From: John & April Correia Subject: Encouragement's From The Heart - December 3, 1998 Date: Wednesday, December 02, 1998 22:40 PM THE CHRISTMAS GIFT He wanted to remind the world of the meaning of Christmas, but he had only the tools of his trade. so the candymaker from Indiana created a gift-something sweet to delight the senses, made from a recipe to change people's hearts. He started with pure, white sugar. White, for the virgin birth, he thought. And for Jesus' sinless nature. The candy maker then spun the sugar into the shape of a cane - the staff of the Good Shepherd. Upside down, it was the letter "J," for Jesus. The shiny white cane dried and hardened. Solid as the promises of God, the candymaker mused. When people see this, they can think of God's faithfulness and the church's true foundation, Jesus Christ, the Solid Rock. The candymaker picked up the cane and studied it carefully. It needed something else. Color! So he painted three small stripes, symbols of the lashes Jesus received. The final touch, he reflected. One large red stripe to represent Jesus' blood, shed on the Cross to pay for our sin and to give us a new relationship with God. The candymaker's gift of love was complete - a simple reminder to a forgetting world of the greatest story ever told. For many, the savory sweet is known only as the candy cane. But for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, the treat holds the ingredients for eternal life. author unknown With all the hoopla and commercializing of Christmas (which means Christ is sent) it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all - buying presents, going to parties, baking goodies for family and friends, etc. My prayer is that we stop and reflect on the TRUE meaning of this wonderful "holi"day and thank our Awesome Heavenly Father for loving us so much that He sent His one and only Son - just so we could live. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The above message is sent to you as a ministry of encouragement. Please do pass the encouragement on to others. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list reply to jacorreia@msn.com Subject: "add to" to remove "remove". Have a wonderful day in the Lord! April Correia Stop by and visit "Encouragement's From The Heart" Website. Special thanks to our Webmasters, John ! http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/1483/encourag.html All glory to God! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++