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Stealing Heaven pt 3 All Roads Lead to Heaven
All roads lead to Heaven, many have said it many more believe it. It is said of Christians we are narrow minded, how dare we suggest ours is the only way. Buddhist believe they achieve nirvana after 537 reincarnations, Christians believe we live and die once. The common belief is that everyone serves the same god just with different names. Jesus claims to be the only way to Heaven other religions claim we heal ourselves through perseverance and hard work. Christ says "Not by might but by HIS SPIRIT" furthermore we are saved by grace not by works. I write today to encourage you to take a look at Christ and if you know one of these "All Roads Lead to Heaven" folks let them know, beg them, show them and most of all pray for them. May they know all roads DO NOT lead to Heaven and you certainly cannot steal Heaven. God bless you and thank you for reading.
Stealing Heaven pt 2
Let's talk about a group I call "The Midnight Club" Most of us know someone in this club. These are the people who acknowledge their need of a savior, and even recognize Jesus as the only way, they simply do not want Jesus "Interfering in their lives". These people generally purpose in their hearts and minds to "get right" as close to the midnight hour as possible. They want to give the last minutes of their lives to Jesus. The Bible tells a story of a land owner who hired workers. In the morning he hired one set of workers and agreed to a wage for them, later in the afternoon more laborers were hired and promised the same wage, still more were hired at the last hour and they too would receive the same wage for their services. When it came time to settle accounts the last group was paid first and when the first group saw their pay they supposed they would receive a greater amount because they had worked much longer. Well they too got the same pay as the last bunch and got upset, the land owner said essentially "My land my money I will pay as I please these people made the same agreement as you" So that being said I want to point out that, yes, those people can wait until their last breath but there is a major problem with that. What if that last breath comes as they sleep? What if they simply die without warning? My point is we can't really know when we will die, this "Midnight club" is a dangerous game. Another issue is by waiting until their last breath they have wasted their life. There are untold numbers who may have benefited from their redeemed life yet selfishness steals that away. We are created with a plan and a purpose, our purpose can not come to completion, can not be fully effective until our life is in the hands of Christ. That waiting game not only steals from others but from he who waits as well. The LORD has plenteous blessings for those who serve Him and not serving Him places your eternity at risk as well as your here and now. So, for the "Midnighters" you may know, I offer up a prayer. LORD I pray in Jesus name that the midnighters we each know will come to know you in a personal relationship, that they will come before it is too late most of all but also that they will come early enough to enjoy a life such as you have blessed us with. LORD we love these people and so do you we ask mercy and compassion for them. Speak to their hearts and minds in such a way they can not deny it is you who speaks though they may be hearing one of our voices. In Jesus name AMEN
Thanks for reading
Get in the Pool
At a public pool there were many visitors including; a man, who by nature, was an Olympic swimmer though he had never even watched the Olympics much less won any medal, a man who had in fact won several Gold medals and many average swimmers as well as some beginners. The two Olympic swimmers climbed the high dive and dove in with grace, skill and enthusiasm while the average swimmers were content to jump from the standard dive. Many others jumped in from the side of the pool while still others were more comfortable climbing down the ladder. There were others still who chose to walk down the steps in the shallow end and splash about in the safety afforded by the closer bottom while others still chose to sit on the steps covered only to their waist. Though there entry and behavior varied they all had one thing in common, each of them chose the pool and each of them were in the water.
What's your point Scott? Your blogs are getting stranger by the day. I agree with the strangeness of it all and my point is, you must choose the pool. Get involved in ministry; whether setting up chairs, picking up trash, running the sound, ushering, teaching, starting a small group or greeting folks when they come in we can all do something. No ministry is "greater" than the next so just get in the pool. I wrote all of this to encourage you to be what God created you to be. All of us are called to be either, apostolic, or prophetic, or evangelistic, or pastoral or to teach. While we may not fill that office directly we should use our gifting accordingly and that can be done nicely from any level of service. REMEMBER: There is nothing quite like being a servant.
