What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

Nice - Congrats

 

Now that the big shopping days are over, it is Giving Tuesday. Please help out your favorite charities if you can. Also, if your charity is accepting donations thru FB, your donation may be matched - even if you don't give thru FB, it will help them out.

And not burning many pellets right now - which I am okay with

 

Our Distinguishing Mark
By Danny Saavedra
“In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”—Colossians 2:11–12 (NIV)

Do you have a distinguishing feature that makes you identifiable and causes you to stand out? Maybe it’s your eyes, a birthmark, a unique tattoo, or even your own eclectic fashion. Whatever it is, this thing sets you apart.

For the Jewish people, circumcision was the mark that identified them as children of God. Circumcision set the Jewish people apart from the world as partakers in the covenant God made with their forefather Abraham. They were a special people unto the Lord, His children.

But, as with the rest of the Old Testament covenants, they were shadows of what was to come. You see, these covenants were intended to point us to something greater, because on their own they’re powerless to save us. We see this clearly by the very thing that brought about the establishment of the circumcision covenant: the promise of God spoken to Abraham and the word of God believed by Abraham (faith). That’s why we’re told, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3 NIV) and then see the establishment of the covenant, the symbolic marker of the promise of God to Abraham’s family, which was brought to fruition by Jesus Christ, the earthly seed of Abraham and eternal Son of God!

So, how does this relate to us? Well, in today’s passage Paul tells us we’ve also been circumcised. However, ours isn’t from a physical circumcision, but a spiritual one, where Jesus cuts away our sinful nature and makes us clean, set apart, and sealed with the Holy Spirit, our distinguishing marker. This claim is further supported by Paul with the example of baptism, which once again refers to a physical, symbolic gesture representing something deeper.

Just as circumcision represented a setting apart unto God as His children through the cutting away of the flesh, baptism represents a washing away of sin, a death to the former life and rebirth into a new life. And this is exactly what Jesus does in us when we receive Him.

Friends, in Christ, we’ve been made pure, holy, and righteous. We’ve had our sins cut away, separated from us as far as the east is from the west. In Christ, we’ve seen our old nature removed and perish in the purifying waters of baptism as we’re raised up as a new people, as fully accepted and adopted children of God, members of an unconditional, eternal covenant. We’ve been cleaned out so the presence of the Holy Spirit can take up residence in our hearts.

So now, with such a wonderful distinguishing mark dwelling within us, I pray we may live in such a way that others can clearly see what sets us apart and seek to find what we’ve been found in!

DIG: Why does Paul use circumcision and baptism to hammer home his point about what we have received in Christ?

DISCOVER: What does it mean to be set apart unto God?

DO: Circumcision and baptism for the believer describe an internal, spiritual transformation that takes place when we receive Jesus. But these internal changes must bring about external changes in all we say, think, and do. Thus, I encourage you this week to examine your life. Ask yourself if the distinguishing mark of the Holy Spirit in you is evident to others? Does your life show the spiritual circumcision and baptism you underwent?

 

WORD From The Woods



Over the next few weeks, as we prepare to celebrate the Christmas holiday, I’d like take take a look at the true heart of Christmas. This week I’d like to look at the familiar passage in Luke’s Gospel about the birth of Christ.



Luke 2:1-21

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”



