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Have A Holy & Happy Christmas!

“A New Heaven and a New Earth. I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.” ⁵The one sitting on the throne said, “I am making everything new.”” -Revelation 21:1-5

Tonight we celebrate the birth of Jesus. He gave us such amazing Gifts when He was born. Jesus built us a Bridge to the Father and gave us a way Home. A way to Heaven, the Garden of Eden. Tonight, the Light is born 🙂 A Light that will lead us Home.

And we know that we will once again live in the Garden of Eden A Garden of such astonishing beauty; we will be overwhelmed with how much God loves us. Swaying trees in a gentle breeze, flowers so beautiful that we can only stand amazed while their fragrance takes our breath away! And as the sunlight dances on the water, our eyes are truly able to see God’s Light for the first time :). So beautiful and peaceful that we just want to lay among the flowers and gaze at the water.

There will be mountains to climb and adventures to enjoy. We will see colors that astonish us. Beautiful colors that we have never seen before. And there will be work. Only it will be work that brings us joy! For there will be no fatigue or stress or the pull of needing to do more than one thing. There will be people that we love and that love us! And hugs, hugs that are deeper and last longer. Hugs that will be more…

In the Bible it says, “the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” – Isaiah 11:6. And as the animals join us, we will be filled with joy, and we will laugh, for in Heaven there is no fear!

And we WILL eat :). The trees will be bursting with all kinds of fruit. We will have a seat at God’s Table:

” the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” – Isaiah 25:6

Greatest of all, we will walk with God and we will never be separated from Jesus again!

Thank You Jesus 🙂

Mary & Joseph :)

Mary & Joseph traveled a long, hard, road to give us a “Breath of Heaven”

It’s hard to even imagine the courage and trust in God that Mary and Joseph had. The way they obeyed God without knowing where God’s path would lead. Can we imagine being so young and in love, yet putting it all aside to Follow God, obeying God’s whispered words without hesitation. Would we?

It is such a sweet story, the birth of our Savior, but their travel to the manger where Jesus was born was really, really hard! Can we imagine how difficult it was to travel all that way on a bumpy road at nine months pregnant? Or Joseph’s concern for his wife as She stuggled through those last hours? And yet, through it all they loved, trusted and obeyed God! What an example for us to follow 🙂

Because through it all, Mary and Joseph were there. Loving each other and loving Jesus. He was their Son and He was their Savior!

And when the path became difficult, Mary was there. Standing at the Cross, supporting and comforting Her Son, whom She loved so much. And when Jesus had died and risen, Mary went to Ephesus and gave us a Great Gift, the Stations of the Cross. A way for us to meditate on the major events of Jesus’s Life.

Serving God is not always the easy path to take, but it is always so very worthwhile!

Mary and Joseph’s love for Jesus and their love for us will last forever as well!

Thank You Mary & Joseph for loving Jesus and each other, and loving us so much!

Jesus’s Christmas Gift For Us :)

In the dark and in the stuggles of our earthly life:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105

Led by Faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), Jesus will lead us because Jesus is the Light, and we can Follow Him Home 🙂

Thank you Jesus!

Our Christmas Present to Jesus: Us :)

Jesus is our everything. And this Christmas, as we shop for the perfect gift for those we love; we also search our hearts for what we can give Jesus.

But there is a gift that only we can give that Jesus wants so very much, us. We can give ourselves completely to Jesus. We can Surrender to Jesus completely every single day, every single moment. There’s a prayer that can help us to do that:

“O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything”

Christmas Joy :)

At Christmas we celebrate the arrival of Jesus. Nothing can ever take the Joy Jesus gives us, for He will never leave us. And it doesn’t matter how difficult life gets, for that Joy will always be there for us, because Jesus loves us that much!

Communion unites us with Jesus and the whole world falls away. And there is only Jesus and us. Only Joy. And the wonderful thing about communion is that we can take it every single day!

The type of Joy we receive when we take communion is indescribable. Overwhelming. Jesus’s Gift. And it will always be ours, because Jesus loves us and always will 🙂

Christmas Is An Act Of Forgiveness!

Christmas is the biggest, genuine act of forgiveness that we have ever received. Jesus came to earth to forgive us, to give us a Bridge to the Father and a way Home to Heaven! The biggest Gift we’ve ever received! Jesus loves us that much!

So, of course, we forgive others, always. For there is nothing, no hurt or act, that another human being can do to us that compares to all that we ourselves have been forgiven.

How can we not forgive? As we have been forgiven 🙂

Jesus Makes A Way!

Jesus always makes a way for those who Follow Him. It’s not always an easy path, but it is a path that will always bring us Home 🙂

“He makes the way, even when I see no way…I stake my love, my all on You.”

“Trust the Unseen Hand”-Elohim

Our Lady Of Guadalupe :)

Mary: Christ’s Mother & Our Mother Too 🙂

“When Mary first appeared to Juan Diego, she called herself his Mother, and her reasoning for wanting a church built in that spot was because she wanted all to know that she was their mother, “Know and understand well, you the most humble of my son, that I am the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows. “Am I not here, who is your Mother.”

There is a second time that Mary referred to herself as “our Mother”. When Juan’s Uncle became ill, Juan missed his appointed time to see Mary. He felt very ashamed. And yet, Mary understood and reassured him that his Uncle was better. The only thing that she “chided” him on -was not asking her to help! And in fact, she said to him, “Am I not here, who is your Mother.“

I know that there are many people who attend different churches (Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Evangelical, AME…). Some pray to Mary and some do not. But when we forget or refuse to ask Mary to pray for us, we miss a great opportunity. For She is not just Christ’s mother, She is ours’ too and she loves us.

The days ahead will be difficult ones. We will need all the help we can get in order to keep our faith strong. Persecution is not coming; it is already here.

We shouldn’t hesitate to ask Mary to pray for us! God loves her very much and so does Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And so should we 🙂 Thank You Mary, we are Blessed to have you!

This Christmas, What Will Our Present For Jesus Be?

As we vist shops and internet sites, happily searching for that perfect gift for someone we love, what will be our gift for Jesus. We know what a huge Gift Jesus gave us, what will we give Him?

Remember the Bible verse:

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

So what can we give to Jesus? Our complete surrender and we can help “the least of these” 🙂

When Days Are Difficult!

As we approach Christmas, many are filled with joy. But some are struggling and hurting. They may not be able to afford Christmas presents for those that they love this year. Perhaps they have family relationships that hurt. Perhaps they don’t even know where their next meal will come from.

But Christmas is about Jesus’s arrival and the free Gift that He brings with Him, Salvation.

Sometimes when we are struggling or hurting the only prayer we can manage is “Please help, thank you”. Or sometimes we even wonder if God is really there. And sometimes during those times of doubt, the only prayer we can manage is “Jesus, I don’t know if you are really there, but I want you to be. Please help me, thank you,”. And that is really okay. No matter where we may be in our walk with Christ, we just need to keep talking to Him. Jesus will do the rest 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!