Someone may ask, “But why should I rise early?” To remain too long in bed is a waste of time. Wasting time is unbecoming of a saint who is bought by the precious blood of Jesus. His time and all he has is to be used for the Lord. If we sleep more than is necessary for the refreshment of the body, it is wasting time the Lord has entrusted us to be used for His glory, for our own benefit, and for the benefit of the saints and unbelievers around us… Anyone who spends one, two, three hours in prayer and meditation before breakfast will soon discover the beneficial effect early rising has on the outward and inward man.

George Muller

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Fruits, Grains		Fruits/nuts, Salads	4	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	lg	Orange, peeled, sectioned
1	md	Pear, cubed
2		Bananas, peeled, sliced
1/2	c	Prunes, diced
1	c	Grapes, red or purple seedless
1/3	c	Walnuts, toasted
1	c	Vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/4	ts	Ground cinnamon
1/8	ts	Ground cardamom or nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

FRUIT SALAD
SPICY YOGURT DRESSING
In a medium bowl, combine fruits and nuts.  Prepare dressing (combine
ingredients).  Just before serving, top with dressing and toss well.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“If thankfulness does not move us to serve God, then we do not truly understand who our God is and what He has done in our behalf. Without gratitude for Christ’s sacrificial love, our duty will become nothing more than drudgery and our God nothing more than a dissatisfied boss. #Bryan Chapell”

Displaying a Christmas nativity scene is a long-standing tradition, but it can also present a bit of a skewed view of the actual events of Jesus’ birth. While each person depicted in a traditional nativity scene is a part of the Christmas story, not all the characters were present in one place on the night Jesus was born. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were in a stable that night due to the overcrowding in Bethlehem’s inn (Luke 2:7), but the Bible never mentions whether or not animals were present—in fact, it never even mentions a stable. The shepherds, once told of Jesus’ arrival, left their flocks to worship the newborn King (Luke 2:16). However, the angels, which are often part of nativity scenes, bore the good news to the shepherds in the fields (Luke 2:8–14). As far as we know, there were no angels flying visibly over the place where Jesus was when the shepherds arrived. In addition, the wise men (the Bible never says how many there were) were also probably not present that first night. The magi visited Jesus some time later, when He was in a house (Matthew 2:1–11).

Unknown Author