God With Us

Reading from the Book of Matthew 1:21-23

 ^{Matthew 1:21} And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. ²² Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

The Creator came to dwell with His creation.
The all knowing One came to teach teachers and students limited by their lack of knowledge and understanding.
The ever present One came to comfort hurting people stuck in their suffering.
The all powerful One came to serve weak people, empowering them with His Spirit.
The Almighty sent His only son Jesus into the world, fully God and fully man.
Yes, the Word became flesh!

God is with us to face down our fears by faith.
God is with us in our doubts.
God is with us in our hurts, applying His healing balm of grace.
God is with us in our transitions to grow our trust in Him. 
God is with us at work and at home.
God is with us in our uncertainty. 
God is with us when we feel His presence and when we don't feel Him near.
God is with us in our successes and in our failures.
God is with us and for us for His glory!

God is with us in our modern technology and our antiquated activities.
The Lord is with us in our big cities and our small towns.
Jesus is with us when we feel joy, laughter and loss.
Christ is with us to comfort us in our pain and encourage us to persevere for Him.
He is with us in the ups and the downs.
He is with us and He is in us to work through us!
 
^{Matthew 1:23} Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Hope & Blessings

Christmas is a time of hope and blessings, a celebration of life and salvation. The Scriptures teach us that children are a blessing from God. It has also been said that the birth of each new child is a sign that God has not yet given up on this world.

That was never more true than the night two thousand years ago when the Son of Man was born in Bethlehem; born to bring the hope of salvation and the blessing of eternal life. No headline, no sorrow of life should turn our hearts from the love of God and the greatest gift ever given!

When the Christ Child came into the world, his cry pierced the night and split all of human history in half. No one can predict the headlines in the weeks and months ahead, but we can rest assured that one day every head will bow and every knee will bend before the King of Kings. The final victory has been won. All that is required of us is that we choose life.

While the focus of Christmas is, of course, Christ's birth in Bethlehem, each year I am reminded of Christmas' unique role in the birth of America. It was on Christmas night in 1776 that General George Washington crossed the Delaware River in a daring surprise attack on the Hessian mercenaries. Washington's victory at the Battle of Trenton was a turning point in the American Revolution. Surely God was there, and I believe that the God of Abraham is with us still!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! And may you enjoy much hope and all of God's richest blessings in the year ahead.

Things That Are Above

Reading from the Book of Colossians 3:1

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

If you want to live the resurrection life that Jesus provides, then seek that new, powerful life by setting your mind and keeping it set on things above, not on things on the earth. If you and I want the good life, then we must keep our minds on good things.

Many believers want the good life, but they passively sit around wishing for something good to happen. Often, they are jealous of others who live in victory and our resentful that their own lives are so difficult.

If you desire victory over your problems, if you truly want to live the resurrection life, you must have backbone and not just wishbone! You must be determined to have victory and refuse to settle for anything less than the best that God has for you.

You must be active, not passive. Right action begins with right thinking. Do not be passive in your mind. Set your mind on the things that are above.

Be Faithful Witnesses

Reading from the Book of Revelation 22:12-17, 20-21

¹² “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you^[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

 

The meaning of the lyrics in this song becomes more and more true and evident as the years go by.  There was a time when I thought that millions in our country would NEVER walk so far away from God and succumb to socialism, communism, radical Islamism, and extreme moral depravity like they have over the past four years under BHO.

 
The song "Leaving Eden" by Brandon Heath contains deep meaning within the lyrics that take a big bite out of the lies that this secular world of "anything goes" tries to place upon We The People here in America.  It exposes how "each step away" from the roots of our existence back in  Eden takes our nation to a point where many have forgotten God and His Word.  Such lack of wisdom of the knowledge of God and His Word as each decade passes continues to bring us towards an even worse state of being than the last.

 

 "Celeste" over at the You Tube site says it well: "These are dark times. But we have the light of Jesus; the only constant and perfect One in a world that's slowly falling apart. We have hope in God, the Alpha, Omega, Beginning, End, Healer, Provider, Savior, Father, Friend, Protector, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Light of the world. God is and always will be whatever we need most in our lives. When we hurt, He heals us, when we are tired, He carries us in His arms. We have left Eden, and we're stumbling through darkness, but we're going home." celeste84968496 

 

The song, which reveals an example of a "teacher hiding her Bible...but at least she has a job," indicates how far the liberal educational elites have taken us from our Christian heritage and founding.  It also indicates how socialism/communism/liberalism always takes more and more freedoms away from WE THE PEOPLE.  Years ago, "hiding one's Bible" seemed unthinkable in order to keep a job.  But now, Christians can be persecuted under falsely applied claims of "separation of church and state" - which, by the way, isn't in the U.S. Constitution.

