you the gift of love and if you don't know the Savior, Jesus, the Messiah, then I invite you to invite him into your heart this day. Let the love of God warm the cockles of your heart, melt away the cold, the bitterness, the fear and the hurt that has been there for way too long. You, too, can enjoy the warm and comforting presence of a dear and close friend every minute of the New Year because you will have the best friend of all, Jesus.

Wishing you and yours a year full of the gifts of Christmas: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love because truly Christ is with us! Merry Christmas to all of you.

Ariel Paz 

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Tragic news of the mass killing in Connecticut rocked the world last week. People's emotions ranged from shock, sadness and grief to anger and outrage. Even the most peaceful of us found it hard to grasp how such a thing could happen at this joyful time of year.

But, many around the world are not joyful and deal with shootings and killings every day. Parents do not know whether their children will come home safely. Some have lost loved ones or have a dear one on death's door. My own father is precariously hanging on to life.

Yet, today marks the third week of Advent and the color of the candle on my wreath is pink - symbolizing both unconditional love and joy. Despite the great evil in the world, we can still have joy and unconditional love. How can this be you ask?

Because joy is a calm inner knowing that God is always with us. His name, Emmanuel means exactly that. God came to this earth in the form of a baby to bring us peace and joy because he knew that we would not find these things in the world.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27)

"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).

Yes, we can have Joy this season despite our circumstances. Jesus is here to comfort us in our time of need. Will you be the hand and feet of Jesus and reach out to bring someone comfort and joy this season?

Let the joy of the Lord be your strength and your shield today (Ps. 28:7). He will bring you out of darkness and into His great Light!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel Paz 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

The holiday season is upon us and Christmas is three weeks from today. Are you wondering who's coming to dinner at your house this year?

In years past, I must confess, I have fretted over many things like who was and wasn't coming to dinner at Christmas, who was or wasn't coming to church, did I buy enough gifts for everybody, will they like the food ya da ya da ya da. Woe is me.

This year I have decided to give all that to the Lord. I am not going to fret about any of those issues. Because you know what? They are all out of my control. All I can do is extend the invitation and trust that those who are meant to be together will be.

And you know what else? The most important guest in my house is someone I cannot even touch or see, but I can certainly feel. His name is Jesus. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and he brings his gifts of hope, peace, joy and love. If He is there, then I will be content. When I focus on Him, everything else melts away like the snow when the sun shines on it. My spirit is at peace and my heart is brimming with His great love for me.

What about you? Are you fretting over something this holiday season? Is it out of your control? Then I encourage you to give it to the Lord and let him take care of things. He knows what is best and while we may not understand his ways, we know that he is always working things out for our good.

Whoever comes to dinner this year, I know it will be joyous for we will be celebrating the greatest gift ever given: the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us.

Until next time, keep the faith and keep looking up!