After living a “decent” life my time on earth came to an end. The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a courthouse. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the “prosecutor,” he was a villainous looking gent who snarled, as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left and there sat my lawyer, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed very familiar to me. The corner door flew open and there appeared the judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as he moved across the room, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. As he took his seat behind the bench, he said “Let us begin.”

The prosecutor rose and said “My name is Satan, and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.” He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole and in the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life, and the more he spoke the further down in my seat I sank. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at my representative who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life — couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’ve done. Satan finished with a fury and said “This man belongs in hell. he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise. Justice will finally be served this day.”

When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench. The judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan and beckoned him to come forward. As he got up and started walking I was able to see him now in his full splendor and majesty. Now I realized why he seemed so familiar. It was Jesus representing me; my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the  bench and softly said to the judge, “Hi Dad,” and then He turned to address the court.

“Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned. I won’t deny any of these allegations. And yes the wages of sins is death and this man deserves to be punished”. Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, “However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life, and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is mine.”My Lord continued with “His name is written in the book of life and no one can snatch him from Me. Satan still does not understand yet, this man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.”

As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at his Father and replied, “There is nothing else that needs to be done, I’ve done it all.”

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down, and the following words bellowed from His lips — “This man is free — the penalty for him has already been paid in full, case dismissed.”

As my Lord led me away I could hear Satan ranting and raving, “I won’t give up, I’ll win the next one.” I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, “Have you ever lost a case?”

Christ lovingly smiled and said, “Everyone that has come to me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, Paid in Full.”

Two men went fishing.
One man was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn’t.
Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh.
Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day
And finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish.
“Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?” he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman replied, “I only have a small frying pan.”

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Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams,
big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us.
Our faith is too small.
We laugh at that fisherman who didn’t figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan;
Yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?

Whether it’s a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle.
That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way.

You can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13).

Nothing is too big for God. Stop telling God you’ve got big problems, but instead tell your problems to a BIG GOD!

Tags: god, story

A candy maker wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candy maker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as Candy Cane, a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness To The Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

Tags: christmas, church, cross, god, jesus christ, love, story