Life is .....

Life is...? What? Hard? Easy? Difficult? Mostly, life is all of these. Occasionally, all of them at the same time! The wind blows, the trees sway. The river and streams run and tumble and play, But the rocks are still, yet the are shaped By wind and water too. Life is like that as well. The things that we experience shape our lives and how we perceive life. Can we do anything about the life that we live? Sometimes, but most of the time we just have to live it. Give that some thought, then I will get back to you.

Christmas means….

 

Scripture: Luke 2: 8-20

In our culture today what does this time of year mean? To some it means that their business may end the year with a little money in the bank. To others it means that they hope they will get what they want for Christmas from Santa. What about in countries which are less fortunate than we are?

What about the children in Korea with their eyes so big and bright, what does this time of year mean to them? In North Korea, they may be looking for food and hoping they will have a meal tonight. In South Korea, where there are some churches and a fairly robust economy, they may be celebrating Jesus’ birth just like we do.

I wonder also about those who live in Africa. In places like Zimbabwe where the annual income may be fifty dollars, where people live in huts and never see shopping malls or a Christmas tree, what do they think of this time of year that is celebrated in most countries?

How about the Muslim countries, where Christmas is not celebrated at all?

I am sure it means different things to different people depending on their culture and their beliefs.

Do we forget about Jesus at this time of year? I have heard of people who set an extra place at the table for Him because it is His birthday that we celebrate. It isn’t our birthday but it is the Lord’s birthday and this is a time to remember Him and why He came.

(READ Luke 2:8-14)

The announcement that went out to the earth about God’s Son being born went to the shepherds, not the temple, not the high priest. Why do you think God went to the outcasts of society to announce the birth of His Son? I think it is because they would receive the news with humble hearts and with willing spirits. They were chosen by God and told the news by a multitude of angels, they had to feel honored even if society said they didn’t deserve honor.

Shepherds were considered unclean and not allowed to participate in any worship service, even though they took care of the animals which were used as sacrifices.

What about today? How do we receive the news of Jesus and His sacrifice for us? Do we humbly bow and thank Him and ask Him to come into our lives and be near to us every day? I am sure that is what He wants of us but not just on holidays or at certain times of the year, or when things are going bad. Jesus wants us to be near to Him as He is with us every day and in all things, great and small in our lives.

Doesn’t He deserve our respect and praise? For all the things that God has done for us through Jesus and through His work on the cross the least that we owe Him is our life in service to Him. Is there any higher calling than to be called a “child of God”? I don’t think so and I don’t believe any of you think that either.

So, what are we to do when we realize who we are in relation to Him? Do we become missionaries? Yes, in a manner of speaking we are supposed to be just that, because Jesus told us to be the light of the world and to take the gospel to all people. We can do that every day while we are working, or at a restaurant or a ball game. We do it by our life and our witness to others and when His Spirit is working through you they will see it and recognize it.

Getting back to the shepherds and what they saw and did; they saw the glory of the Lord shining from those angels who were proclaiming that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem. In the darkness of the Judean hills the light must have been breathtaking, like spot-lights shining all around them. Today with the technology that we have lights in the sky wouldn’t be a big deal, but these were angels and they were SINGING and there were no lights at that time except for a fire or a candle so the glory coming from them would’ve been much brighter than they were used to.

Can you imagine how those shepherds felt? “What is this from God? Why is He telling us this?” They might have been thinking those things but they listened to the message and obeyed. They went to Bethlehem and found the Christ child and worshiped Him.

This is all that we are called to do in our lives but we are to do more than just worship. We are called to be ministers and teachers about our faith and why we have the faith that we have. We are to be the voice of Jesus and his hands and feet in a world that is rejecting Him now and in the future, until we are taken to be with Him.

God is in control, even when it seems that He isn't

Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, the list could go on and on. These are the signs of the end of the age and it is because of this end that these things are happening. God knew that they were going to happen and how many people would be affected by them long before they happened. He is not the cause of them but many people are asking "Where is God? Why didn't He stop this from happening?" Because it is part of the birth-pains of creation that is why.

Our Creator and His Son, Jesus, knew these things would happen before the end of the age. That is why Jesus told His disciples that they would happen before the falling away and before the end of the age. He did not specify where or what would happen only that it would be a sign to watch for.