 

 Our Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights tells what GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT DO - not what WE THE PEOPLE CAN'T DO!  But those who would like to take away the rights of Christians are actively using a secular language of "lawyer-ing" to sway others against Christian beliefs, displays, Bible reading, teaching; with the goal to shun the Christian believer's free speech rights of sharing the Gospel openly with others.  The threats of being sued - for any reason these days - makes pastors and preachers watch what they say in order "not to offend." 

 

Jesus offended many people in his three year ministry on earth.  He didn't mince or parse words.  He told it like it is.  And those who hated him tried to kill him - many times - over his call for repentance because "the kingdom of God is near." 

 

What Jesus told us is truth!  He stated, "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  For I have overcome the world." 

 

We may be on a journey that is taking us further and further away from Eden. And it is painfully true that we can't go back.  But God has "many mansions" in heaven prepared for those who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.  There will be 1,000 years in the Millennial Kingdom on earth where Jesus will rule.  It will be like living in a new Eden.  The final chapter in the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of how it will be in eternity with God.

 

What should Christians be doing until Christ comes back for His own?

Be faithful witnesses.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Blindness of The Heart

Reading from the Book of Ephesians 3:17-20

¹⁷ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: ¹⁹ Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ;

Unbelievers can be so callous and hard that they are "past feeling." But this same verse says that they live by their feelings in unbridled sensuality and carnality. What appears to be a paradox here, the Lord showed me that some people are past doing what they should be doing with their feelings.

God gives people feelings for a specific purpose and use in their walk with Him. But people who have alienated themselves from God are hardened to the place where they are beyond using their feelings for the right purpose. Satan moves them into an area where they live riotous lives, doing whatever they feel like doing.

You and I are not to live that way, but to make the truth of God's Word our standard and to obey it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Into His Light

^{Ecclesiastes 7:9} Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Not being "hasty in thy spirit to be angry" speaks to me of self-control. We cannot ever develop into victorious, overcoming believers if we do not learn to exercise self-control by managing our emotions, especially the emotion of anger.

Other Bible verses that address the subject of anger...

^{Proverbs 14:17} He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

^{Proverbs 16:32} He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

^{Proverbs 19:11} The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

^{James 1:19} Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: ²⁰ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Man's anger does not promote righteousness. Part of righteousness, or the right way of being what God wants us to be, is fulfilling our potential. And we cannot do that unless we restrain our anger.

We all want more than we have in various areas of our lives, but we do not always want to operate within the boundaries of self-control. If we really want to grow spiritually, we must keep our passions under control. That does not mean we have to be perfect or that we can never make mistakes. Although the Holy Spirit will give us power to control our emotions, we may still lose our tempers at times. But as soon as we do, we should immediately confess and repent.

A disciplined, self-controlled life not only requires time and determination, and hard work; it also requires self-denial, but the rewards are worth the effort. By controlling your anger, God will lead you from the darkness into His Light.

Believe & Recieve

Reading from the Book of Colossians 1:26-28

²⁶ Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: ²⁷ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ²⁸ Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

You and I can only realize and experience the Glory of God in our lives because Christ is in us. He is our hope of seeing better things. The glory of God is His manifested excellence. As the children of God, we have a blood-bought right to experience the best God has planned for us. Satan furiously fights the plan of God in each of our lives, and his primary weapon is deception. When we are deceived, we believe something that is not true. Even though it is not true, it seems true to us because that is what we believe.

Much of the time we feel defeated as we look at ourselves and our lack of ability. What we need to do is remember that Christ in us is our hope. He keeps us encouraged enough to press on toward better things. We limit ourselves when we look to ourselves alone and fail to see Jesus.

The Lord has destined His church for glory. Glory is manifested excellence and goodness. He is coming back for a glorious church. We can be excellent people with excellent attitudes, excellent thoughts, and excellent words.

He is looking for those that will believe and receive.