“The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it.”
Author unknown
Merry Christmas to All!
May your house sparkle with the grace of God. The gift of mercy given to all that enter your home. Hope poured into goblets of crystal for the weary. Peace greetings for the soul. May the angels dance with delight as they see only obedience in their sight. May your tree topper be The LIGHT, The true Light that gives light to every one…” that comes into your house. John 1:9
And, may NO ONE leave your table without the living Word served as the meal of choice. The cuisine LIGHT. The taste of salt served just right. Olive Oil to make the face to shine and Wine that gladdens the heart of guest, and bread that sustains their hearts. (Psalm 104:15)
Your are a gift of God. Share with others as they decorate your home, Christmas, 2009!
thedailylily.com 
Sara, Your blog made me think about how we consider certain little treasures of our households. Some of us have lovely, expensive Christmas decorations or candleabras. or a nativity scene. We might have an old but precious ornament that has been handed down through the generations that has always been hung on a family tree or set up at Christmastide. And we treat those with utmost care and concern as we unpack them and when we put them away, we place them in an area of safety so that they will not be broken and will survive to see another family Christmas.
As your quote suggests, if we would consider those who grace our homes and those with whom we will spend Christmastide as a precious ornament to our home, then we should give them the same loving, caring attention that we pay to our Christmas ornaments. And if, as the quote suggests, we are the gift of God and they are the ornament, then we would want their beauty to be complete with the knowledge of the Great and Glorious Messiah Who has made all this possible. The window of opportunity is narrow and fleeting. Christmas comes quickly and goes even more quickly. This time of year when hearts MIGHT BE more attuned to receive the Christmas message, even though some would try to obfuscate the true meaning of Christ’s birth….BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO!!
Let us be full of Christian cheer as we tell the tale of a Savior Who left His home in glory, humbled Himself and became flesh & blood….that Man Whose birth we celebrate every year. That Man is the Christ, God in flesh and blood, that blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. And for one reason, only…..LOVE. Then our “ornamental guests” will take on a spiritual glow as the Truth is revealed to them.
I should know. That’s how it happened to me……28 Christmases ago!!
Sara you make us to understand through this creative blog just what valuable teaching tools we have placed in and outside our homes throughout the year and especially at Christmas to employ in sharing the whole salvation message with others. Not only did Jesus take away our sins on the Cross but “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matt 8:17).
And we are the temple of God, His house, individually and corporately so whether I am in a building called my house or out, I can see from this blog that the same principles of serving, pouring and giving apply.
I thankfully receive this blog as a benediction for many ornaments for Christ this Christmas 2009.
I love having guest in my house. Growing up in a large family and all the children having friends, parents having friends, and always the Preacher and his wife as well as other community leaders… we were decorated richly in style, color and size. I still love the ornaments that decorate my house and I always encourage my sons to open their houses for guest to come in and decorate theirs. We have been very blessed because of this.
One of my very favorite times would be having guest that were interesting storytellers. I still love the value of action figures frequenting my house. Whoa, just think how decorative it will be when we all sit down at the feast being prepared for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Do you think we will be the decoration for Our King’s house? “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
Ah yes! We will be the ornaments around the Lamb’s Table for we shall be the bride of Christ, ‘all glorious within, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But the shining Light shall be at the head of the Table and the Centerpiece, the Cross. Always the sacred Cross upon which the Lamb sacrificed Himself for us. That will be the symbol throughout eternity in our Heavenly Home. That blessed Cross of Christ.
Proverbs 1:9 says we shall be ornaments unto the HEAD and chains of gold around His neck. Quite a confirmation.
Most encouraging Words from Proverbs 1:9. We must be in training when we are guest in the home of others or they in ours. It takes years to training for such an occasion of never ending proportions.
Interestingly, I just read where Prince William, of England, would began to share some of the Queen’s duties as he is in training to be a King one day. “The Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King,…” mail online reports.The article goes on to say The Queen is making Prince William a Shadow King.
