It's December

I am very happy. I love my God, I love my children. I love my family, friends, and co-workers. Things aren't perfect but I have hope. Not just any hope, but hope in the living God. God is such a good God and He loves us with an everlasting love. It is His desire that none should perish.

I just want to openly share the gospel of Christ. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." The good news came to us in a little town called Bethlehem. For unto us was born in the city of David a Saviour, which was Christ the Lord. Then the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." The good will to all men is the fact that God sent a savior; somone who would take the sin of the world upon Himself and in turn give us righteous standing with God.

What people don't understand is that there is a standard that is in place if they like it or not. These standards are found in the word of God, The BIBLE. Unless we accept the righteousness that God provided us, through Christ the savior then we will die in our sin. Next is the judgement and we will be judged for the sin that is found in us. The only way to be found in right standing is to accept the sacrifice that Jesus made with his life. If we exchange our sin for his righteousness, then we will be found in right standing with God and will live forever with Him throughout eternity.

This truly is the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR. The spirit of God is more evident now than at anytime of the year. The christmas songs, the goodwill, and the love that people show each other is the most beautiful expression of the goodness of God. A beautiful expression of God's love towards us by sending us a way out of eternal damnation. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND PEACE ON EARTH GOOD WILL TO MEN!!

Offense

Today was a good day for me. I have been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Two messages in particular helped me today. I am so very glad I had the opportunity to listen to them both. Both messages dealt with Offense and the Love of God. As a Christian I must always remember that I must always operate in the Love of God. Three things that stuck out about these 2 messages are:

• My joy can't be stolen if it is not based on worldly things.

• When somebody does something that hurts you or offends you, don’t think about what they are doing to you; think about what they’ve done to themselves; because if somebody really is mistreating you they’ve hurt themselves a lot more than they’ve hurt you.

• I do not have the time to be offended.

Both of these messages gave me great freedom. I must meditate on them and keep them at the forefront of my thoughts and mind. I also thought about the situation that led me to the offense. If I am completely honest I would have to accept the blame for the offense. I am the so-called Christian in this situation, the child of God and as such if I don't allow the spirit of God to lead me or I ignore the word of God when dealing with someone, then I am as much the blame and even more since I know the truth and am supposed to walk therein. In all of this I have learned that I must put God first and shun those things that God shuns. If I don't I will find myself being offended and offending others as a result of it.

The freedom that these messages gave me helped me to see that the most important element of any Christian walk is our relationship with God. If I don't walk in love then I can't walk in the complete provision of God. And I need Him in every aspect of my life. My life is not an easy one, but with the help of God I will endure to the end and receive a crown of life and forever be with the Lord.

Forgiving Ourselves

I was thinking the other day about sin. How when we sin we have a hard time letting go and forgiving ourselves. The thought came to me of when Peter asked Jesus how often should he forgive his brother if he sins against him. He asked Jesus should he forgive him up to 7 times. And Jesus responded by telling him that he should forgive 70 times 7 - Matt. 18.21-22. Just think about that, we are to forgive 70 times 7, that is 490 times. Can you imagine 490 times a day. How many people actually sin 490 times in a day, probably no one. However, if you did sin that many times you would have to try really hard. Now if God tells us to forgive our brother 490 times a day, wouldn't he hold himself to the same standards that he gave to us. That would mean that God is willing to forgive us 490 times a day. That is a lot of forgiveness. Now if God wants us to forgive our brother 490 times in a day, wouldn't he want us to apply that to ourselves?

When it comes to forgiveness we need to learn to forgive ourselves. Anytime we do wrong and we have a hard time accepting God's forgiveness, let alone our own we need to remember that even God is willing to forgive us 490 times a day, so we ought to be willing to forgive ourselves with the same amount of forgiveness that God has made available to us. So when you find yourself in a state of sin, feeling guilty, alone, sad and dejected, remember you are not without forgiveness. God forgives you and so you must also forgive yourself. The scripture says that if you aren't able to forgive your brother, God is not able to forgive you your sins. If you aren't able to forgive yourself, how can you ever find the forgiveness of God. It would seem to be impossible. Forgive yourself and let God be the forgiving Father that he is.