Stealing Heaven Part 1
Like so many others, Amanda believes she can get to Heaven simply by "being good" and helping people. She believes if her life makes other people happy she can go to Heaven, after all, this life on Earth is hell. Amanda does not understand that this is not hell, not even close, she doesn't realize that there is an entry fee to Heaven and that Christ paid that fee. What so many like Amanda fail to realize is that we couldn't possibly be good enough and not one of us is any better than Jeffrey Dalmer or Charles Manson. The price Jesus paid, for each of us, still requires action on our part, we must accept Him and in so doing we agree to live for Him a life that brings Him glory and expands His kingdom on Earth. We must accept this free gift. The Word of God says our righteousness is like filthy rags to the LORD, but we need to let Him mold us. Isaiah says, in Chapter 64...
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
It is my prayer we begin to reach out to the Amandas of the world and as we allow God to mold us, teach them to be shaped by our LORD as well. Every generation has thought that Jesus would return in their generation, ours is no different, let us be ready when He returns in what ever time that may be. He may come back in ten minutes or in ten centuries, but He will return. May we not wait until it is too late.
Life Lessons From Jackie
Jackie was a beautiful woman, kind, and caring, a true friend. She never had many house plants, the ones she did have could expect a short life. Jackie never had much of a green thumb. She once purchased a plant and true to past results the plant quickly started to die. As time past she sadly watched the helpless little plant die until all but two flowers remained. She faithfully continued watering and caring for the troopers who had managed to survive. She proudly proclaimed to my mother that she had two living flowers in her home she hadn't managed to kill. One day during the morning watering session one of the flowers toppled and fell from the moist soil, it was then she realized she had been watering artificial flowers.
How often do we exert energy and spend time caring for a lie? How often have we tried in vain to protect that which is unreal? Too often we get consumed by something which looks good and seems genuine only to meet with bitter disappointment in the end. May we always; feed that which is real, nurture truth, and abolish the lie. May we always have the wisdom to discern truth and recognize the counterfeit.
When God Spits in Your Eye
Mark 8:23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
When God decides to use an "unconventional" method to heal or bless you will you receive it? In this story Jesus spit in the blind man's eyes. he could have reacted with disgust or indignation. He could have refused the miracle, after all Jesus normally heals with a word right? Not necessarily, Jesus often healed with a command but sometimes with a touch and sometimes with a touch and some instruction, such as; "Go wash in the Jordan". Are we really anybody to tell God how to bless us? That is exactly what we do on so many occasions. We try to reserve some unseen right when we pray and bring our grocery list of needs and desires to His feet and think we can tell Him what is best for us. When God spits in your eye, let Him it may just be He is adjusting your thinking while healing your sight. We would do well to break from religion and enter a more personal relationship with the Savior, Healer, and Redeemer who wants to be Daddy. What will you do when God spits in your eye?
What is Man?
What is man to barter with God? We have all done it, tried to cut a deal with God. How many have found themselves kneeling in the bathroom repeating the partiers mantra? God, just get me through this and I will never drink again. Maybe you have offered abstinence from sin in exchange for a blessing, Give me this job or let me get a new car or, fill in the blank and I will stop; lying, cussing, getting angry or I will pray stronger, read longer, fast more or some other promise we are powerless to keep. Yesterday I did some cleaning and rearranging in my room. I relocated my computer and rerouted some cables. This included moving the internet equipment, modem, router and cables. When I hooked everything back up I couldn't get on line so I tried EVERYTHING. I reset ip's I restarted the computer, turned modem and router off and on about 4 times and then I started getting mad. I was about to restart the modem and router again when I noticed I forgot to hook up a critical cable. With my dad's situation fresh I found myself trying to barter recently, then God quickened me, bartering and bargaining are tandem opposites of faith. The modem and router were in close proximity but there was no connection. Sometimes we seem close to God; we go to church, and "put on" Christianity but fail to connect with God. If Have faith in someone or in someone's ability it is because we have spent time with them, there is a connection with that person. When we spend time with God we learn to see Him...really see Him. We can clearly see the credibility of His claims and our faith, though sometimes weak begins to sprout. Last week David quoted Hebrews, In the NIV it says
Hebrews 11:1 1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
The King James says
1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I like this version it implies that faith is tangible, substance, that it has weight and dimension.
