The Road He Traveled

 Good morning. I hope you all are preparing for a very Merry Christmas. Just remember that although Santa Claus is a fun little story, the story and reason for the season is and always will be about Jesus. He is our hope and our salvation. We cannot earn it, we can only accept it. 

If you have never given your heart to Him and accepted what He did on the cross, today is the perfect day. After all, none of us are gaurranteed tomorrow. 

Today I am going to shre with you the second of the two Christmas poems I wrote. My brother-in-law, who is celebrating his first Christmas in heaven, asked me one day to write a poem combinging two stories from the Bible that had noting to do with each other. 

I asked him how I could possibly do that. He laughed and said that was my problem. I couldn't figure out how to do that so I prayed and asked God for His help. About one minute later God gave me this poem. 

If you enjoy this please share it with your friends. 

God bless you all.

  The Road He Traveled

 

Three shepherds watched their flock out in a field one starlit night

When suddenly up in the sky there was a brilliant light.

An angel floated in the air and they were so afraid

It’s voice fell lightly on their ears and this is what it said.

 

“Fear not, for God has come to man as a little baby boy,

And all who worship at His feet will have exceeding joy.

A virgin of the house of David gave birth to Him today.

This star so bright will lead to where He’s on a bed of hay.”

 

So, they left their flock and traveled east, following the star.

They searched and found the child one night, though it was very far.

And though they had no gifts that day they worshiped for a while

Then Jesus looked into their eyes, and gave a little smile.

 

The shepherds went back to their flock, their hearts were all aglow.

Joseph took Mary and the babe, ‘twas time for them to go.

They raised Him up along beside His sisters and His brothers

But knew He was the Son of God and nothing like the others.

 

And when the time was come for Him to do His Father’s plan

He left and walked from town to town and witnessed man to man.

He told the people of God’s love, so rich and full and free.

He turned water into wine, and calmed an angry sea.

 

He preached upon the mountain top and fed five thousand men

With five loaves and two fishes, then He preached to them again.

A man was raised up from the dead, and demons driven out

This truly was the Son of God, of that there was no doubt.

 

But one day as He walked along the road, this Nazarene

He met a leper crying out, “Unclean, unclean, unclean.”

Then Jesus laid His hand on him and said, “My son, be well.”

His sores dropped off, he cried for joy, at Jesus feet he fell.

 

A blind man standing close could hear the man cry out with glee

And said, “Oh, Master, if You will, I know You can heal me.”

Jesus touched his eyes and gave him back his sight that day.

He turned to His disciples and began to walk away.

 

But a man with a withered arm said, “If You only will, my Lord,

You can heal my arm with Your touch or Your spoken word.”

Then Jesus said, “Take heart My son, your faith hath made you whole.”

With two good arms he hugged Christ and said, “Thank You with all my soul.”

 

Then the three men said, “You won’t recall, for You were too young to know,

But we knelt down at Your manger bed, many long years ago.

Our shepherd’s life has been unkind, and made our bodies this way.

But by chance You came along and healed all of us today.”

 

“It was not by chance”, Jesus gently said, “that I came down this road.

For, long ago, when you knelt down, I felt your heavy load.

I looked into your eyes that day and saw what lay ahead.

I could have traveled another road, but came this way instead.”

 

“From the manger bed I set My path to meet with you today.

For I saw what life would do to you, and I couldn’t turn away.

I’ve searched for you for many years, just like you searched for Me.

Now live a full and healthy life, for you have been set free.”

 

We must still seek the Son of God, and worship at His feet.

For there you’ll find exceeding joy that makes your soul complete.

Yes, life can be cruel and bend you low, but God’s love, time can never erase.

For once you have knelt at Jesus’ feet, He never forgets your face.

 

                                                        Janice Austin Bates 

December 13, 2003

1:51 AM

 

The Fight Before Christmas

 Each Christmas I like to send you my two Christmas poems I wrote. Here is the first one. I will give you the second one next Sunday. 

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. 

Janice

The Fight Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

The tension was bad as I fought with my spouse.

The stockings were hung, and the presents were there.

The tree lights were shining, but I didn’t care.

 

She had said something that had made me mad,

Unless she said “I’m sorry” this fight would be bad.

The children were hiding upstairs in their beds,

While loud angry voices whirled ‘round in their heads.

 

She had been wrong and I knew that she knew it

This fight would go on until she said she blew it.

My wife went upstairs, brushed her teeth and her hair.

I decided I’d sleep in my reclining chair.

 

My eyelids were closed but my mind wouldn’t rest.

The anger sat there like a brick on my chest.

When all of a sudden, from somewhere outside

I heard such a wail you’d think something had died.

 

I jumped from my chair and my feet hit the floor,

I stomped through the house and threw open the door.

The moonlight reflected on new fallen snow

As my eyes became focused on objects below.

 

And there on my porch, surely up to no good,

Stood eight tiny snot nosed brats from the hood.

They were all bundled up, their eyes full of glee

As they sang Christmas carols, mostly off key.

