Luke 14:11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus says this in the context of not choosing the seat of honor at a banquet. A few verses later he's saying to the banquet host that it is best to invite people who can't repay you. One of the most striking things about Jesus is that he didn't promote himself or try to impress others in any way. In fact, he usually would refrain from disclosing who he really was.

We find countless, very subtle ways to impress others. We casually mention who we saw the other day, who we know, where we've been, or what we've done. Often it may be innocent, but if I'm honest with myself, sometimes my motive is to impress in some way. Our Lord never tried to impress, but he lived each day to impact others with the gospel.

He can free us from this deeply rooted urge to impress and, as he does, the impact of our lives will quietly grow while we think about ourselves less and less. We can actually become wonderfully oblivious to the great work God is doing through us as we keep our focus on serving our Lord and pleasing him alone.

Lord, you have been very patient with me in this area, but I ask you to remove from the deep recesses of my heart any inclination to exalt myself or impress others. May those you bring into my life see only you. Please change me, O Lord, and forgive my efforts to impress.

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dave@youronedegree.com

A postal worker was sorting mail a week before Christmas when he came across a letter addressed to God. Since it would be destroyed he decided to open the letter and read it.

Dear God,

I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension check. Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?

Sincerely,
Edna

The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to all the other workers. Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds,he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman. The rest of the day,all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.

Christmas came and went. A few days later, another letter came from the old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened, It read:

Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. By the way, there was $4 missing. I think it must have been those thieving idiots at the Post Office.

Sincerely,
Edna

Dear Santa:

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the In-laws' house seem just like mine.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable?
It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door.

I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always
Mom

PS One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

~Written by unknown Mom~

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the remaining gifts I didn't manage to buy earlier.

When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to myself: "It's going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go...

Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I started to curse the prices, wondering if after all, kids really play with such expensive toys.

While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest.

He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered, who was this doll for?

Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: "Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?"

The old lady replied: "You know dear, that you don't have enough money to buy this doll."

Then she asked him to wait there 5 minutes while she looked around. The little boy was standing there still holding the doll.

Finally, I walked toward him and asked him who he wanted to give this doll to.

"It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was so sure that Santa would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied sadly, "No, Santa can not bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there."

His eyes were so sad while saying this. "My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister."

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: "I told daddy to tell mom not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I get back from the supermarket."

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me "I also want mommy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me."

I love my mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go and be with my little sister.

Then, he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy, "What if we checked again, just in case you have enough money?

"Ok" he said "I hope I have enough." I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was just enough and even a little to spare.

The little boy said: "Thank you God for giving me enough money."

Then he looked at me and added "I asked yesterday before I slept for God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mommy can give it to my sister. He heard my prayer and answered.

I also wanted enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but didn't dare ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose.

"You know, my mommy loves white roses."

A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl.

The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away.

I couldn't stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.

And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this away from him.

Author Unknown.

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate
to let others know how he felt about religion and the religious
holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she
raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his
disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a
Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived.

She asked him to come, but as his custom was, he refused. "That story
is nonsense!" he simply replied. "Why would God lower Himself to come to
Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and
he stayed home. Later the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a
blizzard.
As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm.
He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.

Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window, then another
thump. He looked out, but could see only a few feet. When the snow let
up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on
the window.

In the field near his house he discovered an entire flock of wild geese.
Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got
caught in the snowstorm and could not go on. They were lost and stranded
on his farm, with no food and no shelter from this terrible storm!

They continued to flap their wings and flew around the field in low
circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had apparently flown
into his window. The man felt sorry for the poor geese and wanted to
help them.

The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm
and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm in
the shelter of his old but warm barn.
So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched
and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But
the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the
barn or realize what it could mean for them.

The man tried to get their attention, but his efforts only scared them
and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out
with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumbs trail leading to
the barn. They still didn't catch on.

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them
toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every
direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go
into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the
only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment
and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a
goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.

Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese,
and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild
geese. He then released it.

His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one
by one the other geese followed it to safety.
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes
earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save
them!"

Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would
God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"
Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done.
We were like the geese -- blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become
like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of
Christmas, he realized.
As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and
pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas
was all about, why Christ had come! Years of doubt and disbelief
vanished just like the passing storm.

He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

--Author unknown