A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1843. This classic tale has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and somberness.

After the supernatural visits of a deceased business partner and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, a sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge is transformed into a joyful and generous soul. To this day, a spirit of generosity is associated with the spirit of Christmas.

The story of Christmas, however, did not begin in 1843. It began at the birth of Christ. This being the case, we realize that it is the Holy Spirit who is the true Spirit of Christmas! Thus we learn how to give—graciously and generously—because of how and how much God has given to us:

“For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given…” (Isaiah 9:6)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” (John 3:16)

“We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

We’re generous because He’s generous. And we learn to initiate generosity—not simply respond when asked—because God’s great love sent His Son to die for us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:8).

“Freely you have received; freely give!” (Matthew 10:8)

One of the greatest temptations in this postmodern world is to complicate what was meant by our Creator to be understood simply. God is all about the basics. Since His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8, 9), He has gone out of His way to “bottom-line” things for us. The Scriptures commonly employ physical terms to convey spiritual realities.

Spiritual hearing is referenced numerous times in the Gospels, as well as the Book of Revelation — “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear…”

Spiritual sight is often coupled with spiritual hearing. Paul was commissioned to open the eyes of the Gentiles and “turn them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18). We even sing about it in the number one hymn of all time, Amazing Grace — “[I] was blind, but now I see.”

Spiritual taste is referenced by David in Psalm 34:8 — “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” In Hebrews 2:9, we read that Jesus suffered death, “so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

Spiritual touch is indicated frequently, whether it is God connecting with us through His creation, His people, His Spirit or His Word, or us touching Him through humble obedience and worship.

Spiritual smell is most fascinating. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 says that God “through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”

We say that we’ve “come to our senses” when we’ve experienced a reality check. Let’s be sure that we also come to our spiritual senses.

The older I become, the more grateful I am for the happy childhood that our parents provided. My earliest recollections of Thanksgiving meant one thing: Making a midnight trek to the Northwest to spend Thanksgiving with one grandmother and clan, and to bring the other grandmother home to live with us for the next four months.

Dad would meticulously pack the car (fishing gear first!) and Mom would bundle my brother and I in footed pajamas. We traveled through the night. Kyle and I usually woke up while we were going over the Siskiyou Pass. More often than not it was snowing by then, so Mom would start singing: “Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go! The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow…”

The last river that we crossed was the Columbia, which separates Oregon and Washington. Crossing that bridge into Vancouver caused tremendous excitement: In a few minutes we would see the face of our grandmother and run into her arms!

So it is in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, Revelation 22, where we read about the greatest river of all—the River of Life. This river flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the Heavenly City, bringing fruitfulness and healing. One blessed day we shall cross over that river and see the face of God Himself and run into His arms!

Growing up in a small house does wonders for fellowship! We laughingly called the bathroom our family room. When I was a child, I particularly loved watching my father shave. Before he lathered his face, however, he carefully prepared his cup of coffee. (And he always let me have a taste!)

Psalm 16:5-6 reveals that God, too, prepares a cup for us: “Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

Psalm 23:5 continues this idea of lavish provision: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Psalm 73:25-26 brings it all home: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Think of it — the portion, the lot, the inheritance, the cup that is assigned to us is an overflowing one for it is God Himself. The Lord is the Overflowing Cup. He is the Overriding Reality.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8)

Like most folks who love The Sound of Music, I have seen the movie enough times to have memorized much of the script. The leading character is beloved because of her unabashed distraction with the beauty that surrounds her, continually bursting into song. There is even a song that others sing about her short attention span! We can all relate.

In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses publicly reviews the events and lessons of the wilderness years as the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land. In chapters 4 and 5 he warns the nation of forgetting God’s Word, turning to idols, and neglecting God’s law. And it’s no wonder that these three dangers are listed together, for idolatry and neglect will almost certainly follow the forgetting of God’s Word.

What can we do to improve our spiritual attention span? The same thing we do when improving our physical attention span: We learn to focus on specifics. Like an athlete who is to run in a marathon, we practice, we train, we become fit.

Colossians 3 (NLT) shows us how this is accomplished:

1. We let heaven fill our thoughts. (v. 2)
2. We put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within us. (v. 5)
3. We clothe ourselves with the new nature that Christ has created within us. (v.10)
4. We speak and sing the words of Christ. (v. 16)

So then it’s not just about the length of our attention span; it’s about our focus. And the overflow of our hearts’ focus should cause us to burst into song continually!

When Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit, “He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read: ‘’The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach… He has sent Me to proclaim…’” (Luke 4:14-21, NIV)

I love seeing the “lights” go on in people’s minds simply because they’ve heard the Word in context, i.e. they’ve experienced an entire book of the Bible in one setting. And the primary reason an audience will listen through to an entire book is the underlying musical score.

The Word comes to life—like a movie script comes to life—once the music is added. Of course, the Word is much more exciting than a movie script, but most people fail to grasp this until a “spotlight” is shone on the text. This is precisely what an epic orchestral score does: It highlights the truth, reveals the overlooked or misunderstood, emphasizes the Divine heart, underscores the bottom line, and shifts the familiar and commonplace into the awesome and holy.

The Word of God is magnificent and deserves to be presented and heard in a magnificent way. Whatever it takes—to reach the ear, touch the heart, change the life, convert the soul—is worth it.

On a recent ministry trip to Wyoming, I learned of the state’s groundbreaking heritage and the extraordinary events that gave Wyoming its nickname, “The Equality State.”

On September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming, Louisa Ann Garner Swain became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot under laws granting women the right to vote with full civil equality with men. That same year in Wyoming, Eliza Stewart became the first woman to serve on a jury, Martha Symons Boies became the first woman to serve as a bailiff, and Esther Hobart Morris became the first woman to serve in a judicial position. In 1894, Estelle Reel became the first woman elected to statewide office, and later the first woman to hold a position requiring confirmation by the U.S. Senate. In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman elected Governor in the United States. She was also the first woman Director of the U.S. Mint.

In Philippians 2:5-8 (The Message) we read that although Christ Jesus had equal status with God, He “didn’t think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what… When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human… He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death…”

In Scripture, a state of equality means the freedom to obey the call of God in sacrificial service to others. And so we are reminded of how we can use such God-given, Christ-modeled liberties as we celebrate these Wyoming women.

I just returned from a whirlwind ministry trip to Buffalo and Toronto, enjoying an unexpected stop at Niagara Falls. The roar of the falls is deafening, and the great cloud of mist rising from its continual pounding provides a perfect canvas for rainbows to appear.

A rainbow does not actually exist at a particular location in the sky. Its apparent position depends on the observer’s location and the position of the Sun. The position of a rainbow in the sky is always 40-42° from the direction opposite the Sun with respect to the observer.

I mention the precise angle of 42° because it is in Psalm 42 where we read: “Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and breakers have swept over me.” (NIV)  In this passage the psalmist describes his troubles crashing over him like one wave after another, overwhelming him as if by a flood. Yet the very next verse reads: “May the Lord show His constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life.” (GNT)

Isn’t this how it is with rainbows? Not in spite of the pounding, but because of the pounding we are able to see the promise of God!

Ever since I can remember, I have been drawn to—and delighted by—the sweeter things in the cupboard. (Mom did have a cookie jar on the counter, but it was usually filled with Blue Chip stamps.) Of course, there were sweet things in the refrigerator, things that were perishable. But the cupboard housed something that was seemingly imperishable: a little plastic bear full of honey.

According to the National Honey Board, the 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey! This makes honey precious, and is precisely why its health-giving sweetness is prized so highly.

Of the five basic tastes, sweetness has the highest taste recognition threshold. Also, sweetness intensity is indicative of energy density. This same recognition of intensity and life-giving energy is reflected in the Psalmist’s declarations: the laws of God “are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb,” and: “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Just like the little bear containing the imperishable, energizing honey, “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor 4:7).

I have the joy of praying regularly with a handful of ladies from the choir. We call ourselves The Sistahs and usually gather to pray in The Barn. (Don’t ask.) Last week we were greeted with a cheery table of Bing cherries and quiche and cinnamon rolls.

Then a sistah prayed, “Thank You, Lord, for Your gift of hospitality!”

What caught my ear was the word Your. Certain people have the gift of hospitality because the Giver of such gifts is Himself hospitable. James 1:17 plainly states that “every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven” (The Message).

In the first chapters of Genesis, God prepared a perfect world for Adam and Eve. He spread a perfect table. And when they ruined the perfection through disobedience, like a perfect Host, God prepared a sacrifice to cover their imperfection.

In the last chapters of Revelation, God has prepared a perfect place for His people to enjoy perfect fellowship with Him. God has prepared a perfect table with a perfect meal. And we will worship our Heavenly Host, the Perfect Sacrifice, with perfect praise: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

Such is the hospitality of heaven!