SEASONS - THE LIGHT OF ADVENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

What could be more wonderful than lighting advent candles?  This simple little act helps us to rise above our circumstances and experience the hope of Christmas.    

The last Sunday of November will be the time for lighting the first candle of Advent and the flame will burn bright and beautiful on our living room coffee table this year.  Where do you place your Advent Candles?  It is truly a time we anticipate and enjoy at our house.  

If you never had an advent wreath, you just might be missing out on one of the true joys of Christmas.  This is a very easy tradition to learn and it adds so much to your weekly celebrations in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  The tradition of the Advent wreath started way, way back in history.  Some of the wreath's history started with the Germans who say they burned candles in greenery because their winters were so very cold and the warm candle light reminded them that the warmth of spring was coming and gave them hope of a better day.  Hope is what keeps people going.  Hope is how the wreath of candles started, and eventually it evolved from a small message of the hope of warmth and spring into the great message of the hope of Messiah.      

The tradition today is still about hope for a better day, but it has been refined to a much higher and more spiritual level as we hope and wait for the second coming of the Messiah.  The second coming of Messiah as well as the first coming of Messiah are celebrated by the lighting of the advent candles.  We are hoping and we are waiting for a better day.  We are waiting on something more wonderful and new and fresh as spring.  We are waiting on a miracle that will change our lives completely, and so we light the first candle in our waiting. 
Of course for every good and Christian thing there is a counterpart  from the enemy.  Satan would love to desecrate all those things that we use to measure out sacred times and spaces.  He doesn't want us to have those reminders of things that are sacred and cherished that draw us toward a Great God.  He will twist and twist the truth into any shape or fashion that he can to turn you against anything at all that will draw you closer to Christ.  He always likes for people to be reminded that the pagans had their traditions too.  If you stop at that portion of the story, he will steal your advent joy away.  Don't let him.  For instance, in Scandinavia during the winter months the people lighted candles that were placed around a wheel and prayers were offered up to pagan gods of light to turn the wheel of the earth back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.  This was the practice, that is, until these people began to become Christians and worship the true God of Heaven and Earth.  They realized their custom was wrong, and they began to change it to incorporate ways that would honor the true God.  Many people stumble and get stuck on step one of this history, and the devil loves when that happens.  He tries to keep them from getting to step two.  It is their loss.  When people turn and change, God is pleased.  Now the advent wreaths in Scandinavia symbolize a totally different thing.  They worship God, and I would say that is a very positive change indeed!  The true light is shinning now and the advent wreath is lit for Christian reasons instead of pagan reasons.  This is one way to win victory over the enemy.  Change your focus and direct everything you do toward God.  Light begins to appear.  

God's people have always used candles to honor Him.  It seems God Himself started this tradition with the instructions for how to build the Menorah for the Temple.  Since that day His people have honored him with the lighting of the candles.  Every Jewish family across the land will have two white candles adorning the table for the Sabbath and the woman of the house will light them and say a prayer for God's blessings on her family.  Candle lighting has always held a very special place in the history of the life of true believers.

It was about the time of the middle ages that Christians saw the relation between the second coming of Christ as a King and the first coming of Christ as a child.  They started using advent wreaths as a symbol of hope while waiting on Christmas to come.  They recognized Christ as the true light of the world with their wreaths.  Both Catholics and Lutherans have made this a central practice in their homes all across the land.  Many others have joined them in painting the beautiful story with candles and a wreath.  The longer you look at life in the kingdom, the more beauty you will find in the different arts of worship that people use to honor God.  It is truly amazing to observe.  

How does God feel about beauty?  Have you ever looked at a sunrise?  The advent wreath is yet another one of those lovely art forms.

The symbolism today is so telling of the Christian story.  The green symbolizes everlasting life.  The prickly leaves of holly remind us of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the cross.  The circle of the wreath has no beginning or end and it symbolizes the infinity of God, the immortality of the soul and the everlasting life that Christ has given us.  Pine cones and nuts on the wreath symbolize resurrection and new life, because of the seeds found inside of them. 

There are four candles on the outside of the wreath and one is lit each week.  Each candle represents one thousand years, four thousand years all together from the birth of Adam until the birth of the Messiah.  Three of the outside candles are purple and one is rose.  The purple represents prayer, penance and sacrifice.  These are all things that we must be doing to get prepared.  The rose candle is lit on the third week and it represents joy.  By the time of the rose candle's lighting the people have arrived at the midpoint of advent.  The preparations are half over and their joy should be overflowing.  The progressive lighting of the candles represents the anticipation and hope in the first coming and the anticipation and hope for the Second Coming and the return of Christ again.  Both things speak of His coming to us and saving us from a world of darkness.  We are all waiting together and constantly anticipating the light that only He can bring.

There is much about the art of waiting in the lighting of the candles.  Life seems to be as much about the journey as the arriving sometimes.  Often what matters in the end is what we do in-between destinations.  This is where we must live out the lighting of the candles on the wreath.  This is where we must live in the day to day events of our lives. 

