The year 2020 has arrived in Japan! I am so grateful to God for making 2019 (and all my previous years) such a blessing to me and my family. I want to thank God right now.
Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for helping me throughout 2019, and thank You for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me in all the past years. Please guide me and all of us in this new year of 2020, and please draw many of Your elect people into Your bosom this new year. I thank You for bringing me to this blogging work, for letting me make many wonderful friends, and for speaking to me and teaching me through Your Word. I pray this is in Jesus’ most precious name, Amen!
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” – Psalm 100:1-5
Thank the person that nominated you, and tag them.
Write a paragraph or more on the experience of an act of kindness or something you have read or seen, or done, yourself.
Nominate three people to participate in this award.
Paste and copy the picture from above on your post.
Let the people you nominated know they have been nominated.
My Story:
It was with inner grief that my brother and I waved good-bye to our parents. We looked up at the ominous train station. “Well, bro, here goes nothing,” said I to my brother. (Well, actually, in real life I didn’t say that. Keep in mind that probably about 34% of this story is exaggerated.) After spending 3 hours and 12 minutes trying to buy the tickets (There, I did it again. Sigh.), we waited for our train on the platform. “Look! Our train is a-comin’!” cheered my brother. But as it turned out, it was only Thomas the Tank Engine chuffing past us and whistling, “Hi, y’all folks! I’m a very useful engine!”, and we watched him as he disappeared into the distance. “WAIT!!!” I screamed, waving my hands in agitation. “I was your fan back when I was sometime between 1 and 7, so I sort of want your autograph!!!” But alas, by that time it was too late. Our real train arrived, and we made way for the 53 pigs to get off the train. (Four of them were apparently a quartet in a group named The Hotdogs Of The Future.) One of them stepped on my foot, but I’m alright, don’t worry. (By the way, please raise the percentage from 34% to 65%, because I didn’t know I was going to write all that junk.) So we got on the train, and about 20 minutes later (There that’s more like it!)…
We gave our seats to two elderly women.
THE END
Conclusion
Showing kindness to other people, like simple acts such as encouraging others, gift-giving, and giving your seat to someone else, is a way to spread happiness to the ones around us. Furthermore, it is a kind of reflection of the merciful kindness of Jesus when He was on this earth, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, and giving life to people who have died. The greatest act of kindness ever done on this planet earth was the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He willingly died for the people Whom God the Father gave to Him to be His chosen people before the world began. Let us thank God always for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the gift of salvation, for redemption, for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for the work of the Holy Spirit, for the Word of God, the Holy Bible, for creating us, and for ruling over all things by His almighty power.
“And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” – 2 Peter 1:7
There are three people who will get nominated for this special award. And they are…
Thank you, God, for sending us your Son, Jesus Christ, Who has no beginning, nor will He have an end, to this earth in the form of a man, to die on the cross for undeserving sinners whom You chose to save. Thank you that Jesus is risen from the dead, and will come back to earth to rule for eternity! May the time come soon when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all!!
Here are the rules:
Thank the person who tagged you and link their post to yours.
Link the original post so the creators can read them.
Use the original featured image and include it in your post.
Answer the questions
Tag at least TWO people.
Have fun and enjoy the rest of your month.
Here are the questions:
Q.1. If you could be a character in a holiday movie, who would you be?
I would like to be the gift giver.
Q.2. What kind of holiday shopper are you: Black Friday? Christmas Eve? Yearlong hoarder?
Sorry, I’m not a holiday shopper! 😅
Q.3. What colors are your favorite holiday decorations?
I like red and green!
Q.4. Would you rather build a snowman, go sledding, have a snowball fight, or stay inside drinking hot cocoa?
I’d rather stay inside and drink hot cocoa while reading my Kindle.
Q.5. If you were Santa Claus, what type of cookie would you want to be left out for you on Christmas Eve?
I would be happy if the good kids left some chewy chocolate chip cookies out for me! I’d be so happy that I’d wake up the children with my “HO! HO! HO!”
Q.6. If someone offered you a gift card to any store you wanted, which one would you choose?
I’d choose the local supermarket!
Q.7. Name three words that best describe Christmas for you.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21
“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, BEHOLD, A VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us.” – Matthew 1:22-23
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
I’m typing this on Sunday morning, for publication Wednesday morning, when I expect to be doing more Christmas shopping.
This is a prayer, for this Christmas and every Christmas. Please join in.
O Lord our God! Bless this Christmas of 2019, and give it power to work day in, day out, day and night, and every day of 2020. Give it speech that all might hear. Give it the power to draw our hearts to Jesus Christ your Son, our Savior and our rightful King: give it the power to make us strong in His service, strong in His love. And may it move us to love one another, as Our Lord Himself commands.
All year long, O God! Bless this Christmas all year long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 7:24-25a (King James Version)
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23 (King James Version)
What would a night be like without the wonderful moonlight? Dark. Deary. God is faithful in bringing out the moon each night. Too often, we take our moon and its beautiful moonlight for granted.
A quick pic of the moon I took last night.
I really wanted a poem about moonlight to share on this post and I was wondering where I could find a great poem. I ended up asking a great blogger if they would write one for me. Sure enough – that person did! A HUGE thanks to Steve for writing this wonderful poem about moonlight! 🙂
“You have been chosen for this recognition because of the encouragement and inspiration you bring to your readers.“
The way this works: Thank the person who nominated you, and share their blog. Think of five bloggers that encourage and inspire you and nominate them. List five things about yourself. Answer the questions you got asked. Lastly, ask your nominees five questions. Why five? Because is the number that signifies grace.
5 Facts about me:
1. The Holy Spirit showed me my sins and that I need a Savior, and I prayed and asked God to forgive my sins and now I am saved through faith in Jesus Christ!
2. I define myself as a man of few words.
3. I used to go to the gym, but I haven’t gone there recently.
4. I want my blog to be used to bring others to Jesus Christ.
5. I am relying on God to guide me my whole life.
Here are the questions asked by Lydia:
Q.1. Which of your family members encourage you the most? How?
My father encourages me the most. He talks to me about God and about how to live the life God has graciously given me.
Q.2. Who do you go to when you need encouragment?
I always go to God when I need encouragement. I pray to Him, and He comforts me.
Q.4. What is an encouraging Bible verse or quote that you enjoy?
Matthew 28:18~20:
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.” Amen.
Q.5. Do you encourage others when you see them crying or distressed? How do you encourage them?
I remind them that Jesus loves and takes care of them.
My family and I
have recently been attending a house church that some friends go to. I have
really enjoyed it, and wanted to share something that really stood out to me,
one Sunday night.
One guy said
something that really made me think. He said (paraphrasing here): “The world is
telling you to find identity in the things around you. Whether it be money,
your job, or what people think of you, the world tells us to find identity in
things of this world. We, as Christians, however, need to stop trying to find
identity in things of this world, and start finding identity in Jesus. He’s the
only one that can satisfy us, the only One that can truly make us who we were
meant to be.”
