SEASON OF LIGHT

To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. ~Sydney Smith

Celebrating the Soul of Winter

by Marlaina Donato

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Inevitably, the wheel of the year turns with the nuances of the seasons hardly noticed in the blur of our busy days. “Next year,” we say, when we realize that we’ve run out of time to try that holiday recipe, connect with friends or revel in a winter sunset. Collecting small joys takes us out of survival mode and into wide-awake living. Pausing to sip from winter’s steaming cup of comfort can be the perfect way to begin a new chapter that prompts us to come back to the center. In the ancient world, fire festivals marked holy days celebrating the sun’s promise of return and supplied felicity in a time of hardship. Today, something inside our ancestral memories makes us crave celebration as we wrap the year’s end in shiny ribbon, ethereal lights and scented candles. Singing, chanting or caroling this time of year—“old-fashioned” pastimes—were ancient elements of winter’s revels that invited benevolent energy and chased away bad luck. While most of us no longer grace our neighbors with song, raising our voices to any capacity can be an offering, an invitation to hope and beauty. Singing multicultural songs with the kids, writing a spontaneous prayer or sharing seasonal or funny stories naturally boosts the immune system and helps to fight off the winter blues.

Winter has its own jewel-toned beauty that rivals summer’s most dazzling hour if we pay attention: ruby fruits baked with brown sugar, rosy desert mornings and snowy sapphire twilights. Pointing out December constellations over a beach or lacing up our boots for a brisk walk helps us to unplug from the world’s problems. Sprinkling heart-healthy spices in our morning coffee opens a gloomy day on a lovely note.

Winter can feel long, so go ahead and treat your senses; buy a few yards of red velvet to sleep on or pick up that novel you’ve been planning to read. Live and give a little more deeply. Feed the birds and feed your soul.

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Marlaina Donato is an author and a composer of ambient holiday music. Connect at WildflowerLady.com.

CHRISTMAS SALVATION

by Ron Jasnowski

Today, I am a 60-year-old stage 4 cancer patient and I know where I am going when I die. I have shared my story thousands of times to many grateful hearts. In my 20s, I knew my body would eventually give out and I would be called to give account to God. I also realized that I might wind up in hell, which was unacceptable to me. I knew a loving Creator must have established a way for us to become confident about going to heaven, but I could not figure it out. I prayed for the answer. God loves prayers from a sincere heart and He revealed the answers to me.

As everlasting beings, the most important future event for every soul is accountability to God. Yet most people do not read the Bible enough to know what it says about going to heaven. Still, the way to heaven must be simple because God wants people from all backgrounds to fill heaven.

Understand that simply doing good deeds is not enough to get into heaven for two reasons. One, nobody can ever arrive at a day and be assured that all the good deeds that are needed to be done have been done. Two, no number of good deeds erases the bad deeds already on our record.

The way is truly quite simple. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins so that we can go to heaven. We simply need to accept Him as our Savior from our sins and obey what He tells us in the Bible. It is that simple. But it is not easy for most people. As a matter of fact, Jesus warned us that most people will end up in hell (Matthew 7:13-14).

We cannot be our own savior by doing good deeds, Jesus is our Savior. If we made it into heaven by doing good deeds, Jesus would have been a fool to voluntarily die on the cross for nothing. He is no fool. He paid the greatest price ever paid for anything and that was for our souls, so we can be confident of going to heaven.

There are four important points to sincerely pray to go to heaven: 1. Confess your sins to God. 2. Repent of your sins. Be sincere about change because God commands change. 3. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. He died and rose from the dead to pay the price for your sins. It’s not your good works, nor your grandmother’s prayers, nor the church that gets you into heaven. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ and only He can get you into heaven (John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 10:9-13). 4. Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your heart to guide your thoughts and actions. The world is dark and filled with temptations. It’s not easy to walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can do it.

The Bible tells us that the blood of Jesus washes our sins from our record so that when we’re called to give account at the Great White Throne of Judgement there is no sin on our records. 1 John 5:13: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” This is explains why, for 2000 years, Christmas continues to be celebrated all over the world.

Ron Jasnowski is a missionary from Palatine, Illinois. For more information, visit Answers4Eternity.org. If you would like to share this good news, you can learn more meaningful details in a short video at Answers4Eternity.org.