THE WORD OF GOD

 Merry Christmas!

I pray all is going well with you this morning –

I know some of you are well into December 25^th at this point

When my sons spoke to their dad yesterday, he was already enjoying Christmas morning

In fact, he was out doing his morning exercises

I think it is admirable that he does not break routine even on Christmas Day

Yet – there was One who broke routine on the very first Christmas so long ago

Jesus came to break our routine

His birth separated time – his actions reflected in His name ‘Emmanuel’

 

The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us

The beginning of that section of scripture notes:

‘In the beginning as the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ John 1:1-5

 

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD HAD COME

Jesus – the light of the world – had come for us all

AND HE STILL SHINES!

 

Everything He was, He still is and shall be forever –

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forevermore [Hebrews 13:8]

He is still Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, our Prince of Peace

What a tremendous blessing!

 

This morning –

Whether you are just starting your Christmas morning,

Or whether you are moving toward the end of your Christmas day;

May the blessings of the LORD abound in your heart and home, today and always

May the Blessing from the LORD – Jesus Christ – be the center of your focus

I pray you have a tremendously blessed day today

 

Merry Christmas!

 

‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher our faith …’  Hebrews 12:2

THE ULTIMATE GIFT

Good Morning

I pray all is going well with you this morning –

Happy Monday!

I had every intention of getting this post up first thing this morning

But then I got side-tracked …

I took care of a couple of chores and then decided to bake

            Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies for my guys … YUM!

This year has been particularly challenging – for my waistline

You see, I typically GIFT my baked goods

But I really do not feel like going through the hassle of packing and shipping

So, we have had a smorgasbord of treats –

Cookie assortments, bourbon balls, and cakes are up next (rum & red velvet for Christmas Eve)

It’s the most ‘calorie-filled’ time of the year!

But – treats are not the subject of our post today

GIFTS – and THE ULTIMATE GIFT in particular is the subject of our post today

I thought about this post as I was typing up one of the verses for yesterday’s post:

‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16

 

I was typing the verse from memory but then went to look at the actual text:

I had typed, ‘that whosoever believes in Him would not perish’. Yet, when I looked at the NKJV and KJV of the Bible, it notes, ‘… that whoever believes in Him should not perish …’

It seems a simple exchange, ‘would’ instead of ‘should’

But as I thought about it more, I understood why it said ‘should’

 

So – what does this have to do with GIFTS?

‘God so love the world that He gave …’

What did He give?

He gave us all an incredible GIFT

What was that GIFT?

‘… He gave His only begotten Son’

 Why did He give us this PRECIOUS, MOST ULTIMATE GIFT?

‘… that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’

 

‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’

 Jesus is the Indescribable and Ultimate Gift –

And, He was given so that none of the LORD’s creation should perish;

That none should have to spend a life on earth or eternity thereafter – separated from Him

But the truth of the matter is that many can and still will

You see, a gift not given, is no gift at all – kind of like my treats this year

But the LORD already tackled the issue of giving – He gave the very best gift He could

that Gift being Jesus

And Jesus keeps the gift-giving going by blessing those who believe with the Gift of the Holy Spirit [discussion for another day]

But the gift-giving is only part of the solution to the problem

Gift receiving is the second and critical portion of the equation

A gift not given is no gift at all

But, a gift given and not received – it is a gift of no effect to the recipient

If I am blessed with the ultimate gift but choose not to receive it, I am still gift-less

 

THE ULTIMATE GIFT

Understand – when it comes to the subject of salvation

While none should perish … many will perish because they refuse to accept the GIFT

 

‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’ Romans 10:9

 

‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.’ John 3:17

 

‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ Acts 4:12

 

‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.’ Ephesians 2:8

 

JESUS CHRIST – the indescribable, amazing and ultimate GIFT

And you do not need to wait until Christmas Morning to receive, open and enjoy this GIFT! 

Have a Blessed Day!