On Christmas Eve we light a larger white candle and place it in the middle.  This is symbolic of Christ.  It speaks of how He is the Light of The World.  It speaks of how He should always be living in the middle of our world.  It speaks of how He is our center and compass for finding the answers to life.  It announces Christmas and a time of blessing.   It says:  The waiting is over!  He is here!  The whole world has been waiting and He has now arrived!  We welcome the light in the center of the wreath and we welcome Christ into our homes to be the center of Christmas and the focus of all our adoration. 

Most people light their advent wreath each week before dinner and a traditional prayer is said.  The prayers from The Catholic Church are beautiful and compelling to use at this time.  If you have never read them, please find a copy and study them.  They will stir your heart.  There are a wide variety of advent messages and devotionals to chose from.   

It is okay to light the candles at any time or place you wish.  It is the idea of honoring God and His gift of Christ that is the important thing to remember.   I’ve known families to gather around the fireplace and light their candles on a coffee table as they share family devotions together.  Many churches throughout the land light the advent wreath in the services leading up to Christmas. 

As we take the time to prepare our hearts by lighting the candles of the advent wreath God gives us the blessing of helping us to prepare our hearts for His Second Coming.   Even this minute – we are waiting and watching the skies with hope.  Come quickly Lord Jesus!

May your time of Advent be full of God’s greatest blessings and may you find the Real Meaning of Christmas hiding in all that you do this season.

SEASONS - IS THERE A HANNUKAH FOR CHRISTIANS?

(Wriitten by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The year of 2016 is almost finished.  We all have given thanks and celebrated yet another beautiful Thanksgiving.  Now we are enjoying the season of Advent and preparing for the time of  Christmas.  Days and festivities are abundant here in America, yet, dare we try to squeeze in yet another traditional holiday called Hanukkah? 

In this year of 2016 Hanukkah begins at sunset on Saturday, December 24th when many of us will be celebrating Christmas Eve, and lasts throughout the next eight days.  What do Hanukkah and Christmas Eve have in common?  They both speak of the light of the World - Jesus Christ!  Please don't get this twisted up because it is something you are not familiar with.  The miracle of the light of Hannukah is a shadow of the miracle of Christ.  God's gift to all of us was foretold in that great miracle of Hanukkah in that we realized that through God all things are possible, and God DID begin to make all things possible!

 Most Christian families will laugh at the above statement.  They will simply look at you as if you have absolutely no intelligence at all, and say; “we aren’t Jewish!”   They seem to think that solved it all!   They automatically assume since they are not of the blood ancestors of Judah that they should never celebrate any Jewish holidays or holy days.  What would happen if they applied the same logic to Passover?  This statement I suppose  would be true if you only looked at bloodlines and race alone and never considered grace and adoption and the true history of the Hannukah story. 

But maybe we should take a moment to really ponder the WHOLE story.  Please do not

misunderstand and think I’m saying Christians are the “new Jews.”  Absolutely not!  I do not believe in replacement theology at all;  but there is a connection that we all hold and that connection is the belief in God and the belief of the Messiah.  Never mind right now that most authentic Jews think Jesus Christ was NOT the Messiah.  I know that – but listen to the the rest of this theory and tell me later if Hanukkah is not a Christian Holiday as well as a Jewish Holiday.

A Jewish sect of people were the first ones to mark the miracle of Hanukkah and write down the significance of the time and remember it.  That is certainly true, and also commendable.  But were they secular Jews or Christian Jews?  How could there be Christian Jews you ask?  Who do you think Jesus and the disciples were?  Let that sink into your thinking cap a bit and try to grasp the fact that most of the first Christians were from Jewish blood.  Some of the Christians were Gentiles, for sure; but the majority of the first believers in Christ were actually Hebrews, or people with ancestors from one of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

That is a very small point concerning the history we will discuss today, because when the first Hannukah happened, guess what?  Christ had not yet been born.  It wasn't about believers in Christ, it was only about believers in God.  Aren't they the same?  The Words of Jesus tell me they are!   God was just beginning, way back in those dark days, to proclaim that a Savior, a Messiah, would be born.  Is this not the same God that speaks to you and me (The Christians of today? )   I think so!  I think He is the same God!

This confusing mix of cultures and time period significance becomes even more apparent when you study the first Hannukah and you realize where and how the miracle of Hannukah was celebrated.  Some see clearly.  Some see dimly, and some do not see at all.  Is religion and following The One True God not always like this?  How can we truly discern right from wrong, truth from lies?  Let’s go back in time and look at the history of Hannukah.  Many of you may not even know the story, and many of you may not have noticed some of the astounding details of its history.

  

As we travel through the story you may be surprised to see that it has come to have prophetic implications, both about the birth of Christ and about the second coming.

 

That very first Hannukah took place long before the days of Christ and not so very long after the days of Moses.  The state of the world during that first Hannakah so resembled the state of the world we are living in today. 

