Author: Faith

Yesterday we talked about the importance of obedience.  We talked about what a great example Mary & Joseph set and how their obedience to God changed the world, and our future!   And helped to usher in our Savior!

Obedience is such an old fashioned word.  We do not hear it very ofen in today’s society.  It was used more when I was a child, and it was used when I was raising my children.  But it does not appear to be used too often now.

Obedience is defined in the dictionary as , “compliance with an order, request or law”.  We see quite a bit of disobedience in today’s society and look at the state of our world now!

God gave us the “law” for a reason.  For our welfare and to guide us.  And make no mistake, God requires our obedience.  And those of us who Trust our Lord, obey God as much as we possibly can.  But because God loved us and knew that we would, despite our best efforts, fail sometimes.  He sent His only Son Jesus to Save us.  And it is through His Son Jesus that we are forgiven ?  Thank you!

But while Jesus did come to Save us, He didn’t come so that we could not even try to live a life of service both to God and to our fellow man (and woman).

Jesus came, so that when our best efforts are not enough, we could be forgiven through our faith in Jesus ?

 Sometimes with all the gift wrapping, cooking and spending time with family and friends, we can forget what Christmas is really about:  Christ’s Birth.  And because Jesus was born, we were given a New Beginning.  A way to Heaven.  A bridge of forgiveness to the Father.  Because Jesus came, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Friend.  Because Jesus came, we are Saved 🙂

What Joy! To know that we will always be loved, always be forgiven.  And always have hope.  And that is just a few of the gifts we received!

But notice, that although Jesus’ arrival started with God’s Plan to redeem us – on earth the arrival of Jesus started with the unquestioning obedience of God’s servants, Mary & Joseph.  Can you imagine being a young girl so many years ago, being pregnant before you were actually married?  Can you imagine riding and walking 62 miles before you gave birth? I can’t imagine how frightened they both were, but they truly believed God and kept walking.  No matter how much pain, no matter how tired they were, they kept obeying God. Thank you both!

And no matter how many people whispered (or shouted) back home, they they obeyed God.  Do we?

We live in a time in which our society wants to make their own choices, no matter how sinful.  Many believe that they know better than God what choices we should make. They will find out the truth soon enough.

This Christmas, we can give Jesus the Gift of our Hearts.  We can be Obedient to God’s Word.  And we can follow Jesus, no matter the cost.  And we can say Thank You!

In preparing for Christmas, we spend much time thinking about the gifts we want to give those we love on Christmas Day.  Hopefully, we also spend time thinking about the gift we want to give Jesus.  (Hint:  We can give Jesus us?) 

With all of these thoughts and our hearts filled to overflowing, we sometimes forget about the one of the greatest Gifts God gives us:  Joy.  In fact, sometimes during the Christmas season, we are so busy “doing Christmas”, we forget to take the time to really experience God’s Gift of Joy ?

Kelly Wise Valdes writes,  “The second fruit of the Spirit is joy. The word ‘joy’ appears nearly 200 times in the Bible, which helps us understand just how important this second sweet fruit of the Spirit really is. Joy is a condition of the heart.”

Joy lifts us up and out of any and all suffering.  It’s the feeling we often experience when we are deep in prayer.  The world can’t touch it!  Because it is God – Given, Holy Spirit Breathed.  And it will last as long as we let it.  And if we loose it, we can simply pray for its’ return.

When the world gets to be too much, pray.  Pray as you have never prayed before.  Pray in a place where you will be uninterrupted.  Even Jesus took time out for prayer, because that is how important prayer is! 

Pray in a way that you think of yourself as going to a “place”.  A place with God.  In it, the sun shines on you, warming you all the way through.  The Joy, of the Holy Spirit fills you as does the Peace that only God can give. And just be.  And listen for that “small still voice”. ?

“Be still and know that I am God” – Psalm 46:10

This is what many refer to as “meditative prayer”.  Instead of seeking assistance, we are simply seeking God.  We seek nothing for ourselves but to be in the presence of God, but we walk away with everything ?.

And we walk away with one mission, to share our Joy with others and teach others how to find it for themselves.  Prayer, in the name of Jesus, is the way…and an open heart that welcomes the Holy Spirit ?

In a couple of days, it will be Christmas. It’s hard to imagine not being filled with Joy on Christmas Day. The day we celebrate Christ’s Birth, and our Salvation. From that day on, our path to Heaven and our Bridge to God was started. It’s hard to imagine anything more Joyful!