During seasons of difficulty or times of trying and testing our faith can be stretched, we are subject to change...hopefully, prayerfully for the better. Mark Twain once said "The only person who likes change is a wet baby."
It is during these times of change and faith testing trial that we should lean on God all the more yet during these times we tend to try bargaining our way out, like a fast talking child attempting to evade punishment or obtain a gift we put on our "salesman" and start talking, we talk when we should be listening. What is man, that he should barter with God. We have absolutely nothing to offer Him anyway, a common belief states that God has everything and wants for nothing...but I must disagree. There is one thing which only you can give Him, one thing He should own, and rightly does yet will not posses until you give it to Him. Only you can give God your heart, hopefully everyone here has done that but if you have not yet or are not sure, you can see me or Dan or Joe after service and we will be happy to pray with you. Once you give God your heart you are not guaranteed a trouble free life. There is no promise you will never again see suffering or experience trial or grief, but you are promised support without question. When we suffer as His children we can always lean on Him. Is your heart on the table for bargaining? No, but when you choose to Give your heart, your life, your dreams to Jesus, you choose an ally. We may not always understand His plans but we can be sure His plans are for good. Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..
King James version says
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
and the Amplified Bible says;
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
The Amplified version ends with "to give you hope in your final outcome"..we may not be able to see the positive or the hope but God does, we will see how it ends when it ends until then we can spend time with God...work on that relationship, work those faith muscles and learn to listen rather than run our mouth making empty promises we have no power to fulfill.
Oodle and Oodles of Pickles and Noodles
When we were kids we had a dog named noodles, my uncle had a dog named pickles, while we were visiting my uncle we had the two dogs in one run and my uncle realized they were male and female and thought we should separate them lest we be blessed with oodles and oodles of pickles and noodles. Funny some things that stick in your head while you stumble in quasi light for a verse. I remembered that story while sitting here at my desk picturing poodles in flight jackets. lol don't ask. Aren't you glad my head is filled with this stuff so yours doesn't have to be?
O.K. let's get straight to the blog. years ago I held a job as an ice cream man. Not the "cool" ice cream man in a truck I pushed a cart around and sold ice cream. On the handle of the cart hangs an assortment of bells which I kept tightly wrapped in a towel. Consequently I sold very little ice cream. My room mate saw this and scolded me a little he said "you've got to let your bells ring" Too often we let pride get in the way of ministry, "How will I look" "Wonder if I blow it?" "what will my friends think?" Let's not be scared to let our bells ring and live out loud. We have a GREAT thing here let's share it with the world.
Lets Talk about Money
We are all aware of the condition of our economy. The first plague on Egypt was on the water, the fishing which was their economy, God always strikes a nations economy first. America was founded on Christianity, anchored to God almighty, then we slowly became "educated" "enlightened" and other fancy words for self reliant. There is nothing wrong with education, infact my research shows most people would rather hear an educated heathen than a 'stupid' saint. the problem is we have become complacent and would rather lean on our own understanding than on God. We have taken the idea of free will to a whole new level and have turned our backs on God, even a lot of Christians, in the name of being politically correct, have held our tongues. now we have the Hate Speech law which WILL hinder the Word if we allow it. It is time to pray for our nation, not for prosperity but for forgiveness. historically everytime the man of God prayed for the people God's wrath was calmed. God prefers to show mercy but, like a loving parent, sometimes He must discipline. Let's become a people of prayer, blessing will follow but that mustn't be our reason for praying.
