The writer to the Hebrew told his readers, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (12: 1). And Jesus had the father about the lost son say this: "Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet" (Lk.15: 22).

Anna is one of the forgotten individuals in the Christmas account. She is barely mentioned on the outskirts of the famous. Nevertheless, she did get the attention of Luke who must have felt very comfortable in her presence, and so were all the priests and temple servants that worked with her. She was a pearl of a person. Being around her disclosed her nature that coincided with her name Anna or Grace (Lk.2: 36-38).

During the Christmas season, we hear much about angels, shepherds and wise men. Yet, none of them had a more personal revelation about the baby Jesus than Simeon (Lk.2: 25-35). No one could see into the future as he did. Luke tells us that he was just, devout and waiting for the Messiah. The Spirit of God assured him that he would meet the Anointed One. On the day that the parents presented Jesus in the Temple, Simeon was urged by the Spirit to be present at the dedication.

Jesus told the Jews "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am" (Jn.8: 58). The Apostle Paul informed the Ephesian Christians, "For He (God) chose us in Him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His (God's) sight" (Eph.1: 4). During the creation of the world, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,'" (Gen.1: 26). And Jesus added this: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Mt.25: 34).

Jesus commented that some people go through life without suffering physically (Mk.9: 1). We are not among them. I was in a fire and endured pain for months. A rheumatic pain has paralyzed me three times during the last 15 years. My wife endured pain from a damaged nerve for more than four years. A friend turned to the bottle to kill his pain. Because of it, his wife questioned whether her husband made it into heaven? A friend's brother, a clergy, committed suicide. Pain is very powerful and it can rob us of our senses and leave us in disarray.

A young noble man came to Jesus and addressed him as "Good Teacher." Jesus countered, "Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God" (Mk.10: 17-18). Why would Jesus answer the way he did to a person that wanted to be good enough to enter heaven? In the eyes of his fellowmen, the young man was good already because he lived by the Commandments. If the Commandments were sufficient, why were they not good enough for Jesus?

There is an idea in the Bible how one can deal with a pesky giant (I Sam.17). Yes, it is the story of David and Goliath. In those days, champions fought before armies were engaged. King Saul of Israel had no one that could match the armor and strength of Goliath the Philistine. In came this shepherd lad with food for his brothers. He was upset when he heard the giant blaspheme God and His people. It was David and he volunteered to take on the blasphemer. King Saul and so did Goliath thought that it was a joke that a lad with no armor or a weapon could slay a champion? It is difficult to picture in our minds a boy with a slingshot and a pouch with some small stones facing the giant, and telling him to say his last prayers; for the God whom he was blaspheming was about to deliver him into a lad's hands. Faith in God was essential for David but so was his confidence in his accurate skill to slay the giant. He knew he could do it with one swing.

Life, in order to exist, is competitive. God's answer to Jeremiah was, "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" (Jer.12: 5). The Apostle Paul added the following (I Cor.9: 26-27),"I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat (subdue) my body and make it my slave (made fit) so that after I have preached (run) before (in front) others, I myself will not be disqualified for the reward."

Isaiah the prophet (4: 1) made this prediction about his nation, 'In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, "We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace."' It was not about polygamy but about reproduction. Wars had taken the males that reproduced. And because of it, Isaiah's nation died. That part of Israel, or the Ten Tribes, was annihilated. Jeremiah had a similar prediction about Judah or Jerusalem (31: 15). "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are nor more."

Jesus told the leaders of his day, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the time" (Mt.16: 3). Their system was collapsing, the Romans were about to end their existence and here they were squabbling what to do with Jesus (Jn.11: 48). How could it be that what has happened to the Jews two thousand years ago is now in the process of happening to us? Our westernized form of Christianity is failing. Our democracy is on the brink of collapsing. We can no longer pay for our expensive leadership and the equipment to manage the world. On top of it, this nation best fits the description in the Book of Revelation where the world leader shall headquarter. It also has a city that resembles Babylon. At the present, no such location exists in the Middle East.