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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 ?

There is much disagreement on political issues among Christians today.  And that disagreement can, at times,  be very painful.  But there really should be no disagreement on right and wrong, because God clearly tells us what He considers right and wrong in the Bible. Right and wrong is not up to another person, but up to God Himself.  And consider this,  Jesus did not tell us to love only those we agree with, He told us to love everyone. And as the song goes, “Love Changes Everything” 🙂

One way to deal with situations like these is to ask God to help us love more like Jesus.  Remember, He loved us first!  And because he loved us so, we followed Him.  After all, isn’t that what attracted us to Christ in the first place?

So if we find ourselves in disagreement with a Sister or Brother in Christ, here are some steps we can take:

 Remember that Jesus commanded us to love on another and be sure that is where our motivation is coming from. We need to check our motivation to ensure that our discussions are really coming from a place of love and not our own desire to be right. But if our conversations are truly coming from a place of love, then God requires us to share the Truth!

And we can also remember it is a long path that we are on. I wasn’t at the same place when I was 20 as I am at 60 and I made my share of mistakes along the way. And I won’t be at the same place when I am 80 because God takes us to different places along the way. Judging someone else’s path to God is not helpful to us or them. Leave the Judgement to God, for He knows the heart of a person, we do not. We can sometimes plant the seed, but its growth is up to God 🙂

So if we find ourselves in disagreement with a Sister or Brother in Christ, here are some more steps we can take:

• Ask the person that we are in disagreement with to ask the Holy Spirit to show them the Truth.  We need to do this too!  We must always accept that we might be the person who is wrong!

• Try to find the answer in God’s Word, The Holy Bible, but make sure it is an unaltered Bible. And we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us read it.

• Always remember that the “ends do not justify the means”.  Sin is sin. Two wrongs do not make a right… “Nor will it justify any man’s robbery to say, it was for burnt-offerings”-Isaiah 61:8

• Pray for yourself and for the other person.  We can ask God to help us to love more like Jesus.  Jesus did not entangle Himself in endless debates.  He knew the Truth and He shared it.  He left the choice to each person to accept it or not.  It is the same for us, we can share the Truth, but whether another accepts it or not is up to them.

• We can focus on God ?.  “When, by the grace of God, we attain to holy indifference as to the affairs of this world; when, though our hands are employed about them, our hearts are not entangled with them, but preserved entire for God and his service,”-Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary on Isaiah.

“Love each other as I have loved you.” – John 15:12

We don’t get to just disobey that command, even if it is a little more difficult sometimes. He also didn’t say, love your fellow believers. Jesus wanted us to love everyone, even those who do not believe 🙂

Doubting Thomas

We all remember the story of, “doubting Thomas”.  The one where Thomas wanted to see proof that there were nail marks in Jesus’ hands so Thomas could know for sure that it was Jesus. 

Thomas said, “Except I shall see on his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe”

After Jesus invited Him to touch his wounds, Jesus said:

“Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:29

What is really special in these verses is not only Jesus’ love for Thomas, but Christ’s compassion and understanding for Thomas’ doubts.  He knew that Thomas struggled and He helped Thomas through that struggle!

Perhaps in this most well known story, we see Thomas’ moment of doubt, but we also see his moment of hope.  And it is a story we remember well, because Jesus said those who did not see Him (Jesus), but believed – would be Blessed (that is us ? )

But there is also a lessor known passage: “Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, to his fellow-disciples.  Let us also go, that we may die with him” – John 11:16

Thomas loved Jesus and he was willing to die with him.  Jesus picked him to be one of his Apostles knowing full well he would struggle, but He picked Him anyway.  Perhaps with good reason ?

We don’t have to be afraid of our struggles with doubt.  We all have them.  Jesus knows and understands that!  All we need to do is keep turning to Jesus with our doubts and all of our struggles. We can Trust Jesus, He can handle all of our doubts, fears and struggles, with Great Love and Compassion.

Remember, we only need faith the “size of a mustard seed”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”- Hebrews 11:1

There is no doubt that the past few years have been difficult ones.  More are coming.

Many parents worry about the future for they know that the future will be even more difficult than today.  For we know that we will one day look back at these days as the “easy” days.  Frightening thought-if you are not a Believer in Christ.

But as Believers, we need not fear.  God’s ability to provide for us has not changed   Just as God provided for Moses, He can provide for us.

“He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.  They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.  He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.” – 105:39-41

“He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.” – Psalm 106:10

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” – Isaiah 59:1

Jesus Heals The Sick and Feeds 5,000: Matthew 14:13-21

Our Father sent His only Son to Save us because He loves us; He will not let us down now!

“Praise the Lord.  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” -Psalm 106:1