That old Olive Tree called Israel had been thriving and surviving, just as God had planned out for them.  God was leading His chosen people to a place of preparing to receive a Messiah.   They had gone through the wilderness experience in the days of Moses and come out into the Promised Land where God had blessed them.  He had given them His law and they were careful to keep it.  They had passed the time of David and they had built a great Temple to honor The One and Only God of Heaven and Earth, and many worshiped God there with whole and clean hearts.  They brought their sacrifices, they made their confessions.  They worshiped in holiness.  They were constantly trying to be transformed into a people who were worthy of bearing the life of God’s Son, the Coming Messiah; who would save the world and make all the ritual and sacrifice unnecessary.  

David planned a magnificent Temple for worship, and his son Solomon carried out the plan.  Soloman had lived as the wisest and most blessed king of the earth before he too fell into sin in the end.   One Temple was destroyed and another came to be built.   The kingdom of God’s people then saw many kings and rulers and they often fell into sin, once they fell so hard they were exiled for 70 years from The Promised Land so that God could make up in the land the time of the lost Sabbaths they had not kept.  

Whenever the people followed God (the same God we worship today) He blessed them.  Whenever they did not, He turned His face and they fell into captivity.  The Greeks tried to conquer the world through Alexander The Great, a pagan man who did not know God.  When God’s people responded to his rule because of their earthly lusts and desires, God turned His back and did not look upon them.  They suffered. 

Finally the ancestors of Abraham came to that dark time of history, the period of time between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Syrian rulers supported the rule of the pagan Greek religions and cultures.  They worshiped Zeus and a host of other foreign and fake mythological gods.  None of their thinking came from the God of Israel who had formed a whole nation and led them from slavery to safety, which included parting the seas and raining food down from heaven, to mention just a few of the miracles of The One True God in looking after His people. 

With the coming of the Greek and the Syrian people into their lives immorality and idol worship were rampant in the land.  False religions were being forced upon the people of Israel, the little remnant that had survived so much captivity, yet always turned back to God.  

Antiochus IV, who was a shadow of the antichrist was actually spoken of as The Son of Perdition in the Holy Scriptures that recorded this time of history.  He and his men came into the happy peaceful lands and saw that as long as the people worshiped the One True God of Heaven and Earth their government would have no power.  These people groups began to force their mythical gods on the remnants of Israel.  Slowly they infiltrated the Second Temple.  The plan was to divide and conquer through false religion.  The godless leaders saw religion as the opium of the people, not as a way of knowing and worshiping The One True God.  They used religion to get their way, just as many before them and after them have also done.

It was somewhere between 167 – 160 BC when the Seleucid Empire took control of the land

by invasion and infiltration techniques.  They quietly and unnoticed at first seeped into the cities and the even seeped into the Temple.  They began to pervert the things of God, slowly and methodically.  Antiochus issued decrees forbidding the religious practices of those following The One True God.  There was no Messiah yet, but by all they had to proclaim, these professing believers living and worshiping in the temple times were the pre-Christians, the precursers of the Church of Jesus Christ,  because they followed The Father of the Messiah; God.  

Can you see how both The Christians of today and the Judean bloodline of the Jewish people too would BOTH identify with this time of trouble?  The God of Heaven and Earth, the One that Abraham knew, the ONLY TRUE God was being profaned.  Can you not picture your own self as a true believer in this scenario and know that YOUR God was being profaned?  Would you not fall into the group of people who were suffering this terrorism in its day had you been living there in that time?  I see nothing “un-Christian about this remnant people myself!  They were following the same God that we follow today, yet without even knowing the Messiah yet!  Now that is faith!

Antiochus was a cruel ruler who used religion to achieve his means of power.  He wanted these strong God professing people out of his way so that he could rule the land his way, the way of immorality and idolatry and evil.  Could this possibly be happening again in our own modern world?  You bet it could.  

Right now, look at the ancient times and get the story of Hannukah planted into your head and heart, because God was sending a message.  It was a multi-leveled message and it was prophetic for meany reasons.  

The Godly people of the day realized that God was preparing a people for something greater, something more wonderful.  There would be pain and suffering along the road to that special day.  This time period experienced great pain and suffering.   We should not forget what these faithful people experienced and went through from the enemies of God.  We should be remembering them, as well as recognizing those of our own times who suffer the same.

Antiochus took over the Temple in his jealousy.  He first tried to sneak in.  He set up men who were corrupt, men he would use to brainwash the people into thinking and worshiping his way and his gods.  Many fell for this evil plot, even among the faithful.  You could say they were victims of their own culture.   Not a man named Mattathaias though!  No!  Mattathaias would only follow God.  He would be true to God’s law.  He would not profane God’s Holy Temple by bringing in the thoughts and ways of the pagans.

Mattathias was one of the truest priests in the land and when the Seleucid Empire set up their pagan gods and commanded him to be their priest in God’s Temple, Mattathias refused to obey.  They sent another man in Mattathias’s place.  Mattathias would not stand for this.  He slayed the man who replaced him, noting his inability to stand for God’s truth.  It was not that the man offered worship to the idol that troubled Mattathias the most, it was that he did it in his place, in the name of Mattathias.  Mattathias could not stand for such falseness toward the people that he loved and the God that he served.  He defended his faith, even with the sword. 

