Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards

What in the world are people celebrating? I am amazed that some of the Christmas cards on the market today even get consideration. Two of the more popular varieties say, “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” with nothing inside beyond a description of the weather.

What are you celebrating when all you can say is happy holidays and send a greeting wishing the recipient the enjoyment of a wintry morning snow?  Why do so many now wish us season’s greetings? What kind of greeting does one send in a ‘season’?  When one sends a card with the phrase ‘season’s greetings’ it offers no hope, it speaks of no great victory in which we share. And it can offer no real joy since nothing is being celebrated beyond the winter of one more season.

When I see this type of card it actually saddens me. I can almost see my friend or relative addressing each card carefully. In my imagination, as I watch them, I think I see a twinge of sadness on their face. For, with each stroke of the pen, I can see them struggle for words. Surely it must be a great effort to long for the opportunity to send greetings of the merriest kind when all you can find around you is the “hope” for peace in a world where peace will never be found. It is simply a charade. A seasonal activity practiced for the sake of creating the illusion of happiness, if just for that one day.

The only card we would ever send will always include the name of Jesus, the Christ and the Messiah of Israel. Our card will always reference the joy of his miraculous birth in Bethlehem and other recorded events in the life of Christ. Why? Because Christmas is not about snow. Remembering that first Christmas day brings back to the hearts of those who have been born again the greatest love man will ever know. The memory of God leaving His throne in heaven so that he could come here and take on a body of flesh in order to become our very sacrifice for sin is overwhelming. It is a thought worthy of deepest meditation and infinite gratitude. When believers consider the love of God expressed through the coming of Jesus the Messiah in the manger of Bethlehem it is with immeasurable thankfulness.

Those who have received God’s gift of love could never replace that memory with Santa or a fat snowman and warmest wishes for a happy season. Real joy cannot come from imagined events. The joy we share at Christmas comes from remembering that God really did send His very own son to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). The peace that we experience every day and that we especially rejoice in at Christmas is a gift from God received on the day we were saved from sin, and one we can carry with us throughout life (Romans 5:1). The worship and adoration we offer to God daily is multiplied many times over on Christmas because we have chosen to set one day aside and jointly, as one unified Church, lift our hearts to God for his great love in saving us, in redeeming us from the penalty of sin (Romans 3:23; 6:23) at absolutely no cost to us since our efforts would be in vain (Isaiah 64:6).

And so, remembering God’s greatest gift to man, may I wish each of you a very merry Christmas.

When the Christmas cards start flooding your mail box (or email) this year look at them carefully. Do they reflect your heart? More importantly, do the cards you mail out reflect the work of God in your life? It is difficult to celebrate what we have not personally experienced.  

Have you been born again? You can be saved today, right now. Look again at the events we celebrate at Christmas. Do you understand that even you are a sinner (Rom. 3:23; 6:23)? Do you believe Jesus Christ died in your place to pay for your sin (Rom. 5:8)? Are you willing to ask Him to come into your heart to save you and be your Lord (Rom. 10:9-13) believing that God accepted his payment on your behalf?

­­­­Right now from your heart pray this prayer or at least something like this: 

God I know I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sin. And, right now, I ask Jesus to come into my heart to forgive me of my sin and to begin living through me.  I believe Jesus’ sacrifice was enough and that God accepted it and raised Jesus from the dead as proof that my sin is forgiven.  Thank you for saving my soul, amen.

If you prayed this prayer please message me so I can offer you my prayers and support as you grow in faith.

We have this inheritance

We have this inheritance

     Just thinking ahead to that day when we will realize the substance of the promises we have held for so long.
     I Peter 1:4-5 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
     Not only are we given a living hope of an eternal existence but we also as joint heirs with Christ receive an inheritance unlike any other. Peter uses alliteration in the Greek which we lose in the English to make his point; aphthartos (incorruptible) amiantos (undefiled) amarantos (never fadeth away). Each of the three epithets he uses here begin with the Greek ‘a’ possibly as a means of helping the reader to remember each; though we cannot be sure of that now. Notice also that each is written in the negative. It has been said that in describing things of eternal beauty we often look at the world around us and say what will not be found there in an effort to help others grasp its splendor. Sin has so corrupted the world we live in that to describe heaven we must include the absence of those things affected by sin or those things which are the direct result of sin here. As testimony to that concept read how John uses negatives to describe the new heaven and earth and the heavenly city in his vision: Rev. 21:1, Rev. 21:4, Rev. 21:22 (and I saw no temple therein...), Rev. 21:23, Rev. 21:27; Rev. 22:3, Rev. 22:5.
      “Incorruptible” describes that which is imperishable. The promise of wealth in this world will perish. It might be ours for a short time but it cannot last. The inheritance we have in Christ cannot perish. What a grand contrast, we surrender what cannot last for that which cannot perish.
       “Undefiled” expresses that which is without defect or flaw and cannot be stained or corrupted. The inheritance we have cannot ever be lessened in its quality in any way.
      “That fadeth not away” carries the idea of withering like a flower, no blight or drought can affect it. The beauty of heaven today is the same as it ever was or ever will be. We will stand amazed on our millionth year the same as we did on our first day in heaven.
      To this beauty and inheritance we have a reservation. It is not what we wish might be ours someday. Rather, it is what we presently possess that gives us hope to endure in this sin filled world. Unlike earthly reservations heavenly reservations can never be lost or canceled. And to ensure our confidence Peter reminds us that these reservations have been made for those who are “kept by the power of God.” Could there be any promise more secure? In the prayer Jesus offered in John 17 he mentions that we are kept by God and by Jesus himself, John 17:11-12 “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
      “Through faith” indicates the cause or agency of that reservation i.e., which are kept as a result of having faith or expressing faith. Our inheritance was obtained by faith and is seen as already accomplished; the end result of which we are about to realize. Peter viewed heaven as just a breath away, an event that was just through the next door. By faith we received salvation and now God preserves us as we wait with reservation in hand for the materialization of that promise. Compare this to Romans 8:30 "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
      The work of God in salvation was His work not ours and it is a finished work. We who receive Christ as savior are kept by the power of God already justified, glorified, and in possession of reservations which will never fade away, become defiled or corrupted in any way. God deserves all of our praise each and every day.

