Hannaford Seniors

Combating the Darkness  For a lot of people, the weeks after Christmas are difficult. In Montana, it’s usually cold and mostly snowy and always dark late into the morning and dark early in the afternoon. Visiting family has gone home and the warm feelings generated by the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are but pleasant memories. Those living without God often struggle mightily in post-holiday winter. But even those enjoying a close relationship with God can have difficulty with encroaching darkness at times. I admit that January is my least favorite month, for all the reasons I mentioned above. The psalmist was clearly struggling when he wrote in Psalm 42:5, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me (NASB)?” He repeated the phrase later, in verse 11. And yet again in the next Psalm, 43, verse 5. Contrary to what many believe, we do have an Enemy, and part of his plan is to rob us of the hope and joy of our salvation and thus make us ineffective witnesses of God’s glory and love. Don’t let him do that. Read the sentence that comes next in Psalm 42:5: “Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.” And the sentences that follow 42:11 and 43:5 are identical: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God.” Or, as Eugene Peterson paraphrases it in The Message, “Fix my eyes on God – soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.” As those who have put our faith in Jesus, we have hope that all will someday be made right. Righteousness will overcome evil and eternal light will overcome the darkness (Revelation 20-22). That “puts a smile on my face.” Several practical ways to combat the winter blues come to mind immediately. First, spend more time with God. Reading the Word, especially the Psalms, is refreshment to a weary soul. Let God’s Word flood those dry, thirsty parts of you. And talk to God; even consider writing about your struggles. Don’t hold back your feelings. He will never turn away honest confusion, anger or frustration. He’ll bring peace to your spirit. Many of the Psalms begin with the psalmist singing the blues, pouring his heart and hurt out to God, working through his pain and grief, and the unfairness and struggles of life. Along the way, perhaps by allowing him to hear his own words, God brings him back around to a better understanding of His character. And by the end of many of those Psalms, the psalmist is reveling in worship and praise of his Creator God. Also, get enough rest and good food. I lived alone for almost fourteen years between my divorce and remarriage and tended to stay up too late. I also ate a lot of food that wasn’t very good for me. Contrary to popular bachelor belief, mac and cheese is not a food group. Finally, do your best to have something on your calendar every day. Maybe it’s meeting with someone for coffee, reading an uplifting book, exercising, listening to or playing music, or volunteering. You need to have a reason to get up in the morning! And be encouraged. “Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him!” The darkness, both literal and spiritual, will pass!

TREASURE  Remember the old pirate movies, like Treasure Island, where they would find an old-fashioned treasure chest, break it open and find jewels and gold, all glittering in the light of their torches? There’s a passage in the Bible that reveals treasure far more valuable than gold and jewels. It’s Ephesians 1:2-14 and it reminds us of the treasure heaped upon every Believer. It’s as if the apostle Paul is reaching into God’s treasure chest and taking out the valuables one by one and describing them to his readers. But instead of, “Here’s a gem-studded dagger of gold,” he says this (which I have edited extensively): “God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him; He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself; He freely bestowed on us His grace; in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins; He lavished His grace upon us; He made known to us the mystery of His will; we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose; we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance.” If that passage of Scripture doesn’t light your fire, your wood’s wet! The treasures in the physical chest, the treasures we spend so much time and energy pursuing, are easily destroyed by moth and rust (Matt. 6:19). But the treasures Paul describes; the ones God provides to us, His children, are of eternal value. Read the full text of Ephesians 1:2-14 in the version of your choice and be encouraged. You are a child of the King and He has lavished upon you unfathomable riches!