Preaching Without Speaking

I heard a minister say something the other day, "Christians are to preach the gospel always and sometimes use words." This means that we are to represent God in everything that we do. We don't have to verbally speak the word of God in order to visibly preach the word of God. Our lives should predicate our belief in God, our belief in his principles and should always bring honor to Him. Sometimes even we as Christians fall short. We are and ought to represent God in everything that we do. However, we are human and subject to the weakness of the flesh. When we are living out the WORD of God, there is no power that cannot succumb to the power of God in our lives. On the other hand, when we are not living according to God principles that is when we find that we are just as susceptible to the weaknesses of the flesh and the temptations around us.

When Christians and non-Christians see Christians in a fallen state they are very quick to point out the wrongs of the fallen Christian and blame God for the sins/misdeeds of that Christian. What they don't understand is that Christians are not God. Christians do represent God, but God should not get the blame for everything wrong that is done by a Christian. It seems that Christianity is the only religion where God is blamed for the wrong of His followers. When a muslin kills, allah is not blamed the muslin is. It is the same with other religions, but not Christianity. Is it because Christianity is the only religion where righteousness and purity is the standard? The answer is probably "Yes". God is sinless and cannot sin. People, on the other hand, are fallible. Should we as Christians not live righteously because we are susceptible to sin? As the good book says, God forbid.

We as Christians should always live our lives out by God's words and principles and when we find ourselves out of God's will we must always find our way back to our savior. He is the only way to life. Can we overcome the flesh? Sometimes I wonder, but by FAITH I know that we can. It is FAITH that leads us to God's saving grace and it is that same FAITH that will sustain us and help to keep us until we see HIM. Knowing that we have an advocate with the father, JESUS CHRIST the righteous should be enough for us to prayerfully stay before Him and know that He which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ Phil 1:6
So we must continue to preach without speaking and show forth the gospel of Jesus everywhere we go. God Bless.

The Grace of God

God's grace. Thank God for his grace. Psalm 103 talks about the goodness of God. This goodness shows just how gracious God is to us. vs 2...and do not forget all of His benefits: He forgives all of my wicked, unjust and unrighteous acts; He heals all of my diseases; He redeems my life from destruction (keeps me from being utterly destroyed); He crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies; He satisfied my mouth with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's.

• The Grace of God leads us to repentance.
  
• But where sin abounded Grace did that much more abound.

When you find yourself in a place where you really hadn't planned on being. That's when you need the grace of God. A place that you didn't just fall into. You walked into the place, ignoring the signs and ignoring the warnings of God and all the representatives he sent to keep you from making the bad decision that led you to that place. And now you are there sitting smack dab in the middle of YOUR MESS that YOU created. That is when grace, not just any grace, but the GRACE OF GOD kicks in. 2 Cor. 12:2 And He said unto me, "My Grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Strength: so many times we consider ourselves to be strong, but truly we are weak in the face of the weakness of God. What I am conveying is that the weakest that God is, is stronger than the strongest man .....or woman for that fact. God's grace is greater than anything wrong that we can ever do. If it wasn't, then the sacrifice that Jesus made would be in vain. I find myself needing the sufficiency of His Grace and I come before Him humbly and meek to find help in my time of need. I thank God for the graciousness of His spirit, I thank God for His gift of Grace. I know He will see me through this time of weakness and failing. And I will love Him the more for it. The person who has been forgiven much, loves much. God I love you very much! God I thank you for your forgiveness and for your grace and that the peace of God, which passes all understanding will keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

It's Me Again

I haven't posted a blog since September of 2008. It is now February 2009. I have experienced so much in such a short time. I haven't really wanted to post anything; however, I just read my cousins blog and mine from September and I decided to post tonight. Since September we have elected a new president, I have made a quality of commitment to God, I have turned 40 years old, and I have lost an immediate family member. In all these things I know that God is. He is everything. I think about the state of the world and I know God Is, I think about my family's loss of a father and I know God is, I look at my finances and economic situation and I still know and understand that God is. God is a rewarder of those who dilligently seek Him. God is REAL. He is alive. He is still performing miracles and fulfilling His Word today in 2009. So no matter what I go through, the storms of life, the situations that present themselves, the grief and loss of a loved one, and the pain I experience when a relative is going through hardship; I still know and understand that GOD IS and that HE will remain. As a matter of fact, as long as we put our trust in Him and believe that He is able, He will perform His word. To all who read this, find the time to get to know Him because He is LOVE and HE LOVES YOU!!

My prayer for today is that God may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints and that you may know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and toward us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty power. Eph. 1:17-19 May God richly bless you and may you come to the true knowledge of His saving grace. In Jesus name, Amen.