It is with absolute certainty that we have this inheritance.

IT’S PERSONAL

IT’S PERSONAL

Have you ever had your feelings hurt? In a good many small-town churches like ours it is not unusual to enter the building, look for that ‘perfect’ seat, the one that allows you to appear to be there while still providing a sense of quick escape if needed, and just as you start to sit down a church member who was likely there when the building was built in 1908 says, “That’s my seat.” They didn’t mean to do it, but even something that minor, to a visitor who is trying to blend in and feel welcome, can be offensive.

Or maybe, you were there for the sermon on proper Christian attire. This is especially applicable to women somehow. It seems that women can wear improper clothing but men can’t. Anyway, were you there for that sermon, the one in which women were told not to wear pants? And you sat there in that church pew in the nicest pair of pants you had in your closet, or maybe the only pair fit to wear in public, and were overcome with embarrassment believing that everyone turned to look right at you.

Could it be that you were embarrassed by your parents? They claimed to be great Christians, and maybe they were, but they kept you from going to a school dance and humiliated you in front of your friends. At a time in your life when friendships and peer groups were more important that air. Your parents kept you home because their “religion” said good children don’t go to heathen dances.

Are you my age? Do you remember being told you had the wrong hair style? You weren’t allowed to be cool and have long hair because only the devil had long hair. I remember church doors with signs posted on them that told visitors long hair on men was not allowed and not welcome in their church. Did they really expect me to go to the barber shop before getting saved? Things like this hurt. They can hurt very deeply.

But these are not the only things that can hurt. The pain can go much deeper when it is caused by the hypocrisy of someone we know closely, are personally related to or maybe even instructed or taught by. Have you ever had a friend, a close friend, you believed you knew well suddenly show a willingness to violate the law? When money or prestige were offered, were you shocked to see them throw their Christianity out the window? And even worse, did you have to listen to them come up with some feeble explanation for why it was justified in their case? A parent is a prime example. An authority figure, one who taught us how to be the person we ought to be. They should have been an example to us. So, when they fall, especially to hypocrisy it hurts us deeply. And look at the number of pastors in this country who let down congregation after congregation. They run off with the secretary. They embezzle church funds. They teach sobriety and live lives of drunkenness. They are hypocrites. Or even worse, have you witnessed the abuse of a loved one at the hands of a “Christian”? 

How can anyone expect you to turn to God, to accept Christ as your Savior, how do they have the audacity to tell you to live a godly life when their lives, the life you see them live every day, is so hypocritical? 

                But wait! Don’t you see the error in rationality? My standing before God is not contingent upon your standing before God. Everybody has been hurt by somebody. Some have been hurt more deeply than others, but all have been hurt. This is one of the reasons God calls for each of us to come to Him through Christ Jesus, Isaiah 53:4  “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” All of the sins and hypocrisy that you see around you originated in the heart of someone just like you, someone deeply in need of a right relationship with God. Jesus offers to carry all our hurts and burdens for us. He never meant for you to carry them alone.

                Yes, there are hypocrites in this world. Do you really believe that one day you will be allowed to stand before God and declare, as your defense for rejecting salvation through Christ, that someone hurt your feeling or offended you? No one will stand before God and hear him ask, “who kept you from believing in me?” We all come to God through difficult circumstances. And in every case Jesus bears our burden, pays the price for our sin and he places us in right standing before God.

                Don’t allow the sin and hypocrisy of others to keep you from God. You noticed the sin in others, that’s good. You could see their actions were wrong so, you can see that many of your actions and thoughts are wrong as well. And one day God will judge your life and not in comparison to others. It will be just you and God on the day of judgment.

                It’s personal.

Please read:  http://christxalted.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-to-be-born-again.html