 

Two were dressed up like Joseph and Mary,

In the little girl’s arms, a wee doll she did carry.

They sang Silent Night, and Away in a Manger.

They had not a clue of my justified anger.

 

I started to scold them and send them away.

Who could have joy on this miserable day?

But, just as I opened my mouth to implore

That they take their miserable singing next door.

 

A wee voice said, “Mister, do you know the reason

That we celebrate during this Christmas season”?

My head dropped in shame, I said, “Tell me about it”.

He replied, “When you hear it, you never will doubt it.

 

Did you know that Jesus came down from above

To live among us with a heart full of love?

He left all His riches to live here on earth

And started this life with a poor, lowly birth.

 

He had to come down because we had been bad.

He didn’t place blame, it just made Him real sad.

He died on a cross where we should have died.

The people who loved Him were sad, and they cried.

 

He rose up again and to heaven He flew

And we can all go there to live with Him too.”

They said “Merry Christmas”, as they walked away.

Their singing was precious, I wished they could stay.

 

I suddenly realized that I had been wrong,

This fight with my family had stolen my song.

My anger had drowned out the sweet Christmas spirit.

The song was still there, but I couldn’t hear it.

 

I knew that I had to make up with my wife,

To tell her “I’m sorry” and stop all this strife.

I climbed up the stairs and swallowed my pride,

And gathered my wife and my kids to my side.

 

As I asked for forgiveness and started to weep,

My wife said, “I love you, now let’s get some sleep.”  

We all settled down for a nice winter’s rest.

I thought of my family, and knew I was blessed.

 

My children are nestled all snug in their beds,

While memories of Christmas songs float in their heads.

‘Tis the night before Christmas and everything’s good

Because of eight twinkle eyed kids from the hood.

 

Janice Austin Bates

December 2, 2011 11:26pm

Are You Mad At God?

 

While in the Phenix AZ airport I found myself sitting next to a man named Jim. Striking up a conversation, we started sharing things about our lives.

After a while Jim told me that he and his wife took the Covid shots to protect themselves. Unfortunately, his wife of 45 years developed a blood clot behind her knee. The doctor was dealing with it, trying to get rid of it.

One day the clot moved and went to her lungs. When a blood clot is in your lung it causes your lung to be unable to process the oxygen you are breathing in. Even though she was breathing, she was slowly smothering.

Jim called an ambulance and was trying to help her until it arrived. He lives in the country and there is only one ambulance to service their area. What he didn’t know was, on that day there was no one to work on the ambulance. By the time they found people to work and get to his home it had taken one hour to arrive, and his wife had died in his arms.

He told me, “I am mad at God right now for taking my wife.” I suggested he needed to find a really good church to go to where they could help him through this. I was happy to hear him say he does have a very good church and goes all the time. The people are trying to help and encourage him. However, he is still mad. We talked for a while and I tried to uplift him as much as I could.

I have been thinking about him and praying for him ever since we met and he told me his story.

As Christians, we might think being mad at God is a sin, but it is not. It is a weakness. Anger is something we all must deal with at times. Although I’m sure God doesn’t want us to be mad at Him, He truly understands. Just talk to Him about it. He has very big shoulders, and He can take it.

He is not going to turn His back on us because we are angry, but we do have to work at getting past it.

The truth is, God never does things to hurt us so He can watch us suffer. Often, the bad things that happen to us are a result of a direct attack from Satan. However, it can be the consequence of our own foolishness or disobedience. No matter what we have done, God wants to forgive us if we will let Him. That doesn’t always mean the consequences will go away. Sometimes we still have to go through them.

There are times that God allows bad things because we have pushed Him away and haven’t allowed Him to be there to protect us, but He never causes bad things to happen to His children. He is the best father who has ever been.

If you had good parents when you were growing up, I am sure you will remember times when they told you what to or not to do, but you did what you wanted no matter what they said. After they watched things go badly as a result of your disobedience, they probably said something like, “Maybe next time you will listen to us.” Maybe you did, or maybe you had to learn another hard lesson. So it is with us and God.

The point is, when we go through something painful, it is never God’s fault. When we blame God and get mad at Him we are incorrectly putting the blame on Him. Sometimes our anger is the result of a broken heart, as it is with Jim. No matter what, if we give it to God and lean on Him, He will help us through it, and help us heal up from the anger.

Please don’t think I believe Jim did anything to bring this on. I don’t. He seemed like a very good Christian man. Besides, it is not mine to judge.

 

I know a man who turned against God when his baby boy died almost 60 years ago. To this day he wants nothing to do with God. Even after all these years of being mad at God, if he would stop blaming God and turn back to Him, he would find that God is still waiting for him to come back. God is not angry at him.

Being mad at God isn’t a good thing, but it happens. It doesn’t have to destroy you or your relationship with God, but you must allow Him to heal you. The choice is yours.

Remember that God has huge shoulders, He loves you, and He wants you to lean on those giant shoulders. They can carry any load.

So, if you are mad at God right now remember, He is not mad at you. He is there to help you through, no matter what it is. His desire is to heal you.

Think about it.