Today is a day of great celebration--for children, retailers, consumers and ,of course, Christians. All the fun and festivities shared with family and friends, as well as the food, will bring lots of joy for many of us. But for those who are hurting, because of a great variety of unfortunate things--sicknesses, sins, losses, etc., I send to you the news of a Saviour who came to the world for these very reasons. He can change your life around, if you will let Him. Start your new year right with the newborn Christ in your heart.
While most of us use this date as the date of the eve before Christ's birth, it really is immaterial whether this IS the actual date, historically. What is important is that we not only celebrate His birth, but receive Him and become children of God. See John 1.
I join with you in spirit to thank our God for sending His Son to us. With you, I look forward to sharing His birth and His salvation all next year as God gives us time in this world.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
RECEIVING GIFTS
Paul, in Acts 20:35, quoted Jesus as saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (NIV) But, in most cases, one is never asked, "What do you plan to give for Christmas?" It's almost always, "What are you getting for Christmas?" It seems that most of us are not looking for "blessings" but rather, more stuff.
On Christmas morning, the scene is often of sleepy-eyed children (and adults) tearing wrapping paper off our gifts. There is almost no consideration for how long or with how much care someone took to wrap a gift. "Tear that paper off so I can see what I got." "It better be what I wanted." "Can I exchange it?"
Isn't it just like Jesus to get to the heart of a matter? Giving from love, caring, compassion and sharing will bring about more blessings than receiving ever will. Those "blessings" don't mean more stuff or things, but, rather, more of God's richness, more of His "well done, good and faithful servant."
Sometimes though, as Christians, we are going to have to deal with receiving gifts. Sometimes there are gifts that we can't buy, earn or deserve. Sometimes there are gifts that our friends, neighbors or parents can't afford. So, how do we deal with gifts like that?
In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that grace, by which we are saved through faith, is the gift of God--not by our works or anything that we could do and thereby boast. Grace is the gift; faith is the receiving of it. We can't be saved without receiving (by faith) the gift of God (His grace).
Acts 2:38 tells of another gift from God. Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost that we should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Another of the benefits of having our sins forgiven is that "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." (Acts 1:8 NIV) Romans 6:23 (NIV) tells us "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." If you will, note that wages are earned, but the gift of God is by grace (unearned).
I urge you to read John 1:1-18. Jesus is the Father's gift to the world. But, the world must receive the gift. Verse 12 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God." (NIV) Isn't it wonderful that if we receive God's gift, He just keeps on giving?
Father, thank You for the gift of Your only Son and for teaching me how to receive Him. May I forever learn to keep my heart open for the gifts that You keep on giving. May I have the good judgment to keep on receiving from You.
The more I receive of God's gifts, the more He gives. What a marvelous God and what a wonderful philosophy of giving as His is!
On Christmas morning, the scene is often of sleepy-eyed children (and adults) tearing wrapping paper off our gifts. There is almost no consideration for how long or with how much care someone took to wrap a gift. "Tear that paper off so I can see what I got." "It better be what I wanted." "Can I exchange it?"
Isn't it just like Jesus to get to the heart of a matter? Giving from love, caring, compassion and sharing will bring about more blessings than receiving ever will. Those "blessings" don't mean more stuff or things, but, rather, more of God's richness, more of His "well done, good and faithful servant."
Sometimes though, as Christians, we are going to have to deal with receiving gifts. Sometimes there are gifts that we can't buy, earn or deserve. Sometimes there are gifts that our friends, neighbors or parents can't afford. So, how do we deal with gifts like that?
In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that grace, by which we are saved through faith, is the gift of God--not by our works or anything that we could do and thereby boast. Grace is the gift; faith is the receiving of it. We can't be saved without receiving (by faith) the gift of God (His grace).
Acts 2:38 tells of another gift from God. Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost that we should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Another of the benefits of having our sins forgiven is that "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." (Acts 1:8 NIV) Romans 6:23 (NIV) tells us "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." If you will, note that wages are earned, but the gift of God is by grace (unearned).
