I hope you all had wonderful Christmas. The 'wonderful' and 'merry' part of Christmas is unique to each of us. What makes Christmas so special to one, may not resonate with someone else. We tend to look at the exterior trappings - lights and decorated trees, special food, gatherings with friends and relatives; maybe music is an important part of this holy day for you. And, of course there are the gifts we give to one another. Some are able to give lovely expensive gifts, others are like the little drummer boy, and simply give their heart to someone they love.
The act of serving one another can be the best gift of all. Many from our church spent much time and great effort this year to give us the gift of a memorable candle-light service honoring our Lord's birth. Our pastor took great delight in pointing out that over 2,000 years ago, this child born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, had come to change the world - forever! Jesus is the gift and the giver of gifts...faith, love, hope and eternal life.
Memories abound this time of year. Memories of past Christmases, of family who are no longer with us, of favorite foods, cherished gifts and family traditions that we hold dear. But this can also be a lonely time for many when events trigger both good and sad emotions. Hold tightly to the good and trust God for the sad. He loves us more than we can ever understand and has a purpose for all that happens in our life.
I remember shopping for our five children. My husband often took a day of vacation in early December and we'd take off early in the morning for a whole day of shopping, trying our best to fill our children's wish list. One year everyone got a new bicycle. 'Santa' was up most of Christmas Eve night assembling those bikes. Sometimes I got it totally wrong, like when our daughter's seemed to take an interest in their bedrooms and notice things like the sheets on their bed and I bought some really great sheets one year for a Christmas present. One of them opened the box, and with an incredulous look on her face, said "Sheets?"
The gifts brought to our Savior were indeed unique and profound in their meaning. The Wise Men brought gold, a gift worthy of a King, incense, a symbol of atonement, and myrrh, an anointing oil used during the preparation for burial, Jesus would die for us. Jesus, God in the flesh - John 1:14.
So, what now? Embrace the truth of Jesus, who He is, what He's done for us, and how powerful His love is for us. Then, live and walk in the knowledge of this everyday. The world can't hurt us when we are sure of our final destination. We won't crumble in disappointment when our plans don't work out, our faith won't be shaken when we suffer sickness, loss and confusion. And best of all, we never need to feel that we don't have a friend - we have a friend in Jesus, the best forever friend there is!
Thank you Lord for coming to us in human form and changing the world! Thank you for changing us personally, individually. We are humbled before You, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Showing posts with label Christ died for nothing? Jesus fulfilled the law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ died for nothing? Jesus fulfilled the law. Show all posts
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
THE RIGHTEOUS ONE
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:20 - 21
I am amazed at how few Christians believe these verses and apply them to their life. Even those who study the Bible can't take their eyes off themselves. We can't seem to let go of the fact that WE are never going to be 'righteous' in the flesh. Flesh sins! Read what the apostle Paul wrote on this subject in Romans 7: 7 - 25. This man was given the task of writing much of the New Testament, and he struggled with sinful flesh, just like us. It was Paul's job to explain God's New Covenant, the covenant of grace. Under the Old Testament Covenant, we were under the 'law', the Ten Commandments, plus a long list of other 'laws' that were added by the Hebrews. Take note of what Romans 14 says about being 'legalistic'. We are under grace.
Romans 10 tells us that "Christ is the end of the law..." Give it up, you will never be 'righteous' outside of Christ. He is the righteous one! Read Romans 10 and ask the Lord to open your eyes to this truth if you are struggling with 'being good' so you can impress God, and all your Christian friends. Knowing this truth should produce such joy and such love for the Lord - just knowing all that He has done for you - that your feet will barely touch the ground as you literally float through this world knowing you are safe and secure in God's Kingdom.
So then we shouldn't 'be good'? Of course we should! Jesus left us with His Holy Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life. Probably most people we encounter on this earth will never read and study the Bible, but they'll read your life. As my friend Gretchen once said, "You may be the only Jesus they see". Scary thought, isn't it? If you claim to be a Christian, they'll judge Christianity by how you live. Sometimes what they see isn't much different than their own lives. We get a bad diagnosis and fall apart with worry, we see the stock market drop and our homes become worth less money and fear invades, we're critical, envious and worried all the time that we're not doing the 'right thing'. In other words, we destroy our own witness by our behavior. Who would want to become a Christian and be like us? It's only when others see that we walk by faith trusting God that we can become effective in spreading the 'good news' of the gospel.
Isn't that what we're here for - to share what Jesus Christ has done for those who believe? If we whine and cry that we are falling short of God's expectations, who would want to become a part of that kind of frustrating life? Living in failure rather than in victory isn't a great selling point to becoming a Christian. Many will think it's better to ignore God altogether. And the truth is, it's not God's expectations, He knows our frame is but dust, He knows how we are formed, Psalm 103: 14. It's what our fellow man lays on us that sinks the boat! We can't get much lower that dust, so get off your self-righteous kick and start praising the Lord who loves you 100%, no matter how despicable you are!
If you're interested in knowing more about victory versus failure, read my blog of April 19, 2010, 'WE SHALL OVERCOME!'
Tomorrow I'll board a flight to Singapore, spend a couple of days, then get on a ship and cruise around South East Asia. How great is that? I'll be spending Easter Sunday, we call it 'Resurrection Sunday', in the Gulf of Thailand traveling from Bangkok to Ho Chi Min (Saigon). This is a long standing dream come true. My husband won't be with me. He's been to most of these places and even mapped some of the countries like Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos - as well as Iran and Afghanistan. So he'll stay home with the dogs and enjoy helping with Special Olympic golf. I'm sorry the previous blog wouldn't allow me to have spaces between paragraphs, makes it hard to read I know. Hope I've fixed the problem.