Touching Heaven in 2011
2010 is coming to a close, this is the time of year most of us look back and take inventory of the year. We look at failed resolutions, and at our accomplishments. As we enter into a new year I want to point out some common goals we might set for the new year. Rather than make a list of resolutions, though they may be good, for personal improvement, lets work on one thing. May we have a stronger relationship with God. So often we get caught up in the idea of a better job or a bigger house or losing five pounds or what ever "surface resolutions" we might make, that we lose sight of the really big things in life.
The reason you or I are here on planet Earth at all is to have a relationship with God. That's it. No other complex 12 step formulas, just relationship. The whole reason He created man was for fellowship. The other things; evangelism, preaching, teaching, planting churches, giving to charity, all of those things come about as a kind of side effect of having a relationship with God. We do those other things because we want to, we give of our time and money because we are so enthralled in our relationship with the Creator of Heaven and Earth that we are compelled to serve. Let us work on having the most intimate relationship possible with our God. May the hands that hung the stars be so close you can see the nail scars, may the voice of the One who said "Let there be light." be so familiar to you that you can smell His breath when He speaks your name. May it be said of us, he is a friend of God." We should have such a personal relationship that we look like God.
After many years of marriage couples begin to look alike and act alike, they know what eachother like and can often communicate with a look or a gesture. Let us strive for such intimacy with Jesus, Lets spend less time trying to fit in and look and act like the world and more time trying to get to know Him.
In 2011 I want to work on such an intimate relationship with God that I begin to look like Him. I have heard people say, "Don't become so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good." I would like to know how heavenly minded Jesus was while walking around on Earth. Let's focus more on being Christ like and worry less about fitting in. May we have that relationship with Jesus this year and may it grow year after year.
Kungfu Panda II Moses and Po
So, as I was sitting in the theater with my son watching Kungfu Panda II, a thought hit me. I was watching Po (he's the panda for those of you unfamiliar with this ingenious franchise) and as I was watching him I saw some interesting paralells, in this movie Po learns that the goose is not his real father, my apologies to those of you who had not already learned this shocking fact. We learn that he showed up on the goose's doorstep in a basket. We learn that Po's mother risked her life to save him from a power hungry enemy, we learned in the last movie that Po had a calling, a destiny. I was watching this story unfold and and as he was on his way to free his people in China who had fallen prey to evil it hit me, maybe it was the chilidog, but I could see the similarities between these two heroes. Po had doubts and lacked confidence yet had a great destiny, Moses had doubts and lacked confidence but was to free his people from bondage. All to often like Moses or Po we too struggle with the truth that we are indeed amazing and God has greatness in store for us. We tend to lean on our weakness and inability rather than God's strength and capability. The next time you think you can't do something God is calling you to do think of Po and think again.
The Land Before Time
Ok oK I know what you're thinking, "come on Scott, thats a cartoon, I'm an adult. No time for silly cartoons." Well good for you now give me a chance and read this story here, it's good for you. I love the story, The Land Before Time. Little Foot and his friends have been seperated from their parents and are trying to get to the great valley. Their journey is not without much opposition. A little bit before they get to The Great Valley where there is food and water enough for everyone they find another valley and from a distance it looks pretty good to our young travellers. Before they get there scavengers ravage the valley an get all the food and the young friends are disheartened to say the least. Arguing amongst themselves they discuss the idea that they had been duped and this valley was not so great at all. Once they decide they could actually be in the wrong place they carry on and eventually find the Great Valley they had been promised There is a great feast and a happy reunion.
This is not unlike our own story. We too have been promised a great valley, a feast and a reunion. Our journey is bombarded with much opposition and we too often find the wrong valley. Have you ever seen something from a distance and mistook it for the promise? We do it all the time, a job, a promotion, a girl friend/boy friend, a car or some great posession. We run after these things with delight and enthusiasm only to find great dissapointment at the end, our promise, however, is greater than what we could imagine. Like our young travellers from the story our minds are too small to picture such great things our Heavenly Father has promised us. When we run after these little things we find dissapointment but fear not. If we journey on we shall see promises fulfilled.
