Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas Gift

With college work and life taking hold, I have not been able to really spend the time on the site delivering messages like I would like, but then again, no one may be reading, but then again, I do this for God. It is December, it is Christmas time, heavy on the Christ little on time, so let us look for a minute or hopefully think for a minute about the reason of the season. If you are one figuratively speaking ,“hell bent” on despising Christmas programs because of Christmas songs, plastic babies that depict the birth of Christ, or simply aggravated by the thought that a holy God exists, and loves you despite your being a secular, educated ass, then this may not be for you. However, it is just for you. There is a story about a young woman who went away to college in the fall, leaving her plants and her goldfish in the care of her mother, who had a tendency to be forgetful. Some of us may know somebody with a "brown thumb." This mother had one. The plants that the daughter left behind in the care of her mother died at the end of the month. The mother dutifully broke the bad news to her. When the young woman called a week later, her mother confessed that the goldfish had died too. There was a long pause, then in a fearful voice the girl asked, "How’s Dad?" As we come into the Christmas season, it is easy to forget what is important…like feeding Dad. Seriously though, we easily get our priorities mixed up. And the true meaning of Christmas gets lost. We begin to think it is about presents, decorations and parties. But the truth is… The true meaning of Christmas is not found in the wrappings, but in the gift Did you know Jesus is apparently more lost than Waldo because every time someone is saved or even people mock those people who have gotten saved both ironically cry the same thing? “I’ve found Christ,” weeps the sinner turned saint through faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. “Have you found, God?” smirks the mocker. God has never been lost, folks. God the Father has been here with us the entire time. Jesus as the Bible teaches is knocking at the door of our hearts wanting nothing from us except our trust, or love, our faith in Him alone. Let us go to the most read chapter of the Bible in December with a heavy re-read okay of the first half of verse 12. Luke 2: 1-14 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And this shall be a sign unto you. The redneck comedians albums of “Here’s Your Sign” really should hit us in the head. For over two thousand years, generation after generation has grown hearing as the hymn refers, “the old, old story.” It has been 401 years since King James published the Holy Bible as one unit. There we go! As I stated it, we can have people say, “Well, man made this book.” Yes, man published it, but I challenge you along with your skeptical belief and fear to prove the Bible wrong. Perhaps you can show inconsistencies within. People have tried and will continue to try holding themselves above God believing their own hype if you will. Do you need Jesus? Redundant even if you think you do not, of course you do. Look at the Word! Verse 10: And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. We are all people. You are all people. Think about the shepherds, the ones who got the memo first, think about how the church grew out of the faith of 12 regular men. God often chooses to do his greatest work through people or things we normally think of as weak or unimportant. This is what- Paul means in I Corinthians when he writes: Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. To God, nobodies are somebodies. To God, each one needs to hear the good news. The good news is this friend: Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is real. He came to earth to save us all from sin. He died on the cross, but rose from the dead by the grace of God the Father. Today at this moment, He waits for you to accept Him as Lord. Do not miss the Savior and His gift of eternal life. All you can do is realize that He is real and that you need him. Turn away from the crap, the stuff you do in life that you know is wrong and just focus on Jesus. You don’t have to know all the scriptures or even understand anything except that Jesus loves you, the Bible tells you that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We can’t work our way to Heaven friend. Jesus is the only way. Romans 10:9-13 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This day, the Christmas season, do not miss out. There are four kinds of folks that miss seeing Baby Jesus: Some miss the baby because they are too distracted by all the world offers now. -Some miss the baby because they are too busy and don’t have time to find out about him. -Some miss the baby because they are too scared to let him take control of their lives. -Some miss the baby because they are indifferent or ignorant of their need for a Savior. Look to Christ today, while yo still can. Tomorrow may not be as kind.