But it’s been a hard couple of years for all of us. As we look around our lives, Joy is not always the first thing we feel. But Jesus wants us to have Joy-Now.

So here are a few prayers to restore our Joy!

“Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; ³ have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.” – Psalm 86:1-4

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” -Psalm 51:12

In a couple of days, we will celebrate the joy of Christ’s Birth, and the beginning of our real freedom. We need to allow ourselves to experience that Joy 🙂

The Day of Apostasy is not coming, it is here. And with that apostasy comes much confusion. Apostasy is defined in the dictionary as: “the abandonment or renunciation of a religious belief”.

And what does God say about apostasy?

“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:12

” Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;³ Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” – 1 Timothy 4:1-3

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,” – 2 Peter 3:17

We need to pray for each other and ourselves. My prayer for myself is something I heard in a Christian song: Lord if I ever fail to hang onto you, please hang on to me. And we need to pray and do our very best not to leave anyone behind too! As a friend of mine reminded me, “we are our brother’s keeper”.

This Christmas, we can choose Faith In Christ and all that this includes or we can can choose to celebrate Christmas without Christ. This is unfathomable to me because without Christ, there is no Christmas. And yet many do it. They regard Christmas as simply a time to gather and wish each other well. How mistaken they are!

Christmas is about Christ’s birth. It’s about the beginning of our journey Home. It’s about people such as Mary and Joseph who had the selfless courage to obey the Lord, no questions asked, and bring us Home 🙂

It’s about Jesus and His love for us! It’s about His Willingness to leave Heaven where life was so perfect and come down to earth just so we could go to Heaven. It’s about the Bridge Jesus built between God and us. It’s about forgiveness. It’s about hearts overflowing with love. And with all of that comes hugs, laughter, joy, and dare I say relief? Relief that we will never again have to worry about reaching our Father :). It’s a New Beginning, given to us by God Himself 🙂

Please rain down on us Holy Spirit, and on our World. Help us to share our Joy at Jesus’s Birth with others :). Amen.

Thank you Father for sending your only Son to Save us. Thank you Jesus for Saving us 🙂

“I was made to walk in the valley…I was built to stand in the storm” – Ross King

And make no mistake, a storm is coming! We will one day look back on the current time in which we live, and realize these were the easy days…

Mary traveled 62 miles on a donkey and walking to have Jesus in a Manger.  Can you imagine?  I could hardly walk, much less travel, even with my husband’s help, those last few weeks I carried my children.  Ha!  If I’m honest, I could hardly leave the bathroom, lol!  And then I had my babies in a nice clean hospital where everyone took care of me!  I couldn’t even imagine having a baby in a manger!  And let’s face it, I don’t think any of us could!

But Mary and Joseph were made to “to walk in the valley… built to stand in the storm”! How brave Mary & Joseph were!  They didn’t demand an explanation from God, they just said “Yes”! How willing they were to obey God no matter what the cost!  How selfless Jesus was to come down here and suffer so to Save us! 

Let’s pray that when we are faced with the difficult times that are coming, we will be as selfless and brave as Mary & Jospeph.  And that we will love others as Jesus loves us! And that we will never, ever loose our faith in Jesus 🙂

Society may change, even countries may change-But God does not!  We either stand for something, or we don’t.  The time is coming when we may need to make a choice.  The time to pray and prepare is now!

God did not make one Bible for African Americans and one for White people.  Just as God did not make a different Bible for each country.  It’s one Bible.  One Truth.  And we all need  to accept that and to follow God’s Word as it is-not as we want it to be!

In our efforts to justify our life style, we do not get to manipulate God’s Words.  We do not get to tell God what is right-He tells us-through His Bible.

God created the world in which we live, the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, land and the mountains.  God created us! 

Why anyone would think that we can “set the rules” over what God decrees, who clearly has such great power, is beyond me.  Obviously, God gets to “set the rules”, so to speak.  We are here and alive through His Grace!

And here is some more “food for thought”.  God made us.  So of course He knows what is  Best for us.  And what would make us Happy!

Let’s look at one example.  God said “Do not steal”.  God did not say is was okay to steal if you are poor or want something bad enough.  God did not say it was okay to steal if you are rioting for a cause.  And God did not say it’s okay to steal if no one on earth catches you!  God said, “Do not steal!”.  And it applies to all-equally.  No exceptions.