I urge you to read John 1:1-18. Jesus is the Father's gift to the world. But, the world must receive the gift. Verse 12 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God." (NIV) Isn't it wonderful that if we receive God's gift, He just keeps on giving?
Father, thank You for the gift of Your only Son and for teaching me how to receive Him. May I forever learn to keep my heart open for the gifts that You keep on giving. May I have the good judgment to keep on receiving from You.
The more I receive of God's gifts, the more He gives. What a marvelous God and what a wonderful philosophy of giving as His is!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
What Christmas Giving Is All About
In my last sharing with you I talked about giving thanks in everything as being the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. Now we are slipping into another "giving" season. From giving thanks to giving gifts. Most of this idea came from the wise men bringing gifts to the newborn baby Jesus--the Saviour of the world (Matt. 1:21).
The first 12 verses of Matthew, chapter 2, relates to us the visit of the wise men from the east. They presented gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. However, they did not give gifts expecting gifts in return from the "king of the Jews." They came to (v. 2) worship Him. Then, in v. 11, they saw the child and "bowed down and worshiped him". (NIV) Worship was their purpose, giving of their gifts was a reaction. After they had worshiped Him, "they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts..."(v. 11-NIV).
It is not my intentions here to chide each of us for our traditions during the Christmas season. God knows only too well how many judgmental attitudes there are among "Christians", especially during this time of year. But, it may serve us all well, if we examine our reasoning, and timing, of giving.
We (as children) write our letters to Santa. We ask each other, "What do you want Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas?" Our "treasures" are opened, and our credit cards are maxed out. All this for the purpose of satisfying our so called "Christmas spirit". When all the time, our giving should be a reaction stemming from our worshiping.
For years parents have set ideals for giving to their children for Christmas. Two of the most prominent of those ideals are the following. One, give gifts equal to, or better than, their friends get. Two, make sure the children have more than the parents themselves had.
Other ideals include the likes of "one-upping" the neighbor with decorations. Another is keeping up with the Joneses" on the size of our TV or the latest electronic games or mobile phones. Not many of us would admit to such silliness, but we do it just the same.
Forgive me if I am appearing to you as being negative and judgmental. I love Christmas and what it stands for. I have probably bought into a more selfish idea of Christmas than I would like to admit to. But, as I get older, study His Word more, begin to understand the shortness of life, realize the value of worshiping Him and serving others, Christmas giving takes on a totally new meaning.
Father, help me to come to You for the purpose of worshiping and praising You. Then, may I open my treasures (where my heart is, Matt. 6:21) and give gifts that may bring glory to You and help wherever they are needed most. Because of Your Gift (Jesus) to us, may we be cheerful givers in return.
The first 12 verses of Matthew, chapter 2, relates to us the visit of the wise men from the east. They presented gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. However, they did not give gifts expecting gifts in return from the "king of the Jews." They came to (v. 2) worship Him. Then, in v. 11, they saw the child and "bowed down and worshiped him". (NIV) Worship was their purpose, giving of their gifts was a reaction. After they had worshiped Him, "they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts..."(v. 11-NIV).
It is not my intentions here to chide each of us for our traditions during the Christmas season. God knows only too well how many judgmental attitudes there are among "Christians", especially during this time of year. But, it may serve us all well, if we examine our reasoning, and timing, of giving.
We (as children) write our letters to Santa. We ask each other, "What do you want Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas?" Our "treasures" are opened, and our credit cards are maxed out. All this for the purpose of satisfying our so called "Christmas spirit". When all the time, our giving should be a reaction stemming from our worshiping.
For years parents have set ideals for giving to their children for Christmas. Two of the most prominent of those ideals are the following. One, give gifts equal to, or better than, their friends get. Two, make sure the children have more than the parents themselves had.