O Church, rise and awake and begin to walk in the ‘Shadow of the Almighty.’ We are celebrating Christmas now, the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, The King. He is coming to earth again as King, Priest and Judge.! We are in training for this one and only matchless event. Where will you be?
Perhaps, Sara,you could be saying that we are “shadow” kings in training for our great King’s reavealing. “And He has made us unto our God kings and priests to serve our God…. and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10) And in Psalm 91, it says that he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High God, shall abide, live, dwell in the SHADOW of the Almighty.
In these particular cases SHADOW has a powerful meaning. People were healed, in the ACTS, when Peter’s shadow fell upon them.
Excitingly, the etymology of the word SHADOW has striking connections with the premise presented here. I will quote from Webster’s on-line Dict.
Shadow can mean an “imperfect imitation or copy.” Maybe that’s what some of us are at the present, in our pursuit to imitate Christ we have still a ways to go in perfecting our image of Jesus. In another sense the meaning can be a” mirrored image or reflection”. That is what we truly are aiming and striving for. Not to be a shoddy copy of a Christian but the mirrored image and reflection of Christ. Shadow can also mean a “dominating presence or influence.” We witness to that in the Scripture quoted above, in Psalm 91. Truly Christ is a dominating presence and we, who are striving to imitate Christ should also be a dominating influence for Christ in the world, Of Whom we are His image. Especially because another meaning of Shadow is “to represent mysteriously or prophetically.” The mystery of our being reflections of Christ should not be withheld from those with whom we have to do. It is a mystery of how God can make us Christ’s reflection but it should not be a mystery to those who are seekers and those who need to see the Love of Christ, those who need salvation, deliverance, encouragement and healing.
There are several more relevant meanings to the SHADOW but I like this last one that I will post. To SHADOW means to “CHANGE BY GRADUAL DEGREES.” Oh! Hallelujah! That imperfect copy of Christ that I reflect at this particualr moment will be changed, degree by degree until we come into the full measure of the fullness of Christ Himself. There is hope in the SHADOWS of the Almighty. I look for expectantly and anticipate the CHANGE that He will bring about in my life if I will be obedient to the heavnely vision and calling.
Sara writes ” We are in training for this one and only matchless event. Where will you be?”
I hope I will be in His shadow, found moving when and as He moves.
I hope I will be able to say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. II Tim 4:8.
And that I will be found faithful of this command: “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” II Tim 4:1. I must stay in training to achieve this and I find Sara’s words encouraging, “It takes years to training for such an occasion of never ending proportions.”
Sara asked above, “Do you think we will be the decoration for Our King’s house? ”
According to Psalm 52:8 we will be like a green olive tree in the house of God.
Psalm 1 gives us some requirments for how to become that green tree:
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. “(NIV)
I think the Message Bible puts some of the requirements rather bluntly
“How well God must like you— you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon, you don’t slink along Dead-End Road, you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College. Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. “
In one of your earlier comments on this particular blog, Sara,you spoke about the years of training one must go through to deveolp social skills and appropriate communicative behavior. School teachers see that daily in the classroom. And we ‘specialists’ as we’re titled by our school system, get to see the same children every year ain their ascent up to a higher grade level and at a new step of maturity. The training and modeling that each grade level teacher goes through in instructing the child is another lend to an increase in their development of maturity. But even though the child is 12 or 13 when he/she leaves the cozy confines of our elementary school, many are still just beginning on a long journey to becoming socially responsible for one’s own actions and behaviors and choices and communications, as witnessed by the general public, much more those, with whom they are in constant contact.
Thank God the Bible gives us hope as in one Scripture that says, “train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart”
Hopefully, that can be taken with ancillary meaning that the things he is taught & trained in as a youngster will remain with him and “parent” throughout his life even if he falls away from it for a time.
Perhaps the story that Jesus told of the prodical son may be an example of that. Raised up in the FATHER’S house he must have had tutors and teachers and counselors and the Father, himself. And after the young man had torn away from that godly infulence and disresepted his Father and the moral and ethical code by which he was raised he ‘came to himself ‘ and went back and repented. We must never weary of the teaching and training of our children, natural and spiritual for when they are old, the Bible says, “they will not depart.”
