There is something special about giving gifts. Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and to watch our children and our grand-children as they opened their presents and to see the excitement upon their faces was a special treat for me.
But Christmas has now come and gone, and so have many of the things that remind us of the Holiday season. The wreaths on the windows have been neatly stored away, and all the decorations have been taken down until next year. And by the looks of things around us, you can't even tell that only a little while ago, it was Christmas.
Some of our grandson's favorite toys are a couple of the characters from the movie, "Toy Story". This pass year, for Halloween, Brendan dressed up like one of the characters in the movie, Woody, a toy that would talk and say, "Howdy Partner". And this Christmas he received Woody's rival, Buzz Light-Year.
In the movie, the scene takes place in a young boy's bedroom at a time when no one is around, and all the toys in the room come to life.
These toys were at one time his favorite toys, but many of them had been played with so much that they were either worn out, or broken. Others went unnoticed and were never played with any more. As the movie plays out, it is his birthday, and at his birthday party he tears into all the packages hoping to find the newest toy that he had been hoping for.
After a lot of disappointment of unwanted gifts, he finally opens the last package where he finds, “Buzz Light-Year”. A new space toy that is the latest craze on television with flying wings that pop out, a laser wrist light, and a proclamation, “To infinity and beyond”. I think all of us can relate to the excitement and joy that comes from receiving a new gift, especially if it's something that we have been hoping for.
But as the story depicts, these toys at one time were greatly desired and wanted, but after a time become broken and set aside. Many of them are left alone in the bottom of the toy box to be replaced with something new. Often times the old toys begin to pile up and become discarded or thrown away as trash. Many of them get stored away in the garages and basements of our homes, and years pass by and our children grow up and they no longer desire to play with these toys anymore.
We know that toys cannot come to life when no one is looking, nor do they have feelings and emotions because they are no longer desired, but the fact is, "we do"......
Many of the hurts and the rejections that we feel are real. Maybe at some point in time, you too have been hurt, abandoned, or mistreated. There are people today who find themselves in the same place as the toys in this movie, feeling all alone, unwanted, undesired, and unloved. It may be someone has toyed with your affections, used you or even abused you, and then cast you off without any regard to how you feel, or what it has done to you.
People say and do things to us that really hurt! And oft times in our own bedrooms, when no one is around, when no one is looking, we break down and cry, letting out all the hurts and frustrations that have been bottled up inside of us.
Maybe it has left you feeling all alone, and too hurt to trust anyone? You begin to feel like you don't fit in anywhere, and your too afraid to let anyone get close to you. You're really just afraid that you will end up getting hurt just like before. Or maybe you feel like no one else knows or understands what you're going through.
There is someone today who does understand. He went through many of the things that you are struggling with. He was spit on and rejected, He knows what it feels like to grieve and to sorrow, and He knows what it feels like to suffer pain. He was ridiculed, and made fun of, yet He opened not him mouth in his own defense.
He was physically tortured, his body bruised and beaten, and then nailed to a cross, while they sat and watched him suffer and die. His name is Jesus.
So does Jesus care about what you are going through? Does He care when your heart is broken and your life is torn apart? Does He care when others have hurt you and abused you, and then want nothing to do with you? Yes friend Jesus cares about you. Christ came into the world to heal the brokenhearted, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Through His death on the cross, He paid the highest price for your life, so that you would know the love He has for you. He is waiting for you with arms wide open to surrender to him all those things that you have been carrying around. He is the healing that your heart and mind so desperately needs and wants.
Jesus is seeking you out today and wants to win your trust. He only wants to love and help you. His love will break through all of your fears and hurt. You've probably been looking and longing for this real love for a long time. It can be yours. Jesus is waiting for you to come to him. He wants to comfort you, and be your healer.
Isaiah 61:1-2 "The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God's favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. To comfort all who mourn.
So you see Jesus is the healer of broken hearts and broken lives. He is the one who sets free the prisoner and the captive from out of all their bonds. The Bible says that He is a restorer of paths to dwell in.
It's by falling into the arms of the One who gave his life for you, that all the hurts of your past can be healed. He is waiting for you to surrender them all to Him. It's in the warmth of His embrace that you can let go of the darkness with all its torments and fears, and allow the Light of His Presence to flood over you, healing you and restoring you to the person God has made you to be.
Your life is of great value and of a great price to Him, and His death upon the cross proves just how much He loves you. So you can trust Him today to come into your life, He will give you a new heart, and a new life, and a reason to live. He says in His word, I will never leave thee, nor will I forsake thee.
Copyright © Rev. James Lewis
2010 Webmaster
All rights reserved.
email: Word of Life Ministries
Hand In Hand Publication is an Internet Ministry of Faithful Christians joining hands together all around the world, for the sole purpose of promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To Subscribe/Unsubscribe to this mailing list send an email to Rev. James Lewis with the word Subscribe, or Unsubscribe in the Subject Box