Other ideals include the likes of "one-upping" the neighbor with decorations. Another is keeping up with the Joneses" on the size of our TV or the latest electronic games or mobile phones. Not many of us would admit to such silliness, but we do it just the same.
Forgive me if I am appearing to you as being negative and judgmental. I love Christmas and what it stands for. I have probably bought into a more selfish idea of Christmas than I would like to admit to. But, as I get older, study His Word more, begin to understand the shortness of life, realize the value of worshiping Him and serving others, Christmas giving takes on a totally new meaning.
Father, help me to come to You for the purpose of worshiping and praising You. Then, may I open my treasures (where my heart is, Matt. 6:21) and give gifts that may bring glory to You and help wherever they are needed most. Because of Your Gift (Jesus) to us, may we be cheerful givers in return.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
IN EVERYTHING? YEP, EVERYTHING.
Circumstances this year kept me from being free to enjoy the company of family and friends sitting around a table blessed with the bounty from God's goodness. Sometimes I forget to be as thankful as I should be, because, obviously, these blessings didn't come from me,. Sometimes, many of us (including me), overindulge to a point of gluttony. At that point, our prayers should not be so much, "Thanks for the bounty", but, rather, "Forgive me, Lord, for my sinfulness."
While the Thanksgiving holiday is a favorite for most of us, maybe we would be closer to God's will if we made Thanksgiving a lifestyle instead. Paul tells us, in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (KJV) Giving thanks, according to Paul, is not just a nice thing to do (like a thank you note), its the will of God. But, in everything?
What about when I lose my job? What about in unexpected sickness? How can one be thankful when the car breaks down? The list of potential problems goes on and on. So, surely, Paul didn't mean "in everything." Yeah, he did. When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this passage of scripture, a part of His inspiration was that is was God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you to give thanks in everything.
Andrae Crouch penned it beautifully.
"I thank Him for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys.
I thank Him for the storms
He brought me through.
For if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them.
I wouldn't know what faith in God could do."
I urge you to read Romans 8:28-39. It shows how God works for our good in all things. It ends by letting us know that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In everything give thanks? Yep, everything.
While the Thanksgiving holiday is a favorite for most of us, maybe we would be closer to God's will if we made Thanksgiving a lifestyle instead. Paul tells us, in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (KJV) Giving thanks, according to Paul, is not just a nice thing to do (like a thank you note), its the will of God. But, in everything?
What about when I lose my job? What about in unexpected sickness? How can one be thankful when the car breaks down? The list of potential problems goes on and on. So, surely, Paul didn't mean "in everything." Yeah, he did. When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this passage of scripture, a part of His inspiration was that is was God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you to give thanks in everything.
Andrae Crouch penned it beautifully.
"I thank Him for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys.
I thank Him for the storms
He brought me through.
For if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them.
I wouldn't know what faith in God could do."
I urge you to read Romans 8:28-39. It shows how God works for our good in all things. It ends by letting us know that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In everything give thanks? Yep, everything.
Friday, December 3, 2010
ENCOUNTERING THE ACCUSER
Early, on the morning of the 8th of November, my ever faithful wife and I walked into the hospital to begin the final procedures before my surgery. Those "final procedures" were, of course, another round of paperwork and the prep work to ready my body for its most invasive and stressful time ever. Sometime during this prep work, Sue, my wife, and I were separated. She now had to wait for the outcome and I was anesthetized for the surgery.
From that point I knew nothing of what was being done to me or around me. As I discovered a couple of days later, after my initial operation and closure, a bleeding vessel outside my heart in my upper chest was persistent and would not stop bleeding on its own. The surgeon asked permission from Sue to "go back in" to repair this vessel. Of course, this meant reopening my chest and re-stretching my rib cage along with more anesthesia.