This passage is probably very familiar to most of us. It’s often read on Christmas Eve with family and friends sitting around the Christmas tree or shared in a Christmas Eve service by the pastor at your local church. If your like me, it brings back warm, wonderful memories of my childhood and the excitement and anticipation of waking up Christmas morning to open presents and spend the day with my family. These are all good and wonderful things, but as much as we try, as Christians we still very much buy into the selfish commercialism of the Christmas season. Somehow we think if we just read a story about the birth of Jesus and put a Nativity scene on display that we are keeping Christ at the center of it all. But, I’d ask you to really examine your heart and seek God to see if Christ is really at the center of your heart this Christmas season. The word Christ is thought by many in this day and age to simply be the last name of Jesus, but it was a term that held awesome life changing meaning for the people at the time of His birth. The word Christ is the greek rendering of the Hebrew word Messiah, it means anointed one. The Christ of Christmas is the long awaited Messiah who fulfilled all the types and shadows of Old Testament prophecy. God’s people had been waiting for the coming Messiah for thousands of years. Ever since Adam and Eve chose to break their relationship with God by rebelling against Him in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been plagued by a life of perpetual sin. The only hope of restoring that broken relationship and having eternal life with the Creator was though the promised Messiah. As we spend the next few busy weeks preparing for Christmas, please take the time to make sure your family and friends understand the significance of who the Christ of Christmas really is and truly keep Him at the center of it all. Giving gifts is a great way to communicate the love that God gifted to this broken world through sending His Son. The evergreen trees that we decorate with lights and display in our homes are a symbol of Christ, who is the Light go the world and the only way to everlasting life. Don’t let another Christmas pass without using it as a way to point your family and friends back to Christ, the true heart of Christmas!



God bless, merry Christmas and have a great week! -Terry

 

Crazy rain and wind all night here. Went to bed at 11:30 (took today off) 12:45 power out. Get up and hook up the generator, swap water heater off the HPWH to the boiler mate. We normally just leave it electric for the $2 a month it costs and we are not sucking from the boiler. Forgot one valve apparently and wifey wasn’t happy with that lukewarm shower. Going to take her to work and figure out what the damage is. Who knows when the power comes back on.

 

Maybe nothing major

 

Caffeine going in. Always nice when everyone else is sleeping in. The peace and quiet is very relaxing. I suppose I better wake up the kids though. School zooming starts at 08:30.

 

You Can’t Out-Give God
By Rick Warren — 12/01/2020


“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Luke 6:38 (NLT)

When you give from a heart for Jesus, your goal isn’t to get a blessing. But the truth is that God will bless you.

You can’t out-give God. When you learn to be generous like God is generous, he promises that you will end up with more. This is the economy of God.

Sometimes it seems like God is saying: “Let’s see who can out-give the other. You give to me and to other people, and I’ll give to you—and we’ll see who wins.”

And God always wins! He says over and over in Scripture that you will end up with more if you learn to be generous. Sometimes those blessings will be material. But sometimes they’ll be the spiritual blessings that come from a generous heart.

Jesus says, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38 NLT).

What is Jesus saying here? Imagine you’re going to a market to buy grain. You bring a burlap sack and pay to have the whole sack filled. As the shop owner is pouring grain, you press it into your sack. Then you gently shake the sack so the grain settles down even more. You want to fit the maximum amount of grain.

Jesus is saying that God’s blessings are the same. When you give generously, he’ll give so generously that you’ll have to make room for more.

He gives in full measure—and then some—when you learn to be generous like him. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you. He wants you to be generous because he wants you to be like him. You can’t become more like Christ without learning to give generously.

This is one of the most important decisions you will make: Is your life going to be about giving away what God has blessed you with? Will it be marked by a joyous desire to grab hold of God’s promises as you let go of the things of this earth?

“The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” You determine how much God blesses your life

 

Don't want any drunks here either. You can keep the weather!

 

Yeah Jeff, we should not be 60. The rest of the week is a litter above normal too but not horrible.

 

That is a little bit.

 

Wife and I got lucky and didnt loose power. The wind and rain was really bad. I stayed up late until it calmed down a bit. Im just outside of Augusta so I dont no the details of the storm in other areas until the noon news.

 

Further east you go the worse it is supposedly. We are still getting hammering with rain. Power was out for 10 hours.

 

Woke up just after midnight and it was 67ºF outside. Wind still howling.
59ºF outside now at noon and the wind has calmed down. Forecast low for the night is aroundabout 38ºF.
One 7 inch caliper oak down in the back yard across a trail and garden fence and a very few branches hare and there.
Going for a hike in a few minutes on my woods trail(s) to scope things out.

 

When is the cabin warming so we can all come and check it out? congrats.

 

This one is a little hammy but Ok for 2020

 

Still pouring here. More rain predicted. My arthritis is kicking up so bad. Another big storm forming up for the weekend. Wait and see.

 

It's our gift to you. Yours to keep.

No regifting