Have you found yourself in the middle of a sad dissapointment this morning? Do you have an "impossible" journey ahead of you? You are not travelling alone. Like the four friends we too have land marks to follow in this journey and if we keep our eyes on the prize we WILL see our "great Valley" So follow the cross, keep your eyes on Christ and be aware of the enemy.
Scrat, crazy or gifted?
You may not know who Scrat is, but if I mention the crazy squirell from "Ice Age" you would know him right away. At first glance Scrat is nuts (pun intended) but I would like to offer the possibility that he is gifted. Scrat is determined to preserve that nut and through torment and trial his single mindedness drives him to chase that nut and put it in storage. We see Scrat; dropped, pummeled, frozen, flooded, stretched and a miriad of other torturous trials. Through it all he loses focus only once and only for a bit.
Many of us, like Scrat have a mission and we face trials and opposition, when faced with impossible odds, remember; Gideon, Joshua, Moses and the many other Bible heroes we have been blessed to learn from , stories we lean on, promises we remind God of. Think of Scrat and remember his single mindedness which drove him. It is this gift, this "tunnel vision" for the vision which will help you lean on Him who gifts and eventually store enough for the winter months. Eventually we all face adversity, you may never find yourself physically frozen but perhaps you have been frozen with fear. Never forget God created you on purpose, with a purpose and it is Him who will give you success. So, climb on, keep your eyes on the prize, and remember, EVERY MIGHTY OAK STARTED AS ONE LITTLE NUT THAT HELD IT's GROUND.
Despicable Me, Despicable You
(SPOILER ALERT)
Despicable me, good movie, lots of food for thought. In Despicable Me, Gru is an "evil scientist" bent on world domination and self destruction. Gru has seemingly unlimited resources as well as certain giftings. When Gru is bested by his nemesis Vector he sets a plan in motion in which he must get past an amazing security system to gain access to Vector's fortress. He decides the way to best accomplish this is by exploiting Vectors weakness for cookies. Gru goes to the adoption agency and adopts 3 cookie selling Orphans; Margo, Agnes and Edith. Gru's course of destruction takes an unexpected turn when the orphans begin to melt away his icey exterior. Gru quickly warms up to the trio and begins to rethink his course. As it turns out Gru is actually quite a good father and leader, his gifts make him an exemplary leader. His willingness to embrace the new challenges in his life brought positive change.
As we navigate the storms of life many of our decisions will be wrong and while some of our choices may feel right and may even lead us to believe we enjoy what we do or where we are there is still a higher calling for each of us. There is a purpose for which we were created and though we might see a certain level of success in other vocations we might not be functioning at maximum potential. Sometimes God will bring a storm our way, an upheaval to invoke thought. Like Gru's orphans some things come into our lives to affect change. What storms are you facing? They may feel insurmountable but be assured there is peace in the eye of your storm, Jesus is there with you and when you reach out He will not shy away from you. It may be He brought the storm to draw you near.
FernGully, Shrunken for a Bigger Purpose
I decided to hop in the Way Back Machine for this one, I travelled all the way back to 1992, to a land called FernGully.
FernGully is a rain forest which is slated for destruction. Zack is a human in the rainforest who is on a team cutting the forest down. When Christa, a fairy who lives in FernGully, sees smoke in the distance she sets off to investigate. When she sees Zack she is shocked to learn that humans actually exist and not just in stories. Her surprise cause her to accidentally shrink him down to her size. It is only after being shrunk down that he starts to see the beauty that surrounds him. Zack teams up with Christa and batty ( a slightly disturbed lab bat) to save the rain forest.
