Apron Strings Devotional for12/23/03

12/23/03

Good Morning....
Jesus loves You!!

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Twas The Night After Christmas

The presents are opened, the wrapping paper is trashed and the toys are already becoming familiar. A new day with a little less room and a lot more stuff. The Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. ( Hebrews 11:1 ) Yet, our fleshly side hopes for things we do see. Then, when we get them, we become bored with their tangibility and toss them to the side or we realize their temporal quality and become restless. Why do we do this? How can our deep longings be filled and how can our insatiable cravings be satisfied to the core? Is there really a difference between flesh and spirit? And why am I asking these philosophical questions? Maybe because the presents are opened and the wrapping paper is trashed and the toys are becoming familiar.

My spirit yearns for the things not seen. God created us to fellowship with Him and there is so much depth to that one truth. We long for the unseen and sometimes we don't even know it. We attempt to satisfy ourselves with the things we can reach within our natural grasp, and then we feel shortchanged when these things fail to fulfill their promise. We become disillusioned when the hope of soaring turns into a dull thud. And it eventually will. No matter how you slice it, the Lane Cake always tastes bad. ( Okay, so that was a Christmas commercial break. ) Now I'll be getting nasty letters from Lane Cake Lovers. ( Hmm. I think I just titled a new support group. )

You could put any material thing at my feet and my flesh could get really happy. But nothing can satisfy my spirit like Jesus can. And if I had to make a choice on which one to fill and which one to starve, I hope I will pick the spirit as the victor every time. My flesh is weak but the Holy Spirit is oh so willing to fill me with a satisfaction that I once thought existed only in fairy tales. When I spend time in the Word and talk to Jesus and listen for His still small voice, I experience a peace that I can't understand or explain.

I don't know what you got for Christmas, but I'll bet if I ask you in a year, you'll have to think about it for a minute. If you spend time with Jesus and ask Him to activate that substance of things hoped for, you would spend hours telling me how God has touched your life. The material stuff would be immaterial because you would begin to understand that His presence outlasts presents and His gifts cannot be made by human hands nor bought with money. He longs to give us gifts that make us whole, yet we shun Him and rush out the door because we don't have time. We make time for what is important to us. It's amazing how we grasp things that are temporal and ignore things that are eternal. I guess that's what happens when we let our flesh be the victor.

Well, this day is winding down and the kitchen is a mess, but my heart is very full. Thank you for allowing Jesus and me into your computer room. Hope you enjoyed basking in Him as much as I did. I pray your New Year is blessed with new beginnings in Him. God bless you.

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God Bless you all, and remember:
Jesus loves you and I do too!

In Christ!!
Carol Skipper
Justaservn@aol.com