The Gift – Part 2 Last week, I wrote about God’s “indescribable gift” (II Corinthians 9:15). God came down among us, His creation, as one of us, Jesus, lived a perfect life and died the death that every one of us deserved, the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” What is our response to the greatest gift we’ve ever been offered? Take a moment and think of the gift you most want, the most incredible, desirable gift in the world, and picture it wrapped and placed under your Christmas tree. If it’s not tangible, use your imagination to picture it gift-wrapped beautifully and nestled under the branches. Your name dangles from the package, embossed on a beautiful tag, and on Christmas morning, the giver is excited to see you open it. You’ve been in that position, haven’t you, giving gifts to your children or grandchildren? In our scenario, however, you decide you don’t want it, so you leave it there, unopened. Is it still yours? Yes. Do you receive any benefit at all from it? No. And that is where so many millions miss the point every single Christmas. This is the time of year when we celebrate the greatest gift of all time – the gift of Jesus and the salvation and eternal life He offers. And many of us have taken that offered gift. We have unwrapped it and we have thanked God for it and it has fundamentally changed our lives. But so many, even as they are unwrapping their wonderful gifts from family and friends throughout this season, are leaving the indescribable gift unopened under the tree. Maybe that’s you. You enjoy Christmas every year, and everyone assumes you’re a Christian because you say the right words and sing the right songs. But you’ve neglected God’s gift to you. Every year you put it back in the basement or attic after Christmas, and there it sits, waiting to be received. God gave the gift of salvation through His Son to everyone who has ever lived, but only those who have accepted the gift from Him, only those have the benefit of the gift, a personal relationship with Jesus, and eternal life. Have you accepted the gift? It’s right there; your name is on it. In Acts 16:31, Paul told the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” In John 3:16b Jesus told Nicodemus, “Whoever believes in Him [Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Simply believe. Paul writes in Romans 1:16 that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” and in Romans 10:9, he writes “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” It’s not complicated. Simply believe. No checklist for salvation exists. There are no hoops to jump through, no prerequisites to meet, no minimum achievement test scores to attain, no behavioral standards to live up to, no background checks to pass and no flowery prayers to recite. Simply believe and you will be saved. I pray that if you haven’t, you will. Don’t leave that personalized, incredible, indescribable gift wrapped under the tree again this year. And if you do receive it, please let me know so I can celebrate with you!

The Gift – Part 1 December 25, 2025 It’s here! All the anticipation has led up to this day. Merry Christmas! Gift-giving is a big part of our Christmas traditions. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I really wanted that electronic hand-held football game for Christmas; the one that had little red pips on the screen and did a lot of beeping. I never got that gift, even after several years of asking. I was so disappointed. About fifteen years ago, I bought one for myself from a catalog of vintage toys. I was so disappointed! When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we gave both of our sets of parents a pair of white, knit baby booties, with some clever little poem, hinting at what would soon fill those booties. We got exactly the excited reactions we hoped for. We all have stories of memorable Christmas gifts, the bad as well as the good; the vacuum cleaner your husband gave you, or the crocheting lessons your wife gave you. I’m reminded of several fictional characters who were given amazing gifts. The Grinch was given the gift of realizing that “Christmas doesn’t come from a store, that Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” And whatever that “more” was, caused his heart to grow three sizes (I’ve always thought it interesting that Dr. Seuss, in that book, never did explain what the true meaning of Christmas really is). Ebenezer Scrooge received the opportunity to look at his life from the outside, and he was given a second chance to make a positive impact on the people in his life and the world around him. Finally, George Bailey’s gift – an amazing chance to see how terrible the world would have been minus the impact of his life well-lived. Those were all great gifts, but let’s shift gears now to talk about the greatest gift ever given. Second Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” Before the beginning of time, God knew that His creation would rebel, and that rebellion would generate a tragic separation between God and His creation. But the Plan was already in place. God would come down among His creation as one of them, live a perfect life and die the death that every one of us deserved, the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” What an indescribable gift! But let’s take a moment to try to describe it, however inadequately. It was the most mind-boggling gift in the history of the world. When God became a man, he was 100% man, but still 100% God. Our minds can’t process that concept. Aren’t you glad there are so many things surrounding God that we can’t comprehend? This was also the most sacrificial gift of all time. Jesus was the required perfect sacrifice for sin, and He went to an excruciating death on the cross. It was the most loving gift ever given as well. God looked across the ages, saw you and said, “He’s worth it. I love him. She’s worth it. I love her. I’m going to provide a way for them to be with Me forever.” Finally, this gift was the most influential event in the history of the world. The time of the giving of this gift is the commonly-used dividing line between B.C. and A.D. (at least among those who love God). All of human history rotates on the hub of this gift. Today, enjoy the giving and the receiving, especially if there are children involved. But don’t forget the free and indescribable gift God gave you!

The Hebrew word for God, “El,” is found all over the Bible in the names of people and places, often flying under our radar. Before you look down and continue reading, take a moment and see how many you can list on your own.