It is hard to see what is truly important when we are so involved in our own selfish ambitions. We often become so big in our own eyes that the bigger purpose becomes obsured by self. God will allow circumstance in our lives to "knock us down to size" like Zack it may be that we only open our eyes once we get shrunk down a bit. Zack had trouble seeing the forest for the trees, we have the same trouble more than we care to admit. I invite you to step back, kneel down, shrink a little, do something to change your perspective. Ask God for a new outlook, ask what is truly important. When we focus on true importance, when we can work for a bigger goal, we all win. Magi said that we all have a power which grows when it is shared, let me submit to you that I agree to a point. God has given gifts to all of us, we can hoard them or share them. When we place our gift on a shelf we rob ourselves and others. Our friends in Fergully couldn't save the rainforest until everybody did their part. I pray we all have the proper perspective to see how we fit in life, but more than that I pray we each take up the mantle given us and wear it well. We may not save a rain forest but we could save a life or more importantly, save a soul.
My Big Move
The adoption of Pete as told by Pete
I was already familiar with Scott, he had been long time friends with my family. I remember walking to the end of my kennel to visit with him and he opened the door to scratch my ears, I really love that, after a quick rubdown he picked me up and took me from my mother. I knew something big was happening because I had already seen my brothers and sisters leave in a similar way. Scott held me in his arms and I liked the feeling, still do, then he put me in his car and snapped a picture. As he pulled out of the driveway all I wanted to do was to lay in his lap and sleep. He stopped by another house on his way home and I met his sister, I like her and she really loves dogs. It wasn't long before I found myself sitting in the middle of Scott's living room, I had never been in a house of any kind before so some extensive exploration was in order. That first night I was frightened and lonely, so now I sleep in Scott's room, he is quite the sucker. I have been her three weeks now and it has been fantastic, if you have not yet found a human I highly recommend it I believe everyone ought to have at least one human at their disposal. As I learn to live with my new family I will post new blogs about my experiences, I fully expect this to be an amazing ride.
The Me in Amelia and Prisoner Zero
This one is for the geeks in my audience. I was recently watching Doctor Who and was inspired by Prisoner Zero. Prisoner Zero has hidden in a room in Amelias house, he had managed to completely hide the room in which he hid. When Doctor Who got Amelia to finally look, really look she was able to see the room. Many of us have such a room, an area of our lives we refuse to or are unable to acknowledge. Prisoner Zero was able to walk among the public undetected due to his ability to mask himself and appear as other people. We often live unaware of our own weakness and sin, held captive without our knowledge. When we accept Jesus we also accept our weakness and sin, we become aware of our needs. Once Amelia was made aware of her flatmate she was able to deal with it. God does not condem us but He will make us aware. May you and I be willing to head God's gentle proding and deal with those areas of life we never like to admit exist.
More God
If you want MORE God then you are going to have to clear out some stuff to make room for Him. So often we want to give God our leftovers, our leftover time, space, money, heart, love, you name it. He is not interested in our leftovers. He wants EVERYTHING. When we make way to give Him everything we get much more than we gave. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. This does not speak of a few things or some things but all things. If we seek money before God we may get money but we end up with neither. When we seek God and His kingdom first we get all of the extras. He will supply our needs, He will give us some of our wants, we must be willing to put God first in all we do. We often have things in the way, things which take the place of God in our lives and we :pull out" the real God when we get in trouble. Things like; television, movies, music, video games, shopping, dating, the internet, all get in the way. I am not telling you that you can no longer engage in these activities but I will suggest you take a close look at your priorities. If you are not putting God first then you may as well not include Him in your life at all. Allow me to validate what I am saying in that I am involved in a ministry and we pray 20-30 hours a week in addition to our own quiet time with God. Do you need that much time for prayer? Well if you can find it, you'd be surprised how much t.v. you watch, then I would say yes, do it. The more things we get rid of, the more space we make for God, the more God we will have in our lives.
as I continue in this blog I will touch on many ways to get more of God and less of you. Thanks for reading.