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24: 4-13)

In many ways verse 13 confuses people when it refers to the "one who stands firm to the end will be saved", this verse is not a reference to those of us living in Christ now because we are supposed to be taken to heaven before the terrible part of the tribulation begins. This verse refers to those who come to Christ during the tribulation and hold onto their faith without giving in to the Antichrist's demands that they worship him. Even though they may be killed because of this, their souls will be saved.

The time to come to Jesus and give your life and heart to Him is NOW! We are not guaranteed any time past each breath that we take and each breath is given by God. So, when you draw your last breath only God knows when that will be and hopefully you will be ready to meet Him at that time. No one can save your soul and grant you entrance into Heaven except Jesus and belief in Him, other than that you are wasting your time!

God loves you all and wants you all to be His, but that will not happen by wishing or hoping that you have been good enough. None of us can be good enough to merit a place in heaven on our own, even Abraham had faith in God and that is what was credited to him as righteousness. Your only hope of eternity is through Jesus, that is it! The pope can't get you there, praying to Allah can't get you there, Buddha can't get you there, Scientology can't get you there. None of these man-made religions can get you into eternity and Heaven! Only belief in and following Jesus can do that!

Give Jesus a chance in your life and leave everything in His hands from this point on. Once you do that, your Hope in Him will sustain and keep you until you meet Him and when you do, you will have an eternity to get to know Him and the Father and everyone else in Heaven.

Does our life really matter in the grand scheme of things?

The answer to that question is: “It depends on who you are serving, yourself or God.”

Do you ever feel that life and the living of it is just too hard or stressful? I do. There are days when I wish that a truck would just lose control and end my life right there regardless of whether I am going to work or coming home. But, most days I have my son in the car with me so I don’t pray for anything like that to happen. You do have to be careful about what you ask for, you know. Depression is an awful and deceitful emotion. It creeps up on you gradually, just a little at a time and then one day it hits you like a truck with no brakes!

Depression really does hurt. Especially when our daily grind is unrewarding or when you feel that life and this world are not treating you fairly. If you are not a Christian, days like this can cause all sorts of things to happen and most of them are not good. Being a Christian doesn’t exempt you from days like this.

In fact, it seems to multiply them occasionally. If you haven’t matured enough or if you have other things in your life that you haven’t confessed lately, that is when God gets out His polishing tools and puts you through some trials in order to make you into the Christian that He needs you to be.

He knows the outcome but that doesn’t stop Him from doing what needs to be done to bring out your best, even if it hurts. The pain that comes during these times is not unbearable because He said that He would not allow us to go through a trial that He can’t provide a way out of.

If you are serving yourself, the grand scheme really doesn’t matter unless it is a personal accomplishment of some kind. Because your personal “grand scheme” likely will not affect the whole world, just your piece of it, then what will become of your accomplishments and your family when your life is over?

If you are serving God, then the grand scheme should be His and you should be asking for His guidance to do whatever it is that is necessary to fulfill your part of it. He will provide you with exactly what you need, when you need it according to His plans for you. He doesn’t always give you what you ask for when you ask for it because He knows that we sometimes ask for things that we aren’t ready for or that we really don’t need.

Come to the throne of grace and ask Him into your life. Your life and your daily walk with Him will never be the same. It will be BETTER!!

Heaven IS better than hell!

I saw something tonight which upset my whole world, I saw a post on someone’s site which said exactly the opposite of my title. How could someone, even an atheist, believe that hell could possibly be better than Heaven?

The absence of God and light, other than from the fires of hell. The absence of anything of beauty or of anything which is living other than the creatures which inhabit hell. The people and the demons (fallen angels that followed Satan) which are there have no souls, and yet they will never die, even if they wish to. There are no parties, no laughter, no joy, no peace, no water, nothing good other than what you may wish you had done in your life on earth.

This is what is waiting for those who reject God and His grace through Christ. God does not wish that any should experience this place. It was created for Satan and his followers, not for humans. And yet, if you choose to reject God and the truth told in the Bible, you are at enmity with Him just like those who followed Satan and rebelled against God.

God loves us all and doesn’t want anyone to go to this place. Give Christ your life and your heart. Ask Him to show you how to be a follower of His and what you need to do to serve Him in this life so that you will have a real life after this one. Jesus loves us all and wants us all to be there with Him. Please give Him a chance in your life today, right now!  You don’t know if you have tomorrow or next week. Don’t wait because waiting may be too late.

