"I could dance with you until the cows come home. On second thought I'd rather dance with the cows until you come home." ~ Groucho Marx

Hello and welcome to today's visit. This one creeps up on us on this Monday, February 16, 2025. Many of you know of my long association as Santa with an area Chick Fil A franchise. I started the Santa adventure 16 years ago and the folks at that franchise gave me my professional start. I mentioned how the cardiologist last Friday was a huge Santa Claus fan. He was fascinated by my profile image as Santa on the medical facility online utility. He left to arrange for an EKG and a few minutes later he returned all excited. He said his nurse had just shown him a photo of her two girls taken with yours truly at Chick Fil A, and the nurse also said I was a Santa in huge demand. That was perhaps a little over the top, however, I am thankful to be in demand for certain venues and the folks I've worked with at the two locations for this particular franchise, well, they fit that category well. As a result of all of this Santa recognition, these folks upped my identity and treated me not just as a patient, but, also as a celebrity. Who knew? I've likely been saved by the bell, saved by my chinny-chin-chin, saved by the skin of my teeth, saved by the dog eating my homework, but, I do believe that was the first time I was saved by the cow. Ha!

 

Given the subject of being saved, I would be remiss not to mention what it means to be saved by the Lord God of heaven through the finished work Jesus the Christ accomplished in His death, burial, and, resurrection. Here are a few random verses about salvation from the Bible,  Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Romans 10:9 "Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,.." Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Acts 16:30-33 "Then he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family." I'm not big on formulas that people use, but, I am clear on one thing, salvation is a gift and it can be received by calling on the name of the Lord. 

 

I do hope you have a blessed day and that we all will find ourselves knowing from whom all blessings flow. None other than from our Sovereign Lord and He deserves all the glory, honor, and praise. Thanks to all who have been praying for our Jimmy. He remains in the hospital at this time. Until next time, may God add His blessings is my prayer. Amen.