Mattathias and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judah after this.  Antiochus would

have their heads on a platter if he could.  About a year after Matthathias died, his son Judah led an army of Jewish descendants to victory over an army of the Seleucid Empire in gorillia warfare and won.  

In this dark time, there were many ancestors of Abraham who had become Hellenized and they had gone the way of the Greeks both out of disloyalty to God and out of fear and out of the fact that they were more financially profitable if they did so.  Judah proclaimed these men traitors.  At first his fight was only against his own who had turned to tyranny and allowed Antiochus to take over their system of worship and life without a fight.    Then the Seleucid army joined in with the Hellenizes and Judah wound up fighting both people groups.   

Judah’s group of gorilla fighters became known as The Maccabees.  The Maccabees destroyed all the pagan altars that had been set up in their former cities.  They had a small rag-tag, worn and torn army, but they kept hammering away at God’s enemies.  Thus they gained their name “Maccabees” which means “hammer” in Hebrew.  

After they had won many, many seemingly impossible victories, the Maccabean army entered Jerusalem and cleansed the temple.  They re-instituted Jewish worship (remember Christ had not yet come) and they ordained Jonathan Maccabee to be the high priest of the Temple. On seeing this Antiochus IV stormed the temple with a great army, but Antiochus IV was killed and his men fled away from the mighty strength that God gave the Maccabees who defended His Temple well.  

On that defeat the reigning Syrian leader restored religious freedom to Jerusalem.  It was a great impossible victory!  It was a victory for God!  This victory, once again, preserved the sanctity of life for the chosen people of God.  It preserved the bloodline of Christ!

When the Temple was ready to be rededicated they proclaimed the festival of Hanukkah for the first time.  It was to be a great celebration of religious freedom for God’s people.  Everyone was free to come to the Holy Temple that had been ceremonially cleansed and restored.  They were once again free to worship in the way that God had given them to worship Him all alone.  What a fantastic moment in history!  If you believe in God, whether you are of Jewish blood or not;  can you not see the significance of how this great victory helped to bring the truth of Messiah to you down through the years?  Is it not cause for all the earth to celebrate?

Celebrate they did!  In the excitement of the celebration the remnant of the Maccabees could only find one small container of oil that the seal of sanctification had not been broken on.  They did not think it would be enough to last for but one day.  They decided to use it anyway.  The lighting of the lights of the Temple were so important!  It was like a beacon to the world saying "God is In His Holy Temple."    It was a sign to the people that God was still with them.  They lit the lamps with the sacred oil. 

To the great surprise of all, the oil of the Menorah of the Temple miraculously lasted for eight days!  Thus, the celebration of the festival went on for eight days, setting the tradition we follow today.   They would have oil for every day!  It was a HUGE miracle in the eyes of the people and a true witness and testimony that God was with them.  

This very festival celebration also came to signify the fact that God was the bearer of the light of the world, Our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Hannakah was a foretelling of the things to come for those who would have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Many agree that the lights of that great first Hannukah were the prophetic proclamation of the promise of God to send forth the Messiah.  

The lights of Hannukah stand for the hope of those who have faith in God to always save them.  The lights remind the people of God to continue to persevere even in times of great suffering.  Could there ever be a more Christian message than this one?  I think not! 

Hence, me and my house will forever remember the day and celebrate the whole eight days of the festival of lights just as Jesus Christ did with Mary and Joseph during the days of his childhood and in the days He became a man.  For what is faith without hope?  What people would chose to worship such a miraculous God?  Hopefully, the Christians of America as well as The Jews of Israel.  We all know Him.  Let His house not be divided.  Let us proclaim and bring forth the joy of the Father Of All.  Let us remember and celebrate our Creator who once said “Let there be Light!”

This year when I speak and wish everyone a blessed Christmas Eve, I will be adding Happy Hannukah Everyone!  

If you come to see me this season you will see a Menorah and a Christmas Tree displaying the truth of the fact that Jesus Christ is The Light of the World!  Our Menorah will be out on the table with the candles lit and burning through all eight days days after the first day that falls on Christmas Eve.  Before we celebrated the incarnation of The Christ Child, we also will be celebrating the hope that His coming will bring to the world, that of peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

SEASONS - A DEVOTIONAL FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2016

(WRITTEN BY SHEILA GAIL LANDGRAF)

 So here we are in the first Sunday of Advent! 

We light the first candle that speaks to us of faith.  Great faith often requires constant waiting.  You know right away that Advent is all about waiting.  We are waiting on so many things! 

We are waiting on Christmas to come.  We are waiting on answers to numerous prayers.  We are waiting on bad situations to turn around and become good.  We are waiting on things that we have needed, things that we have hoped for; many are the things we are waiting for. 