On Easter Sunday we'll celebrate the resurrection of our Lord who died to pay the price for our sin. Those who accept His life counting for them have a free ticket to heaven and eternal life in the presence of God. You might notice that the most often quoted verse, John 3:16 has only one condition to gaining this freedom from the law - 'believe'. Just believe. If you find yourself aware that you aren't perfect and you'd like God's love and total acceptance, ask Him to forgive you and come into your life. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, God never says 'No' to anyone who asks for eternal life. We can't make ourselves 'alive', God does it by filling us with His Holy Spirit - then we 'see' what we never could see before! God had a plan in place to save His lost children 'from the beginning'. The Lamb of God (Jesus) was slain from the foundation of the world...Revelation 13:8.
I'm praying for a ship full of God's sheep to mingle with. Some have asked me if I'm going on a mission - you bet, my whole life is a mission! He has a plan for our life here on earth. Lord, thank you for giving us the law so we could recognize that we are far from perfect and need a Savior. Thank you for suffering for me personally and by the power of your Holy Spirit helping me to live a life that will will reflect who you are and what you've done. Deliver me from myself and cause me to focus on YOU, not on my life.
I am amazed at how few Christians believe these verses and apply them to their life. Even those who study the Bible can't take their eyes off themselves. We can't seem to let go of the fact that WE are never going to be 'righteous' in the flesh. Flesh sins! Read what the apostle Paul wrote on this subject in Romans 7: 7 - 25. This man was given the task of writing much of the New Testament, and he struggled with sinful flesh, just like us. It was Paul's job to explain God's New Covenant, the covenant of grace. Under the Old Testament Covenant, we were under the 'law', the Ten Commandments, plus a long list of other 'laws' that were added by the Hebrews. Take note of what Romans 14 says about being 'legalistic'. We are under grace.
Romans 10 tells us that "Christ is the end of the law..." Give it up, you will never be 'righteous' outside of Christ. He is the righteous one! Read Romans 10 and ask the Lord to open your eyes to this truth if you are struggling with 'being good' so you can impress God, and all your Christian friends. Knowing this truth should produce such joy and such love for the Lord - just knowing all that He has done for you - that your feet will barely touch the ground as you literally float through this world knowing you are safe and secure in God's Kingdom.
So then we shouldn't 'be good'? Of course we should! Jesus left us with His Holy Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life. Probably most people we encounter on this earth will never read and study the Bible, but they'll read your life. As my friend Gretchen once said, "You may be the only Jesus they see". Scary thought, isn't it? If you claim to be a Christian, they'll judge Christianity by how you live. Sometimes what they see isn't much different than their own lives. We get a bad diagnosis and fall apart with worry, we see the stock market drop and our homes become worth less money and fear invades, we're critical, envious and worried all the time that we're not doing the 'right thing'. In other words, we destroy our own witness by our behavior. Who would want to become a Christian and be like us? It's only when others see that we walk by faith trusting God that we can become effective in spreading the 'good news' of the gospel.
Isn't that what we're here for - to share what Jesus Christ has done for those who believe? If we whine and cry that we are falling short of God's expectations, who would want to become a part of that kind of frustrating life? Living in failure rather than in victory isn't a great selling point to becoming a Christian. Many will think it's better to ignore God altogether. And the truth is, it's not God's expectations, He knows our frame is but dust, He knows how we are formed, Psalm 103: 14. It's what our fellow man lays on us that sinks the boat! We can't get much lower that dust, so get off your self-righteous kick and start praising the Lord who loves you 100%, no matter how despicable you are!
If you're interested in knowing more about victory versus failure, read my blog of April 19, 2010, 'WE SHALL OVERCOME!'
Tomorrow I'll board a flight to Singapore, spend a couple of days, then get on a ship and cruise around South East Asia. How great is that? I'll be spending Easter Sunday, we call it 'Resurrection Sunday', in the Gulf of Thailand traveling from Bangkok to Ho Chi Min (Saigon). This is a long standing dream come true. My husband won't be with me. He's been to most of these places and even mapped some of the countries like Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos - as well as Iran and Afghanistan. So he'll stay home with the dogs and enjoy helping with Special Olympic golf. I'm sorry the previous blog wouldn't allow me to have spaces between paragraphs, makes it hard to read I know. Hope I've fixed the problem.
On Easter Sunday we'll celebrate the resurrection of our Lord who died to pay the price for our sin. Those who accept His life counting for them have a free ticket to heaven and eternal life in the presence of God. You might notice that the most often quoted verse, John 3:16 has only one condition to gaining this freedom from the law - 'believe'. Just believe. If you find yourself aware that you aren't perfect and you'd like God's love and total acceptance, ask Him to forgive you and come into your life. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, God never says 'No' to anyone who asks for eternal life. We can't make ourselves 'alive', God does it by filling us with His Holy Spirit - then we 'see' what we never could see before! God had a plan in place to save His lost children 'from the beginning'. The Lamb of God (Jesus) was slain from the foundation of the world...Revelation 13:8.
I'm praying for a ship full of God's sheep to mingle with. Some have asked me if I'm going on a mission - you bet, my whole life is a mission! He has a plan for our life here on earth. Lord, thank you for giving us the law so we could recognize that we are far from perfect and need a Savior. Thank you for suffering for me personally and by the power of your Holy Spirit helping me to live a life that will will reflect who you are and what you've done. Deliver me from myself and cause me to focus on YOU, not on my life.
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