Christmas is about miracles! Something inside of us lets us know that at the core, Christmas is about a miracle from heaven

Dear Friend,

Everything about Christianity is miraculous. From the virgin birth, to the healings and miracles in Jesus' life and ministry, to His resurrection, to the day of Pentecost, to the miraculous signs and wonders which occurred in the early church and continue unto now, Christianity is about miracles! In fact, if you are truly a Christian today, you yourself are a living, breathing miracle and a testimony of the glory of God through Jesus Christ. You are a new creature in Christ! Old things have passed away! Everything is new!

In spite of all the crass commercialism and carnality of the Christmas season in our society, something inside of us lets us know that at the core, Christmas is about a miracle from heaven. As the prophet said, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

Please, do not allow Satan to make you think of this event as a legend, or religious folklore. This is a true event in history, birthed from the heart of God. It is the Creator coming to man in the person of Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins and give us new life. It is a miracle to make more miracles. It is the inception of a fountain of life which flows to us from the throne of God. It is God's miraculous method of invading the earth with the Kingdom of God.

Now, I want you to think about this "virgin," a young girl really, engaged, but not yet married, never having sexual relations with a man. The angel Gabriel comes to her one day saying, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"" Luke 1:28, NKJV. The angel said that she was blessed among women. She was not some kind of goddess, some supernatural being from another planet. No, she was a human, just like you and me, with weaknesses and frailty and fears. Yet God chose to plant the seed of His Son in her womb, and to bring forth Immanuel, God with us.

Now, not to get ahead of myself here, but I want you to see this truth. If God could use this young teenage peasant girl to bring forth something so miraculous that it would change the world and eternity, He can also use you and me, if we will yield to His purposes.

As you can well imagine, this young girl was troubled by the angelic visitation and wondered what this was all about. The angel then explained further, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:30-38, NKJV.

Now I want you to understand. This is not a fable. This happened in history. And God is no respecter of persons. If He did a miracle in Mary's life, He will do one in your life as well. So, when you look at this miracle, I want you to identify with Mary. Put yourself in her shoes. This angel was speaking to her about something that was well beyond her comprehension. It was beyond her wildest dreams. However, "with God all things are possible."

With God. . . With God. . . With God. . . ALL THINGS. . . are possible. The things that are impossible with man are possible with God. So those bills you cannot pay, that sickness you cannot overcome, that child that has gone wayward, that situation at your workplace or in your family-ALL THINGS are possible with God.

Now, that is good to know. But there is more. The angel told her HOW it was going to happen. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. "

He said her miracle was going to occur as the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. You see, the Holy Spirit was her agent of change. The Holy Spirit came to affect a miraculous conception in Mary, and to bring forth the Holy Son of God. And likewise, it will be the Holy Spirit of God that will bring miracles from heaven into your life. Welcome Him to overshadow you with His glory. The same word is used in Acts where Peter's shadow "overshadowed" the sick and they were healed. It is God's miraculous, wonder working power.

Now I know in our materialistic, western mindset; it's difficult for us to believe that such a miracle could occur in our life, in our day. These things are all right for the Bible days, we may think, but today we all too often just expect a little trickle of grace to help us through a difficult day. Sometimes grace to get through the day is a miracle, but if that's all that we can believe for, that's all we will get. But the fact is, our God created the universe. He split the Red Sea. He sent fire down from heaven when Elijah prayed. And He caused a miraculous conception in the virgin Mary. He will do no less in our lives today, if we will receive what He has for us.

How will it happen? The same way it happened for Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you. . ." The Holy Spirit is the conveyer of heavens blessings and the miracle power of God. By cooperating with Him, we see "miraculous conceptions" also. We see a birthing of the supernatural power of God in our lives. We need to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives, into our homes, into our families and into our churches. Do not resist Him, do not grieve Him. Make Him welcome and He will bring heaven's blessings into your life, and into the earth.

The Lord spoke to this young girl through an angel. No doubt she did not completely understand his words. But she received it by faith. She opened her heart to the Good News that was delivered her by the angel and said, "Let it be unto me according to your word." Thus she received the will and purpose of God into her life. This is exactly what we need to do to flow with God in this hour. We need to hear His voice and say from our heart, "Behold, I am your servant. Let it be it unto me according to your Word. Come into my life. Have your way with me. I yield myself completely to you, in Jesus name."

Today, we are coming into something very special in the history of the Lord's work in the earth. God's kingdom is coming forth in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. All around us we see increasing darkness, but the Lord is arising upon His church. The church in these days will be filled with the miracle power of God. The fullness of God will be upon His people. It will not just be in large stadiums and auditoriums that we will see the miracle power of God, but in houses and buses and business places and grass huts. Ordinary people will hear the Lord, saying, "Rejoice Tom, Susie, Joan, Bill, you are highly favored. Go forth in My name and I will do miracles. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Expect Me to do My Word and I will perform it, for I am with you.

Now is the time to have faith in the God of miracles. Intellectual assent and mental religion will not cause drug dealers to repent and junkies to be delivered. It will not cause Hindus, brainwashed hedonists, atheists and God-haters to turn their hearts to the living God. We must have the power of God. Press into it. Believe for it. Astound your adversaries. Seek the kingdom. Take it by force. It is the time to take the Kingdom. Rise up ye strong. It's Christ's command! Amen.

Please pray for our mission to India January 16-30. We really do count on your prayer covering. I will be ministering in villages in Andhra Pradesh, southern India around the city of Hyderabad. We will be conducting evangelistic services in the evenings and Bible teaching during the day, working with our friends from Calvary Commission India, who are expanding into new areas to plant new churches. The harvest is ripe in India. It's time to GO with the Gospel.

Susan and I thank God for your partnership!

In the master's hands,

Susan working on a design in her studio.

A quick note! And. . . don't forget to unwrap your Special Gift

Hello,

Just a quick note before I'm off to a pre-proposal meeting at the Minnesota Arboretum for an exhibit that they are doing in the Spring. They are soliciting artists to do works for their exhibit on the subject of trees.

Mmmm. I wonder what is going on in my mind about trees? The tree of life? Trees of righteousness? The cedars of Lebanon? We'll see.

It's exciting and I am so blessed to honor God and call on His name while creating glass art.

Our family had a most wonderful Thanksgiving. Max, our four year old grandson, gave everyone a picture of a turkey with glued-on feathers saying what he was thankful for. The one he gave me was "I'm thankful for grandma making pumpkin cookies with me." Tom's was about coming up to his house and playing with him. He gave our youngest daughter Ruth one that said he was thankful for her hair! Ruth has long, curly blonde hair. Funny.

Enjoy your day today and the days ahead. Live for God today and not man. Enjoy this Christmas like you never have before. We all have been given the best gift of all, Jesus. Maybe you just need to unwrap yours, yes?

Here is one of Tom's favorite Christmas Cookies. The recipe comes from LuAnne Basney. Steve and LuAnne Basney pastor Open Arms Community Church in Howard Lake, Minnesota.

Unwrapping,

We wish you a very wonderful, miraculous, Merry Christmas & a supernaturally blessed New Year!

Snowballs These are also called Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Tea Cakes Mix: 1 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/4 cups sifted flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup chopped nuts Bake on ungreased pan 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. While warm, roll in powered sugar. For best results, be gentle with your dough.