Waiting is a strange place to be in a world that seems to demand instant gratification.  The art of waiting has been lost and buried away in our high-tech, fast moving world.  But as we approach the candle of faith to wait on the greatest gift of all, that of Christ Our Lord; we begin to slow down.  God helps us to wait, just as He helped Mary and Joseph in that long ago day when the child was first expected.  We are waiting, like them, for unseen things, things that we have hoped for but have not yet seen with our eyes.  We are waiting on evidence of a new day, the day that only Christ can bring to us, and we start to move slowly, to open our eyes, to look around at who and what we have become in this life and to lift our hands in hopeful worship for our only hope.  As we light the candle of faith, we light the candle of faith in our hearts.  True faith is not afraid to wait. 

True faith does not have to be large to work in our lives.  Start small and watch your faith, even if only the size of a mustard seed, start to grow.  Do that one little thing that God has put in your heart as you are waiting.  See what God does to make it grow.  Mary’s son was born a child.  The wise men had to follow a star.  All things do not happen in an instant.  Wait on God to make the faith inside of you to grow, but open your heart to do the little things that he is showing you as you go through this season.  Eventually, if you wait long enough, the baby will show you The Messiah and the trail of the shining star in the sky will land over Him.   You will know, if you wait with faith in your heart. 

There was a long time that the prophets were silent as they waited on God to provide a Messiah.  Standing before the advent wreath and lighting the candle of faith reminds us of that time.  We are not only waiting in faith that opens our eyes; we are also waiting in silence that opens our ears to the Words and the promises of God.  Quietly we take the time to reflect on God’s timing and that it is not like ours.  We know God will break through our silence with the sound of a baby’s cry and we will consider it the sound of sheer joy!  It is much like the sound of the shofar that announces good news.  We wait anxiously to hear its call as we light the candle of faith and bring the season of Advent into our hearts and homes. 

Advent is all about faith and waiting.

 What are you waiting on God for this year?

COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 145 – HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER

THE COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE:

 (Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Moses is still up on the mountain with God receiving the ten best ways to live.  The first four ways were all about honoring God.  

Now God gives Moses the fifth commandment:  “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

The things God begins to tell Moses now turn from how we should treat God to how we should treat one another. 

This fifth commandment is the first commandment with a promise:  “that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”  

When you are a child your parents stand in authority over you.  They are the very first people who communicate the love of Our Heavenly Father to you.  In a way, they stand in the gap between you and God until you are old enough to be accountable for yourself.  God has considered their precious servanthood and stewardship in this very important role.  He asks that we show our parents the love and honor that they deserve for simply being our parents and bringing us into this world.  If they did nothing else but give us life; they deserve our honor and respect.  Most parents do SO much more.  Most parents would be willing to make any sacrifice required in order to give their child a safe and happy life.  They deserve our love and respect.  We could never repay what their love and concern have provided for us.    

This honor and respect that God demands we give to our parents while we are children should not end when we grow up and become adults.  At some point the responsibility shifts and the child becomes responsible for the parent.   As our parents age, they require extra care.  They cared for us when we were helpless infants; why should we not care for them when the problems of age arise in their lives?  When this happens, and it always does sooner or later, the children have the opportunity and the privilege to say “thank you” for all the things they were provided with in their raising and growing up.  This "thanks" comes in the form of our best effort to honor and respect their dignity as well as provide any needed help and/or support needed because of ageing.    

God hasn’t just commanded us to honor and respect our parents without first instructing our parents in their own unique role within the family.   In Deuteronomy 6:5-7:  God tells parents how to train their children:   “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” 

This is why God expects us to respect our parents; because He has instructed them in our training which includes knowing and honoring all of the commandments that God gave to Moses up on the mountain.  God expects the best out of those He blesses with children; and in return; God expects the best from those children of blessing!

 

Perhaps God gave us this commandment because He realizes that the health and well-being of a civilization is inextricably linked to the health and stability of marriage and family.   By honoring our parents we honor the institution of marriage, parenthood and family.

God is constantly drawing us all into His huge family.  He did this when He allowed His Only Begotten Son to come down to earth and live as one of us; then suffer a cruel death on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  We get to practice here on earth for becoming a member of God’s heavenly family in the afterlife.
  
Have you ever considered that?

What we do now, our decisions, our commitments, our giving and taking, will probably be the same as what we would do then.  God expects us to be transformed NOW, and not wait until we are on our death beds in order to start living the Kingdom life.  Because He is a good and constant teacher of all the things we need to know to live our best life now; God daily gives us all a chance to improve our relational skills during this present lifetime.  Through loving, godly parents God is beginning our days of training in how to get along with others.   What we learn here will carry over into eternity.  God will expect us to honor and cherish Him as our Heavenly Father; just as he expects us to honor and cherish our earthly parents in this life that He has granted us right now.

I hate to burst your bubble; but your best life now isn't about gaining material things and wealth.  It is probably just the opposite.  Your best life now is about learning to live in the ways of God.  This wisdom, applied daily will give you a good life.  It may not be the most prosperious life or the most leisurely life; but if you begin to live God's way and aspire to keep His commandments now, when you come to the end of your days you will look back and say; it was a wonderful life.  Part of that wonderful life is learning how to honor and respect other people.  The very first people we practice this life skill on is our own parents.  