Walk MORE Victoriously
If you want MORE of God in your life you must walk MORE victoriously. Walk as though you ARE the kingdom, you are a king. You are a force to be reckoned with. When your feet hit the floor in the morning the gates of hell should rattle. Let us stop living like we are powerless, our enemy is the one who is powerless. When he reminds you of your weakness remind him of the cross. Walk in victory, walk in power, rise to what Christ has for you and change the world.
We were not created for defeat but for dominion. We see in Genesis when God created the world he commanded the first man to "take dominion" We are kings, we are God's kingdom here on Earth. We are created in His image, we are created with power and authority for dominion. Sometimes we spend too much time being dominated by our circumstance or surroundings and never stand up and take dominion over it. When we speak we ought to speak with authority, we ought to walk in authority, we ought to be influence. Where we step should change permanently. When we speak our words should be gold, our words should be life, when we speak our words should be food to a hungry nation and water to a dying and thirsty soul. Let us behave as ambassadors, let us walk in victory and never look back. Let your yes be a permanent yes anything less is a maybe. Come on world changers, lets change the world today.
Well, here it is, CHRISTmas time again. Stores bustle with shoppers galore, trying to find that perfect gift, and families gather together to share each others company. We will share; meals, stories, company, church services, gifts and for just a moment pause and recognize the one for Whom the season comes. When we open our gifts we often give little thought to the ultimate Gift Giver. God's greatest gift to man came not beautifully wrapped and gently placed beneath an ornately decorated tree but wrapped in pain and carelessly draped across blood soaked timbers.
All too many of us think about the CHRISTmas season and the CHRISTmas story only once a year. We are overwemed with; "responsibility, obligation and our own needs the rest of the year. In January we begin paying for all of the gifts and spend February trying to recover from the bills of January. The rest of the year we are simply to busy to pause long enough to think about Jesus, oh sure many of us go to church, a lot of us are dedicated Christians, but many of us, most of us perhaps are guilty of just "glossing over" the CHRISTmas story.
I think we should leave a Nativity up all year long. Most of us know that the CHRISTmas story begins in Matthew 1:18. If we really look at it this story begins long before that. Before God said "Let there be LIght." He already knew that He would create man and man would need a savior. God knew long before He said "Let Us create man in Our image and in Our likeness." that we would get into trouble that only a savior could pull us from.
We hurry about our day busy with thoughts of self. Most of us could never fathom giving as He did. How many of us would trade his own life for the life of one who would never recognize what we had done, never acknowledge our existance, think of us as a joke, or unable or never think of us at all? Yet Christ died, willingly knowing too many would deny Him.
We continue get ourselves stuck. We build walls and monuments of guilt and shame. We paint ourselves into corners with no escape. We paint ourselves there with the thick dark ink of; self, chasing fame, pursuit of possesion, love of money, chasing love, greed, lust, hate, judgement, disbelief. We take the gift of free will and squander it until, like the prodigal, we find ourselves dining with swine.
Thankfully God painted a way out long before any man came to be. God hung His gift to us on the tree where He was publicly humiliated. That gift giving ceremony was anything but peaceful and serene, yet we like to paint it as such. Long before you or I celebrated our first CHRISTmas God himself lovingly and willingly penned His plan for our salvation, the master author wrote His plan out in the crimson blood of His only Son.
What will you do with such a gift this CHRISTmas season? What will you do with such a gift throughout the year? This is a gift which will never run dry and never deplete. The fact is the proper way to appreciate His gift to us is to share it. Let us have CHRISTmas on our hearts all year long. Remember CHRISTmas is not in the stores or under the tree or even in our family but in our hearts. CHRISTmas is the time to celebrate His birth but without accepting the eternal life His gift purchased then CHRISTmas is just a time to drag a tree into your house and sit around watching it die while you eat candy out of your socks. Please DO NOT waste His gift to you.
Merry CHRISTmas.
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