Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. It’s been awhile since December 25th landed on a Sunday. However, it’s seems very fitting that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord on the day that we regularly come together to worship Him. Corporate worship is in itself a celebration.

Each week we celebrate our Great God for all that He is and for all He has done and is doing. Today we focus in on celebrating our Master: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”(Phil. 2:6,7) Praise and glory be to Him!

As you celebrate this Christmas be sure and take some time out just to thank Jesus for being willing and obedient to step into your journey so that you could have a relationship with His Father. Celebrate Him for being the greatest gift ever known to man. Celebrate His Father for being the Giver of such an incredible gift! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Cor. 9:15)

The greatest gift and celebration that you could offer, if you have not already, would be to receive the Greatest Gift from the Greatest Giver that He is offering you today. So, if you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, give your life to Him today and experience why the God of the universe moved heaven and earth just so your could celebrate what we call Christmas day.

Have a very Merry Christmas and remember to say Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Pastor MJ

Love = Sacrifice

”This is how God showed his love among us….”
1 John 4:9-11

There are many definitions of love floating around. We hear it almost daily in relation to food, weather, and articles of clothing, celebrities, music and more. One of the sad things about how love is portrayed today is that it just comes and goes. We see people falling in and out of love. One day they are “madly in love” with each other, the next they are in a bitter divorce. For many, love is conditional and is based on circumstances rather than a choice.

I am so glad that God sheds light on the true meaning and foundation of love in His Word. When we look at love through God’s eyes we see something that is not only possible, but promised when we look to Him for direction and ability to love like He loves.

In John 15:13, we read, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus not only spoke these words, but He had the example of His own Father who, out of love for His creation sent Jesus to be sacrificed as redemption for us.

Love = Sacrifice

In 1 John 4:9-11, it is clear and concise how God displayed His love, by sending His one and only Son to be sacrificed for our sins.

Rarely do we see or hear a conversation about love where sacrifice is brought into the conversation. Love is almost always depicted or defined as something that makes us feel good, comforted, cared for and safe. And although the large picture of love does ultimately include those things and more, foundationally true love begins with sacrifice. That is why John tells us that love is, “Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”(vs. 10) In this way, we are reminded that true love involves sacrifice. And that is the love that we are called to extend to all those that God places in our lives. We must be willing to sacrifice, or give up, feelings, comfort, safety, or the expectation of anything in return and love unconditionally, because that is the way that Father God loves us.

As we reflect this Advent season, and today on love, take a moment and think about the Love that it took for the God of the universe, the Prime Mover of all that was, is and is to come to will the sacrifice of His one and only Son because of His love for you and for me. John 3:16, proclaims, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Love=Sacrifice=Giving – This is what God did by sending Jesus to be born that very first Christmas morning and what He will again express on that day that we look forward to as He comes again.

Blessings.

Still Not All We Should Be

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be,

but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

Philippians 3:13 (NLT)

Not too long ago, I was laying down resting and thinking deeply about my past and how, if I had the chance to do it all over again I would change some things I’ve done, not speak some things I’ve said, not go some places I’ve been, not think some things I’ve thought. It almost became discouraging as I realized none of my past can ever be changed until God began to replace those thoughts and blanket me with truth from His Word. His Spirit spoke Psalm 30:11 to me, where it says, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” (NLT) And then Joel 2:25 “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” (NKJV). And finally, Isaiah 43:18-20 "Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. "Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness. (NASB)

God has given you and I breathe today in order for us to bring glory to Him. One way that we can do that is to not focus on the past, except to repent of anything there that might be displeasing to Him, accept that it is covered by the blood of Christ and live today in a way that is pleasing to Him. When Jesus spoke to the woman caught in adultery, he did not excuse her sin, yet He pointed her forward and said, “Go and sin not more!” (John 8:10-12)

We cannot change yesterday, but we can, with God’s help and our obedience change how tomorrow reflects on today. Where have you really blown it? What things do you wish you could change about “yester-year”? Remember Isaiah’s words, “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.” And don’t forget the words of Jesus, “Go and sin not more!” Today is a new day. Go in His strength and through obedience to His Word put a smile on the Lord’s face about your “today”. From that morning, recently, I’ve been holding on to this thought: that I will live each day, “Striving to put a smile on the face of my future’s past as I put a smile on the face of my Lord today”!

Let’s praise and worship the Lord today for being a God who can indeed take a failed past and turn it into a bright and joy filled future. Glory to His name!

Pastor MJ

Don't Worry About Anything

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Then you will experience God’s peace,

which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds
as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

As we look at the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, how many times can and do we see ourselves? God had just done so many miracles, things that only He could have done. They had watched Him turn the Nile River into blood. They had witnessed God sending boils to cover all of the men and animals throughout the land. Then they saw the plague of locusts and darkness that culminated in the death of all first born children of Egypt while all of God’s chosen people who were covered by the blood of the lamb did not see death. You would think that after all of that, that trust would not be an issue with these folks. However, our human nature is strong and how soon we forget God’s gracious provisions and protection when the going really gets tough.

Their thought was that this had to be a trick. All that separated them from their enemy was land and in front of them sat the Red Sea. They cried out, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11-12) But God in His incredibly gracious way, once again provided for His own. He opened a way where there was no way. He made a roadway in the wilderness and a path way through the sea. The pathway of life for the Lord’s people became a roadway of death for the Egyptians.

God had given His word through Moses and Aaron that they were going to a land that He had prepared for them. He had made a covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. He was not about to break His promise. However, circumstances were giving them other signals. God has given us His word. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to give us the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). In every circumstance He has promised to meet our every need (Philippians 4:19)! He has promised to not only hear, but to answer our prayers if we ask according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). We need but to exercise our faith and believe Him at His Word. He is worthy to be trusted, He has never failed, and that’s a reason to praise Him. Let’s do so together today and throughout this week.

Pastor MJ