The scriptures make it pretty plain that God wants our families to succeed and prosper.  He designed the family to be a foundation for building a society and a nation.  In order for communities to be stable the families in the community must be well and healthy.  Ultimately God wants us to have spiritually healthy families so we can produce godly off-spring (Malachi 2:15) and in so doing; expand God’s family.  The fifth commandment sets up the rules that make this work out best for all parties.  Good godly parents should produce good godly children who love, honor and respect them.   This is the way God intended for us to live.  It is a way of peace, joy and harmony.  When a family is really a family; there should be no fear in growing old, only honor.

But what if you were not blessed with godly, loving parents? 

The words of the commandment still say that you should honor and respect your parents anyway.  Those holy words do not say to honor your “perfect” parent, or your “godly” parent or your “righteous” parent.  The words simply say “honor your parents” and it doesn’t seem to define who or what they are to you or go into any mistakes that they might have made along the way in how they have treated you as you grew up.  You are to honor your parents.  No further explaination.

We all wish for strong families.  This is not always simple or easy to achieve.  One aspect of forming a strong family is a sense of deep commitment for one another.  It takes two parties to make this work perfectly, but two has to start out with one.  If neither party is willing to make the committment or take the first step to try to get along, all will simply stall out and there will be no real family.   

Family life isn't always a picture perfect post card.  When circumstances become strained or unpleasant and when the other party disappoints you, or lets you down, consider the fact that true families stay dedicated to each other and are committed to staying together through the good, the bad and the ugly.  

If your parent has turned out to be "not so perfect" love them anyway.  Beware that the definition of love is not the toleration of sin or the willingness to let someone have their way no matter what.  Love always demonstrates what is best and most needed for all.  It is not one-sided or biased.  Love is fair; yet forgiving and merciful.   Pray for your parents and ask God to show them where to change.  You do not have to accept the sins of another person's life; you simply have to accept the person whether that means they are imperfect or not.  You can hate the sin and still love the sinner.  Follow the many examples of Jesus. He was the expert in this field.. He is the definition of pure and honest love.   Also, ask God to open your eyes to things you may not be aware of.  Ask God if there are things that you may need to change in yourself.  Try to look inward before you start looking outward to be judgemental of others.  Have honest conversations with your imperfect parents and express your feelings, but show respect and treat them with honor and dignity through the process.    

Instead of letting hard times or bad circumstances crush your family relationships, try working together to overcome these things.  God wants us all to work together to correct our problems.  So often life doesn’t go the way we planned, or doesn’t offer a perfect little picture of what we think it is supposed to be.  We must remember the fifth commandment during these times and remember our part of the commitment is to love and honor our parents, even when from a human perspective, you could come up with a million reasons not to do so.  Stay deeply committed to your family members; no matter what.

But how would you go about this as your parents grow older and become more senile and set in their ways? 

We live in a fast-paced, busy world full of work and school activities and the constant care and maintenance of our own homes.  People expect more and more from daily living.  Family time with older parents can be hard to achieve under these busy and hectic circumstances.  Yet the first step in becoming a more healthy family is to find the time to be together in the midst of all the business. 

When we spend quality time together as a family we express by our actions that we value and care about each other.  This one thing alone will help you to feel more connected and whole.  Spending time together, no matter how difficult, bonds family ties.  One of the best ways to accomplish this is to share a meal together.  This seems to have been one of Jesus’ favorite family activities.  We could take a lesson from Him and move more in that direction with our own family members. 

Another thing that draws families together is to worship together; both in the home and within a church congregation.  Families that worship together tend to grow together.  

Some families like to play games, go on picnics, watch sports together, or enjoy recreational activities together, whatever activities they can find that makes them feel more connected.  It is good during these activities and times to put away our distractions of TV, music, video games and smart phones and simply do things that strengthen and build up our family relationships. 

Sometimes older parents just need someone to come over and help them take care of the maintenance of their home, cleaning, yard work, cooking, painting, etc.  This type of service shows the loving intentions of your heart, and even in the worst relationships, sometimes it can help to melt the icy past and warm up the future of your times together.  You don’t have to agree on everything to share a meal.  You don’t have to approve of one’s lifestyle to lend a hand here and there in their life.  Try to leave the negativity behind and turn a page, perhaps your efforts will bring a change of heart on their part too. 

Make time for conversations and be sure to do your part of the listening.  Try to develop constructive conversational skills   Be open and honest, but do this in a loving and respectful manner.  Focus on the kind of conversation that builds up and does not tear down.  Beware of the mistake of jumping to false conclusions or mind-reading in these conversations. If you are unsure of something; ask.  Asking for clarification expresses that you truly care and are concerned that you understand someone else's needs.  It is not an intrusion.  It shows that you are genuinely concerned and truly care about what the person really needs.  