During this time frame of "going under" until the time I came completely out from under the influence of the anesthesia was when I had an encounter with the "Accuser" himself. "Accuser" is one of the several descriptive nicknames the Bible gives to the devil. And, the scripture teaches us that "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8b-NIV) (I suggest reading all of I Peter 5:8-10.) He uses every opportunity he finds to accuse, to deceive and to defeat.
In my case it was a drug induced, or initiated, dream, several, in fact. The most specific one was of a long line and display of nurses, male and female. Some of them were nurses whom I remember as they cared for me. Others I never recall seeing before. But, each of them seemed to have an attitude as they paraded in front of my room, pausing to look in briefly. Each would shake his or her head woefully with the implication left, "You're going to die and you didn't make it to heaven." At the ending of the dream sequence, one final nurse would be standing at my doorway. This nurse would not look directly toward me, but, rather, would look slightly aside with an accusing manner.
Now, I know, without a doubt, that I do not, nor can not, deserve eternal life. Because of my sin, I do, in fact, deserve eternal death. However, read Romans 5:8-11. So, to all the doctors and nurses working on me, to all those nurses in my dreams, to the world around me and, most of all, to the old "Accuser" himself, I would say seemingly aloud, "The blood of Jesus covers all my sin." The Bible tells me so (Rom. 5:1-2). The Spirit witnesses with my spirit that it is so (Rom. 8:16). I claim the blood of Jesus to cover my sin since He died for me.
The "Accuser" comes to us all. He even came to Jesus and accusingly said, "IF you are the Son of God..."(Matt. 4). The devil will use your weakest moments, physical, spiritual or emotional. He will attack you whenever and where ever he can to "devour" you. Keep your sins confessed and under the blood of Jesus.
This will be my last blog about my operation. However, it is only the beginning of my blogs about how Jesus has changed my heart.
From that point I knew nothing of what was being done to me or around me. As I discovered a couple of days later, after my initial operation and closure, a bleeding vessel outside my heart in my upper chest was persistent and would not stop bleeding on its own. The surgeon asked permission from Sue to "go back in" to repair this vessel. Of course, this meant reopening my chest and re-stretching my rib cage along with more anesthesia.
During this time frame of "going under" until the time I came completely out from under the influence of the anesthesia was when I had an encounter with the "Accuser" himself. "Accuser" is one of the several descriptive nicknames the Bible gives to the devil. And, the scripture teaches us that "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8b-NIV) (I suggest reading all of I Peter 5:8-10.) He uses every opportunity he finds to accuse, to deceive and to defeat.
In my case it was a drug induced, or initiated, dream, several, in fact. The most specific one was of a long line and display of nurses, male and female. Some of them were nurses whom I remember as they cared for me. Others I never recall seeing before. But, each of them seemed to have an attitude as they paraded in front of my room, pausing to look in briefly. Each would shake his or her head woefully with the implication left, "You're going to die and you didn't make it to heaven." At the ending of the dream sequence, one final nurse would be standing at my doorway. This nurse would not look directly toward me, but, rather, would look slightly aside with an accusing manner.
Now, I know, without a doubt, that I do not, nor can not, deserve eternal life. Because of my sin, I do, in fact, deserve eternal death. However, read Romans 5:8-11. So, to all the doctors and nurses working on me, to all those nurses in my dreams, to the world around me and, most of all, to the old "Accuser" himself, I would say seemingly aloud, "The blood of Jesus covers all my sin." The Bible tells me so (Rom. 5:1-2). The Spirit witnesses with my spirit that it is so (Rom. 8:16). I claim the blood of Jesus to cover my sin since He died for me.
The "Accuser" comes to us all. He even came to Jesus and accusingly said, "IF you are the Son of God..."(Matt. 4). The devil will use your weakest moments, physical, spiritual or emotional. He will attack you whenever and where ever he can to "devour" you. Keep your sins confessed and under the blood of Jesus.
This will be my last blog about my operation. However, it is only the beginning of my blogs about how Jesus has changed my heart.
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