As Christians in the school system it seems to me that the following scripture is very important to implement. James 1:23-25 (New International Version)
23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. In other words when the world around tells you to do something one way and the Holy Spirit tells you to do it another – do it God’s way – be who you are in Jesus Christ. Make sure to groom each child for his heavenly calling as well as earthly journey. As it is often said, It takes a whole community to raise a child. May we be the ones that represent Godly principals and speak Godly encouragement into the life of a child of God – no matter what age. May these precious ornaments that come our way be better polished for their journey ahead and we be enriched by their presence in our lives.
I’d like to share the footnotes for the verse shared here, Psalm 91:1-6. Read with me: “God is a shelter, a refuge when we are afraid. The writer’s faith in God as protector would carry him through all the dangers and fears of life. This should be a picture of our trust–trading all our fears for faith in him, no matter how intense our fears. To do this we must ‘live’ and ‘rest’ with him. By entrusting ourselves to his protection and pledging our daily devotion to him, we will be kept safe.”
Now this is encouragment, for believers! Thank you, God for your protection, and for sending your precious Son, many Christmas’s ago.
When I think of the special ornaments that come to my home this Christmas time and in the workplace I pray that they will somehow be polished by God. In other words they will receive a word that will encourage or enrich their lives. They will not go away with out the oil of the Holy Spirit shining them up and enabling to stand and withstand. May they not leave thirsty for the words that God wants to speak into their lives. And may God give us each the words that He desires for the special ornaments that come before us this day. Amen
“You are the Light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 How does that make you feel?
That makes me feel that if Jesus has said that I am the light of the world ;and then He also said ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may come to the shining of it”; and then He said, to the effect, ‘don’t hide your light under a bushel but put it on a candle stand and throw your light forward, as Sara taught in her book, THROWING YOUR LIGHT FORWARD,…..if He has said all that about us, that if we are hiding our light under a bushel or a rock,then we are not being obedient to the heavenly calling for which Christ died on the cross.
The eye is attracted to light. It seeks it in a darkened room, or when one is out in the night. Light is so powerful that one little match flame can dispel the darkness in a room. If we are not a light, dispelling darkness then our lights are going out and “it is very dim. ” Are we attracting anyone to our ‘light’? Or are we pussy-footing around it or are we touching people’s lives for Christ? We all know the answer to that one. Bringing it out into the light will help to work through a solution to the problem.
I thought about maintaining my light. I have a darling small English Bone China lamp that I have had for years and love it. I light it night after night. Every so often the bulb burns out. I noticed recently the lampshade had deteriorated inside. I needed a new light bulb and a new shade to make this English Bone China lamp look like new once again. I could only think how we must maintain our lamp if we plan to keep the World aglow and burning with the Spirit. Romans 12:11
OH, whoa, look at Romans 12:13, “Bring strangers in need into your homes.” Ornaments everywhere is making our homes shine if we obey God’s Word.
Romans 12: 9 “Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good.10) Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.11) Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart.12) Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.13) Share with God’s people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.
We sure need to keep our lamps ready with oil and maintained in order to keep the World lite.
Sara you asked above, “You are the Light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 How does that make you feel?”
It makes me feel responsible.
Responsible to live in obedience to God and His word. Responsible to live Romans 12:9 like Sara quoted above.
I John 1:5 says God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. That’s the kind of light I think Matt 5:14 is talking about.
We are told in I Peter 1:16 to ‘be holy because I am holy.’ To me this is light and it is a very bright bulb.
My students have created a term called “Plug It in”. For them in reading it means how one relates text to ones self, text to text, and text to world. So if we are plugged into the source Jesus Christ our light will shine brightly like Debi says. All our relationships will refer to our interaction with Jesus and sharing what Jesus has done in our lives and what He will do in others lives through reading the word and our doing what the Holy Spirit tells us to do (pray and/or work), but we have to be responsible as Debi says and be plugged in to the source. How willing are we to get up and become plugged in? Plug it in, the world needs your light!