When you feel truly appreciative of something try to genuinely express it.  So often we tend to criticize the bad and forget to praise the good.  Work on the positive aspects of the relationship and play down and try to forgive the negative aspects of the relationship.  Verbal communications and meaningful gestures matter to everyone, but especially to parents who often feel neglected.  Remember to give compliments and say thank you whenever it is appropriate to do so. 

Try to keep the “golden rule” tucked firmly into your mind as you develop your family relationships.  Do for them whatever you wish for them to do for you.  The more you practice this example that Jesus set down for us, the more your family dynamics will move from barely-there to high-functioning. 

Keep short accounts and always remember to ask for forgiveness when you know you have done something wrong or offensive.  Hurt feelings should not be allowed to fester and grow.  Misunderstandings are a normal part of family life, but if the parties do not make amends they can lead to bitterness and grudges on both sides.  When offenses occur these conflicts should always be resolved quickly.  Forgiveness must be asked for and forgiveness must be received.  Try to talk things out without attacking each other and stick to addressing the issues.  

Make it your goal to resolve any family issues before sunset because Ephesians 4:26 tells us that no one should go to bed angry.  Even though you will have clashes and misunderstandings in family dynamics from time to time, each person should be able to know that the other cares about the relationship enough to try to work things out.  Be patient and understanding when this happens. 

In the end it all boils down to the fact that parents, like children, are simply human.  All humans need love, respect, honor and dignity.  Do not be guilty of holding these things back from those that you call family.  When you have done your best, win or lose, with success or failure, go to sleep at night in peace knowing that your Heavenly Father has promised to look after you and will reward you one day in due time for keeping this fifth commandment. 

God always keeps His promises, whether it happens in this present day or sometime in eternity.  This commandment states that honoring your parents will make your days be long and that you will be blessed in the land.  Why does this work out this way?  Because you are cultivating love and anywhere that love goes blessings follow.  Remember, no matter what happens or how hard the circumstances get that God is watching.  He knows everything that is not seen by others.  He knows your efforts and your heart and He does not just look on the outward appearance of things as the world tends to do.   

Honoring your parents shows honor and respect for God too.  Let's all make the world a whole lot better place by honoring and keeping this fifth commandment.  

AN APPLE A DAY – 365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE - PUTTING A SONG IN YOUR HEART

DAY 24 – GOOD MUSIC CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Did you realize that music has a variety of health benefits?  

Have you ever been feeling really bad or sad and then heard a snappy tune on the radio that somehow cheered you up and made you feel better?  There might just be more to that than you realize.  Music definitely has an effect on our health and well being. 

Scientist today have good evidence and  proof that listening to relaxing music helps to soothe chronic back pain. 

Listening to music seems to work on the autonomic nervous system – the part of the nervous system responsible for controlling blood pressure, heartbeat and brain functions. 

Music is also known to help the limbic system – the part of the brain that controls our feelings and emotions. When slow rhythms are played, blood pressure and heartbeat slow down (which helps one to breathe slower)   This slower breathing then reduces muscle tension in the neck, shoulders, stomach and back. 

So; next time you have a huge amount of back pain, go lay down for a few minutes and listen to some of your favorite tunes.  Let me know what the results are; I’ll bet your pain will be less, if not completely gone in a matter of minutes.

 

Relaxing with music just seems to reduce physical tensions as well as mental tensions. 

Counselors working with mental health patients say  that listening to music helps their patients to feel better and they often recommend this after long intense therapy sessions.  Psychiatric patients often have to struggle with deeply buried emotions and anxiety.  Their sessions can take a toll on their physical health just because of the emotional responses that these sessions sometimes bring about.  When they are advised to listen to music after such heavy and intensely emotional  therapy, their anxiety seems to become less and less and they do not get as depressed afterward, as do other patients who do not use musical help after their more emotional sessions. 

It is interesting to note how music helps to remove people’s inhibitions.  People who cannot laugh or cry or show emotions might chose to seek help for this unnatural state.  These patients seem to respond better to therapy and receive more healing after listening to music before their sessions. People who are very shy and do not  tend to speak up when necessary, will sometimes express their feelings in lyrics to songs and through dance, if they are encouraged with music.

For many people suffering with memory loss, the ordinary spoken language simply becomes meaningless to them; but the language of music can help these patients remember tunes or songs and maybe begin to open up a path to help them remember other things about their own personal history. This happens because the part of the brain which processes music is located next to the part of the brain that gives us memory.  

Have you ever noticed when you have trouble remembering something, that it is easier to remember the facts in the tune of a song?  That is why we teach children to sing their alphabet and that is why we have little songs and jingles to remind us of the basics of learning.  Nursery rhymes that are difficult for young children to remember become easy as pie when they are sung to them.    

 Researchers from Norway's Sogn Og Fjordane College compared the effects of live, taped and no music with three different groups of people who were suffering from post traumatic amnesia - or memory loss. The patients were exposed to all three conditions of musical sound, twice over six consecutive days. Test results showed that when patients listened to live or taped music, two thirds of them showed significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and enhanced orientation, and they fared much better than the group that didn't listen to music at all.

