A New You

By Cheri Cowell

We talked often in my childhood home of what heaven was going to be like. We spoke of the people we loved who had gone before us and what fun they must be having in the perfect place God had prepared for them. We just knew that my great-grandmother, Mumsey, was in a perfectly outfitted kitchen, baking heavenly treats for the heavenly host. We knew my grandfather was in the woodshop building beautiful pieces of furniture for the many altars in heaven. I now appreciate the gift my parents gave me in providing those happy discussions of heaven.

My father was a diabetic and took insulin shots three times daily from the age of nine. He is now in heaven and I am grateful he no longer suffers that pain because he has a new body and one day I know I will be with him again and will hug him with my new body. What a gift that assurance is.

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Pointing Fingers

By Cheri Cowell

Have you ever spent time with someone who finds fault with everything and everyone? These people drain us. It’s easy if we just chime in, but tiring if we’re working hard not to join them. While walking by someone dressed inappropriately a negative comment slips, then the conversation quickly turns to the loose morals of society and how our mother never would have let us out of the house dressed that way. How easily we use our superior yardstick to judge others.

In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders were the keepers of the moral codes, and thus arbiters of who was acceptable to God. If anyone had studied the codes they would have discovered no one followed them and thus no one deserved acceptance. In order to cover this weakness, the elite created more difficult-to-track rules. Following rules—and pointing fingers when they were broken—consumed them.

Jesus came along and said, “I am setting up a new kingdom with a new way.” He knew we couldn’t keep all the rules, and that keeping rules was not the point. He wanted us to simply love others as we have been loved, and to give grace as we’ve been given grace. That doesn’t leave us much room for pointing fingers, does it?

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New Creatures

By Cheri Cowell

We are fascinated by the movie concept of humans remade into bigger and better beings. From Clark Kent to Superman, from David Banner to the Incredible Hulk, we have been frightened and at the same time drawn to the concept of transformation. In Hollywood, at least for now, transformations from good to evil have proven disastrous, but those from ordinary to extraordinary have saved the day.

Might it be that we are so drawn to these transformations because deep in our hearts God has planted a seed of transformation? Might it be that we know we are destined for a re-make?

Without God we can only imagine a transformation like those of Hollywood. Yet, God is better than any movie producer ever was. His “movie” stars a man from Galilee who dies a horrible death in order to defeat death itself. As the victor of that battle, He has won the right to transform His followers into His own image, and He sets about this task one heart at a time until the entire world has been offered the opportunity to accept this transformation. The transformed then become part of His Army of Believers, doing battle every day with an unseen enemy, but with an outcome that is already guaranteed. Isn’t this the best movie ever written?

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The Destination

By Cheri Cowell

You know the stereotypes about men and women and how they travel. Men just want to get there and women want to enjoy the journey.

My husband and I are just the opposite. Randy wants to stop at every rest area, historical marker, and little town store. When we first met, I enjoyed the belief that the goal was to get there and THEN sightsee. I am happy to report that I have been trained. It didn’t happen overnight, but eventually, I learned it is more fun to enjoy the journey. You’ve probably heard the quote, “Success is not a destination, it’s a journey.” I propose that Christmas is not the destination; it is the journey. Take time to enjoy every aspect of preparation. Take time to make room in your already crowded life for a miracle to happen. God spent many hundreds of years preparing His people for this miracle. He wanted them to be ready with their lives and ready in their hearts.

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Wait Not Want

By Cheri Cowell

I’m terrible at waiting. Some people seem to possess a wonderful abundance of patience, but I’m not one of those people. Others who know me say I have a lot of patience and I’m good at waiting, but they don’t know what is going on inside. Inside I’m pacing, I’m making to-do lists, I’m thinking through all the possibilities, and I’m agitated. I’m not patient. I’m not waiting, I’m wanting. I’m wanting for the event to start, the situation to improve, or the circumstance to change. What is the difference, you ask? When I am truly waiting I have a peace about me that says I know the event, situation, or circumstance is a done deal. It is going to happen and I don’t need to fret or worry. There isn’t anything I can or need to do but wait. It says that I am not in control, but have submitted that authority to Someone bigger and better able to handle it than me. When I want, I feel I have control, and therefore, all the responsibility. Advent is a time to wait.

John says it so clearly: When Christ was born; True Light came into the world. That scene has been completed and is completed in us again every Christmas. Advent is our time to wait on the Lord, knowing full well that the gift will arrive on time. 

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