Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The bibles were lain on the shelf without care,
In hopes that Jesus would not really care.

The children were dressing to crawl in their beds,
Not kneeling for prayer nor bowing their heads.

And mom in her rocker with the baby on her lap,
Was watching the late show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew in a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering ears did I hear?
But the trumpets proclaiming that Jesus was here,

With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray,
I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!

The light from his face made me cover my head,
It was Jesus returning just like he said!

And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life that He held in his hand,
Was written the name of every saved man.

He spoke not a word as He searched for my name,
When He said, "It's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written in love,
He gathered to take to His Father above.

With those who were ready He rose with a sound,
While all of the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late,
I had waited too long and this sealed my fate.

I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight,
If only I'd known He was coming TONIGHT.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear,
The coming of Jesus is drawing quite near.

There's only one lifetime and it will soon end,
Are you ready for Jesus, if not now-When?
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What If?

JUST THINK....

What if God couldn't take the time to bless us today because we couldn't take the time
to thank Him yesterday?

What if God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we did not follow Him today?

What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain?

What if God didn't walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as His day?

What if God took away the Bible tomorrow because we would not read it today?

What if God took away His message because we failed to listen to His messenger?

What if the door of the church was closed because we did not open the door of our heart?

What if God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others?

What if God would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him yesterday?

What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call for service.

What if God met our needs the way we give Him our lives??? **************************************************

The Cross Room

The young man was at the end of his rope. Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer. "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside his room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief. "Thank you, Lord," he sighed, and he did as he was told. Upon entering the other door he saw many crosses, some so large the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered.

And the Lord replied," My son, that is the cross you just brought in." ****************************************************************

Mountain Moving Faith

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard. Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith." They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.

At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen." "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."

The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in," a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered. "Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."

The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!

Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting? Some people say faith comes from miracles. But others know: MIRACLES COME FROM FAITH! ****************************************************************