It is not really surprising to most people to learn that music is an important part of our physical well being, as we have all actually been self-medicating for years without really understanding what we were doing

Music just seems to be an instinct built into our bodies to help us stay healthy.  This is probably why some pregnant women have chosen to listen to certain types of music while they are in labor.  They claim the music distracts them from the pain and soothes their nerves and keeps them from being so anxious.  

Other people put on certain music and songs when they exercise or work out.  They claim that a certain beat or tempo inspires them to exercise harder and better.  Many of these people actually claim that listening to music helps to improve and enhance their levels of strength and endurance.  

Joggers have often been seen running down the street with music being piped into their ears from ear buds as their feet are pounding the pavement.  They say they run faster and longer when they are inspired by the music they listen to as they jog.

Have you ever noticed when you are feeling moody how you tend to select and listen to certain types of music, and how you sometimes just want to sit alone with a certain type of music and listen uninterrupted for awhile?  

Music seems to provide an escape from the normal routine boredom in our days.  The music seems to help us to be able to  re-group and find our own special place in the world again.  This instinctive seeking of music by all of us seems to help our brains to wake up to our present circumstances, whatever they might be; and  the music just seems to encourage and inspire us to keep going and keep trying inspite of sometimes hard circumstances.  Somehow the presence of music in our days just seems to make us feel like an essential part of the big picture and it unifies us with others inside our hearts; even though we might find ourselves on a long and lonely road and just singing to ourselves.  

It turns out that all of this is logical because of the fact that the reward center of our brain which produces dopamine responds to the sounds of music.  Studies have shown that listening to music actually heightens every area of our brain.  In some cases and/or illnesses (such as Alzheimer’s disease) the use of music has proven to be even more helpful than medications.

One of the biological markers of stress is cortisol.  It seems that the relaxing effects of music can reduce the amount of the release of cortisol into the body.  Over a period of time excess cortisol builds up and causes us to gain weight.  It would be an interesting task to find out who listens to the most music; your friends who are over-weight; or your thinner friends.  More than likely you would find out that even though they both love music and use it in some ways in their lives, the over-weight group would be more visually inclined and spending more time watching tv and browsing the internet, while the thinner crowd might be more hearing-inclined and they would be at the bars and pubs and music halls listening to the local talent in night clubs, or busy singing in the church choir, or posibly pursuing a career in dance or theatre or radio.  

In one study 272 premature babies were exposed to different kinds of music for a course of three weeks while recovering in the neonatal ICU.  Different types of music and different deliveries of music were played and sang for them during that time.  The babies responded better when the music they heard was the sound of their own parent’s voices singing.  This sound seemed to reduce their stress tremendously.  Also, the parents who were asked to sing to their babies felt stress and anxiety relief too.  It was a win/win situation.  The next time your baby is crying endlessly try singing to them.  It doesn’t matter what song you sing; just the sound of your voice singing will probably help them to settle down and be comforted. 

In another study 60 people diagnosed with fibromyalgia listened to music for a four week period at random times during the day.  They experienced less pain and fewer symptoms than another group who did not incorporate music into their day at all. 

It is interesting to note how our bodies respond and how they release antibodies  in the presence of music.  In a random test given to volunteers certain sounds and their response was measured in scientific ways, counting the antibodies released in each situation.  One sound was a simple tone.  One sound was a radio broadcast.  One sound was not actually a sound but the absence of sound – that of total silence, and the other sound was a relaxing musical composition.  The soothing musical composition made the test show greater immunity and less reaction by releasing antibodies than any of the other sounds. 

While patients in a mental hospital are found to be clinically ill, and their stress hormones are extremely high; they have been exposed to studies that involved listening to  Motzart.  Afterward, upon hearing the music for some time, their hormone levels took a dive and gravitated back toward more normal levels. 

One group of patients with dementia were given voice lessons and asked to listen to music randomly for ten weeks.  Tests at the end of that time showed improved mood, orientation and memory.   It was also found by accident that their caregivers also benefited from taking the voice lessons with them.  It reduced the stress that they were constantly living under from dealing with those in their care.    

Some innovative employers have now taken to playing music in the background at their businesses.  They usually state that after making this change in the workplaces, they have found that the music helps their employees to feel more inspired and motivated, and that it helps the employees to feel physically healthier and more cheerful during the work day.  There also seems to be indications that human relations among employees have improved with the implementation of music into the work place.    

We read in the scriptures that King Saul would call for David to play his harp in order to soothe his mental health and well being.  Perhaps it would not be a bad idea for all of us to take time in our day-to-day lives to listen to soothing and inspirational music.  Psalms 95:1 says “Come let us sing for  joy unto the LORD, let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation.”

Ephesians 5:19  also advises us to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and songs of the Spirit.”  

Perhaps we would all feel much healthier and live much happier lives if we would just remember to always keep a song in our hearts.