God is and always will be colorblind.  He loves us all.  Jesus came for us all ?.  And God expects us to do the same.  To love one another as He does-regardless of color, country or economics, politics or any of the other ways we divide ourselves… We were created to love God and love one another-no exceptions ?

But the same Truth applies to the Bible as well.  It’s One Truth given to ALL of us by God Himself!.  There is not “his” truth or “her truth”.  Truth by it’s very nature has only One Truth-God’s Truth.

So this Christmas, let our Gift to Jesus be our willingness to accept God’s Truth and Follow it. ?

And we can start by not allowing the new societal culture or peer pressure to influence us – in any way! Isn’t that what we teach our children?

We can Share Jesus’s Great Gift and we can warn the wicked!  Nothing can stop us from either right now, but that may not always be true!  We are loosing our freedom in this country daily, and one day we may not have it at all:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”-President Reagan

Now let’s consider what God said:  “Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” – Ezekiel 32-9

Sometimes people sin because they want to.  They have made their choice, and if the do not repent, they will face God’s consequences.   And perhaps God’s Wrath. And make no mistake, God’s Wrath is real!  But if we love them as Jesus loved us, than we owe it to each one of them to warn them of the possible consequences of their choices.  But as Matthew says in verse 10:14, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”

There is no where in the Bible that says we should debate the issue with those who do not want to hear it! 

 However, sometimes people sin because they simply do not realize that their action is a sin.  For example, God said, “Do not steal” .  He didn’t say you can steal if you are poor, or if you want something bad enough.  God didn’t say stealing is okay depending on where you live.  He said simply:  “Do not steal”.

But when “warning” others, we need to consider a few things.  One, do we know them well enough to know what motivates them?  Are we speaking to them because we genuinely care about them? Do they know we genuinely care about them? Are we speaking with them -and only them. Do we love them as Jesus loves us?  And have we prayed for them?  And have we prayed for ourselves?  Are we choosing an appropriate time and words filled with love and compassion to convey our concern for them? 

Sin does separate us from God, but Jesus came to bring us back together.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

But God’s Great Love for us does not release us from following God’s Word (The Holy Bible).  Nor does it release us from loving each other as Jesus loves us!  And if we love one one another, we need to be honest with each other.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, it is good for us to take a moment and remember that Jesus came because we NEEDED a Savior.  Not because we wanted one-we NEEDED one.  For no matter how good we think we are; we are all sinners in one way or another. And we are all in need of Christ’s forgiveness.

In Ezekiel 33:11, God says:  “ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! “

On the very next page, in Ezekiel 22:14-20, God says:  ““Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. ¹⁸ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. ¹⁹ And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. ²⁰ Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”

We needed Jesus to Save us and because He loved us, He came.  Because the Father loved us, He sent Him.  And because the Holy Spirit loves us, He fills our Hearts and Helps us now, as we Follow Jesus home to Heaven.

Next week is Christmas and we will celebrate Jesus’ Birth and a new beginning for all of us.  There is really only one word that fits:  THANK YOU! ?

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

“Oh, to realize that souls, precious, never dying souls, are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail!”-Oswald Smith, Evangelical Preacher & Missionary, Born 1890

Smith had a point.  How many times do we really think about all those souls who are not going to Heaven?  Clearly, this Preacher suffered true anguish for those who were “perishing”, do we?  I have to confess that sometimes, I don’t, at least not as much as I should!

People who do not enter Heaven – enter hell.  Forever!  There are no do-overs, no turning back.  That is why Jesus came to Save us-we needed Saving ?

We have this one life to accept Jesus and Follow Him.  When this life is over – it’s over.  We have our entire lives to choose Christ – and that’s it.  And if we fail to do so, we will not enter Heaven.

But how many times, especially these days, do we hesitate to share the Good News of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection?  How many times do we hesitate to share the Gospel, because we are afraid of the other’s reaction?  Or someone else’s?  Is peer pressure enough of a reason to watch someone go to hell without even telling that person how to get to Heaven?

Some in the media and society have worked together to remake our culture into one that God is not welcome, but we welcome Jesus anyway.  For Jesus came to Save us and no matter how hard some in the media and society try, God is alive and well in our hearts. Always. ?

Now, we just need to reach out to others and share Him ?