Jesus came to save the lost of the world, us, from the punishment which was designed for those who followed Satan. Hell was not designed for us, mankind was never meant to go there in the beginning. We condemn ourselves to this place if we reject the gift of grace through Jesus and refuse to accept Him as our savior. It is not too late so don’t wait, you may not have another chance.

Take care lest ye fall ….

Our world today tends toward glorifying wealth and the accumulation of things. What good can this possibly bring to anyone? The possession of possessions, expensive or not, is a disease that our culture has. Not just in America, but being consumers means that we consume anything and everything that we can get our hands on. What kind of society is that? Would any sane person want to be a part of a world in which being a consumer was all that you strive for?

Is there a cure or even a way out of this for our world? Or even for our culture and our country? Does anyone care that our economy is failing? Not just the economy of America but eventually the economies of other nations as well, like what happened eighty years ago during the Great Depression. When the economy of America crumbled, the financial systems of the entire world crumbled too. That could happen again, then what are we going to do?

The only real cure for out world, not just America, is to turn to the One who has the answers for all of these questions. The Word of God has the answers that the world seeks, but the world doesn’t receive it and won’t until their hearts come to the knowledge of Christ. I am not speaking of a particular race or country, but to the whole of humanity.

Christ died for all of our sins, regardless of what those sins are or were. Sin, to God, is sin and it doesn’t matter if it is telling someone you will do something and then not doing it or if you killed thousands of people in the name of Allah. A lie or murder or a sexual sin of any kind before, during or after marriage is still sinful and they all carry the same penalty, eternal separation from Heaven and God.

Eternal separation means hell, even though it was made for the devil and his followers, that is where those who don’t accept Jesus and his grace will go when they die. There will be no “eternal party”, it will be torturous for all time to come and it hinges on one decision, whether you believe Jesus died for your sins and paid the price for them or not.  That’s it! The entire gospel can be summed up in that sentence.

One world currency and a “united earth” cannot fix our problems, because the differences are still there. Culturally, spiritually, collectively, our differences will always separate us from each other and from God. Until we decide to trust Him and His redemptive work, which Jesus did for us, and accept it into our hearts, we will be separated from God here and in eternity.

When we are separated from God in this life, who has control of your life’s outcome? You may believe that you do, but you don’t. Satan does. He is the temporary ruler of the world. He knows that his time is limited and that when the end of the age comes, and Christ steps on the earth again, his rule is over. No time-outs, no do-overs. Christ finished His redemptive work on the cross, He said so when He said, “It is finished”. The only thing that is keeping the end of the age from coming is the last person who will accept Him has not done so yet. When that happens, the age of the church will be over. Don’t wait until then.

PTSD in daily living

Post traumatic stress disorder sounds intimidating but it happens all around us, not just to soldiers. Children experience it from bullying at school or from constant tension at home. Men and women experience it at work as doctors, nurses, fire department personnel, police personnel and in tense arguments at home. Soldiers experience it anytime that they are in a dangerous and life threatening situation.

We are all in life threatening situations when we get on the highway but it seems so normal until we don’t see it that way until something happens around us or to us and our family.  Some days, just living can be a stress producing ordeal which can traumatize our minds. These are the times that we should be reaching out to God to be our constant companion in every situation. Our comforter and guide is always waiting for us to call on Him and He will be there.

Jesus said that we would receive a comforter when He went back to the Father and as Christians we have that but some of us don’t count on Him daily like we should. God loves us all, no matter where we are and until we allow Him to enter our hearts and live there daily, we can never know the depth of His love for us.

In many ways, the lack of commitment to being a servant of God is the reason for Post traumatic stress disorder.  If we would humble ourselves and come to Him daily, we would not have such stressful lives and if the stress was there we would have Him to comfort us in our time of need. There are many ways that people today have to find comfort. Some are legal and some are not but most of us find a way to find comfort whether it is temporary or permanent. The kind of comfort we find in serving Jesus is permanent.

Read the Bible, it is good for you and for your future. It also contains the most helpful wisdom that can be found in this life and it is the source of most “self-help” advice, in my opinion. Our Creator put your DNA together bit by bit before you were born and He knew you long before that. Give Him a chance in your life to prove that He really is the One, the Excellent Counselor and the Prince of Peace.  Romans 8:28