‘But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name,

He gave the right to become children of God’

 John 1:12

BLESSINGS THAT BAFFLE

Greetings Friends …

I pray all is well with you tonight - 

It has been a while since I’ve written

This has been a challenging year … to put it mildly

Yet, something gripped me today was I was listening to music and working

 

I was listening to a compilation of songs by Elevation Worship and Chandler Moore and in that video, they start singing a blessing:

‘The LORD bless you, and keep you,

Make His face shine upon you … and be gracious to you

The LORD turn His face toward you … and give you peace’

 

The blessing was not the part that gripped me.

I have prayed that same blessing many times – over my friends here

No – it was something else and not just the words of a verse

 

As they continued, this chorus resounded:

May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations,

And your family and your children and their children, and their children

May His presence go before you, and behind you, and beside you, all around you, and within you – 

He is with you, He is with you

In the morning and the evening,

In your coming and your going, in your weeping and rejoicing

He is for you … He is for you

 

And in an instant – I was completely overcome and undone

The words of that song took on such great depth and perspective

I suddenly found myself effortlessly transitioning from singing to praying … to crying; intense in prayer … in the natural and in the spirit

And even though I was the one praying – it took me by surprise

 

You see – today – I was not praying for myself,

I was not praying for my three sons

I was not praying for my dad or my best friend

I was not praying for my friends here

No – I found myself instead, praying with tear-filled eyes

            For every person who hates me

            For those who despise the very thought of me

            For those who have plotted and conspired against me

 

In the past – I have prayed for those who do not know Him

I have prayed they would have a genuine encounter with Him

And I thought I was doing something ‘good’ … because I could not bring myself to pray for the destruction of those who come against me –

But it is not enough to not pray for destruction

            There must be prayer for direction, for protection, for construction

 

Anyone in Christ is a new creation

The old is passed away … all things are new

II Corinthians 5:17

 

That is what was special and different about today –

I am not certain I can fully convey what transpired

Something snapped … in a good way!

I found myself keenly aware that – as I sang and cried and prayed –

As I made declarations for people who hate me…

Something profound was happening in the spirit, in the heavenly realm

 

I can pray for change in the world

But true change in the world begins with change inside of individuals

And that is only found in Christ

 

‘Bless those who curse you and do good to them that hate you …’ Matthew 5:43-47

 

BLESSINGS!

BLESSINGS THAT BREAK THE BACK OF CURSES

But my prayer is not just for an introduction or an encounter –

I was – and am – praying for the kind of blessings that chase you down & overtake you

The kind of blessings that surround you and envelope you

BLESSINGS THAT BAFFLE THE MIND!

 

May His favor be upon you as well my friends –

For your family, and your children, and their children, and their children

 

Have a Blessed Evening!

'TIS THE SEASON: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Good Morning,

Merry Christmas Dear Friends

It is finally here – Christmas Day has arrived

This is the day we celebrate THE COMING OF JESUS

               GOD with man –

EMMANUEL, God with us

God, through His Holy Spirit, forever residing within us

And while JESUS IS THE ULTIMATE GIFT –

It is a gift which only benefits personally, if we are willing to receive

Yet – make no mistake

While the birth of Jesus is a wonderful gift from the LORD

                The birth would mean nothing without the life, the death & the resurrection

You see – He was a baby born with one solitary mission

He was a baby born to die – a Son who was given to us,

That we might have eternal salvation & an everlasting relationship with God the Father

If you have received that wondrous gift,

You are very familiar with the true awe-inspiring wonder of this season;

If you have yet to receive the free gift of salvation,

There is no time like the present to receive this MOST GLORIOUS CHRISTMAS PRESENT

We are able to love, because He loved,

We are able to give, because He gave,

We are able to live, because He died,

We are able to hope, because He lives and reigns on high

‘TIS THE SEASON – TO HOPE

‘TIS THE SEASON – TO LOVE

‘TIS THE SEASON – TO GIVE

‘TIS THE SEASON – TO CELEBRATE JESUS CHRIST,

                Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Savior of the World

Merry Christmas!

‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son;

 that whosoever should believe in Him, would not perish but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16